Nurses with ADD/ADHD?

button2cute · Dec 10, 2005

Hello, All

Chris, how does dyslexia makes a nurse dangerous? Please explain to me? Because I am dyslexia and I am not dangerous at all. I do not dispense medications that does not have an order or have a med error that killed someone? SO explained your theory about dyslexics are dangerous as a nurse?

Chris, I am listening....

PsychNurseWannaBe, BSN, RN · Dec 10, 2005

Well here is my two cents. LOL

First I would say that there are different subsets of ADD/ADHD and some may be manageable without meds. However, many times medication is needed for the more severe cases. Also one should consider combining meds w/ appropriate counseling.

As far as emotions are concerned, I would have to respectfully disagree w/ Chris. Psychostimulants can have adverse reactions on mood/emotion; including depression, sadness and fatigue. So if someone is taking them and they don't feel creative or that their personality is a little "dull" it is quite possible that the meds have caused it. I am just saying that there is a correlation between the two.

Kids focusing on video games: 2 things... again the subset thing and another... it would be easier to focus on a video game because the scene/video graphics are constantly changing which is stimulating them. W/O my meds I can play a game but if I need to study/balance checkbook/etc... I will take my medication.

For some it would be more responsible to simply take their medication as it is prescribed than not to take them. Tips and tricks may work for some but not all. We are talking about a learning disability and how it impacts the mind. But that is where one should include counseling because they may find a trick that could work for them.

To simply say "self management" I find very grievous. It is placing blame onto the person and disregarding the fact that this is an actual medical problem. If someone is able to get by with just tips and tricks...they should consider themselves lucky; however, they should not be dismissive to others' who are afflicted. People are unique and react differently to the same disease, as well as, medications.

To imply that someone may be dangerous as a nurse I don't quite get as long as they are careful.

BUT I do agree that one should possibly look into a different nursing field such as education, legal nursing, forensics, etc... IF that would make that person more comfortable as a nurse. Regarding special accommodations... well... it is a learning disability and is covered under the ADA. The point to accommodations are to put the afflicted person back onto a level playing field with his/her peers.

All of the above again is meant in respect and I am open to hear thoughts/comments. :typing

~ Psych

Bipley · Dec 10, 2005

...Also one should consider combining meds w/ appropriate counseling.

I'm not sure I can agree. When I wanted to be dx'ed I went to a psychiatrist that specialized in adult AD/HD. (ADD/ADHD) He explained that he would love to take my money and do therapy as well as meds but HIS comparison was that it was like talking a diabetic through controlling his BS. He explained that it is a blood/glucose issue within the brain and using therapy to control a blood/glucose issue within the brain is fruitless. My b/f (also a psychiatrist) and admittedly a biological psych doc, agrees.

As far as emotions are concerned, I would have to respectfully disagree w/ Chris. Psychostimulants can have adverse reactions on mood/emotion; including depression, sadness and fatigue.

Oh my, we disagree again. In a person who does not have AD/HD you would be correct. However, in a person WITH AD/HD the drugs merely make their brain as others. It essentially wakes up a small part of the brain that is thought to cause this disorder. It seems to me that you are basing your info on studies done in folks without AD/HD and those studies would be quite correct but they are not in AD/HD folks.

Personally without meds I become frustrated and VERRRY angry. I lose my temper and do stupid things. With meds life is good, the issue (whatever it may be) just isn't a big deal but workable instead.

So if someone is taking them and they don't feel creative or that their personality is a little "dull" it is quite possible that the meds have caused it. I am just saying that there is a correlation between the two.

I absolutely agree that the meds can cause a lack of creativity, etc. in AD/HD folks. It sure does with me! But you also have to look at the whole picture. When you are used to your brain going a million MPH and you are thinking about 20 different things at once, when you take meds you suddenly think about one issue, you work on that issue, and you do that ONE issue well and you move on to another issue. In comparison to what it is like doing 20 different issues at once it IS boring. It is not something we are used to doing.

Kids focusing on video games: 2 things... again the subset thing and another... it would be easier to focus on a video game because the scene/video graphics are constantly changing which is stimulating them. W/O my meds I can play a game but if I need to study/balance checkbook/etc... I will take my medication.

A big huge ditto! I used to go to Barnes & Noble (a mega book store for those not in the US) and I'd have it in my head that I wanted to know more about... slavery, Jewish tradition, Muslums, Betta fish, why are some roses red, .. you name it and I wanted to know more about it. I would buy at least 20 books when I went there, get home and... nada. I couldn't read them. I would sit down and try to read and I simply couldn't. I'd read the first paragraph of the book 10 times and 10 times it wouldn't sink in. Today I take 10mg of Dex and I can read for four hours. Then I have to take more Dex.

For some it would be more responsible to simply take their medication as it is prescribed than not to take them. Tips and tricks may work for some but not all. We are talking about a learning disability and how it impacts the mind. But that is where one should include counseling because they may find a trick that could work for them.

Actually, that wouldn't be counseling but behavior modification. There is a difference. I would agree with you about the need of some to learn new tips and tricks. But therapy implies psychotherapy and that is useless for AD/HD.

To simply say "self management" I find very grievous. It is placing blame onto the person and disregarding the fact that this is an actual medical problem. If someone is able to get by with just tips and tricks...they should consider themselves lucky; however, they should not be dismissive to others' who are afflicted. People are unique and react differently to the same disease, as well as, medications.

Agreed.

PsychNurseWannaBe, BSN, RN · Dec 10, 2005

Hi Bipley

I haven't yet figured out how to do that nifty quote thing you did with my post so bear w/ me. LOL

RE: Counseling

I meant behavioral and cognitive therapies (which is seeking "appropriate" counseling)... sorry that I didn't clarify.

RE: Psychostimulants and emotions

We disagree. NP :) I refer you to the Merck manual. It does state and explain the point I made.

RE: Feeling "dull"

I think you and I are making the same point. I was refuting what Chris had said.

RE: Barnes and Noble

LOL... I hear ya there! :)

Thanks for the reply. I appreciate your input. :) take care.. It is way past my bedtime. LOL :yawn:

~ Psych

jd64848704 · Dec 10, 2005

hi everyone! i know this isn't quite the topic, but i was misdiagnosed with add in high school. i just went to a psychiatric hospital in july for partial hospitalization, where we found out i am actually bipolar (manic-depressive). it has been a scary road for me-luckily the meds have been working and i didn't need to do the ect (electroconvulsive therapy-i think?). i am starting my pre-req's in january and told my advisor of my history with the disease and the meds i take (lithium and effexor). i was warned to read through the school bulletin and look at the physical and emotional requirements for nursing to make sure that i can really handle all of it. now i am very nervous about going and not sure if i should??? the lithium can cause mild hand tremors, though i have basically gotten through that issue and they rarely happen now.

even more, i hate the way people treat me when they find out. like if they see me take my medicine and i explain what it is for (i am not ashamed to be bipolar-it is more common than people realize), they treat me differently. i am very normal! i am a mother, a daughter, a best friend, a soon to be student, an employee, and even a registered voter! nobody sees me that way now though, all they see is the girl who has the mental illness.

if i don't take my meds, i get very frustrated at everything. also, one week i will be on the go running around so much and taking on so many tasks that i don't even sleep! i finally crash after a while, and don't want to move out of bed and cry and sleep the days away. now that i am taking the meds, i am very level and enjoying it! the only problem is that lithium can do some major damage and i have to be on it the rest of my life. it can cause hair loss, kidney failure, and extreme acne to name a few. almost makes you wonder if it is even worth it??? thanks for listening to my long winded self tell my story!

jessica :selfbonk:

Bipley · Dec 10, 2005

RE: Psychostimulants and emotions
We disagree. NP :) I refer you to the Merck manual. It does state and explain the point I made.

It *does* do that for folks that take too many or in the case of AD/HD, for those of us that don't take enough. I'm speaking from experience.

Without Dex I can't think and focus. I read the same thing over and over and over again and I can't focus enough to comprehend what I'm reading. I become annoyed. That leads to frustration. That leads to temper, and there it ends. LOL With Dex my emotions are even and normal, like they should be. I can read, think, focus, and behave as I should.

Bipley · Dec 10, 2005

hi everyone! i know this isn't quite the topic, but i was misdiagnosed with add in high school. i just went to a psychiatric hospital in july for partial hospitalization, where we found out i am actually bipolar (manic-depressive).

sadly, it is all too common to be misdiagnosed by psychs. i swear you can put 1 patient in a room and have 10 docs diagnose him and you will get at *least* five diagnoses.

one point that is also noteworthy is that if you take an true ad/hd'er that person will likely have family members that are mentally ill. that too, is true in my family. one sis with depression, another that i don't have a clue what is wrong with her. she's been dx'ed with just about everything and none of the meds work. and my parents were alcoholics.

i figure i got off easy with adhd. :chuckle

NurseDaddy2006 · Dec 10, 2005

I did not know this post was even here. Another member pointed it out to me.

I ought to be studying right now, but I'm feeling pretty comfortable with the amount of time I have before my final in 10 days, so I'll spend a few minutes sharing here.

I'm 40, male, and I found out when I was 34 that I've got ADD. No hyperactivity for me, just inattentive, impulsive, with a bit of output dyslexia thrown in (no problem reading, but writing for me involves a lot of flipping letters and sometimes whole words around).

I was at work one day, at my 16th or so job, and I read an Ann Landers letter, or maybe it was Dear Abby, and someone was replying to another reader's letter saying that other reader should look into undiagnosed ADD. That's where it all started. I read everything I could, and case histories read like my life story. I got dx'd, and started Ritalin. Small doses, just PRN, when I felt like I didnt have a handle on things. Then I made a lot of changes in my behavior that prompted the button pushers at my job to step up their game. Long story short, they found the button I worked so hard to hide, and I reacted exactly the way they wanted me to. I went to the consulting firm that employed me and told them what was going on at the client's place, and they called my supervisor who told them she no longer needed me. So despite my work being top notch, once again, my social ineptitude got the better of the situation and I was out of a job.

It just so happened that my wife and I, after ten years of infertility, 3 miscarriages, and the full term loss of our first son, had just managed to have another. I became a stay-at-home dad to the boy we'd tried so hard to have. And I loved that. The loss of income hurt, but I think it had to happen. That was the only way to disconnect from the "old" me and get started on the "new" me.

My boy was 4 months old, and I was home with him. I loved it. But then I decided that in order to have some sort of income when he'd be old enough to go to school, I'd have to go to school. The nurses on the LD unit made a big impression on me, and we've got RNs in the family, so I decided that the best way to support my family and be around for my boy as he grows, and do something that fulfills me would be to pursue nursing.

But wait... I cant be taught. I only did things I had a knack for. Learned by doing. Or so I thought. I started my prerequistes at night, one on weeknight and a class on saturday. I found a learning style that works for me, and I started getting A's. I got my 4.0GPA, and got into the nursing program. Yet I still did not believe I had it in me. It was like the fraud police were going to come after me at any time.

I started in nursing and realized that I can be taught. And that I can learn by doing in clinicals. I lost my 4.0 with my first B+ ever in N103, and then relaxed after mourning my perfect record after a while, and got an A in N104. I walked out of that class, and on my way to go pick up my boy at the college's children's center, I cried. All my life, riddled with academic, social, and occupational frustrations and failures, and look at me now. Then I got a B+ again in N105. Now I'm in N203, and I'm one of a handful that is passing this course because of some difficulties with the professor. I am one of 4 that passed the second exam we had. The last exam we had, I wrote a note on a napkin that said "TRUST YOURSELF", a prompt to go with my gut, because if an answer jumps out at me it's because I know it. It's in my head somewhere, even with all the noise, but it is in there because of how hard I work to put it there. I got a 92 on that exam.

Now I'm studying for my final, and I'm very distracted. My strattera is not doing much for me anymore. Never has really, it's more about my cognitive behavior modification. I take only 40mg once a day, and I probably need more, or maybe Adderall would be better. But since I'm functioning fairly well, I'll stick with things the way they are.

Besides, with my average right now, I can get a 50 on the final and still pass the class. But that's not like me. I don't know how to study for a C. For me it's all or nothing. I'm all in, or all out. Not much in between. There are other things going on with me I'm sure. Probably a few of Erikson's developmental tasks I need to go back and accomplish, but right now I'm just trying to get through school. One semester left. 160 days until graduation, not that I'm counting.

SO, I'm not alone. There are other nurses with ADD. Good. I cant wait to get done and get working, get some time to pursue different med options for me. Right now, I'm keeping the status quo.

My boy will be 4 in February, and I am his Nurse Daddy.

ND

nursemollyrn · Dec 10, 2005

hi. I am a nurse with adhd. I carried the diagnoses as a child but really didn't receive treatment until I was an adult. I would love to be part of a support system!

RNbutterfly · Dec 11, 2005

I was hired at a hospital after including, on my application, under medications, that I take adderall. I was also given a drug screen and, as far as I know, passed. No one ever questioned me about taking adderall.

Bipley · Dec 11, 2005

I did not know this post was even here. Another member pointed it out to me.
I ought to be studying right now, but I'm feeling pretty comfortable with the amount of time I have before my final in 10 days, so I'll spend a few minutes sharing here.
I'm 40, male, and I found out when I was 34 that I've got ADD. No hyperactivity for me, just inattentive, impulsive, with a bit of output dyslexia thrown in (no problem reading, but writing for me involves a lot of flipping letters and sometimes whole words around).
I was at work one day, at my 16th or so job, and I read an Ann Landers letter, or maybe it was Dear Abby, and someone was replying to another reader's letter saying that other reader should look into undiagnosed ADD. That's where it all started. I read everything I could, and case histories read like my life story. I got dx'd, and started Ritalin. Small doses, just PRN, when I felt like I didnt have a handle on things. Then I made a lot of changes in my behavior that prompted the button pushers at my job to step up their game. Long story short, they found the button I worked so hard to hide, and I reacted exactly the way they wanted me to. I went to the consulting firm that employed me and told them what was going on at the client's place, and they called my supervisor who told them she no longer needed me. So despite my work being top notch, once again, my social ineptitude got the better of the situation and I was out of a job.
It just so happened that my wife and I, after ten years of infertility, 3 miscarriages, and the full term loss of our first son, had just managed to have another. I became a stay-at-home dad to the boy we'd tried so hard to have. And I loved that. The loss of income hurt, but I think it had to happen. That was the only way to disconnect from the "old" me and get started on the "new" me.
My boy was 4 months old, and I was home with him. I loved it. But then I decided that in order to have some sort of income when he'd be old enough to go to school, I'd have to go to school. The nurses on the LD unit made a big impression on me, and we've got RNs in the family, so I decided that the best way to support my family and be around for my boy as he grows, and do something that fulfills me would be to pursue nursing.
But wait... I cant be taught. I only did things I had a knack for. Learned by doing. Or so I thought. I started my prerequistes at night, one on weeknight and a class on saturday. I found a learning style that works for me, and I started getting A's. I got my 4.0GPA, and got into the nursing program. Yet I still did not believe I had it in me. It was like the fraud police were going to come after me at any time.
I started in nursing and realized that I can be taught. And that I can learn by doing in clinicals. I lost my 4.0 with my first B+ ever in N103, and then relaxed after mourning my perfect record after a while, and got an A in N104. I walked out of that class, and on my way to go pick up my boy at the college's children's center, I cried. All my life, riddled with academic, social, and occupational frustrations and failures, and look at me now. Then I got a B+ again in N105. Now I'm in N203, and I'm one of a handful that is passing this course because of some difficulties with the professor. I am one of 4 that passed the second exam we had. The last exam we had, I wrote a note on a napkin that said "TRUST YOURSELF", a prompt to go with my gut, because if an answer jumps out at me it's because I know it. It's in my head somewhere, even with all the noise, but it is in there because of how hard I work to put it there. I got a 92 on that exam.
Now I'm studying for my final, and I'm very distracted. My strattera is not doing much for me anymore. Never has really, it's more about my cognitive behavior modification. I take only 40mg once a day, and I probably need more, or maybe Adderall would be better. But since I'm functioning fairly well, I'll stick with things the way they are.
Besides, with my average right now, I can get a 50 on the final and still pass the class. But that's not like me. I don't know how to study for a C. For me it's all or nothing. I'm all in, or all out. Not much in between. There are other things going on with me I'm sure. Probably a few of Erikson's developmental tasks I need to go back and accomplish, but right now I'm just trying to get through school. One semester left. 160 days until graduation, not that I'm counting.
SO, I'm not alone. There are other nurses with ADD. Good. I cant wait to get done and get working, get some time to pursue different med options for me. Right now, I'm keeping the status quo.
My boy will be 4 in February, and I am his Nurse Daddy.
ND

I'm a nurse and I have ADHD. I have done what you want to do, I still do it. But you have done something I could never do. I could never be a parent. Not ever. I'm just not parent material and I know that, thus I never had children.

Being a parent is the hardest job in the whole world. If you can do that well, you can be a nurse.

BTW, if the meds are not working well then there are other meds out there. Try them. You HAVE AD/HD, you know the scoop. You'll know quickly if they are the best meds or not. Try them on weekends when you are not at school. My NP would give me 10 doses of a new drug to try on weekends. (Amphetamines) Then I could just try it and not risk anything since I would take them during my off hours. She didn't actually like doing that, but she let me try. I'll stick with my Dex any 'ol day.

jd64848704 · Dec 11, 2005

Sadly, it is all too common to be misdiagnosed by psychs. I swear you can put 1 patient in a room and have 10 docs diagnose him and you will get at *least* five diagnoses.
One point that is also noteworthy is that if you take an true AD/HD'er that person will likely have family members that are mentally ill. That too, is true in my family. One sis with depression, another that I don't have a clue what is wrong with her. She's been dx'ed with just about everything and none of the meds work. And my parents were alcoholics.
I figure I got off easy with ADHD. :chuckle

True! Unfortunately, mental health is a hard thing to diagnose! The human brain is so complex. The way we really found out that I was bipolar (besides general questions) was doing a blood test to check my lithium levels. My levels were pretty low. Now that the meds have balanced them, I feel much better! I still have a little trouble, mostly adjusting to not being able to get as much done as I used to!

I have many family members with different diagnoses! From ADHD to Depression and even paranoid shcizophrenia! I can't believe how common these things are! Almost makes you wonder if there is something in the water...LOL!:lol_hitti

Jessica