Welcome to Primarily Inattentive ADHD

PRIMARILY INATTENTIVE ADD NOMINATED FOR HEALTH ACTIVIST AWARD
I write a blog because I had inattentive ADHD as a child and because I would like to share what I have learned with people who are currently struggling with ADHD.  I also write for my children, they are my greatest motivation.  Since genetics account for 75% of the symptoms of ADHD, it is likely that my children will have children who are coping with the symptoms of ADHD.   I see this blog as something of an instruction book for them on what worked for me and for them as they were growing up.

I have friends who have children who wake up excited and energized about the thought of going off to school.  My kids are not like that.  Very few children with ADHD are excited about schooling.  From the day my eldest son started Kindergarten I realized that my sons would dislike school for the very reasons that I disliked school and I vowed to make their school experience a more positive one.

My biological son is inattentive and my adopted son is hyperactive/impulsive. Being at a school that teaches to their strengths is, I believe, half the battle. The other half is making my sons understand that they learn differently than other kids because of their symptoms of ADHD.   

I have spent the majority of my adult working life as a Physician Assistant seeing patients in an Emergency Room.  The Emergency Room is a laboratory for problem solving and I have used the problem solving skills that I have acquired there to thoroughly investigate the biology, genetics, and treatment of ADHD.  

Much of the information in this blog is focused on the inattentive subtype of ADHD.  I feel that I know more about this subtype having dealt first hand with those symptoms.  If you are dealing with Inattentive ADHD and this is your first visit to my site.  I hope that you will take a minute and look around.  There is information here about diet, vitamin supplements, behavioral changes that help ADHD, the gifts of ADHD, alternatives to medication, the best medications, and much more. 


It is my sincere hope that the information that you read here will be useful to you.  If you like what you have read, please pass it along to someone else who might find it interesting.  Thank you so much for stopping by and visiting with us!!


There is a quick primer and overview on Inattentive ADHD at this post: Inattentive ADHD symptoms, causes and treatment.

22 comments:

  1. Thank you for your effort. I'm shure that your experience will help many others facing similar situations.

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  2. Thank you for writing in this blog. I didn't even know this type of ADHD existed until a few hours ago. I was looking up info about problems with concentration and attention, which I've had since I was a kid, and ran into it. The list sounds like they wrote it about me... It's weird to think there are other people out there that have the same sort of problems. It makes me feel positive that there might be something I can do about it, but it also makes me really angry right now because it means everyone missed it when I was growing up and I could have possibly had much less struggles.
    I'm going to read all your posts.
    Thanks again,
    M

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  3. I am glad that you have found us! Please feel free to look around and if you have any questions, I would love to answer them. Do not be mad. What is done is done. Move forward with the knowledge that a whole community of people with Inattentive ADHD can use their collective wisdom to help you and others. Welcome!!

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  4. I'm so glad I found this site, my little boy who is now almost 9 years old was eventually diagnosed with ADHD in October 2009, it had taken me 5 years to get this confirmation, 5 years struggling , 5 years for my son to struggle with himself. Since being put on equasym I'm finding it so difficult getting him to go to sleep, he suffers nightmares, night terrors and sleep walks, has done since he was 3 years old. The medication for the ADHD has greatly improved his abilities in school, but left us with extremely difficult behavioural problems, his eating habits are extremely poor, very little will pass his mouth, no-one seems to try help or understand how difficult it is for me and both my kids. Melatonin was prescribed by the doctor at doses of 3mg but still no effect on his sleeping. I'm going to read through everything you've written in the hope that I come across something that may just help my son, thanks for taking the time to write everything you have, it will, I'm sure help so many people. Diane xx

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  5. No one fully understands why sleep issues are intertwined with ADHD but it is estimated that over half of the folks with ADHD will also have sleep issues. Make sure that the Methylphenidate (Equasym) is out of his system by bedtime by getting a type that does not last longer than 10 hours or so. I give my son his Melatonin at 8pm so that he is asleep by 9:30. A bath with Epson salts helps lots as Magnesium is sedating.

    Thanks for your comment and for reading!! Tess

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  6. This is all so interesting! My 16 year-old-daughter has sluggish cognitive tempo (SCT) -- or inattentive ADD, if you prefer -- but really she has SCT. School and social issues and life in general have been such a struggle for her -- it's heart-breaking. We've tried everything: Ritalin, Adderall, countless anti-depressants, cognitive behavioural therapy, and on and on and on. So far (several years into it), nothing works.

    She reacts badly to all the meds, so has stopped taking them. And the therapy seems to get us no where. (Not surprising, as I think this is all a physical/chemical thing... very hard to "overcome" with therapy).

    She has sleeping issues. She struggles from depression (or perhaps it's just part of SCT -- it's all so hard to get a handle on).

    I used to not "believe" in ADD (or SCT). I didn't believe in taking meds for it. I figured the kids should just "try harder." But then I saw my daughter struggling with reading and homework... it took me years to really understand her, and now I see she simply can't help it. She can't focus. She has no motivation. She is low, low energy much of the time -- nothing seems to be able to lift her up.

    I'd love to know if anyone else has had any success is helping their teens/kids cope with this.

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  7. Thanks for your comments! SCT can be resisteant to treatment especially in kids. The stimulants can make some of kids hypoactive which is the last thing you need in SCT. The DSM-V, Psychiatric Diagnostic Manual, needs to bring back the diagnosis of SCT in order that more studies are done to establish the cause and the cures of this problem.

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  8. Tessermom,
    Thanks for everything. Can you recommend a good multi-vitamin for my 11 yr old son ADHD-PI? He takes a multi, but I'm not sure it's got the right amount of zinc, magnesium or other nutrients for ADHD PI. Thanks SoccerMom

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  9. Flinstones Complete. They are the only brand that I know of with a kids vitamin that has 12.5 mg of zinc.

    Thanks for reading!

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  10. My husband, who is 69 years old and has all the symptoms of SCT, has been diagnosed with "possible" Alzheimers. He participated in a study with medications, etc. with no change. He was diagnosed with sleep apnia because of sleep issues. Could not tolerate the equipment. He does not snore or have any blockages. He has had sleep issues since a boy. He will sleep two hours and awake all night long. He can go to sleep with no problem but does not stay asleep. He was treated for depression in the past. He has great difficulty processing information; is very disorganized, does not complete projects. So as you can see, fits all the symptoms of SCT. Is there any treatment at all that works for this?

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  11. I have adhd and have struggled with learning my whole life. I started to drink purple carrot juice and eat walnuts religiously. I can say that during this period I went back to college and graduated summa cum laude with a 4.0 . I believe that the anthocyanins in the purple carrot juice helped me to focus and remember. When I drink it I feel that I complete a task.

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  12. I realized that the purple carrot juice had an effect on me because I had a box full of things to file but could never find the time or energy to do it. I always thought that it would take forever to do and i was always discouraged. Of course this was my adhd talking. I drank a whole bottle of purple carrot juice and sat down. I finished the filing in 1 hour. The funny thing is that it felt like time had stood still for me. I felt like hours had passed by. I remember thinking to myself this is what normal people must feel like. Usually my mind is always abuzz. Try it out for yourselves it works.

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  13. Through your website, I found out about SCT. It is as if you wrote the article with me in mind. My M.D. doesn't believe I have ADD. I have tried since October to get him to prescribe me a stimulant. Well, he didn't. Prescribed me antidepressants again. I became deeply depressed, stressed, and extremely sluggish. We argued about it and then I finally found a place that would provide testing for me on a sliding fee. The tests that are being given to me are so easy. I am afraid that I won't be diagnosed with adhd-i SCT, and will be stuck in this rut that I care not to be in anymore. I asked if these tests were meant for kids and the counselor said they are for adults. Have any of you taken the tests? What do you think?

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  14. the test to measure processing speed, are not meant to be hard. What the tester is measuring is how quickly you can process the information there. They purposely make the information such that anyone can easily do the test. They are not measuring if you can do the problem. They are measuring how quickly you perform the task

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  15. Hey Tess. My 8 year old daughter has ADD (inattentive type) and is currently on the Daytrana patch. It works great for helping her to focus at school, but makes her much more quiet and introverted than she already tends to be. She does tend to be anxious. I'm thinking to ask to try her on Staterra. Have you had any eperience with Starterra or other meds that seem to work better for inattentive ADD?
    By the way, I'm a PA too :)

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  16. My son was just diagnosed with SCI, he is thirteen. He started off in elementary school fine, straight A student always willing to jump in. Then as he has gotten older, We; his teachers and I started to see changes in his activity level and participation in school. This was the 3rd child psych we seen, we thought it was depression because we were dealing with bullies as well. I went as far as to take him completely out of the school system and move him further north just to see if that had any effect. It was the same results. We got the diagnoses yesterday and although I am relieved that we have an answer, I still would have opted for something less confusing. I do not want to put him on meds, is there another way to help him through this?

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  17. Hi, If you'll send list of his symptoms at tesmessedr at gmail.com I'll see if I can give you some guidance on what besides drugs or medication might help. I look forward to hearing from you. Teresa

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  18. I meant tessmesser @gmail.com. Sending messages from my phone never works well. Sorry

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  19. Searching everywhere for supplement ideas to treat add without hyperactivity, act in teenage boy: extremely smart but inattentiveness and sct lead to boredom, missed details, processing difficulty due to working memory issues. Need something safe with noticeable improvement in a short time without using medication. Any suggestions would be appreciated, thank you.

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