We
are taking an extended sabbatical from stimulant treatment for my
severe ADHD and anxiety disorders. There are several reasons for
this, but two of them are (a) dealing with the controlled substance
laws in this country is an incredibly annoying process, filled with
the worst kind of quasi-legal bullshit designed to make the process
disagreeable and I am looking forward to a break, and (b) it is only
fair after 20 years of treatment with stimulants to see what else
works or does not work.
If
it does work, then it will make things like travel both inside and
outside the country much easier.
There
is no good time to change medication in this disease, there are only
less-bad times, and this is probably one of them.
I
can't say that I am very pleased with the medical system in this
country. And no, none of this is likely to be covered by health
insurance, assuming I even get health insurance with Obamacare.
For
those who care enough to learn more, and I doubt there are many of
you, here is a link to an excellent discussion of the non-stimulant
alternatives. There is something that is mentioned at the top of the
article which I would like to emphasize because so many of my friends
and people at large do not want to hear it. For this disease,
stimulants are by far the best to treat this disease. They are all
controlled susbstances.
I
admit that being open about the treatment of this disease has never
done me any good and can only do me harm, as I am an easy target, but
it was a goal of this blog to be open about these matters in the hope
that my experience may help others.
The
downside of this experiment is that I may experience anxiety
disorders, panic attacks, tell people what I think, and seek out
stimulants off-label due to craving not satisfied by the
non-stimulant medication. Should that happen I will probably return
to stimulants quickly.
There
is some hope that if I had a stable place of employment doing work I
loved with people I liked that then many of these perceived problems
would go away and the medication, which will be necessary for the
rest of my life, would stabilize.
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