ADD

[bostonian23]

Rangers,
I have searched the forums and have found that it looks like you have to be off medication for ADD for at least one year for service. I will not lie, that I was diagnosed with a mild case of ADD in 8th grade and have been on medication since, but only for the actual school day. My main question is should I stop using them completely now when I have two years of college left? Its mainly used to help me concentrate with school but since doing research on ADD with the Army, I stopped taking the medications this semester and doing fine (test grades, and papers scoring well), just have to concentrate a bit more but nothing unmanageable. Thank you for your input.

Ryan

[another damn texan]

You should work hard at getting off of them period. Do you feel you need them?

[bostonian23]

Ranger another damn texan,

I feel that I am motivated enough to cut them off permanently. I didn't really have a choice in 8th grade but I sure as hell do now. Since off them for a few weeks now, although having to concentrate that extra bit more, my grades in classes have been basically the same. Especially since finding out about ADD with the Army, I want to cut them out completely so I do not ruin my chances of enlisting and becoming a Ranger. I have a doctors appointment in the upcoming months, and plan to tell the doctor my decision so I can have it put on my medical record that I am off them so I do not run into anything that wont be able to get a waiver.

Ryan

[Rabbit]

There were three waivers I had to get. ADD being one of them. I believe the question was if you had to take medication relating to ADD within the past four years. Within that you had to get a waiver. (Lucky for me I cut off my adderal subscription in ninth grade, so they didn't view it as serious.)
Good luck.

[Zonk 1/75]

No MD here but many people do fine without the meds and ADD has been waaaaaaay over diagnosed in your age group.

Sometimes people can just focus on focusing……………

Clear it with your Dr before stopping

[Silverback]

Before you stop ANY medication you need to consult a PHYSICIAN, not an internet message board!

[Silverback]

There were three waivers I had to get. ADD being one of them. I believe the question was if you had to take medication relating to ADD within the past four years. Within that you had to get a waiver. (Lucky for me I cut off my adderal subscription in ninth grade, so they didn't view it as serious.)
Good luck.

I assume that since you are listed as a Cadet you were subjected to a DODMERB physical and not an Enlistment physical. They are two distinctly different examinations with a world of difference between how your medical history is reviewed.

[rgrokelley]

There is no such thing as ADD and ADHD. This is not just my opinion, but a huge debate in the pyschological community. My wife is a psychological counselor, in a school, and also believes the whole thing is B.S. Personally I think it was a made up "disease" just so the drug companies could get a huge amount of the population hooked on drugs at an early age, or to get them thinking all can be solved by copious amounts of drugs. When we were kids they didn't have ADD. They did have a name for it though. Its called "being a kid".

Now, I know a whole mess of folks will tell me that there is such a thing,and when little Johnny gets put on his drugs he is a totally different person. Well... duh! If I pump any of you up with drugs you will, amazingly enough, be another person too.

I have two tests to prove that ADD doesn't exist. The theory behind it (and it is just theory... there has yet to be a proven symptom of ADD) is that kids with ADD cannot concentrate well on things and are easily distracted. They also can't do well on tests because of all the easy distractions in life.

Horse shit!

Test one: Put any kid with ADD in front of their favorite computer game. They will have a laser beam focus on that thing like you would not believe. No "easily distracted" there.

Test two: Show me any ADD kid with a driver's license, and I'll show you a kid who can concentrate, and pass, a test if they really want to.

I don't blame the military for not wanting to take a bunch of drug users who need the drugs to alter their personality.

[Zonk 1/75]

There is no such thing as ADD and ADHD. This is not just my opinion, but a huge debate in the pyschological community. My wife is a psychological counselor, in a school, and also believes the whole thing is B.S. Personally I think it was a made up "disease" just so the drug companies could get a huge amount of the population hooked on drugs at an early age, or to get them thinking all can be solved by copious amounts of drugs.

There is much debate about the over diagnosis of autism also………..

[Richard Cranium]

I gotta agree with Ranger O'Kelley, at least on the focus part. I was a "typical" kid, with LOTS of energy and a step-mom that hated me...the feeling was mutual. Enter the Doc and all of the sudden I have ADHD, or ADD, or this that or the other and have to take a shit load of meds that didn't do shit for me...from both my perspective and my parents. It just made me feel weird to have to take all that shit when I knew I was normal. I made excellent grades without trying (until I decided that school wasn't for me for the time being)....Next up, the Army. I have, like many members of this board gone through a fuck ton of military schools and other training and have yet to have failed anything (except AAS as an E1 ) I've also knocked out a big chunk of my college, with a good GPA. Bottom line, if I'm so fucked up and can't concentrate for 5 minutes, how the hell can I somehow focus enough to do that stuff WITHOUT DRUGS?

I've talked with several counselors since coming back from Iraq, and I have had a couple of them tell me that I used my ADD to FOCUS (WTF?) on goals I set, being a good NCO, attending schools and learning as much as I could, staying focused in combat, etc. Again, WTF?



I also agree with O'Kelley about getting people hooked on drugs and with that the THOUGHT that drugs can cure problems for you.

[snafu]

My wife is a former director of a daycare so she has seen her share of these cases. She says the same thing about ADD/ADHD and how it's BS. It's called parenting and interacting with your kids, not plopping them in front of the TV for the day. Like JLTW said, kids have ENERGY...let them burn some of those McNuggets and fries off at least huh??? Play catch with your son, do SOMETHING besides video games and Barney.

I'm pretty old fashioned when it comes to meds. If plenty of orange juice and a banana doesn't fix it, then you might need a Tylenol.

[RRDTm3]

I can cure your ADD in about a week.

[Oto-Man]

I can cure your ADD in about a week.

BAWHAHAHA. Roger that Ranger RRDTm3!!!!

[Baseplate]

ADHD is misdiagnosed 90% of the time. It is real just not as common as everyone thinks. I could go on but I have a hangover

[panthersix]

I can cure your ADD in about a week.

An M-16 cleaning rod does wonders for the concentration on the range.........