[blackwhitered]

I was diagnosed with ADHD as a kid and was on strattera and ritalin for 7 years until my mom decided I didn't have it and took me off meds.

I can no longer be on meds because I'm schizophrenic and stimulants could exacerbate my psychosis.

What other treatment options are there for ADHD besides meds?

[doyoutrustme]

I've heard of non stimulant options, such as welbutrin.

tapatalk post.

[blackwhitered]

Originally Posted by doyoutrustme

I've heard of non stimulant options, such as welbutrin.

tapatalk post.

I have had bad reactions to antidepressants as well (increased suicidal thoughts, aggression, and OCD-like symptoms)...

[medicalfox]

I'm on strattera and it's a non stimulant, you could go back on it and should be fine on it.

[ZehR]

Originally Posted by blackwhitered

I have had bad reactions to antidepressants as well (increased suicidal thoughts, aggression, and OCD-like symptoms)...

Wellbutrin IS a slight stimulant. It could be the best stimulant for you when taking your schizophrenia into perspective.

If you just had psychotic episodes, I wouldn't worry much about long term treatment with stimulants (like myself) but if you were actually diagnosed with schizophrenia by a professional, psychosis doesn't go away so you're right that stimulants would be risky.

Antidepressants do increase my aggression/agitation, etc but it's only in the first few days or weeks. Eventually it subsides so you have to wait it out. Especially on MAOI's and SNRI's.

It is possible to have schizophrenia and ADHD. Maybe trying different antipsychotics will decrease the negative cognitive effect of schizophrenia because for some people, I've heard that some antipsychotics do help with the thought impairment.

I've been taking fish oil for a while and I think it helps. I've heard good ratings on that. I watched a program on TV where they were testing this guys IQ before and after taking fish oil and the longer he took it, the higher he scored on the test. Maybe it actually increased his IQ or it improved his cognition to help him score higher on the test.

[medicalfox]

I take fish oil daily and I feel like it really helps me, if you don't already take fish oil already it's a great time to start

[-jimi-]

I don't know what therapy methods you have over there, but I had skills therapy for autism spectrum and I found it very helpful for ADD. I guess it depends on what issues with the ADHD you have. Mine are mostly organizing and creating routines. I had a good psychologist who sat me down and went through that stuff on paper, like planning and also taught me methods of carrying things out. It sounds simple but it was actually really helpful to move the mess inside my head out of a preprinted paper made for putting those things on. Also I assume there are a lot of apps these days that can help with things ADHD tends to mess up.

[ADDCrusher]

There a lots of things you can do outside of the medication realm. The first and most fundamental is the least interesting: diet, exercise, sleep.

There's just so much research on the benefits of better diet, regular exercise and sleep quality and their impact on ADHD symptoms, you just can't ignore it.

Here are my mantras for diet -- something that you can alter and get immediate results with:

Sugar Sucks: it's a false friend of your brain cuz the energy it provides doesn't last.
Carbs Kill: especially simple carbs ("white" foods), which act like sugar in the ADHD brain.
Protein is Power: make sure you're eating a protein breakfast and snacking on protein (e.g. nuts) thru the day -- INSTEAD of sugar/carb snacks.
Omegas are Mega: get some quality supplements of fish/krill oil.

That's a start. Good luck to you!

[blackwhitered]

Originally Posted by ZehR

Wellbutrin IS a slight stimulant. It could be the best stimulant for you when taking your schizophrenia into perspective.

If you just had psychotic episodes, I wouldn't worry much about long term treatment with stimulants (like myself) but if you were actually diagnosed with schizophrenia by a professional, psychosis doesn't go away so you're right that stimulants would be risky.

Antidepressants do increase my aggression/agitation, etc but it's only in the first few days or weeks. Eventually it subsides so you have to wait it out. Especially on MAOI's and SNRI's.

It is possible to have schizophrenia and ADHD. Maybe trying different antipsychotics will decrease the negative cognitive effect of schizophrenia because for some people, I've heard that some antipsychotics do help with the thought impairment.

I've been taking fish oil for a while and I think it helps. I've heard good ratings on that. I watched a program on TV where they were testing this guys IQ before and after taking fish oil and the longer he took it, the higher he scored on the test. Maybe it actually increased his IQ or it improved his cognition to help him score higher on the test.

I'm officially Dx'd with schizoaffective disorder, but it's more likely I have schizophrenia because I've never been manic and I'm rarely depressed.

idk if my doctors will even care about my ADHD because they kind of focus on the psychotic issues and might attribute my problems focusing to that instead of ADHD even though I was diagnosed with ADHD as a kid.

I know I'm still having problems with it because lately I've been hyperfocusing on things I enjoy but can't really focus on my schoolwork or other responsibilities...