Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) or just part of CFS?

[wonderoushope]

I'm a little bit confused what to do.

I will say long before I had a CFS issues (although I am now wondering if they were there but not so visible).I had really bad issues with concentrating and organising (really since a young kid, if it didn't interest me I would switch off quickly). I am very messy and I know it's not from a lack of trying. I find it very overwhelming and tiring trying to get my brain to organise. I also find it hard to add numbers in my head, like even simple ones because I quickly forget the first numbers. I had always suspected I had ADD, but never got a diagnosis because well it's hard to get it properly diagnosed in Australia (finding a decent psychiatrist that actually knows their stuff). Plus my dad got diagnosed with biploar in my early 20's and I just had issues with been medicated.

Fast forward to now, and at the moment my symptoms of motivation and concentration is pretty bad and I also have times now where I don't care about the world and my life (but it seems to quickly dissipate). Sometimes that feeling can last a few weeks, but mostly a day here or there and then it goes. I do feel though it coincides with when my gut is playing up and I start to feel quite fatigued and have brain fog.

My psychologist also wonders if I have Bipolar II because I also can get very angry all of a sudden and impatient and on edge. I also get very sensitive sounds and get angry from that too. It comes out of nowhere (not completely true I usually notice it when my gut is really bloated and uncomfortable and so makes me crabby). I again had these outburst when I was younger but they were pretty minimal. It seems lately it is happening more and more.

So I am confused if this is actually and underlying issue with CFS or on top of it all have either ADD/biploar.

I will say my whole life I have never been energetic, always been fatigued (not to the extent I am now) and I had pretty much gut issues since I was a teenager.

I think I will try and concentrate on trying to heal the gut first before I get any diagnosis from a psychiatrist. I just wondered has anyone else had this issue? What would you do?

I'm just guess I am confused if actually have something like ADD or CFS is causing me to have attention issues.

 

[Valentijn]

@wonderoushope - Do you eat things with MSG/yeast extract/E621 (monosodium glutamate)? It's an excitatory neurotransmitter, and might also explain the gut symptoms at the same time.

 

[wonderoushope]

@wonderoushope - Do you eat things with MSG/yeast extract/E621 (monosodium glutamate)? It's an excitatory neurotransmitter, and might also explain the gut symptoms at the same time.

@Valentijn - I try not to because all those things seem to be an issue. Occasionally I will slip up with yeast, but very rarely. Also, histamine type foods seem to be an issue for me I think. I am just going a low histamine diet. I tend to not have additives and keep processed foods very low.

I do notice when I go on an elimination diet my mood tends to be much better and I can think more clearly. Although, when introducing foods back in I would get varying results each time, so I am wondering if it's more a histamine issue, where my bucket limit threshold fills up.

 

[tudiemoore]

Wonderoushope--I have ADD and CFS--make a pretty awful pair--
There is a fair amount of stuff on the web re: Adult ADD, mostly on some psych websites, etc.

Right now I can only think of vague book titles, first names--sorry--
Book title, something like "Curing ADD" by Daniel Amen, is foggily coming to the forefront--no, sorry it got stalled somewhere--

Oh, here's another--"Driven to Distraction" by ????
There is a very decent ??? thing, paper,etc. out thereto help you determine your possible--ability, seriousness ??? in having this--Daniel Amen's website I think.

I am more fogged right now than I thought--nap--
Lots of info there--and to me CFS makes ADD look like a piece of cake--
Any questions, etc. let me know--

 

[Basilico]

My husband has had ADD for all his life, though it did get worse after college. His ADD is noticeably worse if he hasn't slept well. Do you ever notice ADD symptoms being worse if you haven't slept well or have eaten particular kinds of foods?

My husband doesn't take medication, even though his ADD is fairly severe. He focuses on coping techniques and general awareness of things he needs to do to be somewhat functional (for example, if he is caught in mental loops, it often helps him to talk about what he's stuck on rather than trying to distract himself or try to ignore the problem, which doesn't work at all.) He also uses timers a lot to either keep on task or as a reminder to take breaks, which he would otherwise forget.

If you are interested in reading more about the gut/brain connection:

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/06/gut-bacteria-on-the-brain/395918/

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/microbes-can-play-games-mind

 

[me/cfs 27931]

Due to my concentration problems, I was diagnosed with ADD (by a psychiatrist) 12 years ago after a short questionnaire.

Prescribed stimulants helped with concentration short term, but my health declined considerably.

Neurocognitive testing a year ago showed the ADD diagnosis was incorrect. So I have ME/CFS, but not ADD.

I would also note that according to Dr. David Bell:

The cognitive symptoms (of ME/CFS) from age 3 to age 12 are indistinguishable from attention deficit disorder, and this is another area that has never been adequately studied.

http://www.prohealth.com/library/showarticle.cfm?libid=28892

 

[wonderoushope]

Due to my concentration problems, I was diagnosed with ADD (by a psychiatrist) 12 years ago after a short questionnaire.

Prescribed stimulants helped with concentration short term, but my health declined considerably.

Neurocognitive testing a year ago showed the ADD diagnosis was incorrect. So I have ME/CFS, but not ADD.

I would also note that according to Dr. David Bell:

Thanks so much for info! Sorry to hear you were misdiagnosed.

Actually I have a feeling a lot of the concentration issues has to do with long term fatigue.

I have been tracking things fairly rigorously these last few months (in a mood and food diary) because of food sensitivity issues and from it have noticed that when my gut health is really bad, so is my mind. After 2 months, things have started to pick-up and am finally coming out of fatigue and can do things throughout the day and my concentration has picked up, depression has lifted as well. I still think I have concentration issues, but then again my energy isn't at 100%. Will be interested to see if things can further improve.

 

[scisolver]

@Webdog I had ADD (brain fog, not ADHD), random tinnitus bursts and weird vision contrast/tint attacks for decades, since birth essentially. Then I started experiencing some weird bipolar stuff in late teens and early twenties for a few years that felt like extreme depression, amazing euphoria, insatiable hunger, libido, and super energy and then that went away and I developed neck stiffness and then ME/CFS. That is also when I started to feel a weird sensation of blood pooling in the legs (I think that is what it is) that feels like cold water running down the legs.

Perhaps the Caudate nucleus is involved. I believe the condition is a form of dysautonomia.

 

[me/cfs 27931]

@Webdog I had ADD (brain fog, not ADHD), random tinnitus bursts and weird vision contrast/tint attacks for decades, since birth essentially. Then I started experiencing some weird bipolar stuff in late teens and early twenties for a few years that felt like extreme depression, amazing euphoria, insatiable hunger, libido, and super energy and then that went away and I developed neck stiffness and then ME/CFS. That is also when I started to feel a weird sensation of blood pooling in the legs (I think that is what it is) that feels like cold water running down the legs.

Perhaps the Caudate nucleus is involved. I believe the condition is a form of dysautonomia.

I'd feel more comfortable talking about this in a private forum or via private message. I will say, however, that no, I've never been bipolar/had periods of euphoria. But some of the other parts sound very familiar.

It wouldn't surprise me if the Caudate nucleus was involved in some way.

 

[scisolver]

@Webdog I'm not sure, but I think the hypomania, eurphoria etc may have been caused by taking adderall and then concerta. When I stopped taking them (because they caused anxiety) I started developing depression and then about a year later extreme euphoria. I believed that perhaps thost drugs caused some kind of instability, or maybe that is just what it felt like to be normal once it was mostly euphoria later since I was no longer taking those drugs which made me so anxious all the time, which I was taking for ADD, but didn't like them.

 

[helios]

@Webdog I'm not sure, but I think the hypomania, eurphoria etc may have been caused by taking adderall and then concerta. When I stopped taking them (because they caused anxiety) I started developing depression and then about a year later extreme euphoria. I believed that perhaps thost drugs caused some kind of instability, or maybe that is just what it felt like to be normal once it was mostly euphoria later since I was no longer taking those drugs which made me so anxious all the time, which I was taking for ADD, but didn't like them.

Okay now it makes sense that you had periods of intense energy & euthoria given that you were on those meds. I have to admit the idea of those 2 sounds fantastic to me, though not so much if it comes with intense anxiety. I would be prepared to risk it but also take supplements & herbs to try counteract the anxiety. I did not have ADD from when I was young, but after a bad crash 8 yrs ago I am convinced I have it now. Someone mentioned sleep before and definitely the quality of my sleep has a significant impact on my ability to focus, plan & concentrate. I would love to trial some stimulant meds but really hard to get where I live. I ended up getting a referral to a pyschologist hoping to make it easier to get a trail on those meds, but she said she would not try them until I spent 2 yrs trialling SSRIs, :Sigh: that was the end of that.

You said you had ADD from birth, so now that you are off the meds how are you coping with your ADD now...has the depression lessened? I assume the anxiety has gone down, but are you still struggling with focus? If i worked as a trademan it would not be such a big deal for me, but when I worked in IT/finance it really screwed with my ability.I really struggle some weeks now and have just had a pickup by fasting a number of days which is good but I am getting sick of having to do that when I really need to be putting on weight + the lack of support from doctors on the focus/cognition aspect pisses me off.

 

[scisolver]

@helios No, I had intense energy and euphoria in the years after once I stopped taking the medications.

I now want to investigate cervical instability and brain stem issues. I meant to investigate that a while back. I need to get a scan and see a neurosurgeon who is knowledgeable on that. It is one of the causes of ME/CFS.

No, depression. I still get brain fog.