Friend (19) diagnosed with ADD - How?! - ADD / ADHD Message Board

gprcc · 02-22-2004, 10:10 AM

My friend Josh was diagnosed with ADD, I never noticed it but that's what they told him.

Now, please don't flame me here but I have read various articles online (they're everywhere) about Nicotine helping mental disorders and other things. One of the main things nicotine is exceptionally good at treating is ADD/ADHD. I've read many times from different sources that children and other people were given Nicotine gum and patches which worked better then ritalin.

My friend is a snuff user and dips a can of Skoal snuff a day, which is roughly 412mgs of nicotine, how is it that he diagnosed with ADD after all the nicotine he consumes?

index.html · 02-22-2004, 10:35 AM

I'm not going to flame you; there actually has been some research that indicates that nicotine can reduce ADD symptoms. Unfortunately, long-term nicotine use is at least as risky as long-term use of stimulants. "Dipping" carries not only the risk of heart disease from the nicotine but cancers of the mouth, throat, etc.

Many people unknowingly "self-medicate". Your boyfriend has probably inadvertently discovered that dipping helps his ADD. It may be that his use of nicotine has reduced his ADD symptoms to the point that you didn't notice them. Of course, the possibility also exists that he was incorrectly diagnosed. I don't know how thorough of an exam he was given, so I can't make a judgement about that...

Hoop · 02-22-2004, 11:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gprcc

My friend Josh was diagnosed with ADD, I never noticed it but that's what they told him.

Now, please don't flame me here but I have read various articles online (they're everywhere) about Nicotine helping mental disorders and other things. One of the main things nicotine is exceptionally good at treating is ADD/ADHD. I've read many times from different sources that children and other people were given Nicotine gum and patches which worked better then ritalin.

My friend is a snuff user and dips a can of Skoal snuff a day, which is roughly 412mgs of nicotine, how is it that he diagnosed with ADD after all the nicotine he consumes?

Don't take this as a flame because it is not meant to be nor is it meant directly at you but I have to respond to this.

I say we should just have all kids no matter how young, start smoking a pack of cigarettes a day to give them their daily nicotine dose. We will start them off with filtered menthols and then progress to unfiltered. Eventually we will have them all buy a bag of Bugler and Tip Tops and roll there own. Jesssh. Leave to them, after all the crap about cigarettes and nicotine addiction, and "The surgeon General has determined...." they will resort to this as a remedy.

I will tell you all, I have travel all over the world. I have live in several states in the U.S. I grew up in a rough neighborhood. I have had many different jobs. I attended a university late in life and got my education and degrees and have met many, many, many different people in all walks of life in my 50 years and I have never once met anyone with ADD. Never! I've met all types of people, drug addicts, alcoholics, weirdos, crazies, winos, prostitutes, rich, poor, whites, blacks, orientals. hispanics, all colors and ethinic groups, midgets, clowns etc. etc. and ocassionally, some normal people as well and never have I met anyone with ADD.

If I find anything that bores me to dead, I won't pay attention either and never have. My mind would drift. I can just see myself in the psycho's office, "Put the square peg in the round hole". I would be thinking "Put the straight peg in the ho". I can guarantee you "they" will diagnose me with ADD from just pure boredom on my part. I don't know where this ADD comes from. Well, actually I do. It comes from the psychiatry/psychology professional field. The profession that just rubs my butt raw. We have a different name for it in layman's terms where I come from? It's called a mind intercourse (you know the word here) for lack of a better term.

If you never noticed your friend to have this ADD before, then he doesn't have it. That's my diagnosis, from what little information you've provided about your friend and from my vast experience in meeting all kinds of real people. And best of all, it's completely free and always will be.

Hoop

brainf0g · 02-23-2004, 02:51 AM

Yes nicotine helps AD/HD and when I quit personally my symptoms increased dramatically. But I wouldn't go as far as to say that smoking decreased AD/HD symptoms more than a stimulant, such as Ritalin.

Nicotine can actually be good for the brain. In fact there is a new AD/HD medication currently going through clinical trials that work with the nicotinic receptors in the brain. The bad part about nicotine is the method in which it gets in ones' system.

If he wanted to decrease his AD/HD symptoms somewhat with nicotine look into wearing the patch.

brainf0g · 02-23-2004, 03:10 AM

Quote:

have met many, many, many different people in all walks of life in my 50 years and I have never once met anyone with ADD. Never!

Then you don't know what to look for..

Quote:

I've met all types of people, drug addicts, alcoholics, weirdos, crazies, winos, prostitutes, rich, poor, whites, blacks, orientals.

At least four of those categories statistically have an extremely high chance of having AD/HD.

There is a reason why people become drug addicts, alcoholics, "winos", prostitutes, etc. and it is all due to the brain. Either it's psychological from wiring during critical periods of development and/or trauma, or biopsychological through brain chemistry from genetic brain function, physical brain damage, etc., but it is all due to the brain.

What I find interesting is the people who need psychological help the most don't believe in it with a passion, but people who don't need help understand the nature and reason of it. I guess it's a type of justification.