National Registry Exam and ADD/ADHD

[emtkelley]

I also have ADHD. Let me tell you, Stratera rocks! After I did poorly in I class last year, I went to the dr. and was diagnosed and have been on meds for quite a while. If you go under my profile, you can read what I have written about the subject. You can also read how so many people have been very helpful in giving me ideas and support, which I so appreciate! It is refreshing that more people are "coming out" and being proactive about ADHD/ADD. I was always told to "apply" myself. How can one apply themselves when they have no earthly idea on how to begin?

I study...and study for my exams. It's really up to the individual what works best for them. Some, like myself, get very distracted very easily and can't think if there is noise. Others like music in the background while they study. I do my workbook, the handouts and read. I don't obsess about it but I do what I need to do to get the material down pat. I am given more confidence being on meds and feel like the sky is the limit now.

Please give medication a try.....and don't wait! I just went into my dr. and taked with him about my history with school, that I had done poorly in I class and I want to succeed. I didn't need to go through testing, either. The doseage might have to be adjusted some but your dr. will work with you on that and you will be closely monitored. Personally, I have never had side effects but everyone is different. Good luck to you and I hope you find a way, with meds or without, that you can comfortably live with, in order to test well!

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I have an idea: know the material so well that you can pass even with your ADD. Everybody wins.

But yeah, you might want to try those meds if you need them. Don't want you forgetting what you're doing halfway through an OPA insertion.

[thbarnes]

I have an idea: know the material so well that you can pass even with your ADD. Everybody wins.

This definitely shows ignorance regarding ADD/ADHD on your part. But I'm going to give you the benefit of a doubt you're not very familiar with it. The problem is not knowing the material, it's about being able to mentally access it in my memory and staying focused on the question. Maybe you've been reading a book or something and gotten to a point where you realize that you haven't really been following the text, just 'eyeing' it, not really reading. That happens to me all the time, hundreds of times a day. It happens mid-sentence. It will happen to me ten times on the same page. But let me get up and pace around, rock, or fiddle with something in my hand, I know the material. Accomodations are not about making up for some inability, they adjust the situation for my disability. All I need is time and I can do just as well or better than someone without ADD/ADHD.

But yeah, you might want to try those meds if you need them.

Thanks Dr. obvious. I am actually very sensitive to stimulants and most ADD/ADHD drugs are stimulants, most of them are combinations of amphetamine. They work because they stimulate the pre-frontal cortex of the brain, the part of the brain which regulates attention. It's also the part of the brain that I severely injured as a child, injuries that show up on scans today. Straterra is different, it's a norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor, similar to SSRIs. It is indicated for adults and for those sensetive to stimulants. I'm going to discuss it with my Dr. soon.

Don't want you forgetting what you're doing halfway through an OPA insertion.

Again, I'm giving you the benefit of a doubt that you are not familiar with the true nature of ADD/ADHD. And I really don't think anyone trained to my level would forget 'what I'm doing' during an OPA insertion. Actually, EMS is one of those fields that seems to attract people with ADD/ADHD. During intense calls, a 'hyperfocus' is required, and most persons with ADD/ADHD have an incredibly ability to hyperfocus, it's paradoxic but proven.

I ask you to please read up on ADD/ADHD before posting such insulting comments. And if you didn't mean to be insulting, your post was and you need to understand why.

[thbarnes]

And I would like to thank everyone for their posts. I really appreciate the advice. I did well on my exam and I am anxiously awaiting my results. I did have an interview today, which went great. I'm looking forward to moving up to Paramedic.

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Ok, Dr. I-can't-recognize-tongue-in-cheek-statements. Yes, I actually am familiar with ADD/ADHD, as all of my teachers since kindergarten through junior high school have told my parents that they think I have it. Although I do not actually have ADD, I share many of the symptoms of people who do. I can relate to the reading of the book example very well, as it happens to me invariably every time I try to read a book. Especially if the book is boring, when I read a book I go through the motions and move my eyes along with the words through several pages until I realize I don't remember anything I've read, and have to go back and read it again, sometimes over and over again. Sometimes, just like you, I realize that i stopped reading a while ago, and have been staring at the book. Although it doesn't happen to me as much as people with ADD, it happens to me a LOT. I also have trouble listening to people talk, just as you do, as even when I think what they're saying is important, I usually phase out mid-sentence if they use a word or phrase that reminds me of something else. Even writing these posts takes a long time because I commonly leave words or phrases out of sentences when typing, and have to go back and check and re-check. In short, I don't have ADD, but my attention span is ridiculously short. And I did see the part where you're sensitive to stimulants, and were considering trying the non-stimulant type. Although I don't know anything about the drugs currently in use for ADD, your language implied that there were drugs that you haven't tried yet. Thus, I recommended trying the other type, rather than trying to tough your way through it as your language implied you were going to do. Makes sense?

And yes, I know that you can't "forget what you're doing halfway through an OPA insertion." It was a humor-intended hyperbole; or in plain english: a joke.

Apparently I did not make my post tongue-in-cheeky enough to be recognized as a joke (or overly tongue-in-cheeky enough to be insulting), so I'm sorry if I insulted you. It was not my intention.

[emtkelley]

Th,

I am soooooooo happy you did well on the exams! That has got to be a great relief to you! Congrats!