Memantine for ADD?

[Biovail]

Not sure if this qualifies as "advanced", but meh.

Has anybody had experience taking memantine for ADD? I have heard reports of people with ADHD feeling "clearheaded" and experiencing reduced brain-fog after tritating their doses up over a week or two.

This is of great interest to me because I have no desire to take stimulants such as Adderall on a regular basis (finals cramming excluded). I have the inattentive type ADD, which leaves me feeling spacey and brain-fogged throughout the day. I have trouble and seem to zone out with simple tasks such as browsing through school supplies in stores, playing pool or video games, writing papers, and often engaging in a simple conversation. I simply lose focus of my tasks and end up thinking about nothing or don't finish my thoughts and have to start them over, repeatedly.

I manage to get by in school due simply to the fact that I was blessed with intelligence and shit takes me half as long as most people when I do pay attention. But my daily life is miserable. And I can't simply take simulants 24/7 to help me with day to day life from now until retirement.

So I'm looking for some people with experience here.

 

[Amu]

I've heard of it going both ways, you can start it up and see it if helps after a week, I know people that get increased and also decreased brain fog

 

[negrogesic]

The primarily inattentive Dx is a personal conundrum of sorts, particular in the absence of notable Cmrbt disorders. This said, I see no reason to not give a trial TX course. Sufficient literature exists as to make it use well within reason.

 

[Biovail]

Well ADHD itself is a descriptive diagnosis really. I guess I may as well try it out. I just don't really want to put myself through a week or two of hell while my mind adjusts to the drug if it's not going to help (or make thing worse). I'm also worried about sending myself into a pit of depression long term because of how I felt for that week or two.

 

[grue]

Despite a slight psychostimulant signature early in use I would not expect the NMDA antagonist memantine to be cognitively helpful without a psychostimulant adjunct, and it may worsen cognition, but maybe if your problem is just chronic stress or something then the "buffer" as it were against glutamate overexcitation (which features into e.g. shrinking of the hippocampus in the chronic stress state) might do one some good. Theoretically speaking.

Doesn't hurt to try. Remember that you should titrate slowly up to the target dose, to avoid definite drunkenness. (And conversely, titrate downwards slowly if aborting memantine use, because a rebound of excitatory NMDA activation is probably bad for most people's purposes.)

 

[atrollappears]

The primarily inattentive Dx is a personal conundrum of sorts, particular in the absence of notable Cmrbt disorders. This said, I see no reason to not give a trial TX course. Sufficient literature exists as to make it use well within reason.

"Cmrbt"?

Try pseudoephedrine? Still a stimulant of sorts, but probably not neurotoxic, and many inattentive types find it more effective than classic stimulant Rxs. Some also report a general lifting of brain fog that persists even after the primary effects have worn off, such that a morning dose every other day is sufficient to alleviate symptoms, while the stimulation only lasts for that morning.

 

[ebola?]

"comorbid"

Negrogesic often dictates into a cell phone with voice recognition software or types quickly thereon.

ebola