Direction needed....
 

Not sure if I am in the right place or not. I suffered from Cerebral Hypoxia at child birth. I am in my mid thirties & have had a "normal" life except for issues related to my traumatic birth. I have always done poorly in school(some C's a lot of D's and some F's) & was diagnosed early with Dyslexia & a learning disability. I have a GED as well as a BA, so I guess I'm considered high functioning? My biggest problems have always been math and science, my problems are with comprehension primarily. My memory has always been pretty bad too, I have other issues including social problems.

I have never felt very smart & my current job is pushing me to the limits(outside sales). I felt that if I didn't address my short comings I would loose my job sooner rather than later. For whatever reason I decided that seeing somebody that specialized in ADD would be a good start. I have now been on multiple drugs for about 6 months & have had no improvement at all with any of my problems.

I keep just going along with my current doc (very well respected, nationally known add specialist) and his different medications. Guess you can say I'm kinda timid, since I have never asked this doc about who else I can see . Anyway, I am having a lot of problems deciphering what my next step should be because I feel like I have symptoms of so many different conditions. Maybe there isn't anything that can be done, I just don't know. Any input or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

SloMo,

I would recommend getting a full neuro-psychological assessment. This will diagnose you strengths and weaknesses. There may not be anything that can be done to improve your brain, but there may be many things you can do to work with it the way it is.

This assessment may also allow you to request accommodations for your neurological disabilities.

Also, you may want to look into how you react to stress. The stress of high power sales may put you over the edge. Maybe there is a way to reduce this stress load.

Your Dyslexia and other learning disabilities do not need to stop you. As you learned how to work around or with your Dyslexia, you may find ways to work around your other struggles.

I did telephone sales for many years with my specialty remodeling business. I learned that I would get flustered easily. I began to memorize the various details I needed to explain. This way, I was sure to include all of the specifics that the customer needed to know so I could close the sale over the phone.

There are tricks to memorizing information. I could explain some of them if you want me to.

It would help to understand your specific memory and cognitive deficits from the neuro-psych assessment.

I would wonder if rather than classic ADD, you have a difficulty with filtering the important information from the background or unimportant information. Most ADD is of the hyper active variety.

There is also a slowed processing disorder that makes it difficult to grab all of the information as it is presented. Like trying to get a drink out of a fire-hose. My brain struggles to process fast information and over stresses and I become reactive. This could be part of your social struggles.

Think of it as a 40 mph brain trying to live in a 60 mph world.

Just some ideas. I am not a professional. Just very experienced and inquisitive.

Welcome to NeuroTalk SloMo! :Wave-Hello:

Mark made great suggestions. Since you've tried many ADD meds and they haven't worked very well, maybe looking at these different ways to adapt will help.

I have some similar problems from having MS. I take a medicine that keeps me awake (also used for ADD) and it doesn't really make me do better, but just improves my wakefulness. I don't know if that relates to how you feel from them or not.

I like Mark's description of being a 40 mph brain working in a 60 mph world. With me it's more like a 25 mph brain, but still the same situation.

Let us know what your doctor suggests if you talk to him about what else you can try.

The speed comparisons are so true. Actually, my neuro said that my frontal lobes are working at 200 mph, my occipital lobes are working at 25 mph. My corpus colosum (center of the brain) is hit and miss, So, there is a big communication problem between them all.

Sort of like asking someone who only speaks English to interpret between someone who only speaks Spanish and someone who only speaks Russian. There is a lot lost in translation and everybody ends up frustrated and nobody knows who is the problem.

Such is the life of PCS.

Thanks for the input. I have tried using numonic (SP?) devices but had trouble learning the system. It's possible i put too much emphis on trying to learn the system and didn't try to implement the system with what i was trying to learn. I am not very good with practicing things, don't know if its a loss of interest or just lazyness.

I will definately look into getting a full neuro-psychological assessment. Is that something that a neuroligist would do? Do you typically need a referal to get one done? Given my history i know there is something wrong but hope there is some way to improve my daily life. I'll keep you guys posted. Thanks again.

Welcome to NT!

You'll need a neuro-psychologist to do your neuro-psych. Shop around and find a good one with experience.

Knowing what your cognitive issues are is the first step in addressing them. Now that I know how my brain is functioning (or not), I've been able to come up with strategies to help me deal with things like memory problems and dealing with noise. I am also doing cognitive therapy designed to help improve my concentration and speech. None of this will get me back to where I was before my accident, but even small improvements can make a big difference in my daily life. Heck, I can talk on the phone, again!

Good Luck

SloMo,

The best way to memorize things, especially thing that do not lend themselves to mnemonic systems is by increasing the time interval between practice sessions.

Besides, mnemonics do not work well when you are trying to present information to a client. They do not see you as knowledgeable as you use your mnemonic system.

The first day, you practice once every 15 minutes. The next day, you practice once every hour.

The next day you practice at breakfast, lunch, dinner, and bedtime.

Each time you practice, you are building memory pathways to this memory. As you increase the time between practice sessions, these pathways require more effort to follow so the brain works harder to follow the path, using habit and investigation to find the memory pathway.

If you have any memorizing skills, this technique will work very well.

An aid to this system is to print out the information on small "cheat sheets." Then, you can pull them from your pocket and recite the information. I used this technique in high school successfully despite my cognitive problems from a concussion. It is great for lists, verses, charts, outlines, etc. It is a bit harder for paragraphs but still works.

I have used it to memorize entire pages of the Bible. My kids had a memorization challenge at school and I challenged them to beat me. I beat two out of three of them. But they all were successful with this memorization technique.

If my damaged brain can do it, you should be able to improve your memorization skills too.

A goal to have as you memorize the information, is to OWN the information. That means it is solidly memorized and understood in your mind. Only when you own information can you then GIVE it away. It will make the stress much less and your success much better.

Most of my understanding of brain injury and rehab is due to me reading and rereading it dozens of times if not more. As I reread the same article, I learn things that I overlooked before.

You have likely experienced these same things as you went through college.

Good luck with this.

You may want to look int HBOT therapy. It has been studied extensively as a treatment for hypoxic injury. I'm not sure if neurofeedback can help, but you may also want to look into that as well.

Well it's been a while, obviously, and i was able to get a full neuropsych test done. It took several months of referrals etc. and in the end i was very disappointed. I was basically told nothing could be done. However they recommended Strattera and decrease distractions. I have a copy of the result details but in a nutshell: "results suggest mild level of cognitive impairment and it is felt that the most applicable diag at this time is cognitive disorder NOS" & "possesses deficits on tests of frontal lobe functioning".

At this point i really don't know what to do. I have been on strattera now for 5 weeks and just like last time(minus the 3 other meds i was on simultaniously) the meds are doing nothing at all. I guess finding a specialist such as the Amen clinic or something similar would be one avenue to take. I have always been hard on myself, but some of the daily memory issues i have are just ridiculous and hinder my competence in both personal & work life.

As always, any thoughts/input is welcomed! Thanks!

A neuro-psych report cam confirm your struggles. Now, you need to accept the dysfunctions of your memory and work on learning accommodations and work-arounds.

What symptoms cause you the most trouble? Have you tried learning and of the accommodation techniques to help with these struggles?

Let us know what you struggles are specifically? There is likely others who have struggled with the same dysfunction.

My best to you.

Thanks for the response. As far as memory problems, it is not uncommon for several things to happen throughout each day. Just within the last two days I remember these things happening(I know there are other examples that I can't remember details of):

-dog feeding- we have two dogs, while I was feeding one of them in the evening(we feed them in the AM & PM) I could not for the life of me remember if I had fed the other in the AM.
-left dog outside- our two dogs stay inside, well as I pulled up the driveway today I hear one of them barking through the fence. My first thought is oh no the door wasn’t closed completely and the wind blew it open. Well I get inside and realize that I never let him back in after peeing, I just left for my apts (I was gone for 3+ hrs).
-on my way to the optometrists’ office today(a 5 minute ride) I said to myself, you really need to chew some gum when getting out of the car b/c of the terrible dry mouth I was having. Didn’t even realize until I was sitting in the chair.
-I wanted to each lunch at a specific fast food place(they are everywhere). I was in an area that I have frequented for two years and couldn’t remember where the place was.
-lack of mental horsepower- I use that term to mean that I don’t feel remotely smart at all. I don’t say that in a “hard on myself kinda way” it’s just plain true. My comprehension of simple subject matter is very poor. In addition my communication skills are poor. I have trouble taking what I’m thinking and verbalizing it, to the point of putting off phone conversions as long as possible.
These are just a few examples of daily problems I have, they could probably seem trivial to some who have had serious injuries. Despite having been blessed with an incredible wife & baby I still find myself depressed because I feel like I can barely function sometimes. Maybe a shrink is the answer, I’m just the type that never gives up and wants the best for myself and my family.

SloMo,

It sounds like you need to establish some visual cues for your memory struggles. I have many. I will stack things near the door so I don't forget them. My father struggled with memory issues and was very successful with list and notes. He kept some 3x5 cards in his shirt pocket and wrote down his memory needs.

Maybe your wife can help you set up some visual memory cues.

I live 24/7 with similar memory struggles.

My best to you.