John, CAPD, huh? I guess I learn something new everyday. I never heard of that before, but I will certainly do an internet search on it and read up on it. It sure would be nice if I would be able to find some kind of medication to allow me to tolerate things more. I would do that, even though I'm already on Wellbutrin for depression and Adderall for the ADD, amongst other things not psychologically related (Albuterol for asthma and Prilosec for GERD). It would be so nice not to have to take any medication at all, but well, what do you do when you have these things. I know the Wellbutrin helps me, but I'm still trying to decide if the Adderall does much for me. I wish I wouldn't have to take a stimulant medication because I also have Tourette Syndrome, and when I take the Adderall it seems to make the tics worse. I've also tried Dexadrine and Ritalin, same effect. I'm really beginning to wonder if there's anything that will help me with the ADD. It really gets depressing. Since taking stimulants, I haven't noticed that it decreases my heightened sensitivity to auditory input. I never did really understand the reasons for stimulants helping a person with ADD, since it seems like I'm already overstimulated, but I'm trying them out. Thanks so much for that information, and I am going to do a search on that right now. I love these boards! :)

Mandevu, you are quite intuitive. Your prescription for exercise is right on target! As you have figured out, exercise will increase neurotransmitters in the brain much like the stimulants do thereby decreasing irritability, etc.

Yomama, the fact that you take albuterol is significant even from an ADD standpoint. The hypoxia that results from inadequately treated asthma (& other chronic obstructive lung diseases) can cause (or worsen) ADD symptoms. The albuterol you need for your lungs probably makes you more irritable. Hopefully, you are using a long acting form (like Serevent) and aren't needing to use a "rescue" inhaler very often. If you're using a rescue inhaler regularly, your physician needs to know so that your medication regime can be altered. Do Not Change what you are taking without talking to him first. If you're not seeing a definite improvement from the Adderall, talk to your md about discontinuing it.

John, Man, you sure do seem to know a lot about this sort of thing...wish I would! But I'm learning! :) I'm glad that I mentioned the asthma if you think there's a correlation there with that and the ADD symptoms. I've been using an inhaler since 1986 when I was in the hospital with pneumonia and found out then that I have asthma. My doctor put me on Theodur and Alupent. I forget why, but I stopped taking the Theodur on my own. Since our insurance has gotten worse and will only cover certain types of prescription drugs, I've recently switched from Alupent to Albuterol. I don't take anything at all like Serevent; I just have the rescue inhaler. So is it really that important to use an inhaler like Serevent? I probably use my rescue inhaler once a day or at least every other day because I usually have some little wheezy spell, and sometimes the wheezing is worse than others...not usually real bad though. If you think it's that important to use another inhaler along with the rescue inhaler, then I think I will have to talk to my doctor the next time that I go back there, which will be in another couple of weeks when I go in for my monthly visit to get the Adderall prescription. Thanks so much for enlightening me! I feel like I've been kept in the dark for so long and am learning a lot from people on the internet.

Yomama,
Between now and when you see your md, look for a correlation between the use of your inhaler and your intolerance to noise and other ADD symptoms. They may not be related, but they may be.

Even if you notice a connection, do not stop using your inhaler without talking to your doctor first! Tell your doctor if you see a correlation. Also, tell your doctor how often you are using your rescue inhaler. He may want to try to control your asthma better using a longer acting albuterol inhaler and/or inhaled steriods. On those, you may not need to use a rescue inhaler.