Hi allNoticing, more & more, the similarities of behaviour between SAH ( and ADHD
(My SAH was 12 yrs ago)
Has anyone else seen the, almost identical ,effects or been formally diagnosed?
Treatment for ADHD seems very successful for some - would we benefit from it, I wonder.
Thanks x
My eighteen year old daughter has ADHD and we fought the authorities, healthcare and schooling her entire life. We knew there was an issue with her behaviour, even she knew as she grew old enough to see it for herself. NOBODY listened.
She was finally diagnosed shortly before her sixteenth birthday with ADHD, more than a year after being diagnosed with a genetic condition (Turner Syndrome) that affected her growth, physical, mental and emotional. Growth hormone corrected the imbalance in her physical appearance, however she will be taking medication for the rest of her life. Her ADHD has always been stable throughout. Fear of food, certain textures are a no-no, no boundaries in her behaviour, over familiarity, OCD and many others. She isn't being medicated, but she is receiving counselling. Despite it all, and the list of dramas we have endured as a family regarding her is far too long to list here, she did well at school and is now at university doing a zoology degree course. One thing her ADHD has always given her is an obsessive attachment to fur and animals in general. She's using it to her advantage now. It's all about making changes and coping...
She's only nine in the picture but I think it represents the level of support we've had to give her and still do!
Best of luck,
Andy
Hello Tina, I'm glad you raised this. I do think there's some correlation with some ADHD symptoms and post MTBI symptoms - I don't know about other brain injuries though. The thing is though that ADHD presents in different ways and degrees of severity and so do brain injuries. ( Though women / girls tend to be under diagnosed with regards to ADHD and apparently are less likely to be hyperactive).
Some adults with ADHD are highly successful, which is why it persisted over time in the population. ( I suspect that my sister is one of these, - she made me feel exhausted by comparison even pre MTBI!) Also I read now that ADHD apparently has a genetic element.
I know that my executive memory was affected by my MTBI and also that ADHD is a disorder of executive functioning, so I can see that there can be a crossover of symptoms there. Plus it is already accepted that having prior ADHD can pre-dispose people to long(er) lasting post concussion symptoms. There is some research out there on treating people with TBI with methylphenidate (ritalin) - see the work on this by Birgitta Johansson and her colleagues for example.
For myself I know that I've always had an element of hyperfocus, but was more likely to present as having mild dyspraxia - albeit high functioning, and my neuro psychological tests post TBI showed a marked level of dyspraxia - I felt like I had gone from having something mild in the background to being much more affected post TBI - which is apparently not unusual.
On the more speculative front, I think it is possible to think of my individual long post concussion as a sort of acquired ADHD - which sheds a different light on how I'm beginning to think about bouts of fatigue for example - more like realising that I could be in mental overload, why it has happened, and what I need to do to about it - which is quite a useful new coping strategy.
I do wonder if Ritalin / methylphenidate would help people with MTBI wth recovery? It apparently boosts dopamine in the brain - I wonder how that compares with treatment with SSRIs / antidepressants which seem to be the drug of choice after MTBI?
I did google for research re ADHD and MTBI more recently - and they have been linked in researchers eyes at least, though as far as I can see it still seems to be an open question as to whether MTBI can trigger ADHD or not.
Ace reply. Study needed for people in long term recovery with attention deficits.
Johansson did a five year follow up which looked promising but I think her studies were with relatively small numbers
All brain injuries are different, so a blanket statement like this not correct. Still following my SAH, and severe hypoxia, short term attention is my worst ability.
Advice welcome 
TBI & ADHD; why can symptoms of the former not become identical to those of the latter & then be treated as such...?
Headaches and neck pain
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