Blue Boy

Dog my cats! What a bad day I had yesterday. (Thank you Angel for the encouraging comments) As I explained to Angel, I did not take my Ritalin on Monday. It takes generally a day and a half to get back on track again. Many times, I do not feel adverse effect when not taking my meds. Ritalin makes it generally better, however, once in a blue moon you strike a very bad day, despite the meds. I once read the following analogies to help explain what Ritalin does when you have ADD. Ritalin does not give you an extra trump card, it just deals you the same pack everyone else is playing with Ritalin is the windshield wipers in a bad storm Ritalin helps you to tune your radio to the same station as those around you – it also tunes out the static. My Dr believes pharmacological treatment constitute 50% of ADD management. The rest is made up by counselling, KNOWLEDGE, and support. Now if it is good for you, why do you not take it, dammit?! The answer is simple. Alcohol and Methylphenidate Hydrochloride (active ingredient in Ritalin & Concerta) does not mix. I haven’t seen any research on that, but personal experience proves that. In a previous blog entry I mentioned National Braai Day (barbecue day) in South Africa. Well that happened on Monday and that is the reason why I did not take my Ritalin on Monday. I had Margaritas, beer and wine on Monday whilst friend Victorious People and I had our cookout. I did the Greek Leg of Lamb as intended. I also put some apricot wood in the weber which gave it a delicious smoke flavour. The day was PERFECT. My Leg of Lamb was a huge success, and so was the Roast Potatoes. The people positively raved about the Ratatouille. (Good timing – 3 days after the release of the Movie Ratatouille in SA). I garnished the carved lamb in a nice plate with seared green asparagus spears and lemon wedges. Victorious People made whole beef fillet (tenderloin for the Yanks) which he crusted with black pepper and wrapped in bacon. Just before dishing up, he sliced it, poured melted butter on and then flambe’d it with brandy. The verdict – a draw! On top of that, it was a beautiful sunny spring day in our part of the Southern Hemisphere. Mix in a few good friends and you have success. A drawback of ADD is that a “low” many times follow a “high”. The higher the high, the lower the low – that is the ADD equation. After I won the Weakest Link, I was on a super high for two days on end. Won’t talk about the two days which followed… May I just remind anybody reading this… this is my subjective experiences, which I hope will give especially parents of ADD children some insights into the emotions and thinking of their children. I don’t proclaim my views to be the gospel truth however.