close to being diagnosed, but not sure | ADHD Information

does this soundlike adhd??I'm 15 years old and i'm a freshman in high school, i'm late all the time,
forget to do homework, write things down, etc.. I'm actually a really smart
kid but i've never been able to reach my potential in school. Ever
since I can remember, I would lose attention to whats going on around
and just stare at the wall or out the window.. I guess i've always had a
problem with attention in school but I just thought I was being lazy and
didnt think i had some problem, because if i put a LOT of effort into it I
could pay attention. I remember in 3rd grade, i had so many 'tally marks'
from forgetting homework that i was the first and only kid in class to get
a after school detention. My behavior is pretty good though, I dont talk a
lot in class or cause problems.

I also alwys had somesocial anxiety and it got real bad once i got to high
school, and i suffered from major depression. I've had problems making
new friends bcz i couldnt find the energy to do anything, i wasnt tired.. i
just didnt have enough energy to do things like start converations or do
anything more then i should be doing. This is my first time at a public
school, at private schools they forced you to hand things in next day
when you forget so I never really lost points on stuff, now I just get 0s so
it's really hard. I'm failing all ofmy classes except art mostly bcz of
missing assignments.

My personality, i ALWAYS start arguments even if i dont believe what im
saying, just to see reactions and start something. I try to do random or
weird thingsto make thingsmore fun.. ive always done that, I think its bcz
i get bored easily. I annoy the hell out of my family all the time and stirr
things up a lot, this happens a lot at school too and a lot of the kids hate
me for it.

i got this pill called Adderall from my friend bcz they basically hand them
out, i didnt think i had adhd then.. a lot of ppl take them to get hyper so I
tried it. I suddenly had a huge attention span and i could pay attention
inclass so easily, and i did all my work, and socially i felt like i never did
before.. i felt like I could talk to anyone and have the energy to do it and
people liked me. I got a little hyper with this though.

I've been fighting with these problems for a while now and i WOULD really
like me to have adhd so i KNOW there is something i can take and help
me, but I want to be sure. I heard it can hurt u if you take adhd meds if u
dont have it.

i think ihave inattentive adhd, but i'm not sure.. i went a phycologist and
she thinks im right on.commonsense38786.9032291667

A lot of this seems ADHD related, you could be right, there could be some other issues thrown in there too, so keep trying to figure it out, but don't expect to get a dx and have that solve everything.  Medicine is great to help you work on changing your lifestyle, but you still need to work on finding ways to help you remember stuff like your homework assignments, even now before you have meds.  I used to be the same way freshman and sophmore year with homework(I'm a senior now) and my grades would have been a lot better if I had turned in all the homework I did, but I couldn't remember.  I'd write it down in my agenda, and then lose it, then I'd write it on a sheet of paper, and lose that, so sophmore year I just started carrying a sharpie with me and writing everything important on my arm... anyways, the point is you will still have to make changes and find systems that work for you, even after you get a DX.

good luck!

-Tyler

commonsense,
you sound very much like my 14 year old dd...  Although I don't recommend self-medication, since you've already tried adderall and found it helpful there is a good chance adhd is a possiblity for you.  See a doctor and get a professional opinion.  As oldermom said, neuropsych provides the most complete eval but you can also get help from a pediatric neurologist, a psychologist, psychiatrist, or in a pinch, ask your regular md about it.  They can probably refer you to someone competent. 

Keep in mind that you may have other issues to deal with in addition to ADHD.  Also that you may be dealing with primarily inattentive ADD (little hyperactivity).  This is the case with my dd.  Most of the evals for ADHD look at behavior that is typical of a small child who is very hyper.  Older kids (especially girls) who are not so disruptive are harder to diagnose.  My dd has received conflicting results over the last 5 years.  Most recently we were told that she does not meet ALL the criteria (she does fairly well in school and is not disrtuptive) for diagnosis but since she is still having a lot of difficulty in other areas of her life that she should try some medication.  She started on Adderall today.   The doc said that if she truly has ADD she should get that "WOW, things are different" feeling within a half hour of taking a therapeutic dosage.   I'm guessing you had that WOW feeling and you should discuss it with a doctor.  There are too many risks involved with trying to medicate yourself
Before medicating yourself, please see a NeuoPsych. Unfortunately, Adderrall is a drug of great substance abuse among teens and you seem to know this. I had a daughter who abused it (crushed it in a pillcrusher and snorted it both alone and with other meds). Maybe she had ADHD and was self-medicating, but, the point is, taken wrong, it is dangerous. I'm not convinced a psycologist can make a diagnosis. Does he know anything about other disorders that cause your symptoms? I'd ask your parents to let you see a NeuroPsych and go from there. And please don't take any more meds that belong to somebody else. Both of you could get into serious legal trouble for that. Adderrall is a tightly controlled substance. Remember that medicine can only help you, but you still work to do on your own. It isn't 100% the answer. And good luck :) OlderMom38803.4786342593