How were you diagnosed? | ADHD Information

Hi KDLMaj,

I'm new here too but have never posted until now. Reading about your problem really bothers me because I have struggled all of my life, gone through countless tests, diets, medications, you name it to find out 30-something years later that I have ADHD.

First off, I really think it would be benificial for you to be sure that this new doctor believes in adult ADD unlike your first one. What a freak! I am so sorry you had to deal with someone so ignorant. Also, you will be paying this doctor/doctors good money and I truly think they should explore what you want to. You know yourself better than anyone else.

I was diagnosed (finally!) by a medical doctor who performed a QEEG (Quantitive EEG) and he could tell from my brain activity and/or lack of it what was happening. I'm still in the early stages of treatment so I'm not all here yet (lots of meds). You might want to look up QEEG on the internet- it's kind of a new process. Well, it's been around a while but only 2 doctors perform it in the entire state of Colorado.

You're ahead of me luckily, I didn't think I had ADD until I looked around one day and realized that I had at least 10 projects started all in various stages of development and made a joke to my husband that I probably have ADD and he said very seriously, "Yeah, I think you do."

Ohhhhhh! Now it all makes sense!!!

Very best wishes to you! I'll be checking the boards to see how it went.

i think it just depends on your psych. mine was really nice (and good-looking too - i mean totally jaw-dropping/sexy/phwoar!) and talked to me, went through a kinda questionnaire and gave me a prescription for ritalin (adderall not being available at that time/perhaps still now in the UK). simple like that. with the idea to come back the next week after having taken the ritalin and we would start on the counseling.

but as it goes i didn't want to take the ritalin.

so it kinda stalled there ---- and then i got a job in the States so had to go anyway! i would go back to see him but only cos i fancy him - not the best reason in the world... oh, it's such a cliche to fancy your therapist, i don't think i want to go there. but he is hot!

anyway to get back to your question:

"Would love some advice. I'm afraid if I just say "I'm pretty sure I have this", they'll dismiss it."

i didn't say it. i had been told by an American girl i met that she was almost entirely sure i had ADD - so i read a little about it and absolutely agreed with her but it was when i went to my normal doctor about something else entirely - i just came out with my life story as it was and he said it for me (and suggested i go see a psychiatrist friend of his). so why not try that - if it is a new psych....

let him/her suggest it, perhaps. good luck.

chjones38794.5635069444

I just told my doc my life story and by the end I finished he was pretty sure I had it without any official tests. Then I got some questionnaires to fill out and took the test and it became even more clear.

The sad thing is I told my parents and they kind of started to make fun of me (don't live in US and where I live ADD is regarded as "another american invention to drug their children rather than spend time to raise them" etc. They accept it but I think they might have really not believed. My mom told me she had some of the same symptoms and that she blamed herself for passing them on to me. Still I think she did not really believe.

Well I have forwarded them the funny add story how the garden remained unwatered etc and it took me a week to convince my brother to translate it to her and then she wrote to me "it looks like I have some heavy symptoms of add myself. I thought all my life I was just very clumsy/unskilful, lazy and I never managed to organize anything and used to have horrible nightmares about it. And now sounds so simple: I have ADD"

That is just so sad that that's what happened to her. So I'm glad I did it because I don't want to go through my life thinking that of myself. I never thought I was stupid but I thought about the clumsy/organizational part. I have to say since being diagnosed the quality of my life has improved dramamatically. My new manager even told me that I am super organized, which is the best compliment I have ever gotten - no one has EVER told me anything but bad things about it. So thanks to Ritalin LA and my best friend who is super organized and taught me some useful skills that I am now implementing I feel like a new person. I even started to be more on time for things! I wish I could share this with more people but I know there is still this big stigma attached and I live in a small town so I just keep it between her, my family and you guys. This board has been great. I don't know what I would have done without you! Thank you everybody!

Oh I forgot to say: I did tell my family doctor (who is amazing) and also the shrink I suspected I had ADD. They were both fine with it.

Ok I did forget to mention a major thing why they believed me: I told them I got into so much trouble at work that I was possibly going to get fired soon. So if you can show that your ADD is negatively affecting your life, they will be on board.

How ADD of me to be adding these things I forgot in the previous mail. For the record: I do not take meds on the weekend so that would explain!

I think I had known for a while, BUt due to my.... tendencies...... I could never watch a movie all the way through. one nightI was trying to watch a movie when about halfway through it I had to just turn around and start pushing buttons on the computer keyboard, just to make myself sit there through the whole movie. I had to do something before my butts elector button kicked me through the ceiling! My mind wanted to see the whole movie, my BRAIN said nope, you gotta be doin something. Went to my family Dr the following day, told him what had happened and he was like... well yeah... why did you never mention this before? I guess I just thought i was senile from raising a little boy with Down's/cleft lip and palate. Turns out he had nothing to do with it, it was all me. He has a much better more productive, patient mom now thanks to that. [QUOTE=KDLMaj]

I'm going to a new doctor on Monday, and I've never had an official diagnosis. The last time I brought it up to a psychiatrist, she immediately dismissed the possibility since I was not diagnosed as a child. (Of course, she also told me it wasn't genetic when I mentioned that my mother had it, and that we have the same symptoms). My question is, for you adults, how did it come that you ended up with a diagnosis? I'm not sure how to approach the psychiatrist on monday. I actually have an evaluation with a different clinic in a month that specializes in highly intelligent adults with ADHD (Like a lot of people, when I was having problems as a child, they tested my IQ first, and when it came out to genius they decided I was restless and inattentive because I was too smart for the learning pace), but I can't afford to go there regularly, so the monday psychiatrist is important.

On Genetics, well there are 5 suspects with each being investigated for their particular contribution. There are also projects researching reinforcing risk factors, Alcohol, Smoking by Mom during pregnancy. There are so many research projects around the Whole Area of Genetic Susceptability that some people are quite scepticle about it. So far the only clear indicators are based on Thinking and Behaviour and Social Influences. This is the major reason why long Clinical Practice Experience Specialists are Best when Diagnosis in considered. I demanded a full written picture of my Profile from the Diagnostic Professional. Self Responsibility is the secret in dealing with this Profile.

Good luck with this new Psychiatrist on Monday. Get back to us after and unload your story of the assessment.

[/QUOTE] At least 80% of Adhd cases are thought to be hereditary. I've read this in several adhd articles and books. I was able to tell the pdoc of my son's Adhd diagnosis, my niece's diagnosis, my father's obvious Adhd behaviors and my experiences and current struggles with the symptoms. My son wasn't failing school - it was the depression brought on my the constant coping that helped us to find out he was adhd and help him. My father was valedictorian of his small high school, but he is still sooooo adhd!

Many people don't get recognized as being adhd if they can coast through school. That doesn't mean that it is not taking it's toll on their lives in many ways! Make sure your pdoc recognizes and prescribes for adult adhd. Best of luck!

Would love some advice. I'm afraid if I just say "I'm pretty sure I have this", they'll dismiss it.

One sentence for you - GET ANOTHER OPINION!

A) ADHD IS GENETIC - they haven't found the gene but that's a matter of time only. I know it is - most here do.

B) You don't have to be diagnosed as a child to have ADHD. Many were considered high-strung or energetic kids, then clumsy forgetful teens, then they learned to fake it until they just couldn't as adults anymore.

That psych must have gone to the same correspondence school that good ol' Dr. Phil went to.