Adult adhd doctors | ADHD Information
I have an 18yo daughter with adhd. We are trying to find a new doctor for her. Not only is she still seeing a pediatrician, we don't like the doctor we have. Does anyone have any advice for me? I live in Delaware and would welcome any information on finding a new doctor, referral services, doctors used, etc... Thank you in advance for any/all help. Hi Unicorn,I noticed there were no replies yet to your post, so I wanted to say hello. I'm sorry to hear you are having troubles finding a doctor. I am a state over from you, NJ. I found my doctors through my insurance. I have ADD myself and so does my daughter who is 12. I got rid of the pediatrician a couple of years ago as the fees were outrageous and our insurance at the time had a high deductible and I wound up paying everything out of my pocket. Some family doctors are cheaper then pediatrictians, at least here where I live they are. I found my doctor and psychologist through my insurance. They have a database online and I was able to look them up by location and type of doctor I was looking. Have you tried that route yet?
If you are not happy with your current doctor you have every right to go elsewhere and find someone satisfactory to you. The internet was a big help to me in finding the right doctor and I hope it can be of help to you too. Please do keep posting and let us know how things are going and I hope you find the right doctor for your daughter soon. Dee
lostmyshoe38913.2340046296Try CHADD.org. They have a provider directory that might be helpful.
Best of luck to you.
MaxDad
Thanks for the response. I spoke to our old pediatrician and he told me that there aren't really any "adult doctors" well versed in add/adhd. He said the best thing to do for adults is either a neurologist and/or psychiatrist. He's going to take her back as a patient for now and I'm going to pursue finding a psychiatrist for long term care. Thanks again for taking the time to respond.
This article may be helpful:
http://www.myaddblog.com/2005/04/finding_profess.html
unicorn -
I'm very surprised that a pediatrician would state that there aren't any adult MDs versed in ADHD. They now teach about ADHD in adults and kids as part of medical school so although MDs that have been out of university for years may not know about adult ADHD, the newer MDs certainly do.
I do agree that a psychiatrist is a good idea as they usually have the best and most up-to-date info on ADHD, and as stated above www.CHADD.org is a good start as they have an online database of local caregivers and groups that you can get in touch with.
GlenW,
The pediatrician didn't say there were none out there, just that there are few that could be considered specialists in that area. I hear what you're saying and I'm sure you're right, there are probably many physicians with a working knowledge of adhd. The pediatrician understood that I was looking for someone who could be said to "specialize" in add/adhd. My daughter is one of those sufferers who will probably be on medication for sometime into the future and I wanted to find her someone who can do more than just maintain her at her current level and write her the same prescription over and over again. Apparently I need a psychiatrist for that. Thanks for taking time to chat with me. 
Maxdad, I've been to CHADD's site and while it is helpful in many ways it didn't help me as much as I would have liked. Thanks.
Also, thanks to livingwithadd for the link. I'm sure it will be a big help in the future.
Your daughter doesn't need a psych who only does ADHD for adults - but should be experienced with dealing with many of the problems. Any decent psychiatrist keeps up with the literature and with 20 percent or so of the population estimated to possibly have ADHD - they are now dealing with us more and more.
What I can recommend is that whatever psych she gets they must train in CBT - Cognitive Behavior Therapy. It's the most useful therapy as it's a training in removing old habits and learning good new ones.
CHADD is most useful for getting contacts in your area. I'd recommend you find someone near you and get to a nearby meeting. There is strength in numbers.