ADHD Testing | ADHD Information

I just went to a psychiatrist and got diagnosed with ADD. No fancy tests.
He reviewed my medical records, I filled out a pretty long questionniare
before I went in, and then he talked to me for about an hour about my
answers. I don't seem to have depression, bipolar symptoms or major
anxiety, so he said it was a pretty simple case. I'm 29 so I had a pretty
long history of symptoms. Now I'm trying Strattera.

I definitely encourage anyone to check out their health to make sure it's
not something else. I did. I've tried memory techniques, meditiation,
lists, a PDA, yoga, high protein diet, supplements (I've been on essential
fatty acids and magnesium for years but they were no miracle-- sorry to
disappoint anyone who thinks that's going to fix things). I was tired of
spending all my time coping and organizing.

Maybe it's a solution for some people, but I don't get the eye symptom
connection. Irlen's syndrome? Maybe a kid's performance in school
would suffer from something like that and mimic ADHD, but is that a real
possibility for adults? Won't an adult know if they have a problem with
their eyes that makes reading and studying extra difficult, or a whole set
of concentration problems that impact their relationships, work and
hobbies? I went to language school and had trouble paying attention to
the tapes we had to listen to, even with earphones on and my eyes shut.   
Just an opinion, but it sounds like another way to talk people out of
thinking ADHD is real or trying medication.    

Good luck with the psych consult ellej. Hope yours is interested in
listening and hearing you out like mine was. Glen you are correct a good urine/blood testing should get done first so many things mimic adhd. Many dr.'s will not do this though. I guess that is why their is a list 50 things that mimic adhd is available on line. Our son has several on that list. Another thing is please look at irlen syndrome and pave vision which is called adhd/add/dyslexia today cause of lack of awareness on this area. This is true in 1 out of every 4  people with a reading ld label. Only a therapeutic eye dr. can dx this at all. Yes you can still have this with 20/20 cite. Most do have it with 20/20.

What ACTUALLY is involved in the testing is a lot of questions mostly.  You can get an online test that is extremely similar on www.oneaddplace.org and go to online tests. 

A lot of the tests will be to really rule out the things that can mimic ADHD such as bipolar disorder.  If you are bipolar and get ADHD meds it can be disastrous so they really spend some time on that.

I am not surprised if he/she didn't but did your MD look at your blood?  It should be - they need to rule out physical problems like thyroidism and blood poisoning as they too can look very much like ADHD.

Spend some time at oneaddplace and here.  Getting to know all the facts yourself helps a whole lot in your getting improvement.

My regular Dr. referred me to a psychiatrist to be "tested" for ADD/ADHD among other things.

What kind of tests can I expect?

Thanks in advance.

 

 

 

 

Some use a game like thing to see if you can stay on track with it. The thing is if you can't track visually you will fail. That can be helped with Vision therapy though.