I'm sure nobody remembers my stories but it's been a long ass process to be evaluated for ADD. First a shrink. He thought so. Wanted to pass me on to a few colleagues. One specializes in meds that are given for treatment and another they both sort of pass you on to who puts you thru a barrage of tests. I'm talking 3 hour appointments, several of them, about a month apart. Finally, I'm at the end of that and will probably now be sent back to the first two.....the shrink to see if he has anything else to say as far as treatment or advice and the meds doc to proceed with a different type of med to see if it will help with my ADD. So far I am on Prozac which I stopped but asked to start again. Not for depression but for what I think is an ADD related short fuse or irritability. I've always been quick to get irritated and I don't miss that at all. Other than that, it doesn't really affect so I do like it. Helps me be who I really am, I think, and not let petty irritants set me off and distract me.
I was also on Effexor XR but I didn't think it was doing much so I we stopped that.
So, I'm at the point of ok, now let's try some ADD meds.
My question or concern is........how many here have really gone thru a ton of eval for what they suspect is ADD? I just wonder how many people self diagnose and leave it at that? Or........takes the conclusions of a doctor who administers one or two fairly short tests and voila, yes, they say you have ADD?
It felt like it was all explaining me and how I am so much for all these years when I first stumbled onto the subject of ADD but even I was worried that I just wanted to sort of wave a flag and say "this is me, I have this" without actually going thru the steps of having trained professionals evaluate me. Up til a day ago, I was still being evaluated for ADD AND other possible co morbid conditions. Hey, in my mind it could have went either way but it turns out, that in his opinon, nope I'm clean. ADD and that's it
What's everyone else's experience? There is no blood test or absolute way to prove you have ADD (at least not when you're alive and nobody can pull out your brain to study it) but I feel better that I didn't just assume and leave it at that.
I think most all the adhd research and drug testing and trialing is still all focused on those "severe" ADHD expressions--the hyperactivity and severe inattentiveness that are disruptive and clearly apparent to teachers, co-workers, etc... Silent, inattentive sufferers like you and me don't get the attention and study, and not even the diagnosis sometimes. But I think over time that will change, as understanding of this disorder allows for a more comprehensive understanding of its pervasive sublties that weave a life of truely quiet desperation sometimes.
Luckily, some researchers are already challenging the "reductionionist" approach to ADHD diagnosis that your group of doctors appararently subscribes to--that of expecting neuropsych testing to reveal compelling evidence confirming or denying the presence of ADHD. Here's a couple links to articles by Dr. Brown, the first one nice and short, the second one more detailed if you're really into this sort of stuff. I think Drs Brown and Barkley and others are right when they question whether testing in "the lab" is adequate to diagnose ADHD in an adult whose been engaged since birth in "working around" his or her adhd "deficits", especially someone with average or above IQ!
short article on testing for adhd: http://www.adders.org/article8#article8Longer article, same topic: http://www.drthomasebrown.com/pdfs/ef-conflict.pdf
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I agree with you completely. I also questioned the reasoning my primary shrink has that if it's POSSIBLE for me to do ok on certain parts of the testing...then that sort of reduces the severity of the ADD or possibly even IF it's ADD. Yes, I agree that very severe ADDers might not be able to ever truly concentrate/finish/whatever even if they are highly motivated but I still question the level of motivation that has to be there for me to overcome my concentration/focus problems. These tests certainly didn't reflect real world and/or everyday situations. Shoot, it was a) in a quiet room, b) specifically scheduled in regards to diagnosing my ADD and c) it was all about me. Isn't "it's all about me" one of our favorite subjects? lol
Granted the questions/puzzles, exercises weren't really about myself but you know what I mean. This was all focused on me and what my scores would be.......not just some test for school that yes, would benefit me personally if I did well but it was in a short burst of time and I wasn't staring down day after day after month, after year of it like you do in school or work, etc.
I'll check out the links you provided. I really appreciate hearing from someone else who has had a similar experience.
And to address whether I feel that much of a need for another opinion........no, I really don't. Mild, extra strength or extra crispy........to me, you have ADD or you don't and they all concluded that I do to one degree or another. Really the only gray area is that "degree." They aren't me and can only do their best as far as conclusions go.
Lee7439281.2467592593Ok, here is where I'm at now. I had a follow up with my primary shrink. To go over this report about me done by a colleague who specializes in behavioral issues and who puts you thru a boatload of different tests. The conclusion is that while I do have ADD, it's relatively mild. Many of the tests showed that under ideal circumstances and probably when I really put my mind to something, I do quite well in most of the tests. That stupid computer one where you have to hit a key except when a certain letter comes up drove me mental. I drifted right off on that one but on a lot of them, I did very well.
The thinking is that while it is there, it's not my biggest problem. It's not enough to where it is impossible for me, just a little difficult and the rest of it could be due to self esteem issues and a general mid life crisis deal where you get to that point in your life, realize you've spaced out on half of it and now it's really hitting you. I also mentioned that I really really need to be super into things to truly be happy and to pay attention but this was attributed more to simply being just my personality.
I suppose I could speculate that a lot of self esteem and lack of confidence in my own abilities could have started with the so called "mild" ADD and that would have made me doubt myself and in turn, that negative self image may have contributed to me feeling worse or that I couldn't accomplish things or wasn't worthy, blah blah blah. The gist was that it wasn't bad enough (my ADD) to hold me back, just make it a bit harder for me but that my real problem was that I was either basically just a slacker or too chicken sh*t to think I could do things as well as I really could.
This is why I made this initial post. All the self questionaires pointed to a "high probability" but when I was truly evaluated and given a battery of tests, I did pretty good if I really wanted to prove to myself that I could. I still think some of them just highlighted how much I tune out if it gets way too involved and I can't remember the details but apparently compared to the average bear, I still did ok and only some of the tests leaned slightly towards the ADD.
Any thoughts? It makes me wonder how many on here are self diagnosing and some of us just don't know whether we really and truly have ADD or to what degree we have it....... or are just assuming we have it. It occurs to me that you can have a lot of issues that amount to a lot of the same patterns in life without being either ADD or severe ADD........even though it sure feels like it.
Or should I go see someone else? To me, they did a pretty thorough job.
Edit: I forgot to mention that I am still considered a candidate for "psychostimulants" or something to that effect......ADD meds. For what it's worth. Just want to know if others have had similar experiences
Lee7439273.8211458333I had the 570 question test too.I was diagnosed with ADHD at age 30 but I know for sure Ihad it as a child but they didn't know much about it then. I was in college when I went through all my testing. It sounds exactly like what you are going through. I'm glad I did it though because now I know that I'm not "Crazy" I'm still trying to find the right meds to help me with concentration, organization, & staying on tasks. I am recently on Concerta XR but have only been on it a month. I don't feel anyhthing yet but I think I need to have it increased. I am also on Lexapro which I like. I don't know if this helps but I thought I would let you know that your not alone.
[QUOTE=yargabarga]I just got evaluated. One test was to fill in the blanks, one was an actual 30 question ADHD test, like how restless you are etc. Another was a test where you hit a space bar anything you see a letter besides X. The last test was a huge 570 question True False exam. I really hate the fact that I had to take that last one because not only was it huge and took like 1 1/2 hours but I'm pretty sure it was worthless for ADHD. It was more meant to make sure I'm not crazy... had questions like "Do you sometimes feel possessed by a spirit?" "Are you fascinated with fire?" "Do you find yourself wishing you were a member of the opposite sex?" "Have you done horrible things that you have never told anyone about?" WTF NO! Too bad I had to answer 100x more of those damn things and it was probably the bulk of the cost to my insurance since the guy said he'd have to grade it by hand.
An MRI would have been pretty cool though... have always wanted one of those things, just to see how my brain looks!
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I went through the same testing when I was 30 & going to college. I was glad I went through intentive testing because now I don't feel like it's all in my head. I am still trying to find the right meds for it. I started on Ritalin & went off of it when I was trying to have a baby. I have 3 children & now that I am not having anymore, I just now am trying to find a right medication. I tried Strattera & Adderall but those didn't help. Now I just started Concerta XR. We'll see how that goes. I hope this helps!!
It seems to me as if there are quite a few people right around 30 that are discovering they have ADHD.Thanks for all the input everyone. I just started Strattera and oy, it's not fun but I'm going to stick with it.
However, I guess my initial question relates to even what my doctor for prescribing meds (I started with a shrink and was referred to this guy as well as someone to do all the testing) sort of said. He took a quick glance (gee, thanks a lot) at my 9 page report and his conclusion sounded like he took the eval to mean they weren't quite sure I tested for ADD. My point was has anyone ever had their having ADD questioned because they did very well in some of the tests? Some I did VERY well and others I was average for my age and still a few others I did on the poor side but overall, I did ok. There was a question or an inclusion of the thought that these were under IDEAL conditions........i.e. this was a test that was all about me, it was done by myself not in a classroom, with absolutely no distractions......and even then, I got bored and distracted and spaced out and had to tell myself (silently of course) to pay attention.......but still, it was a quiet room, just me and the doc and that was it. In other words, a few of them did admit that it is hard to determine based on testing done under totally ideal conditions. Life doesn't usually give you ideal conditions to concentrate under.
The question seems to center around whether you can have ADD if you are found to be able to sustain your attention if you are highly motivated........or "try hard enough." Like I thought, this was all about me, I am highly motivated to figure out if this has been my problem, I was more apt to pay attention because I deemed this important, it was quiet, no other people, blah blah blah.
They seem to think that maybe if you can do it, period, that you might not actually have ADD.
I have my doubts about this but they are the pros and I am not. Does ADD explain people who NEED that high a level of interest to sustain attention or does it ONLY apply to people who can't pay attention no matter what? I did also tell one doc that there are times when even if I'm highly motivated, I still feel that weird "space out" or daydream disconnect. That's what thru me when I recalled it because I thought, OK, it's true that when I TRULY give a crap, I'm totally obsessed and focused but even in those situations I can find myself drift off and daydream even when said activitity is actually going on at that moment all around me.
Isn't the need for such high adrenaline to pay attention, ADD too?
Lee7439295.2104398148I wasn't diagnosed until I was 37. I felt like I was abducted by aliens before actually being diagnosed. My blood was checked, checked for CFS, checked for BP, checked for so many things I can't even remember. I had been in therapy for years and the Dr. had thought my childhood situations had created my issues with concentrating etc... Finally I found a Dr. who checked everything, history all medical, family and school. He was the one who finally diagnosed me with ADD.