New, how should i seek a diagnosis? | ADHD Information
Carefully read Driven to Distraction. You'll learn the difference between what is neurochemical ADHD and what is ADD symptomatic (big difference). The next step is to take some time to observe yourself, and then if you think it's appropriate get tested.i This means cognitive testing to find out what areas of learning you are struggling with. If $ is an issue, you can sometimes find universities that have disabilities (unfortunate name) testing. If you go to a psychiatrist's office and try to base a diagnosis on your self reporting of symptoms, you're not really getting to the heart of the matter. Adult ADHD treatment doesn't equal medication. Learning and organizational strategies are also really important to implement, and can sometimes do the trick without meds. Again, if $ seems to be the stumbling block, try some other books that focus on ADHD organizational and learning strategies. A good one is "ADD-Friendly Ways to Organize Your Life" by Judith Kohlberg and Kathleen Nadeau.
Good luck!
I found that just about every description of ADHD fit me to a T as well. For years I suffered from depressions and they would put me on an anti-depressant and that would get rid of the depression, but I always knew there was a piece of the puzzle missing, that something was causing the depression. I was diagnosed back in '92 as being hypo-manic because they didn't know what the hell else was wrong with me and I guess back then, they didn't know as much about ADHD especially in adults let alone girls, as they do now. I read up on hypo-manic depression and really not a lot fit for me. They put me on Lithium which was a complete and total disaster in itself.
Anyways, now that I have finally been correctly diagnosed and put on Dexedrine (20 mgs a day, 15 in the morning and 5 in the afternoon) my life has totally turned around. Dexedrine is speed for most people, but for me, I could literally take it and go to sleep it calms my mind down so much.
I used to scoff at what seems to be the ADHD craze as well. I'm fairly "crunchy" in that I am a rather holistic/alternative therapy kind of person. And for my whole life I always felt like a failure and that I just couldn't get my act together, now I realize that there was truly something wrong although it is taking me a whole hell of a lot of therapy to get past that mentality - that I'm not a complete flake .
Drumrunner is right though there is a HUGE difference between neurochemical ADHD and symptomatic ADHD. For those of us who truly have ADHD we've been suffering with it our entire lives and can trace it all the way back to early childhood. But Driven to Distraction is a fantastic book and I highly recommend it!
Anyways, you need to talk to your doctor and possibly be referred to a psychatrist/psychologist. My GP has a lot of experience with adults and children with ADHD and did a lot of testing and asked a lot of questions before prescribing me Dexedrine - she didn't just blindly write me a prescription, and you should be wary of any doctor that would or does. I would have been set up with a shrink, but I was moving right away to an entirely different province. So now that I am in my new place, I see a therapist here who is helping tremendously.
Let us know how it goes!
Hey all, I just recently started suspecting I have ADHD <last night in fact>. I happened to read some artical in some womens fitness magazine and all the symptoms fit me to a "T". Im a guy, but Ill read whatevers lying around and its hard to get me to stop once I start..anyway, I always thought ADD was just for spastic children, so it never crossed my mind that Id be suffering from it <always figured it may be a thyroid problem>.
What Im wondering is did it just "click" into place for anyone else? Ive never been a hypocondriac, and when I researched thyroid problems some of the symptoms made me go "umm, not really" but this seems dead on. The one friend Ive told about this says "Im just making excuses for myself", and I <used> to be of the opinion that too many parents just doped up their kids to make life easier for themselves, may be because it seemed like half my damn highschool was on ridilin. So im a bit resistant to the Idea, but if getting help for this can improve my life im all for it.
So, I guess my main question is "where do I start?" with no insurance and pretty much no money Im a bit reluctant to find a psychiatrist <sounds unaffordable>.
Anyway, thanks for any help, I have read a lot posts today, and it seems like theres a really nice supportive community here ...oh, 24 years old by the way.
Well, with no money and no insurance, I'm not too sure how you could go about getting a diagnosis. I live in Canada so obviously the system here is a little different - you don't NEED money to get medical help. LOL - your help might take a while, but you can get it free, nonetheless.
I actually went to the doctor myself today, and asked how one would go about being screened for ADHD. I've been doing some research and find that I, too, fit the profile to a "T". She asked me a bunch of questions, and gave me a referral to a psychiatrist. She also highly recommended a book called "Driven to Distraction", written by Dr. Halliday, a Harvard med school graduate with ADD himself. You might want to check it out. I already found a copy on Amazon.
Hope that helped.