Misdiagnosis? | ADHD Information

Thank you all for your concern.
To jillybean, I am considering asking about concerta. From what I've read, Ritalin sounds pretty awful with the short duration and roller coaster ride. Strattera sounds like it makes most people tired and unmotivated - the complete OPPOSITE of what I need. I like the way Adderall climbs gradually and goes back down gradually. My concern is only that no drug will give me the concentration/attention aspect I need.

To GarbagePailKid, I love my subject. It truly fascinates me the way nothing else does. If I were not doing this, there is nothing else I'd want to do. Sometimes it seems so overwhelming - the amount of knowledge I need to have to be successful, and I can't find the patience or ability to sit down and read the things I need to learn. Sometimes I can get through papers, but I don't retain them. This is one of the big reasons that I wonder if it's really ADD or just that I've reached my mental maximum. Then with the adderall not really helping my concentration/attention I wonder even more.

To paritthead, I have experimented a bit with the doasage, and I think I am taking the proper amount, any more makes me a bit too speedy and have an even worse time concentrating.

Again, thank you for your input and I am grateful for any more support I receive from you all.

   Reading your post got me to thinking about the way people learn best. 

   Maybe you are more of an audio learner.  How about you reading the papers aloud into a tape recorder and then listening to them played back.  I know I can read something aloud and not really have to pay attention to what it is I'm reading.  Then when you listen to it, it might make more sense to you.  I know that would take more time, but it sounds like the re-reading is taking a lot of time anyway.

  Just my two cents.  and congratulations on getting into grad school, that's quite an accomplishment itself!

sakura, thank you so much for your response. That helps a lot to hear I may just need to let my body get used to the drug. I will certainly give it more time.

BarbJ, that is actually a GREAT idea! I never thought of that. I actually find I learn the most when I have one on one conversations with my advisor. I do learn somewhat from a classroom setting, but the one one one works best for me. I will try the tape recorder thing. Thanks again!

My suggesting is to keep trying it if you can stand the bad effects.  In my case the speedy feeling (and worsening concentration) didn’t go away until after about 10 days (on Adderall XR), and now I have noticed some positive results. 

The first days, I felt speedy, drugged, my muscles were tensed, and I would ‘hyperfocus’ in un-important and un-necessary tasks.  Thought it was too high of a dose, lowered the dose, still felt speedy for a few days.  After a few days of a lower dose, the speedy feeling went away, and I went back to the orig. prescribed dose.  I too considered a mis-diagnosis because the Adderall XR wasn’t doing what I thought it should. 

My motivation to do things I don’t like doing (or find interesting) hasn’t changed (at least I don’t think it has).  The difference is I am not AS distractible.  I CAN sit for long periods of time and I am finishing things I likely would not have finished in the past.  The first 5 or so days I was too busy noticing the bad effects (and speedy feelings) to accomplish anything important. 

Also, I would skip a day of the meds here and there (because I woke up late and forgot to take it before I ran out the door, or I felt like it was too late in the day to take an extended release medication).  Thankfully, I did not experience any depression.

About your papers you need to read-you wrote,”…they are still as difficult to read and I find myself not wanting to read them as badly as before the diagnosis.”   I found that my diagnosis was sort of defining me.  I try to think of the Dx as an explanation, and now I have a responsibility to reduce the negative aspects of ADHD.  The medication helps, but it’s not a cure-all like I hoped!

How much Adderall are you taking? Maybe you're not taking enough to make a difference. Have you experimented with dosages yet - I think everyone has to. There are differing opinions regarding whether ADDers will get addicted to Adderall. My doctor (psychiatrist) is not concerned about it.

*Don't start getting down on yourself about not being 'talented' enough! You GOT INTO grad school, didn't you? Now you just need to take steps to deal with your condition. 

I wish I could say more than this but what you are describing, your attention span with the adderall, your interest in things that used to be at least somewhat worth looking forward to, all are the same for me.  I don't know if the active ingredient in concerta is the same as adderall but that is what I am taking.  I would definately not say that you're not talented enough for grad school.  I would say that you should ask your doctor if a different type of ADD med could work better.  I myself and going to see her and talk to her about taking strattera instead.  Hi there,

Sorry to hear.

Are you very interested in the subject that you are studying in grad school? Even if you are brilliant and talented, if you are not passionate about what you are studying,you would prbably have a hard time in most grad school programs - add or not. Maybe it is not natural for most humans to spend so many years studying a subject intensively, and writing so many papers...

It might sound weird, but sometimes I can be interested in a subject on an emotional level, even though in reality, I would hate to study it. For example, I might think that it would be awesome to study genetics- to know what gene causes what behavior or attribute, but really, if you gave me some scientific journal, it would look like a boring jumble of terms, too specific to have any real meaning. I probably wouldn't make it through a page. Or I would  study math because I respect it, and am impressed by people who are great at it,  even though math was one of those subjects I never did homework in growing up, because it was tedious. 

Did you start grad school because you loved a subject- or because it would be impressive- or just something to do?

Are you depressed about other areas in your life- outside grad school? Or would you be happy if grad school was going well?

Maybe you need a different kind of med- an antidepressant...or maybe you are good with no meds at all, but with a different kind of program- one that you enjoy.
If you don't like reading the stuff for grad school, and when you graduate you get a job in the field (whatever field it is), will you like the job? Will the job require you to keep on reading more of those scientific journals you can't get through?



Hi, I'm new here, and I'm new to being a diagnosee. I am 31 years old and am in graduate school. I was concerned I may have ADD because I have a very hard time concentrating and staying focused on my work, particularly I reading scientific papers.
I saw the pyschologist and went through all the tests and was diagnosed. This was about a week ago. The physician gave me adderall. I guess I was expecting that my problems would just *poof* be all fixed upon taking the drug. But it doesn't seem to be aming me concentrate any better, I feel just as scatter brained. It's true that my work seems a bit more interesting, and so do the papers I have to read, but they are still as difficult to read and I find myself not wanting to read them as badly as before the diagnosis.
Also, the physician told me to avoid the drug when I won't be working. So I did not take any on the weekend. I can see the point to this - avoiding addiction. But this morning I woke up kinda depressed-like. And I took the adderall and I have absolutely no interest in my work or in doing anything else. I don't even desire to go home and veg in front of the TV.

Has anyone had any similar experiences? Can someone tell me what's going on with me? Was I misdiagnosed? Is the truth that I'm not talented enough for graduate school, and I don't have ADD? Anyone have any thoughts at all?

Thanks,
Olymons