Ending & Beginning today. Big day.

[Stash]

Thought I’d start a new thread now that….I’m officially diagnosed! Phew!

(Thread about the discovery & diagnosis: http://totallyadd.com/forum/topic.php?id=1844 )

So, 7 weeks after first making the connection, I have a diagnosis and a prescription and sense of ….. hmm, of what? Relief? Joy? Fear? Excitement?

Some folks stories of their diagnosis are very long and involved, with many different types of tests, referrals to other specialists, misdiagnoses, etc, etc, etc. I am so thankful that mine has been fairly straightforward. In fact, this is the fastest and most efficiently that I’ve done anything in ages! I think it’s due to the sense of panic I felt when I heard Rick & Dr. J speak on CBC radio on September 1st. By the end of the show, I knew I was one of the tribe. Some hyper-focussed research, some freaking out about how and where and from whom to get a diagnosis, a push from my mom to actually make the call for the first appointment, an open doctor, and voila! Here we are!

With my doctor, we ruled out other causes of my symptoms, and I think we are both confident in the diagnosis. I feel that if either of us were unsure, there would be more testing. I have a prescription for 20mg Ritalin (I have no drug plan, and typically ADD finances, so this is the cheapest way to start out). Follow up appointment in 2 weeks.

And, as if to prove my diagnosis, I left the doctor’s office, filled my prescription and promptly took the first pill. I figured the potential insomnia couldn’t be worse than what I often deal with, and the waiting (yeah for 15 more hours after 41 years….) was gonna be way too painful!

Apart from a quick flutter within the first hour of taking it, I mostly just feel kind of, I don’t know, fine? Stopped at Chapters on my way home (have been trying to do that for weeks) and bought a book on organizing specifically for ADDers. Then stopped for dinner and read the preface, intro and 1st chapter. More than I’ve read in forever.

I don’t feel magically different, but I feel a drop clearer, and I’m definitely motivated to make tiny changes on an ongoing basis to take control of the chaos my life has become. Onwards and upwards. Time to start working with my brain, rather than fighting against it.

Thanks to all for the support and kinship I have felt on the first leg of this journey. It’s the only place I feel really at home these days.

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[Anonymous]

Phew! You must be relieved!! My appointment was a bit more murky, diagnostically speaking. At the end of it I was given three options – be referred to a doctor who would most likely diagnose and treat ADHD, be referred to a doctor who would treat my anxiety (with a prescription and CBT), or continue to see my current doctor and have some psychoanalysis sessions to dig at underlying issues that may be the root cause of some of my current issues. He was a typical shrink – he put his three “proposals” to me and let me decide. He didn’t give a diagnosis as such, just choices, though he did say that he didn’t believe that ADHD was likely, though he knew other doctors who would believe otherwise, and it was up to me if I wanted to be referred on.

I really did not know what to do. I know I have anxiety issues, but I also believe that there is more to my issues that just anxiety. I think I will try the analysis first, as I am curious about it, as well as wanting to avoid medications where possible, but I also think I will ask to be referred on at some stage, just to get further assessment on the ADHD front.

I feel that the cognitive assessment he did wasn’t particularly thorough when compared to my son’s because there was not the comparison between areas of functioning (working memory etc). My son’s ADHD showed up because of the discrepancy between tests that required working memory and processing, and those that did not. I was given serial 7s (count backward by 7s from 100), which I struggled with, but which I supposedly did okay with (even though I am well practiced with compensatory mechanisms like using fingers to keep track of the number I am at), and a couple of other short questions. I personally would have liked a more thorough test, though I guess he didn’t do one because he believed that anyone with ADHD would struggle with serial 7s much more than I did.

However, he showed a huge amount of insight into issues I had when I was a teen, and based on that, I am willing to see how things pan out. I have waited 40 years, and I can wait a bit longer, as long as I am doing SOMETHING towards sorting things out. If all he does is allow me to sleep better and not stress so much about stupid things, then I will be happy about the wait.

But I still HATE waiting for results….

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[Anonymous]

yay stash i was terrified to take a stimulant for the first time. who knows? your heart could exploded lol.

krazykat- (hello!!!!!!!) i give MMSE tests, but I’m not sure I could get a 30/30 lol. but maybe now that I have the test memorized. but i always write down those objects i ask client to memorize! or i will forget. serial 7s are nasty! as part of a psychology experiment when I was an undergrad, they tape recorded me doing serial 13s. (to purposely stress me out). couldn’t do it at all. i think i did 100-13..then i was done. and used my informed consent to stop. I have a very difficult time with even simple mental math, although I did survive two semesters of calculus in college (B+ but cost me some permanent sanity points lol). to not think about stupid things would be awesome. even when they aren’t stressful, just crowds the mind! have to separate into solvable and non-solvable.. and pertinent and non-pertinent. >_<. GAD (generalized anxiety disorder) based strategies work best for me.

this workbook is amazing. I thought I had GAD, but it maybe ADD instead…but whichever is correct, the workbook is still pertinent

http://www.cci.health.wa.gov.au/resources/infopax.cfm?Info_ID=46

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[Anonymous]

Yeah, the serial 7s were not good fun. But the doc believes that if I had ADHD I would have made mistakes, and I didn’t – I went the wrong direction once (up in numbers, not down) before I caught myself, and I took forever because it was really, really hard to keep the original number in mind as well as do the subtraction, and I had to use my fingers to help, and had to talk aloud to help concentrate on the numbers (lots and lots and lots of number repetition happened before I could move onto the next step). I would have been a huge amount faster if I had been able to use paper. If I had been given a time limit then I would have failed badly, as time pressure just messes with my head when I am trying to work something out mentally. I guess I don’t feel an ADHD diagnosis (the cognitive assessment part of it, at least) should be based on serial 7s alone!!! Though I would love to know how others with diagnosed ADHD do with it 😉

I did very well in most maths at school, as long as it did not involve mental work. I remember struggling with written questions (eg. farmer Joe had a water tank that was so high and held so much water etc), because I had to mentally sift through the problem to pick out which numbers went where in the equations, as well as know what equations to use and in what order. If it was simply a matter of doing a sum (even a complicated one), then I excelled (if I had paper!!).

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[Stash]

Ok, so took Ritalin #1 at 5:45 last night, and at 11:45pm my eyes started to close. Took Ritalin #2 at 9:00am today. Now 3:00pm and suddenly my eyes feel heavy and my concentration & energy have depleted. I feel cloudy. I will keep an eye on this as the days go by, but I’d say I have exactly 6 hours on 20mg of Ritalin. Wow. The supervising doc recommended a dosage to make sure I get through the workday, but I’m just as concerned with getting through my personal time after work! Pretty sure I’m going to take a 2nd dose now and see how that goes.

@sugargremlin – I’ve self-medicated enough over the years to not be too afraid! And honestly, I feel WAY more of a difference right now (6+ hours after taking the dose) than I did at any point in the last 6 hours. And I’ve had a pretty productive work day! Not awesome, but for me, pretty darn good!

KrazyKat – wrote you a long note on the other thread!

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[Anonymous]

Wow, 6 hours is pretty good! Is yours slow release, cos my son only got 3-4 from his Ritalin. I bet you’re feeling pretty good about things right now. I hope you get lucky and avoid all the side effects.

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[Stash]

Yes – SR. I’m now 2 hours into 2nd dose. Feel ok, but will have to monitor a bit more closely. I am getting things done at work so far, but I’m not going to be home until about 8 or 9pm, which will be right at that 6 hour mark again… This is complicated eh? I certainly don’t want to feel like I can’t plan things for when I don’t have meds in me…. Hmm, relax – monitor for now, report to doc on Nov 7th and work on a plan from there.

My doc said 3-8 hours was expected time frame. Quite a range! I still don’t know that it’s enough of a difference. I know it sounds funny, but I kind of want to know what too high a dosage feels like so that at least I get a sense of what this is and isn’t supposed to do. I don’t currently feel like I’m on anything at all, but it’s that shift to sleepiness at the 6 hour mark that is telling me something. I’ll keep monitoring and we’ll see how it goes! So far appetite is normal, no nausea, really not much of anything except that I have a minor shift in concentration/focus level which has aided my work productivity.

I do feel pretty good that I’m finally worrying about medication dosages and coping mechanisms though. Looking forward now instead of reliving my past all the time! New beginnings!

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[Anonymous]

I got a diagnoses a couple of weeks ago and am on extended release Adderall. I forgot to take it on Monday and boy did I notice a difference. I did have the can’t sleep much for the first few days and I get up at 3 am for work, so it was kind of strange.I’ve also lost a little weight due to a lower appetite. I like that aspect so far as I can stand to lose weight. I find that by about 6 pm my focus is not as good as earlier in the day, but I take my pill so early that’s not surprising. My pulse is a little high sometimes, but I’m taking fish oil to help counteract the pulse/blood pressure symptoms, plus I can feel it when it’s going higher and now have the ability to meditate and calm myself down.

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[Author]

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