SeeinG the doctor.

[anisahamoako]

I want to check out with the doctor if I had ADHD but I was sonervous and didn’t check out how to tell them, cuz it was long. Lol.

Now I am going to see but when I was there I kept fidgeting and stuff, I’m 20btw, and she didn’t take me seriously and when she asked me question like. ‘were you hyperactive as a child’ my mind started putting so many examples and thinking in so many different situations and it was so hard to put together and answer the question. She also asked ‘how were you in school’ I knew I made a lot of careless mistakes in school but I did well in my grades and I was well behaved be ause I could listen to the teacher and focus my energy on doodling and other stuff,.

 

Then my mind started working super fast and I couldn’t put it together in a sentence.in wide range questionsthirds happens to me all the time and ifrustrations. Every time I take any ADHD test just like on the DORE your r one and some other ones and the DMV test it all come out positive. Even my dad is the same. I’m really frustrated I just took a full time job and will be studying soon. I really winnow be able to plan and practice and stuff but I have no idea how to get it together.

 

E.g today I worked so hard rembering to bring everything upstairs to my room and balancing it and I totally forgot to warm up myfrozen rice. This is just one example of what happened everyday of my life, without exaggerating, Ives had three jobs this year. Ione was about organizing and I used to come home crying not able to figure it out.

PIE finally got a job I like and it’s hard to rembering all my fDuties and I’m developing anxiety even speaking to people, afraid I will speak to much or over react so they will dislike me like my childhood”  I just don’t know how to do anything or tell my doctor how.

Pits like questions are so hard to answer verbally my whole life. I need help. How do I tell my doctor my symptoms without a confuzzled brai

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[kc5jck]

Take the ADHD tests on this site and on Psychcentral.com.  Have the results with you when you go to the doctor.  Make notes on why you think you have ADHD, symptoms, problems your are having because of ADHD, etc.  Also questions you want to ask and any other relevant information you want the doctor to have.  Unless you make notes, and take them with you, the minute you walk in the doctor’s office you will forget why you went until you walk out the door for home.

A note from mom, dad, teacher, bff on how scattered you are helps.

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[blackdog]

I am having a similar problem with my doctor right now. I want him to put me on a new medication but he won’t do it. The one I take now (Welbutrin) just isn’t doing enough. But I have trouble expressing myself  and no one ever takes me seriously.

Follow Larynxa’s advice. It really helps to be prepared. It sounds like your doctor may not understand ADD that well. It is very possible to have ADD and not be  noticeably hyperactive and do well in school. It affects everyone differently.

Also, there has been some trouble with people abusing ADD medications, especially in your age group. It could be harder to get doctors to believe you because they might think you just want the drugs. So be careful not to give them that impression.

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[blackdog]

Oops….That should say follow kc5jck’s advice. 🙂

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[wanderquest]

Ask for a psych eval. With someone that knows what and HOW to ask specifically.

If abuse is ever a concern for a doctor, they could start with a non-stimulant variety or one that is a prodrome like Vyvanse.

The more research I do about this, the more upset I get about public misconception. My own included.

While I don’t blame anyone, including myself, for not really recognizing I could be getting help, I sure wish I had’ve gotten treatment years ago. And not just meds. If you know what to look for when you do “ADHD things” it can help you correct them.

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[kc5jck]

Larnyxa has excellent advice too .  .  . where ever it appears.

@wanderquest – I too had all the misconceptions about ADHD, including the doubt of its existence.  So I can’t get too upset with the non believers and uneducated  .  .  .  unless they choose to remain so and start giving “expert” advice and opinions.

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[blackdog]

@wanderquest and @kc5jck I have also had those doubts. And still do sometimes about myself. I read so many things here and think OMG that is just like me. But then I see something that doesn’t fit and I start to think I don’t know,maybe it’s not ADD.

But I just spent the morning thinking it over and making some notes for my next appointment and I have come up with so many examples from my life, things that I really had never thought of before, never really connected to ADD.

I am learning a lot. There is so much more info available now than there was 15 or 16 years ago when I was first diagnosed. That is why I am pushing for a more definitive diagnosis. Especially now that there are new treatment options available,  like the non-stimulant medications. I would like to try one of them and see if it works for me.

@anisahamoako–  There are a lot of very smart people here and they know their stuff. wanderquest has a very good point about getting an eval from someone who knows how to do it. My therapist has just requested that my doctor send me for another eval for that reason, because the last guy I saw was clueless. In the meantime I am complying with my current treatment and giving it a good try so that I can honestly say whether it is working or not.

There are tons of other things you can do in the meantime to help yourself too. This forum is full of great tips and strategies to help overcome the weaknesses of ADHD and maximize the strengths. Hang in there, it isn’t all bad. 🙂

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[Patte Rosebank]

@Blackdog, you’re on the right track, by trying to learn as much as you can about your ADHD.  It’s a really big adventure, and each new thing you learn will make you hungry to learn another.  Keep it up!!!

I’ve been reading Dr. Charles Parker’s new book about ADHD medications and how “reality changes the rules”.  I’m only on chapter 3, but I’m amazed at how much of a new perspective it is.  And at how much more sense it makes.

And at how much everyone (especially the medical profession) needs to re-think how they’re diagnosing and treating ADHD.

Most of what is currently known about ADHD was learned in the past 10 years.  Just think how much we’ll learn in the next 5!

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[blackdog]

@Larynxa I don’t actually read books. Three chapters would probably be as far as I would get, and not necessarily in order. I would probably skim over the table of contents and pick out whatever looks the most interesting. I wish I did read more but it’s just so tiring and I lose interest or get frustrated.

But fortunately there are people like you who do read to pass the info on to those of us who are too lazy. 🙂

My therapist doesn’t seem to understand much about ADHD. But he is trying to figure out how to help me so he is going along with what I am telling him I want, even though he is still trying to come up with another explanation. Yesterday he mentioned that procrastination can also be caused by low self esteem. And he’s not wrong. But the question is, as he said, which came first, the chicken or the egg? Do I procrastinate because I have low self esteem or have low self esteem because I procrastinate?

That is where the conversation in my head started this morning. And then when I started branching out from there and one thing led to another, and another, and another, that’s when I started making  notes. I realized that he is focusing too much on that one thing and starting jotting down random details of my day-to-day life, like the process I go through to get ready for work:

Frogot to wash my clothes, put them in the wash, then sit up until they are done to put them in the dryer because if I don’t do it I will forget that I washed them and be searching all over for them in the morning and then realize they are in the machine and it’s too late to dry them. Alternatively write a really big note to DRY CLOTHES and leave it in front of my alarm clock, then write it again on my arm just in case, then go to bed and pray I read at least one of the notes as soon as I wake up.

Forget to read notes and/or lose track of time, frantically search for alternative clothes I could  wear, throw just the bare minimum of what I need in the dryer and pray that they dry in time, go and put hair up, brush teeth etc., find clothes still aren’t dry, call work to tell them I’ll be “just a few minutes late” when the reality is it will likely be at least 20 minutes because aside from waiting for my clothes to dry I still have to find my shoes, and my keys, and something to eat…..

And people wonder why I’m never on time.

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