The more I read up on ADD, the more perfectly ALL of my symptoms fit it to a T! I have brought up the possibility of ADD with several of my doctors/psychiatrists/ therapists/ phsychologists in the past, and all 3 times, it was pretty much ignored entirely, dispite the fact that it fit MUCH better, and in ALL aspects, than what they had already diagnosed me with! I have been diagnosed with Depression, then Bi-Polar Disorder, then Borderline personality disorder. But none of them even SUGGESTED ADD or listened to my concerns that their diagnosis, while there were similarities, did not fit quite right! They seemed much more ready to push new and different medications on me! Paxil, prozac, wellbutrin (which did help a LITTLE) zoloft (also helped a little, but not with all of my symptoms.) Lithium, depakote, lamictal, and EVERY combination of those listed! The more I research this, the more it appears as though more males get diagnosed with ADD (a friend of mine, who I could have SWORN was my psychosis TWIN, recently confided to me that HE was diagnosed with ADD, and I didn't even know! I just thought that it was wierd how we had SO many of the same "Issues") while females with the same symptoms get diagnosed with depression, bi-polar disorder, etc.
So basically, I am wondering, HOW DO I GET MY DOCTORS TO TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY?? Their treatments for THEIR diagnosis' NEVER work right, but they KEEP AT IT! Are they just trying to push drugs, as in America, doctors are allowed to buy stock in drugs? Or is it basically frowned upon to try to talk your doctor into giving you these medications??? I mean, if I am NOT ADD, wouldn't the medications not work correctly? Then we'd know for sure?
I want to go back to school, and it is IMPOSSIBLE to do, given my symptoms of attention RETARDATION, which is pretty much how I FEEL when I try to go to school. RETARDED. If I am going to accomplish what I want in life, I HAVE to be able to PAY ATTENTION!
I was only diagnosed a little over a year ago with add and just recently went on meds. I also have panic disorder. The majority of the time a person who has ADD has another disorder as well such as bipolar, depression, anxiety, dyslexia, etc. It may be that many of your symptoms are bipolar and they are only focusing on those symptoms when you have ADD too. That is disheartening that they won't listen because many of the drugs they prescribe for anxiety, bipolar, depression can make ADD worse. A few that come to mind are lithium for bipolar and antianxiety meds. When I went on Paxil for anxiety it helped my anxiety alright but it also made my impulsivity worse!!! As if I didn't have problems with impulses before being adhd! I would really read up on the disorder and sit down and have a heart to heart with a dr that'll listen...I'm lucky and have one of those. It may be that the drs are scared of making an inaccurate diagnosis and scared of prescribing drugs with such potential for abuse, maybe you need a different doctor, or maybe you really don't have ADD. I'd read up on it (driven to distraction is a good book...i can't shutup about it!) and go from there. Also, I understand you're passionate about it and I understand the energy and enthusiasm and wanting to be understood...but maybe your docs are seeing the enthusiasm as a manic episode or something. I'd try to talk about it when you are calm and they may be more apt to take you seriously. That shouldn't make a difference b/c they should be professional but they may be jaded as many people are when they are in a profession for a long time. (I'm sorry, I don't know much about bipolar so I don't mean to insult in any way-I hope I didn't-we're all equal here) Good luck!
I have been diagnosed with Depression, then Bi-Polar Disorder, then Borderline personality disorder...They seemed much more ready to push new and different medications on me! Paxil, prozac, wellbutrin (which did help a LITTLE) zoloft (also helped a little, but not with all of my symptoms.) Lithium, depakote, lamictal, and EVERY combination of those listed!
Hi Ravyla,
Sorry to hear you've been on a diagnostic merry-go-round. As Jrona has pointed out, your meds in & of themselves, are not helpful for attentional difficulties. Many psychiatrists follow a standard flowchart (or 'algorithm') to try to determine which meds will work. If you've been there, done that, IMO your time & money will probably not be well-spent repeating the experience.
The key is to find the right doc. One suggestion: phone a few psychologists in your community & find out which ones offer 'objective' tests of attention like the TOVA or the IVA. [removed] These tests offer an opportunity to compare your performance on tasks that require close attention, with the performance of others in your age group. Not a fool-proof way to get dxd, but if the test results are positive, they become hard for docs to dismiss -- much harder than dismissing self-rating checklists.
I also recommend the Amen Clinics (Tacoma, WA / Newport Beach, CA / Reston, VA). Daniel Amen is a board-certified psychiatrist who has pioneered using SPECT imaging to pinpoint brain glitches. This assists in proper diagnosis & effective treatment, especially where hit/miss drug trials have failed. Dr. Amen has demonstrated that in many cases lifestyle issues contribute to ADD & other brain problems, and that often effective treatment requires more than just an Rx. Sometimes he finds that a combination of meds, lifestyle changes, and alternative treatments are most effective for a given individual. That's not an opinion you'll hear the average psychiatrist espouse.
Dr. Amen is a prolific author. Many of his popular works are available at public libraries; however, Images of Human Behavior: A Brain SPECT Atlas, is a convincing, professional-level resource that demonstrates in living color how the SPECT approach can change lives. My public library was able to obtain this book for me through interlibrary loan -- perhaps yours could as well, should you be interested.
I have read many of Amen's books, and watched several of his videos. If you are frustrated trying to create a future for yourself, I highly recommend these resources.
Best wishes.
Last edited by mod-anon; 01-08-2007 at 11:50 PM.
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I have one comment. If Wellbutrin helped a little, you should consider discussing Stattera with them. It's a drug for ADD but is also prescribed off label for anxiety and bipolar. Because it's in the same class of drugs as wellbutrin you might have a chance of convincing them to let you try it. Explain why you think it would help, I managed to convince my doctor away from SSRI's and classic antidepressant medication at all because I firmly believed after reading on this board that they wouldn't help. I think I'm similar to you in that I think I have ADD but know that the doctors are averse to self diagnosis. Mine listened to me going for something that might help my attention span as well as my bipolar and anxiety. Also, consider lamictal. I learned it helped me greatly with ordering my thoughts, when they used to be more scattered. I originally went to the doctor thinking I had ADD as well, but he tested me and decided I was bi polar. He started me on seroquel and lamictal and now I realise he was right. I was just going to take them, and if nothing improved, return to him and demand to be tested for ADD.
I have had similar problems. To start off, I am a recovering meth addict. For years I had depression which I treated with street drugs...pot, booze, benzos, methamphetamine, you name it. After getting sober and working with both psychiatrist and psychologist, the diagnosed me as ADD. I was like you in that I was seeking to get amphetamine meds, ADD or not. Long story short, I was prescribed ritalin in a patch form called Daytrana (30mg). It works great and there is no worry about abuse because you can't chop it up and snort it or anything like that. I also take 200mg Provigil (helps with alertness), and 400mg Wellbutrin (depression). Oh yeah I also was diagnosed with sleep apnea. To sum up, after using illegal drugs for 22 years, I finally found the right treatment.
Re: How can I convince my doctors?? 
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