Ahhh! I just spent the last 2+ hours writing what happened today, and when i pressed "submit", I lost it all! I am going to attempt to quickly rewrite...

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The long awaited evaluation day has finally come...and gone, and I am not sure what to make of it. I just read AntyNets thread, and was happy that everything went well. I had quite a different experience.
Let me explain.

I chose this psychologist because he was the only one I found in my city who specializes in ADD.

Right off the bat, he told me he must explain his bias regarding ADD. He then went into this long 30 min. shpeel about how research shows that only 1-2% of theadult population have ADD, and it is being grossly over-diagnosed.

How today's fast-paced society with its information overload, high demands, filled schedules, and high stimulation from video games and movies is causing people to become overwhelmed & unable to manage. How life in the 1950's was so much more simple...yada-yada-yada (I'm thinking: hello? we only have 1 hr. here. I got the point 30 mins. ago)

He went on to say that no one could make an ADD diagnosis in one hour since there can be so many causes for ADD-like symptoms. Therefore, he usu. does 2 interviews and then 3-4 hour testing (which costs $250) before he diagnoses.

Anyway, after he finally gave me some time to talk, I explained to him my specific symptoms and challenges. He said that according to what I am describing, he feels he could rule out depression and other causes, and that I most likely do have inattentive ADD. (Didnt he just say 10 mins. before that i need to get $250 testing to reach that conclusion?-uh, yeah...)

I asked him if he could recommend any good books about ADD and I even threw out some respected author names, to which he replied that most of those guys have special interests or "axes to grind".

The internet? He thinks most of the ADD info is "trash" and people just make their sites look good.

Of course I am sitting there with a 5 pg. online assessment printout, which I thought was very comprehensive and well designed at healthcalls dot com.

He dismisses it, and later gives me his own test to take home. Only 20% of the questions are relevant to me, are poorly constructed, and redundant (he asks if I am on birth control 2x)??

So much happened and going on in my head, & I am trying to put it all in a nutshell, so bear with me...

So my questions are:

1. Is the extra $250 testing typical and needed to confirm something he already felt quite sure about? (My insurance doesn't cover it) I can't help but feel it's a money-making scheme.

When I asked him what he would do if I prefer not to take the tests, he said that he could just put me on 10 mg Ritalin to see if i have any changes.

2. Should I just look for another doctor?

Despite his arrogance, he does know quite a bit about Adult ADD and said he has 1-2 patients a week with the disorder.

Also, when choosing dr.'s from my list, I really get no background info. and chances are many have less experience than him. I just don’t want to go to
someone who has no experience, & end up in a worse scenario.

I know I have asked many ???'s To those of you who have more experience with this (or anyone), i would so greatly appreciate your advice on what to do next.

Thank you so much for all your time and giving me the opportunity to vent (no one else really understands).

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Yay! It finally worked after 3 days of trying to post this message.

Thanks Big for all your help!

For those reading the post, I had edited it to make it easier to read with highlights and all, but it would only accept it exactly as you see above, so sorry it's all so condensed together.

You're welcome :)

Adina -
I had the same problem with a highly formatted message. I had typed the message in MS Word and then cut & pasted it into the message box. I guess the Word formatting takes up more space than if I had formatted online.

My solution:

I pasted the formatted message into Notepad --this removed all the formatting
I copied the unformatted message and pasted into the message box
I reformatted it online and submitted it
It sounds like a lot of work, but it wasn't bad once I figured out what was wrong. Don't know if you encountered the same problem, but thought I'd mention it.

Forgot to tell you my experience with getting dx'd...

It took 3 visits. Long interview during the first visit, testing during the second visit, and discussion & diagnosis on the third visit. I already had had IQ test, which may have saved me from an additional visit. I don't remember how much it cost ...$250 doesn't sound too expensive to me. Maybe he'd be willing o give you a break --does he use a sliding fee scale?

I guess it's not necessary to get an official diagnosis if your dr is willing to treat you without one. Some things to think about when condering whether or not to get the official diagnosis:

If your insurance covers ADD meds, do they require a diagnosis? probably, but maybe the dr would provide it for insurance purposes.
If you're in school or planning to go in the future, an ADD diagnosis would be needed if you wanted accomadations.
If you want to get meds from a different doctor, you'd need a diagnosis or you'd need to be "re-diagnosed."
At times I doubt myself, think I don't have ADD, think I'm just lazy & unmotivated. Having been "formerly diagnosed" helps to ease my doubts when I start to get down on myself.

Thanks a lot gingagirl for the advice on both matters.

"At times I doubt myself, think I don't have ADD, think I'm just lazy & unmotivated. Having been "formerly diagnosed" helps to ease my doubts when I start to get down on myself." -gingagirl

It's funny when you said that because that is totally how I am feeling now.
If I have super motivation or a really well planned out day (Big IF's), I manage pretty well. I guess however, there are still many unexplainable behaviors.

What do the tests have extra than the ones online, which deal a lot with the symptoms? You mentioned IQ.
Basically, what i am wondering is what do the tests show extra that you cannot get from an interview in helping w/ diagnosis?

One of the tests was having to push a button to make a light go on ...but there was a unknown mandatory time delay between the button pushes, so you had to "wait" until enough time had passed (otherwise the light wouldn't go on and you had to start waiting all over again). I guess this kinda tests impulsivity?

Another test was having to push a button in response to a specific sequence of numbers (or lights --can't remember). This seemed to be a test of the ability to pay attention to a boring task.

I think there was also a timed dot-to-dot activity (I know I did this activity, but I'm not sure if it was during the ADD eval). I think you had to do an easy math calculation to figure out what was the next number, plus the dot-to-dot didn't make a picture so there were no visual clues to help locate the numbers --I lost an incredible amount of time because I couldn't find the next number.

adina,

$250 sounds reasonable. I paid more & got three sessions with lots of interviewing plus he talked to my previous shrinks (behind my back basically) & in the end I wasn't real happy 'cause I think he was drawing conclusions from the other shrinks (before I had a clue what ADD is). So I felt he was hiding his real thoughts from me & treating me like a kid. I walked out of the last session with a sample starter for effexor which was sort of a double whammy med supposed to cover everything.

So if you feel this guy is talking straight to you I'd go for the full diagnosis mainly for peace of mind. I didn't take any tests & I've read they are not really very reliable or terribly important except for detecting other problems such as dyslexia. Medical tests like thyroid, blood sugar, etc would be helpful but that's very rare.

That is an odd attitude your doc has but I guess maybe the best you'll find on the insurance provider's list though. I tried calling dozens on my provider list with zero luck & found this guy off-list out-of-pocket.

What is a good idea though is to read & understand as much as you can about it. I was kinda panicked & desperate & too rushed.

I saw my doc 2 times/week 2-4 hours at a time, it took me 6 weeks to get my dx. I did A LOT of tests. But I live in sweden and adult adhd is a new thing here and I don't really know if they're sure what they're doing all the time. I got my dx, but now I don't have a doc who can give me meds. *funny funny* I called my local psychiatrist (who I am supposed to call) and she told me "I don't know ANYTHING about that, call someone else." :rolleyes: In Sweden all ppl have a social insurance and you don't have to pay more than 900 skr/year for treatment what ever illness or how sick you are... I think it's about 110 USD. But there are private docs that are very expensive.

I say like gingagirl, my dx helps me through those periods when I think I'm the most stupid person in the world, when I have those severe "adhd-moments" with extreme hyperactivity and stuff, when meds don't work on me like everyone else, then I know I'm not making it all up. I thought I did before, like with my tourette's, suddenly my tics disappeared and I thought I had imagined it all... until a month later and all hell breaks loose again.

I hate to add a "me too" post, but I feel the same way about having received an official dx. My testing was done by a psychologist in a completely different practice from where I am getting treated now. When I first saw the psychiatrist, he was glad that I had already had the testing done and immediately started me on Strattera (stims were not first choice since I have a replacement valve in my heart and he wanted to avoid any cardiac complications).

Now, after 5 months, I'm still on the Strattera, and also 150 mg Wellbutrin and doing really well. When I do have a setback, I remind myself I'm having an ADD episode and move on. I don't beat myself up nearly as much as I used to over my disorganization and lack of time management abilities.

I'd say definitely get the dx. I'm kinda wondering about the doc, too, from your description of him. Maybe consider a second opinion after the verdict from this doc comes in. (BTW, is he a psychologist or a psychiatrist -- you called him a psychologist but mentioned he would put you on 10 mg Ritalin?)

exeter, he is a psychologist, but I guess he has connections with psychiatrists who could fill the prescription. Thanks for the advice. I think getting an official dx would give me more peace of mind, and help me move forward.

To gingagirl, paulbf, Piupau: your personal stories and advice were very helpful. I appreciate the time you took to help me out.
The other day i wrote you all a long reply and it got erased (don't know why this keeps happening to me), so this is my very short version.