I'm wondering how other adults were diagnosed with ADD. Some have mentioned they don't have a formal diagnosis. Someone mentioned he has a PET scan! (Cool!)

I saw a television commerial for Strattera ... finally paid attention after the sixth viewing ... and said, "That's me!"

I went online & took the four self-report tests I could find. Answered "yes" to 99% of the questions. Then I made an appointment with my doctor & told him that I have Adult ADD. We started meds.

I assumed that, as adults, the doctors would rely on our explanations of symptoms.

Is it really more complicated than that?

Found out through a co-worker. It gave me such a hyper focus that I would have hunted down my psych the planet many times around for a diagnoses.

Since ADD/ADHD can overlap with other 'disorders', your doctor should have asked you a series of questions to eliminate other possibilities, e.g. anxiety, depression, etc.
I never had a formal diagnosis because I read about it in a book, and took a list with me when I went to see him to have him look at it, a list of ADD/ADHD symptoms.
So I'm on Cylert (Pemoline) and Effexor (for depression), and they both seem to work well together for dealing with day-to-day life.
But that's me. You may need another type of medication, or/and counselling for staying organized, etc. Not all meds work for all people; we're each different. No doctor should 'assume' the patient knows what's wrong just by explanation. If a doctor 'relies' on you, no offense but you should seek another opinion.
I prefer to go to my doctor well informed about any situation, so that I can ask the right questions and know what's being prescribed or can at least ask what effects a drug might have, or be able to explain as fully as possible what's going on with me.
Some doctors don't like it when a patient asks a lot of questions but I think that my doctor prefers that I know what I'm talking about and I know what he's talking about. As with any diagnosis, some can be complicated, some can be simple, but ADD/ADHD is only recently becoming more understood by doctors and the general public, so there are 'growing pains' in the process of getting everything figured out.
Read, ask questions, find out your family history, and don't be afraid to move forward!:)

I was diagnosed in 1972 with a 4+HR neuropsych battery called the Halstead-Satz-Reitan (which wouldn't be entirely evidenced based today).

Approx 2 1/2- 3yrs later, I was doing my internship at the same hospital (and giving the above neuropsych battery (from hell) :)

I was diagnosed by a psychiatrist. One of his aids took a family history, and asked me some mundane questions. Then the psychiatrist talked with me for about two hours. No particular tests, but he asked me lots of questions and such, then said "yep, classic case of combined-type ADHD." We had a couple more sessions, including one with my wife, to further discuss my symptoms, then started working on fixing some stuff.

I was diagnosed by a psychologist/psychiatrist team. One side dealt with the physical side ruling out purely medical explanations for my troubles. The other dealt with the psychological side. It was a process that took a couple of months but was definitely worth it. I felt that they had truly looked at my problems from every angle and I felt confident in trying medication.

I think that doing the online evaluations are certainly helpful in pointing people in the right direction. In many cases the tips and information out there can improve a life dramatically. However, in more complicated or severe cases a complete medical evaluation is a must (IMHO).

I always figured I was, but it took an article in the NY Times to motovate me. It took me a while. Most docs I went to wanted me to go get neuro exams, but none of it was covered in my health plan. The last doc I went to sent questions to my father, one to my wife and the other I filled out; this was to determine if I've shown the symptoms in my youth and if it is still happening now. Not only that, but it would show that it is/could be causing a bad effect at home.

For those wondering how a diagnosis SHOULD be made, search for ADHD in wikipedia.com.
/Danne

Mine was by a physchiatrist who specializes in ADD. However, many of us knew of highly suspected we had the ADD mindstlye long before the actual diagnosis. Many have joined here but haven't sought professional intervention yet. That would be my take on the differences in some posts. I would contend the ADD mind sometimes fights against us to go get the actual diagnosis, but the diagnosis, coupled with meds and more importantly, information gathering from some of the best books and literature in the field, and places like this, really start the healing and growth process. My two cents.

My wife saw a dr phil episode that had a segment on adult add. I then did all the online tests I could find, then went to a psychologist who asked me lots of questions and had me do a test or something called the brown scale. A week later he gave me a report. I took that to my doctor who suggested I see a psychiatrist if I wanted meds. We (the doc and I) eventually found one in our capital city who specialises in add (although I suspect mostly with children) and he put me on reboxitine.

I'm now looking for someone local as I don't think it's helping my add but it is my depression. I expect it to be a struggle as I live in a smaller very old fashioned town where the psychiatrists won't really specialise much. I'm expecting to have to be re-diagnosed and put up with the 'it's a childhood condition'.

The more I read the more conclusive the diagnosis seems, even more so to me wife. But I'm pretty sure I may have to have a psychiatrist prescribe meds for me for a period of time before they can transfer that authority to my gp.

Mine was by a physchiatrist who specializes in ADD. However, many of us knew of highly suspected we had the ADD mindstlye long before the actual diagnosis. Many have joined here but haven't sought professional intervention yet. I knew I had ADD before I sought a diagnosis. I went in to get diagnosed thinking I might as well make it official. :) My son had already been diagnosed at this point, so I thought I'd make a little club.

Diagnosed by my wife(special ed teacher for asbergers kids) about 3 or 4 years ago as a strong possibility but I ignored her. Then 2 years ago my wife told my psychiatrist to give ADD meds a try. I was on concerta for a week and stopped it for some forgotten reason. At that point I entirely dismissed the diagnosis because I thought you had to be hyper. Recently my psychiatrist set me up for a 5 hour battery of tests. Yep, thats right, ADD Inattentive topped the list along with Major Depressive Disorder that I've had for 6 years.

Started methyln almost a month ago and it is the only drug that has helped me feel better out of the 16-20 drugs I've tried over the years. I still need to get the motivation fixed but at least I'm not vegetating with negative thoughts being constantly recycled. Going to ask for Aderall this Thurs and give it a try.

My former GP-at our old adress sent me to a psychologist that asked me questions for two sessions. My diagnosis was AD/HD inattentive type and mild anxiety. I suspected I had ad/hd since my son was diagnosed -7 years ago by a team of :psychatrist, psychologist, speech therapist...DH was sure the moment we started living together.
did not start medication then-pregant, BF, preganat-but now I'm ready. unfortunately my current GP just gave a short 5 question test and i think he doubts ad/hd-he said something you are certainly depressed but is just post-partum depression.

The wikipedia piece is nice,however, there were a couple of things I recall feeling uncomfortable with.

I'll have to go back and look though.A lot of it was right on.

Off the top of my head, I think that it had to do with the use if computerized tests (Continuous Performance Tests or CPT's like the TOVA, for instance) DO NOT WORK for dxing ADHD.

The other thing I believe had to do with IQ scores, which are also inappropriate for making a dx.

I will go back and look at it again and see if those were the objections I had.

The main point is that I do this for a living; all day long.

While I don't routinely dx adults, I certainly know what an evidenced based assessment should (generically) look like.

I've also diagnosed a number of adults;although recently that would be connected with being oncall or doing a court ordered eval.

I don't know how many times I've posted on Diagnosis, but it's been a number of times; going all the way back to Sept/Oct 2003; which was shortly after I joined.

More recently, I 've posted several times on dxing adults.

There is no mandate for an evidenced based approach to mental health, but I think it's headed that way.

If you were to do a web search for an evidenced based ADHD assessment,which I did not too long ago, the results would all look pretty similar in terms of the content.

Off the top of my head, I think that it had to do with the use if computerized tests (Continuous Performance Tests or CPT's like the TOVA, for instance) DO NOT WORK for dxing ADHD.

The other thing I believe had to do with IQ scores, which are also inappropriate for making a dx.

I will go back and look at it again and see if those were the objections I had.Mctavish, if you see something wrong on the page then please correct it. Wiki greatly encourages field experts to add to/correct entries. This will help all the later people who refer to that wiki page for the "definitive" "correct" answer.

I was diagnosed b/c my parents took me when I was 10 or 12, frankly i really cant remember (8-10 years ago wow thats old for me, half my life) because I was having problems with depression and was very hyper and couldnt focus. I saw a pyschiatrist who gave me a test and also just questioned me and my parents about my behaivor. The diagnosis at that time came as ADHD, and i found out recently from my mom, that when the doctor diagnosed me, he said I was the most obvious case of ADHD that he has seen, and he was pretty old from what i remembered. I was on meds until about halfway through sophomore year of HS then started to react negatively to meds, so now im coping with the condition w/out meds, and frankly, i think everyone should if they are willing to put the time into it, i enjoy being non-medicated.

For those wondering how a diagnosis SHOULD be made, search for ADHD in wikipedia.com.
/DanneFrom http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ADHD#Diagnosis
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ADHD#Diagnosis)

A diagnosis of ADHD is based on a checklist of symptoms from DSM-IV-TR (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diagnostic_and_Statistical_Manual_of_Mental_Disord ers). DSM-IV-TR Criteria for ADHD (http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/adhd/symptom.htm)

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centers_for_Disease_Control_and_Prevention) (CDC) emphasizes that a diagnosis of ADHD should only be made by trained health care providers. This is important, as many of the criteria are shared between other disorders. Different psychiatric disorders may present with the symptoms of inattentiveness (depressive and anxiety disorders) or hyperactivity and distractability (manic phase of bipolar illness).It is also important to note that ADHD symptoms to a certain degree are present in many individuals, what makes it a disorder is a significant severity and pervasiveness of the symptoms leading to prominent functional impairment across different settings (school, work, social relationships).Yes, that's basically how I was dx'd.

My daughter was diagnosed first by her pediatrician based on her observations plus the Connors questionaire my parents and I filled out, plus talking with me.

I had been diagnosed by my pediatrician at 3 or 4, then by another pediatrician at 6 and by an OB/GYN who treated me (he was also a family friend who saw me a lot). I think they all based their diagnosis on observation (I wasn't exactly a subtle case :rolleyes: as they cleaned up the shambles I made of their offices and through talking to my parents.

As an adult of 45, I talked with my GP about my symptoms and history and he offered to put me on Strattera or refer me to a psychologist for a TOVA test. I went that route. He saw me three times -- once for a history, once for the TOVA (which McT says isn't necessary), and finally for a diagnosis and treatment plan which included: medication (my GP prescribed based on the psychologist's recommendation); follow up psychotherapy; and education about ADHD. I think the counseling and education have been an important part of dealing with my ADD and I wouldn't have wanted to miss the chance by stopping with just the short conversation with my GP -- that included no education about ADD. Of course, I also had comorbid Anxiety and Depression -- but then most ADDers do have something extra along for the ride -- which also needed addressing which was another nice thing about seeing a mental health professional.

Scattered

I have bipolar disorder and was medication non compliant (dx'd bipolar @ age 9) was hyper since i could walk and never took bipolar meds until 1 year ago and once the mood was stable i thought i was chronically hypomanic but my doc said try a stimulant and it finally calmed the rest... Diagnosis changed to adhd with bipolar NOS

doctors these days are better