It's because Im actually pretty smart but I still beleive I have ADD. I also suffer from depression and anxiety's which I beleive is stemmed from the disorder. It's really really hard for me to explain stuff to people. If I watch a movie I can understand it just fine but to put it into words to explain it to someone else is impossible for me to do. Remembering lines from a movie is also an impossible task no matter how many times I see and hear it I cannot remember it. I once tried to remember this cool song after two days of trying to remember it I only memorized 2-3 sentences of the song about 5 seconds worth. I also can only learn hands on meaning if I want to learn something I have to teach myself. Cause no matter what there is no way someone else can teach me how to do something. I can even watch someone do something multiple times and I still won't know how to do it myself. Im sleepy all day and can never get enough sleep no matter how much I sleep. Im afraid that when I go to the doctor and tell her that im tired, depressed, and have anxieties and can't concentrate that she'll say it's from depression and not from ADD. I should also add something else my brain reacts differently to drugs than most people actually its more of a lack of reaction to drugs. Alcohol makes me feel sick and gets me to lose my balance but for mental effects there are none. I was prescribed to Xanax before for my anxieties and they did nothing mentally they just made me sleepy. I still had anxiety attacks on xanax! I took codeine once enough to make me throw up and there was no mental effects it just made me fall asleep like a rock. Antidepressants are like taking sugar pills. Any advice on how what to say to my doc?

Yes. Be honest.

Smarts have nothing to do with ADHD. Nor does success.

You're not looking for an ADHD diagnosis, you're looking for a correct diagnosis so that you can get the treatment that will work. If you think it's ADHD, share that with your doctor, but don't be too upset if he/she comes back with a different opinion.

When it comes to meds, everyone is different & I'm sure there is something that will work for you!

I agree with Barb that you are looking for a correct diagnosis, not necessarily an ADHD diagnosis. Remember that good practictioners will know more about the variety of disorders out there and will know more about where you fit in. A good suggestion would be making a list of what you see as your problems and bringing it with you to the appointment. It will help you remember and you can leave it with your Dr. to help assure a correct diagnosis.

Good luck with whatever your diagnosis may be!

It's because Im actually pretty smart but I still beleive I have ADD. *drooling*
"Hi I am so prowd of miself cuz i gradewated highskool even thow i have ADD"
*Pokes finger in own eye*
"Duh....I lernt how to dress miself last weak".

AAAAAAAARRRGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!

*drooling*
"Hi I am so prowd of miself cuz i gradewated highskool even thow i have ADD"
*Pokes finger in own eye*
"Duh....I lernt how to dress miself last weak".

AAAAAAAARRRGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!Why are you making fun of me? Im just looking for help.

Why are you making fun of me? Im just looking for help.You probably did not mean it this way, but when you said that you thought you had ADHD even though you are smart, you imply that most people with ADHD aren't smart. Most of the people on these forums have ADHD. Thus you are implying that most of us aren't smart.

The fact is, people with ADHD are no smarter or less smart than other people.

I definitely encourage you to be seen by someone qualified to diagnose ADHD if you think you may have it.

You probably did not mean it this way, but when you said that you thought you had ADHD even though you are smart, you imply that most people with ADHD aren't smart. Most of the people on these forums have ADHD. Thus you are implying that most of us aren't smart.

The fact is, people with ADHD are no smarter or less smart than other people.

I definitely encourage you to be seen by someone qualified to diagnose ADHD if you think you may have it.oopss sorry I guess it came out wrong I never thought people with ADD were stupid. I think were smarter in some ways cause we are able to analyze situations differently than normal people.

The doctor was cool and said it certainly could be ADD and put me on Concerta which I really didn't want because I wanted something I knew that was effective like Adderall. But she reassured me that it was good stuff. Well I took it and it did help for about two hours than felt baseline with eyes that hurt and a headache for 4 hours followed by really bad depression. Now I can't wait to see her again so I can get proper medicine. Everyday living like this feels like torture to me.

Quote:
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=6 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=alt2 style="BORDER-RIGHT: 1px inset; BORDER-TOP: 1px inset; BORDER-LEFT: 1px inset; BORDER-BOTTOM: 1px inset">Originally Posted by chameleon
*drooling*
"Hi I am so prowd of miself cuz i gradewated highskool even thow i have ADD"
*Pokes finger in own eye*
"Duh....I lernt how to dress miself last weak".

AAAAAAAARRRGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
Why are you making fun of me? Im just looking for help.
The thing about forums is people write one thing, and in their mind it is meant to be *funny* but when someone else reads it, it can appear *rude* to them :( ...I am always doing it..LOL..
so if you read a post that you think someone is being *rude* in , I think it's best to just ignore it, or we would all be tearing strips off each other all the time..I can read a post that to me is hilarious, but no-one else is laughing..
:p
I am sure no-one here means any offence..even though I have probably put my foot in it here...again..:eyebrow:

Hey Jack, your post touched me because I just went to my doctor on Monday to get some medication for my ADD. I felt like I had to prove to her that I had ADD since I haven't been tested since 1994 and that was when I lived in a different state. She didn't necessarily make me feel like that I think I made myself feel like that because I knew what I needed and I wanted so badly for her to agree with me. My doc tried to prescribe pills for depression but I told her no, I really wanted to try an ADD drug. She agreed & wrote me a script for Concerta. Unfortunately the Pharmacy said my insurance wouldn't cover it unless I tried something else first so I had to go BACK to my doctor yesterday & she wrote me a script for Adderall XR. Today was my first day on it & I'm hesitant to say I can already feel it working, but I know that I didn't have a stress-related "freak-out" at work like I have been the past few weeks.

Anyway, I know that was off-topic so I hope I don't get in trouble for that, I was basically just trying to say that I can sympathize with you & I hope you find a medicine that works for you. My doctor said if this doesn't work we will try something else but if we can't find anything that works she wants me re-tested. She said she's using that as a last resort because it's "a pain to get into one of those places". I just smiled because I know something will work. :)

Good luck!

Chris

The doctor was cool and said it certainly could be ADD and put me on Concerta which I really didn't want because I wanted something I knew that was effective like Adderall. But she reassured me that it was good stuff. Well I took it and it did help for about two hours than felt baseline with eyes that hurt and a headache for 4 hours followed by really bad depression. Now I can't wait to see her again so I can get proper medicine. Everyday living like this feels like torture to me.
Concerta is essentially long-acting Ritalin. It is a medication with a good reputation as well, so rest assured, you weren't given snake oil! :D

But it may not work for you, in some way or another (no benefits OR too many problems, or both). People are quite different, so something that works for one person may not work for someone else. I tried Ritalin myself (short-acting) and had almost no side effects until 30mgs, and then had major issues with my blood pressure AND didn't see any benefits. So it's not for me. But other people may like Ritalin.

Also remember that at the beginning of taking a prescription - even a stimulant - you may see side effects that will take a while to wear off. (I started Dexedrine, and had two weeks where I could barely eat, for example.) It sounds like the side effect from Concerta you had were just unlivable, so it makes sense to stop it. But don't let side effects stop you from taking something else if you CAN handle them for a while, because you might get lucky, and they'll wear off and the med will work.

Okay, good luck!

Concerta is essentially long-acting Ritalin. It is a medication with a good reputation as well, so rest assured, you weren't given snake oil! :D

But it may not work for you, in some way or another (no benefits OR too many problems, or both). People are quite different, so something that works for one person may not work for someone else. I tried Ritalin myself (short-acting) and had almost no side effects until 30mgs, and then had major issues with my blood pressure AND didn't see any benefits. So it's not for me. But other people may like Ritalin.

Also remember that at the beginning of taking a prescription - even a stimulant - you may see side effects that will take a while to wear off. (I started Dexedrine, and had two weeks where I could barely eat, for example.) It sounds like the side effect from Concerta you had were just unlivable, so it makes sense to stop it. But don't let side effects stop you from taking something else if you CAN handle them for a while, because you might get lucky, and they'll wear off and the med will work.

Okay, good luck!Tell you the Truth I kept taking them anyways. I would wake up in the mourning and feel horrible and look at the bottle and say "What if today I took them and they made me feel better" The way I see it I could not take them and have a bad day or I could take them and *might* have a better day. Some side-effects got better such as the head aches and blurry eyes. They definately allowed me to have better concentration in class. Before I would not be able to stay awake. But on the concerta I was able to and listening to my teachers lectures seemed interesting lol but the bad thing was after about 2 hours after taking them I would become almost emotionless and lost my ability to laugh and my voice becamed mono-toned. It was impossible to talk to people because I felt as if I couldn't reach out to anyone. I associate it to concerta somehow lowering my serotonin levels. Today I went out and bought some St.Johns Wort Extract so I can take it with concerta until Thursday when I can try to get on something better. I don't know if it was placebo effect or not but St.Johns wort did seem to help. I won't know for sure though until a couple days of usage.

Yes. Be honest.

Smarts have nothing to do with ADHD. Nor does success.

You're not looking for an ADHD diagnosis, you're looking for a correct diagnosis so that you can get the treatment that will work. If you think it's ADHD, share that with your doctor, but don't be too upset if he/she comes back with a different opinion.

When it comes to meds, everyone is different & I'm sure there is something that will work for you!
I wen to a doctor that said i was bi polar and i took lithium and it did absolutely NOTHING for me. I triex Xanax I tried imimpramine - Okay so I am not spelling things correctly here probably - but i will tell you it **** things up for me. There are many nice Psychiatrists out there that treat EVERYONE with ONE kind of mental illness.

They might have a really nice office - have been there for many years but I will tell you this first hand. The one I went to - was when i was younger and she out of no where wrote me a relaese letter saying officaly why she needs to stop treating me and it was because I "refuse to take my medication and cooperate with her suggestions in order to help and no progress was being made" - so what kind of doctor does that?

Obviously she did not want to accept that her diagnosis was incorrect. If I was older and knew more I would have considerd a suit.

This was interesting - when I went to the doctor that knew the problem I had and hit the nail on the head when he said - yeah your ADD - he knew it. It was obvious to him. He told me that the doctor that told me i was bi-polar - treates everyone as if they are bi polar , how did he know this? He was her manager about 10 years ago!

So freaking wierd.

I have had so many problems with psychiatrists over the years, it truly boggles my mind! Because of this, I have come to have little faith in the profession, and it saddens me, because these are the people we must rely on for help.

Just my $0.02.