Hello Everyone,

I am new here, this is my very first post. I have been lurking for a little while and reading a lot of your experiences which has been very helpful.
I'm a 26 year old woman, and am pretty convinced that I have ADD.

I have the classic symptoms of inattention, poor memory, figdety, can't focus, etc. and have struggled at school and work as long as I can remember. My bother was diagnosed a few years ago, he is 10 years younger than me, and has been on medication which has helped him greatly. I've been frustrated and wanting help for so long, so decided to talk to my doctor about it, and she just didn't listen.

I couldn't even get out what I was trying to explain to her, she was just rushing me through it, wrote me a rx for xanax, and that was it. I asked if I could be referred to someone to be evaluated for ADD, and she said, "No, I really don't think you have it, you are just anxious, take the xanax."
Of course my insurance will not cover me going to a psychiatrist without a referral.

Have any of you experienced something like this with your dr? I'm not sure what my next step should be, but right now I am just so upset that she didn't listen at all. By the way, the xanax is just making me a lot more cloudy and sluggish.

Thanks! twinkiepink

Hi there!

Boy, I can sympathize. The doctor I'd been seeing for a couple years now, since first diagnosed (I think at 26, come to think of it) recently retired. The first new doctor I tried was exactly like that. Frustrating, huh?

When I first thought I might have ADD or something, I started seeing a psychologist at the campus couseling center. She was very skeptical that ADD was the problem. So every week we'd talk about my mother, my childhood, my relationships, my sleep, my work, everything on and on and took so long. Finally after several weeks of investigating the possibilities she gave me a bunch of psych. tests. After those results came back, and after our process of elimination had ruled out depression or anxiety or one of those others, she finally relented.

So I don't know if it's good advice or not, but you might prepare "talking points" on ADD symptoms, anixiety symptoms, and how you yourself feel and why you're thinking ADD. Then be prepared to patiently satisfy your doc's skepticism, give stuff like the Xanax a fair try, and as they fail gently keep the pressure on your ADD theory. It's tedious, but it could bring her around.

P.S.
Was it just a typo or did you intentionally call him your "bother"? :)

gotta find a doc that will actually listen to you instead of tell you. gather some online ADD test results and go find the doc that will be part of the solution instead of part of the problem. getting the right treatment is a life changing experience and I wish I hadn't let it go until I was 36.

it's your life, fight for it and good luck. keep us posted. :)

Is your doc a general practitioner or a psychiatrist. If this is just your general physician, she is not qualified to make that diagnosis, and she is definitely overstepping her bounds by refusing to refer you to a psychiatrist or psychologist for a second opinion.

Given that you have a family history of the disorder, her skepticism is somewhat ignorant (although she might not know, you really should mention your brother to her if you haven't). You might not have ADHD, I have no way of knowing, but she should have referred you given that you wanted a second opinion from a specialist. Physicians like her are part of the reason for rising health costs in this country, people don't get proper treatment when needed because a doc refuses to get a second opinion on a diagnosis that is outside of the scope of their training.

If the xanax is not helping you, then you need to see your doc again quickly and tell her that. Explain that it doesn't seem to help the problem, and that you would really prefer an evaluation by a psychologist or psychiatrist. Explain the insurance issue, too, so that she understands why you need a referral. If she refuses to refer you, then ask if you can speak with another doc in her practice. If she refuses that, then make an appoinment with another doc in the practice for another day. If that's not an option, maybe you should see if you can find another physician who takes your insurance.

A physician who refuses to listen to a patient's complaints, who refuses to accept when a patient says that a medication isn't helping, and who refuses to refer to a specialist, especially in an area outside of her scope of practice, at the patient's request is one dead patient away from a malpractice lawsuit.

When you speak to her next, if she still expresses doubt, ask her why she doesn't agree, and especially also ask her qualifications for making a psychiatric diagnosis. Ask her when she last received CME credit for neurological, psychiatric, or behavioral E/M and treatment (it doesn't matter if you don't know what it means, asking the question is pretty likely to trigger an intense fear of a lawsuit and a desire to refer for a second opinion, trust me).

Hi there!

Boy, I can sympathize. The doctor I'd been seeing for a couple years now, since first diagnosed (I think at 26, come to think of it) recently retired. The first new doctor I tried was exactly like that. Frustrating, huh?

When I first thought I might have ADD or something, I started seeing a psychologist at the campus couseling center. She was very skeptical that ADD was the problem. So every week we'd talk about my mother, my childhood, my relationships, my sleep, my work, everything on and on and took so long. Finally after several weeks of investigating the possibilities she gave me a bunch of psych. tests. After those results came back, and after our process of elimination had ruled out depression or anxiety or one of those others, she finally relented.

So I don't know if it's good advice or not, but you might prepare "talking points" on ADD symptoms, anixiety symptoms, and how you yourself feel and why you're thinking ADD. Then be prepared to patiently satisfy your doc's skepticism, give stuff like the Xanax a fair try, and as they fail gently keep the pressure on your ADD theory. It's tedious, but it could bring her around.

P.S.
Was it just a typo or did you intentionally call him your "bother"? :)

^ Ha ha ha, that was just a typo, although he can be pretty bothersome!

Thanks for all your kind words and advice. The doctor I was referring to is just a general physician, so I understand that she might not be too familiar with ADHD. I am going to make another appt with her and talk about how the xanax has not been helping. I've been taking it for a couple of weeks now, and if anything it is making me feel worse.
Hopefully she will agree to refer me to a psychiatrist. I've been dealing with this for so long now, and I just want to find help! I've learned to cope with the lack of focus, lack of energy and cloudiness pretty well, but I just wonder what things would be like if I found something that really worked!
thanks again- twinkiepink

my doc is convinced that I have the "bipolar" symptom profile due to excessive hyperactivity and minor bouts with depression (PTSD related) and a hypomanic reaction to SSRI's but I respond and stabilize with dexedrine so it is really "a matter of brain chemistry" according to him even though I have ADHD hyperactive type in the history of development etc. He still labels me as a bipolar and I am just really hyperactive but I still get the "correct meds" for ADHD and have been on them for years so I ignore the opinion of him because the disorders overlap so nobody knows for sure but he'll get over it... I was addicted to Xanax and it's relatives when "anxiety" was my label and doctor shopped like a fiend whereas with dexedrine it is more like getting a true manic-depressive to stay "compliant" with lithium or depakote which by the way I had no response to whatsoever...