I have been researching ADHD for a few days now because I realized that I am not stupid yet, I tend to procrastinate almost everything on a daily basis. I am fixing to be 21 and even in school I never did my homework and was always in honors classes and still was able to pull of a 3.7 GPA. Now my problem is my career and work goals. I just moved back in with my parents because when I was 18 I moved out for almost two years. I screwed my credit due to not managing my money correctly, yet I NEVER missed one rent payment. I put things off until the last minute, including credit card bills and such.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>

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Another thing I tend to do is while multitasking, I will daydream and go off on tangents not related to the original task at hand. As a matter of fact I should be entering Invoices at work right now but this has been bugging me to get off my chest!<o:p></o:p>

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I want to see a psychiatrist in the near future and I have read some of the success stories about the Adderall. If professionally diagnosed Adderall is the med I want to inquire about but being part of a family that has been destroyed by addictive painkillers, I am kind of reluctant to try a drug that can be addictive. I do not want to depend on anything other than my own body and mind, but DO want help with my work and hopefully soon to be school life<o:p></o:p>

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Any opinions?<o:p></o:p>

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Oh also, anyone here know of a good doctor here in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Tampa</st1:City> <st1:State w:st="on">FL</st1:State></st1:place> that won’t cost me an arm and a leg and my unborn child?<o:p></o:p>

Sorry for the email format...I am at work wrote it in Outlook Express.

Any opinions?Hi jl493, and welcome to the forums.

In my opinion, I would suggest that you go to the Dr with a willingness to try any medication(s) that he/she thinks is best instead of suggesting what you think might be best. If the medications that he/she prescribes don't work out, then at that time I would certainlly feel comfortable suggesting another option, but only after trying what my Dr wanted me to try out first.

Another thing that is important to note is that when a person approaches a Dr assuming that they have ADHD without being diagnosed, and is also suggesting a specific stimulant drug (or only stimulant drugs), it often sends up a red flag to a Dr who is trained to be on the lookout for signs of drug seeking behavior. The relationship between you and your Dr will likely be a long one, and it is essential that it is based on trust. Your willingness to trust your Dr to suggest what they think is best for you is something that is very important in building the foundation of trust between you.

It's impossible for anyone to tell how they will respond to any medication before taking it themselves. when a person approaches a Dr assuming that they have ADHD without being diagnosed, and at the same time suggesting a stimulant, it often sends up a red flag to a Dr who is usually on the lookout for signs of drug seeking behavior.

It's rare that a person is able to find the right medication on their first attempt, but it certainlly does happen for some people. For me it took several years of trying different drugs before I finally felt like I had found what I was looking for. That being said, I have yet to find a single drug that is perfect, yet I have found that some of these drugs that are much better than others in the way that they help me.

Please keep us posted on how things unfolds, and I will be hoping that you are able to find the help you are looking for when you do see a Dr.

Thank you kindly for your response, it makes sense that me suggesting something would flip an alert button for my doctor. Thant being said I will go into the office open minded to any suggestions my doctor has. The only problem here though is I have no health insurance and can not afford any more than maybe a once every 2 month visit so I really hope whatever regimin he recomments works.

I actually just called Dr Troy Noonan in Brandon Florida (If anyone has been there some info would be great), but no one answered so I left a voicemail.

Again thank you all very much for your input.

I had a high GPA as well in school and I have a 168 IQ yet I still have ADD/ADHD. It is not an indication that one is weak minded or dumb... But it can effect your overall efficiency. Dis-tractability no matter what your intelligence may be is detrimental to learning any material accurately or at all.

To get diagnosed as an adult I had to show that I had some history of certain diagnostic criteria which when summed up equal a rating & that other family members had some history of drug use or other mental related issues that could have been handed down through heredity, you may also have to have family members come in and explain what issues they've seen so the doctor has a 3rd party view, you may also have to show some history of trouble paying attention, keeping yourself calm, and a history of impulsive behavior or possibly compulsive/impulsive combination, or difficulty in certain things, hyper-focus where you cannot concentrate on any one thing, but only on many things, or the exact opposite you can only concentrate on ONE thing and hyper focus and ignore everything else around you. A complete assay of issues will be compiled so that a Pdoc can make a decision to diagnose you according to the compiled criteria/issues.

Make sure you have the doctor (psychiatrist, psychologist, or specialist)
rules out other possibilities, like Depression, Bi-polar, Schizophrenia, etc... There are many factors that can cause attention/hyper issues. Sometimes it is a combination of these issues that either make the ADD/ADHD worse or a co-morbidity as a Doctor says, which is if your ADD wasn't that bad, but you had Depression, the overall sum of the two issues would be greater, hence co-morbidity.

Rule out medical related issues, blood pressure, blood sugar, Thyroid, Tumors, etc.. and or other issues that can affect mental health.

Good luck, do your research and you will be happier with the results.

Eek, only problem with a family member being a 3rd party view is my father is critical of any disorders such as ADD, he believes its none other than laziness. My mother could probably point out a few things such as I do have the attention span of a goldfish and I absolutely must be doing something, whether reading on my comp, or walking up the road to chill with my cousin, or ANYTHING but sitting at home doing nothing...i can not do that, it makes me....i dont even know how to explain it.

At work, wow...my job consist of hand keying orders into a computer, emailing clients, calling/receiving calls from clients/customers and such, and I am starting to get backed up and overwhelmed...at the end of the day I will have at least 15 emails that I failed to complete and send, and by that time I have forgotten what to say in the email! Its really starting to get to me...i dont want to say i get depressed because I really do like to think I am an optimist in most facets of my life, but recently a feeling of failure has come over me because I had to move back in with my parents at almost 21 just so I can save money and get out of debt and hopefully go back to school...and with my current job should not have been a problem, I just put off all my bills for some reason...even though I could afford it at the time...

I called a local psychiatrist... 200 dollars for a new patient and 65 for visits thereafter. That a reasonable price?

Depends I guess. My insurance co bills my psychiatrist $140 an hour, even though my appointments last only 10 minutes, long enough to get a new prescription. But for some reason they bill my psychologist in the same office $165 per hour, but my visits with her last a half hour.

jl4n3, knowledge is important and can really make a difference in getting the best care. sincerity/honesty is a must when you meet with the doctor, as well as doing your homework to make the most out of your appointment. is it worth the money? i say heck yes it is. my doctor told me i can't cure your adhd, but it can be managed and i can live a better life. the beginning of treatment may be a little more expensive, b/c you will often see the doctor more- med adjustments, etc. if you're compliant and find the right regimen the frequency of visits will likely decrease. myself, i see my doctor every six months/ 125 per visit, plus meds each month. i pay out of pocket and it's worth every cent.
be honest with your doctor, tell them i don't have insurance, but i've reached the point in my life where i am willing to spend my hard earned money to be a better person. i hope this information has been helpful to you.

thank you! That really helps.

lots of doctors have coupons for meds too which can help a lot.

Okie dokie...I called a psychiatrist today to schedule an appointment...soonest he can schedule me is dec 13th!!! The lady on the phone asked me why I wanted to see him and I said regarding ADHD. SHe then asked if I wanted to be on meds...??? I am sorry but aren't the psychiatrist supposed to help me with that decision???

Also I printed a questionairre off the internet with the common symptoms of ADHD and asked my mom to fill it out, but I never mentioned what it was for and told her to honestly answer it honestly for me. Sure enough 14 out of the 15 on the test she checked were add symptoms.