First of all let me take a second to introduce myself and explain where i'm coming from.

I'm a 25, i live in San Diego California. since about age 18 i've always known i had ADD. when i was younger i had ADHD but it was never diagnosed due to my family having no insurance because of financial issues. but now looking through the symptoms, i see i was affected immensly by many of them. a couple years ago i stumbled onto a website that had a questionaire for Adult ADD. i found that almost every description of their symptoms was something i struggled to deal with daily in my life. for example "do you find it hard to read... do you often read the same paragraph several times before moving on" that was something that kept me from reading my whole life. it would take me 5 times the amount of time to read a book than the average person. not that i couldn't read it's just that i found it hard to focus long enough to read through it. it was very frustrating because i liked to read when i could focus (rarely) well soon after i visited that site i did a search for many related sites and the verdict was the same to me. i had Adult ADD. i really couldn't do anything about it because i had no insurance because of my contracting work so i just sat with it etched in my mind.

then about a year ago a coworker was telling me how he had been medicated for ADD most of his life. and at the time his doctor just switched him to aderall from ritalin and he had about a months supply left of Ritalin that he gave to me. (i know thats bad but i thank him every day) Ritalin has been a life saver to me. in just a couple of days i stopped drinking caffeine all together which had become an important part of coping for me. all of the sudden i was attentive at work where i was considered somewhat of a slacker. every time i took one it was like the whole world cleared up of all the white noise in my head. my girlfriend loved it because i was able to give her alot off attention that she hadn't gotten from me before. and the ultimate test to me was, i was flying back to the east coast to visit family and i bought a book in the airport. the flight was from san diego to baltimore. by the time i had landed in baltimore i had read the entire book and enjoyed every minute of it. i don't think i once went back and double read a paragraph or page. it was great. since then i've read many books and continue to find new ones. so this medication has made my life better, i'm a better worker professionally, i'm better to my girlfriend, and i'm happier in general because the frustration of daily life is significantly reduced.

but here is my dilemma..

after the months supply that he gave me ran out i snapped back to the way it was. in a couple of days i found myself in the same rut. but the problem was i had no insurance to visit a doctor. so being so close to mexico i self medicated for the past year. i'd go down and buy a 3 to 4 months supply of Ritalin at once. this has worked out ok but it's illegal and a hassle to do it. i don't like that i have to do it but i feel that i need to.

but now thanks to the benefits of Ritalin i have myself a better job that gives me full medical coverage. so my question to you or anyone is, what kind of doctor should i see? a specialist? i've heard that family care doctors give you the run around and will do anything to convince you that you don't have it because of the controversy surrounding it over the past 5 years or so. and what is the process they go through to determine if you should be medicated? i know that Ritalin works very well for me but should i tell them that? should i tell them that i've been self medicating over the past year? is there a better alternative? i don't see anything wrong with Ritalin but i'm no doctor. has anyone else been in this same situation?

Any help or advice is greatly welcomed.

Fellow ADD Friend
Aaron

MHO would be to find a psychologist, since they are better at dealing with behavior issues, although you would still need to find somebody to prescribe whatever meds you need. Psychiatrists tend to have a different approach which is more theoretical and less practical, although they can prescribe meds.

I would definitely tell whomever that ritalin worked well, and leave it up to them to decide if you should switch to something else. Don't worry about the self-medication issue; many ADDers do it at some point, and besides, what are you going to do about it now anyways?:)

Find a doctor who specializes in ADD/ADHD, if possible. otherwise, go to a psychologist ( not a couselor) and don't be afraid to shop around. make sure when you get a prescription that the doctor you are seeing is available to you when you may have a question or need assitance with your prescription. also, i know it's hard, but you got to atop taking drugs from mexico. one of these days it may not be ritalin...:( and, you may want to try generic ritalin to see if it works just as well, because then you could probably save some money on your prescriptions.

seeing someone to talk about strategies to hel you in addition to your meds is helpful too :)

Do you have a current family doctor? If so, I would suggest talking to him or her. If your primary care doc is not able or unwilling to help get you diagnosed, then find another doctor. The doctor is working for you, not the other way around!
Your primary care doc will probably refer you to a psychologist who has experience in diagnosing ADHD and related disorders. This person is NOT an MD and can not prescribe medications. Sometimes they may suggest meds, but it is the primary care doc who will probably be presribing your meds.
As far as seeing a psychiatrist, who is an MD and can prescribe, what you will find is that most are very hard to get appointments with in a reasonable time. They can also be very expensive and usually an adult with ADHD does not really need the services of a full blown psychiatrist.
As far as your meds from Mexico, you should be secure enough with your doctor to be able to talk to him or her about the meds. Once again, if the doctor turns and attacks you, that is your clue that this IS NOT the doctor for you. The arrogance and ego of some docs amaze me. Any physician worth his or her weight is going to be your advocate and help you, not lecture and degrade you. Not that i am saying taking meds from Mexico is a good thing, but there is a proper way to convey that message!
Good luck!