I am 47 years old and was finally diagnosed with ADD. I tried to commit suicide a few weeks ago after being on anti depressants for almost 20 years. Fortunaly I found the right doctor that diagnosed that immediately. I took tests before and after Ritalin and the results were completely different.
For the first time in my life I see that there is light at the end of the tunnel. I wonder how many adults like me are in the same situation and never got diagnosed. I have been to so many doctors and none of them ever thought about ADD. I was lucky to find this one. But I can't stop thinking of all the children of yesterday with ADD (like me) which are living today without help. Adult ADD awareness must be increased among doctors today. Where are the doctors for us?

i wonder the same thing...but our society is on a "de-bunking" kick where they don't believe in anything really, much less ADD. Even things that have evidence are taken as "hoopla" so even if the doctors tried to push this situation into the mainstream, most people would ignor it. I mean i've met so many people with ADD like symptoms that fight me about its existence it's silly, lol. Their lives could be so much better if they were open to the possibility that they have it, and yet they dont even believe it. So i guess its one person at a time. And i guess the lucky ones discover it about themselves...so consider yourself lucky :) It really is a wonderful feeling to finally understand yourself...life changing really. I'm glad you found out about your ADD...I'm 24 and just found out a few months ago and now i can stop thinking im just a depressed person with no hope of not being depressed

My psychiatrist has ADD himself, so this explains why I could be diagnosed so fast. He was very suspicious from the first meeting and sent me to someone else to be tested. Of course I could not know he had ADD himself, it was just by chance that I was sent to him.
He said that quite a few psychiatrists and nurses working at his hospital were diagnosed with ADD. Those are the doctors we need.:)

Capaula,

Man I am glad you are back amongst the living. Quite a nice feeling when all of a sudden you can "SEE" isnt it? Good luck to you my friend, hey we got it all here :-)

:) ... life is parallel to hell, but you MUST maintain

:)welcome to forums capaula,

wow I can relate to your adhd dx at 47

I was 44 when I was dx in much the same way as you were / I thought I was going insane, adhd never crossed my mind for what I was feeling

It was a great therapist

that was 14yrs ago

keep us posted with your adhd self discovery

n

Thanks for the support, I am feeling a human being again. I was always sure I came from another planet.
Yesterday it was the first day I worked on Ritalin, and it was a great difference.
Now I understand the mess in my house, my fight with the keys everyday. I can't control my kids's mess either. My 18 year old daughter has all her clothes on the floor, nothing on the closet. I will get her checked also.
I am not sure my husband understands the magnitude of this. Does anybody know any good book for spouses?

Lehavim, Israel - two possible starting places for your country -
Israeli Support Groups (http://www.adders.org/israelmap.htm)
below is an older listing from this site but the hyperlinks I did click were still good however I did not click on them all {cat distraction}
adhd support groups in israel (http://www.addforums.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-9557.html)

Glad you are starting to feel better and beginning to understand yourself.

I was in a somewhat similar situation. I had moderate depression for years and had been on various antidepressants. They would work for a month, maybe two and then not seem to do anything any more. Finally I was at a marriage counselor (because my wife was at wit's end) and he asked if I had ever been evaluated for ADHD. Since I never had the hyperactivity part, it had never even crossed my mind. But then I started doing some research on it and it immediately hit me how it answered so many of the questions/issues I had with myself. I was one of those that never rubbed people the wrong way, did well in school, and had a supportive family. From what I have heard, these are some of the more difficult to identify cases.

I ended up having to seek out my own docs to finally get a diagnosis of ADHD. So now I'm 43 and have just recently been diagnosed.

Personally I think part of the reason ADHD is difficult to spot and to accept is how variable and inconsistent it is. Plus there is no foolproof test (psychological or physical) that you can point to and say definatively that you/I have ADHD. For me, so many of the issues I experience feel like a willpower thing because sometimes I can do everything fine and other times I can't. Even though I am starting to believe they are not under my conscious control it is STILL hard for me to accept that many times. And if I, who have it, have these acceptance problems, imagine what it is like for others who do not have those issues.

I have the same history as you. I have been on so many meds. None of them worked. They had me on antipsychotics when I wasn't psychotic ever. They had me on mood stabilizers and I ended up being hugely overweight from them. None of the meds ever worked. I think the docs I went to just gave me meds so I would be quiet but I was just oversedated and still very sad.

Then late this summer after being victimized by my now ex boyfriend and the lexapro not doing a thing the doc prescribed Ritalin. It has helped my energy, gave me hope and has lifted my mood dramatically.

My doc said that many people who have depression have ADD and that Ritalin sometimes works when no other antidepressant does.

Best of luck to you.

capaula, check out the non-ADD spouses forum, I'll bet there is a thread there with book recommendations. :)