I spent my entire childhood going through tests and being diagnosed for various disorders none of which seemed to fix my attention issues. My mother has saved all of my testing from elementary school on and in most cases the write up mentions the inability to stay focused on a task as one of the primary issues. The write-ups are quite literally the definition of inattentive ADD.
It wasn't until college when I was finally diagnosed with severe inattentive ADD. My Stanford University trained doctor methodically increased the dosage of Ritalin until we found a sweet spot. For the next few years my family doctor happily refilled my prescription and I enjoying a fair amount of success at moving up the corporate ladder.
I left my company to go to graduate school as I believed it would be impossible to achieve anything while working 100+ hours a week. As I no longer had health insurance I started to search for a new doctor and found it unbelievably hard to find someone who would prescribe Ritalin. Doctors told me that Ritalin does not work for adults, ADHD is a made up diagnosis, and other inaccurate fairy tales about our condition. I tried just about every alternative medication but Ritalin is the only one that works well for me and doesn't make my heart feel as though it is going to explode.
Now I am underemployed and spend an unbelievable amount of time getting access to my medication. Doctors have insisted that I take a pee test to prove I am using the medication, counted my remaining pills, insisted on additional testing, and insisting that I use one pharmacy to get my medication. Using one pharmacy is a useless rule as I find on a regular basis the one I am supposed to go to is out of Ritalin and so I have to drive to the other side of town to get my medication.
So frustrated to be spending so many hours a day just fighting for the only medication that has worked for me. I miss my days of being a very productive member of society. So depressed