How to find a prescriber

[KaarinMVP]

I have recently begun to suspect ADD in myself at nearly 30. I worry that my regular doctor won't take me seriously since it has never come up before. I don't know how to go about finding the right prescriber that will take my insurance. I don't even know where to start. It seems daunting and I am always quick to back down from a daunting task of course

Any advice would be appreciated!

[Crunchby]

Most adults dx themselves bc they realize their child has it... And its typically genetic. .. Not always. Anyway, I took some of my kids meds and felt like I just put glasses on for the first time. I took some online test and brought that to my yearly appt. with my primary. It went really well. It was hard to bring up. She was open about the dx, and prescribed me what I needed. I'm now at a point I need a psychiatrist to assist with medication management. I'm actually awaiting a call back for an appt. So go online take a test, make an appt and bring the results in. There is a podcast on chadd that talks about adhd in adults and how a lot if doctors are not trained or believe in it. If first says no, try next. I think I would do screener call and ask if they treat adult ADHD. Good luck

[LdeVose]

Like many, my Bride and I, more my Bride, suspected that I may be an ADDie after my son was diagnosed at age five. He actually diagnosed himself listening to a broadcast featuring Dr. James Dobson. Unfortunately, he refused to cooperate with treatment regimes, because of peer perception and how the medications affected him. We went to a neurologist who at the time thought my symptoms were a character flaw rather than a real condition. This was the late 1980s.

My son took his own life in jail in 2004. By this time, he had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Prematurely released from suicide watch, he immediately hanged himself with his own clothes. After this, my Bride became all the more insistent that I revisit the matter of my possible status. in 2007, I was diagnosed by a psychiatrist. My internist, an octogenarian at the time, suggested this when I told him my symptoms. I mention his age, because, he was so matter-of-fact in saying that I am probably dealing with ADHD and/or Depression. We know the outcome. The Depression diagnosis came in 2009 (something I had suspected since age 16).

If you are actually diagnosed, and I strongly urge you to confirm your diagnosis with a psychiatrist, continue to get educated. I have found myself in tears reading articles by lawyers, physicians, parents and patients in magazines like "ADDitude" and "Attention". The tears came from finally seeing that my internal struggles were due to a real condition, and that there were others who had endured the same issues as I with a brain that just went and did what it wanted when it wanted, influencing my mind to misinterpret nearly everything in my life. Also, be sure to ask questions of your psychiatrist(s) and therapist(s) about the condition, symptoms, reactions to drugs, current research, etc. Make sure you talk about possible co-existing conditions that ADHD likes to bring with it (see this article here: healthunlocked.com/adult-AD... by KarenADHDWeekly. Reading articles by the Amends will be helpful.

Above all, do not listen to the pharmaphobes who will tell you that it is all in your mind, and that all you need do is think happy, positive, confident, focused or whatever thoughts and eat the right food and drink the right water or juice or wine or brine, or get no more or less than so many hours of sleep on a pillow made of this and sheets made of that while listening to this music in that key at this volume level in a room scented thus and painted with organic paint in the color of.... and you will not have the symptoms anymore. I have become rather militant when I hear this from people, especially if they wear glasses, over-indulge with alcohol, are overweight, smoke anything for that matter, take ANY medication or use deodorant. I ask them why they are not applying their prescription to their own lives. If they cannot show me a state license that authorizes them to write prescriptions, I do not let them.

Beware of physicians of one specialty who are hypercritical of other specialties. If your physician refuses to take over management of your medications, leave. Find a physician who does not discriminate on the basis of disability. Just ask other ADDies.

Above all, if your friends and family are not supportive, try to educate them. If they will not listen, and the relationship is otherwise healthy, let them know how much their support means, but if they cannot or will not give this, you will have to find support elsewhere. Many times we ADDies get stuck in unhealthy relationships or allow good relationships to become unhealthy by what I have called playing tennis alone. This is where you serve the other player, but you see they are not going to return service, so you run over and do it for them This is exasperating, self-destructive and lethal for the relationship.

Nobody knows what it is like to live inside your head. Do not let them speak as though they do.

One last note. Once you have that brain under control, you will begin to see why I am proud to be an ADDie. There are things the ADDie brain can do that the non-ADDie brain cannot. It is different for every ADDie and gradual, but you will see the benefits of an ADDie brain properly subordinated to your mind. I realize I am barely beneath the surface of a brain under the direction of your mind. ADHD is an interesting condition that we treat and ignore. I am finding it productive to treat an explore. The possibilities are almost endless.

Welcome to the family.