Conflicting ADHD diagnoses from professionals

[eant65]

I have had a therapist for 8 years who recently retired and agrees with me that I have ADD (ADHD) and I have taken a 8 week course at Kaiser for ADHD and I have completed a 20 question test which I had 19 that matched. I took several online tests and have about 70-81 percent, however these tests were more vague. Since my therapist retired, I was assigned a new therapist and new Psychiatrist since he retired too. Its hard working with new people because they dont know the history. The issue is too since Kaiser wont hire any more therapists, instead of seeing my therapist once a month, they are so backed up i can only see her every 10 weeks now, which is ridiculous and the reason I am using this site, which has been great.

The first phsychiatrist i just fired and got a new one because he was very agressive and not understanding, he wanted to do what he wanted to do and did not listen what i had said and dismissed what i wanted as inconclusive and would not allow me to be fully medically tested for ADHD. The new therapist seems confused and thinks it may be sleep deprevation, lol. I admit I have had some drinking issues and my original therapist and the new one agree that i should be abstinant for 90 days before I get tested and I get it. But the lack of understanding and diagnoses are frustrating. I had an appointment with my new Psychiatrist yesterday but she had to cancel and reschedule due to being out of the office.

I have researched and I get daily emails from ADDitude which is an online subscription specifically for ADHD and it has been a great resource. But it seems like whenever I get closer to crossing the bridge to get fully diagnosed, I get set backs every time. Can someone please have any suggestions.

Thank you

[wtfadhd]

hi, i can tell you are frustrated. im kinda confused though, if you had a therapist and psychiatrist for 8 years, and they both agreed with you that you have ADHD… then didnt you already get an official diagnosis in those 8 years from either of them?

[artist17]

Hi - that sounds frustrating! I agree with the other comments, an official diagnosis should carry over to other psychiatrists. And cheer's for working on the drinking cause mixing that with adhd meds would not be helpful to physical health and managing your conditions.

[Gettingittogether]

"Fully diagnosed "gets on the wrong track. You want to be fully treated. I've had a succession of psychiatrists who didn't put me through any long battery of tests to officially "diagnose me."

But that's off the point. Took me a while to learn this.

You merely need to convince your provider that you need to be treated. And that treatment with medication will help you. I've been lucky to have found psychiatrists and nurses that i bonded with.

A provider can decide in 5 minutes that you need to be treated. I think the confusion comes about because part of ADHD can be considered a neurological disorder, and schools require official diagnoses and so on. Well adult treatment isn't like that--there is no form to pass on to teachers.

My providers never gave me tests for my depression. They simply listened to me describe my life and my struggles and they might have asked if I was open to medication and then they prescribed.

For context: there is a huge debate in the medical community about ADHD in adults. So there is no official diagnosis that everyone agrees on. No consensus. I mean huge argument (intellectual) between really high-level, thoughtful, smart researchers and providers. Some hold to the "have to have had it since childhood" view. Other disagree. But that's OK, you get an injury or a heart problem and there is frequently not one formulaic way doctors respond. Treatment is art and science and provider gut intuition (part of intuition is experience).

So you need to find a provider you connect with. I notice you say "drinking issues"--sounds like understatement-denial to me. You either do have an issue or you don't. And if you do (and I can guarantee you do just by the fact that you mentioned "drinking") the problem is serious. Sometimes understatement and denial help. I don't think I have EVER heard of understatement helping with people with problem drinking. I've seen understatement help with anxiety in certain situations. But not with drinking. Get on that drinking seriously. But treatment for ADHD can help with controlling addictions. Help. Not cure. The person still has to often go to therapy and/or support groups and do the work of breaking from the addiction.

Also, treatment is like any other area of life. Providers like treating people who seem to be working hard and putting in genuine effort to make life improvements. They don't like (not saying you do this) when a client-patient shows up and treats a visit like "fix me."

[MuddledMind]

I hear you. I wanted to add a little thought to the comment by others that we sometimes show up to professionals wth a 'fix me attitude'. THIS IS NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH BEING LAZY - it is emotional exhaustion of trying to be the advocate for your own life when everything you try does not work and the well-meaning professionals who try to help you just don't know how or have the time to give to the complexities of some clients issues. How can we keep hoping when even professionals seem to give up on us. It is the result of what I believe is the failure of our health system and a silo approach to health. What affects one part of the system has huge impacts on other parts. The thing is we are a biopsychosocial and spiritual being. ADHD may be an issue in the brain, but it is on a spectrum and one of the most difficult conditions to diagnose or treat. It takes ONE person to say "I'll come on this journey with you" to restore hope and one person that can show you that a great life is possible, to inspire you to overcome. Peer support and an ADHD specialist coach especially one that can work with you online (text/emails/phone/video) are great to start the journey to building a team of committed health professionals around you and conversations around meaning of life are essential. When you feel up to it, start keeping notes on all of you physical, emotional, and mental symptoms daily/weekly, Make this a priority and take it to a GP even if you need to see 10 or ask around to find one that will PARTNER with you to find the right PSych, OT, Somatic, Speech or other therapists. Learn the language of ADHD and become your own advocate. Journal when you can as this can be so self-encouraging when you read back on how far you have come. I am so encouraged that you are reaching out and so want to encourage you, please don't give up. All the best.

[eant65 in reply to MuddledMind]

Thank you so much MM, I just got a new psychiatrist, and she says that I might be bipolar, I am not asking for help me fix, I just want to get the correct diagnoses and proper treatment. I will definitely keep in touch with you as I am on a new journey. I greatly appreciate your advice as I will start documenting my physical and mental status. Thank you dearly.

[addacademic]

This is tough. I feel your frustration. One of the things we must train ourselves to do, especially as people who are experiencing psychological symptoms which can get in the way of clear communication, is to (1) be very clear with ourselves and our medical providers about the pattern of day-in, day-out symptoms we are experiencing and (2) ask a psychiatrist or a psychotherapist who wants to change our diagnosis or treatment "What is it that you are noticing - what symptoms - that concern you." keeping in mind that they sometimes do see things we can't about ourselves. If you practice (1) very carefully and communicate well (i recommend writing it all down or keeping a daily log) then they are far less likely to make mistakes in (2).

Does that make sense?

[Hidden]

I’m sorry that you’re going through this. I can totally relate. My regular doctor diagnosed me and started trying different meds, but I didn’t feel it was through experience, just throwing things at me to see what works best. My husband has ADHD too and we both also suffer from anxiety and depression. We decided to see a psychiatrist and got a therapist. It took us 3 months to get in to see her and she switched me back to Ritalin instead of Adderall. After months of misery and poor work performance she put me back on Adderall. But combined an IR and XL at the same time in the AM and another IR in the afternoon if I need it. Seems to be working so far, but it took years to get here. My husband was put on 60 mg/day eight off the bat and wasn’t given titration instructions. After 4 days of no sleep he stopped taking it. I told him to half the dose and work his way up. That’s helped a lot.