Adult ADHD Diagnosis (1 Viewer)

[Ilov80s]

@caustic THANK YOU for the thread. It motivated me to get an appointment set up for next Thursday.

Update:
I went to a few sessions but didn’t really come away with anything and wasn’t enamored with the therapist.

I just called and emailed two others who specialize in diagnosis - i’m starting to strongly believe that I have autism and not ADD/ADHD.

ETA - this isnt a hey look at me post, but more of an attempt to inspire others to get treatment for themselves.

What are the signs you see that make you think you are on the spectrum?

Ive always felt different than everyone else.

Socially I can mask but its incredibly hard.

Hard to make and keep friends

Mostly want to/prefer be on my own

Incredibly blunt or "rude". I call it being down to earth or honest but others do not see it that way

Difficult to judge others sincerity.

I notice things others dont seem to

Im not a pessimist but I see the flaws in EVERYTHING. I should be a companies go to for critique - its a super trait of mine.

Odd topics of interest that I get obsessed with WWII, Apple Computers (from 1979), pre-merger NFL stats, rosters, teams,players.

Incredibly sensitive to smells

I dont like to be touched

Not making eye contact

Excessive fears, worries, thoughts. I think about things that have happened, Ive said or to others, even years, even decades later.

I blurt out comments

Talk over people

I just feel different than everyone else and I have never understood why. Others seem to grasp things as if theyre obvious but I kinda pretend to.

People will thank me or give me a compliment and its almost off putting.

Example of something/situation that happened in 2001 - I was at a party at a friends house, he wasnt there but his roommate was. This was our friend group thats why I went. The roommate kept saying and talking crap about my friend, his roommate/owner of the house so I got upset and left. I just came to the conclusion that he was joking about the insults because theyre still friends. (Im still not 100% sure but it only makes sense, right?)



There are just some of the reasons I suspect.

Are your parents still alive. If so, have you ever asked them about your early childhood? Was your speech delayed? Did you not babble? Did you show interest as a baby in other people? Unusual eating and sleeping habits? Repetitive movements? There's a whole bunch of early developmental things can also help diagnose if your parents can remember and are willing to complete a checklist. If you see someone who specializes ASD or diagnosis, it should be pretty easy to get evaluated. Though that won't really solve anything. There's therapy and lots of strategies that one can use to try to improve certain areas. I guess the more important question than are you on the spectrum is what about yourself would you like to change?

Also your story about leaving because someone is making fun of your friend doesn't seem all that odd to me. Seems like a very normal reaction to that situation.

It wast that I left, it’s that to this day I still don’t know if he was serious or not. I think he might have been joking, I dont really know.

I guess I don't see how that is abnormal though. I've had conversations with people where I walked away unsure how serious they were about what they said. We all don't have the ability to perfectly read the intentions and motivations of other people. I am sure everyone has misread situations where we thought someone was kidding but they were serious or vice versa.

You asked, I answered. I gave you 17 examples and you chose one that you seem to mildly disagree with or don’t understand.

I don’t know how to convey to you what I mean and I’m too exhausted to try.

There’s plenty there to suspect you may be on the spectrum. It also could be other things. I was just trying to understand that anecdote. It doesn’t sound particularly odd to me. I have no idea and would never even begin to say whether you do or don’t have X. I’ve never met you so my point is certainly not to discredit your self diagnosis. I am not arguing with you, just having a conversation.

 

[STEADYMOBBIN 22]

@caustic THANK YOU for the thread. It motivated me to get an appointment set up for next Thursday.

Update:
I went to a few sessions but didn’t really come away with anything and wasn’t enamored with the therapist.

I just called and emailed two others who specialize in diagnosis - i’m starting to strongly believe that I have autism and not ADD/ADHD.

ETA - this isnt a hey look at me post, but more of an attempt to inspire others to get treatment for themselves.

What are the signs you see that make you think you are on the spectrum?

Ive always felt different than everyone else.

Socially I can mask but its incredibly hard.

Hard to make and keep friends

Mostly want to/prefer be on my own

Incredibly blunt or "rude". I call it being down to earth or honest but others do not see it that way

Difficult to judge others sincerity.

I notice things others dont seem to

Im not a pessimist but I see the flaws in EVERYTHING. I should be a companies go to for critique - its a super trait of mine.

Odd topics of interest that I get obsessed with WWII, Apple Computers (from 1979), pre-merger NFL stats, rosters, teams,players.

Incredibly sensitive to smells

I dont like to be touched

Not making eye contact

Excessive fears, worries, thoughts. I think about things that have happened, Ive said or to others, even years, even decades later.

I blurt out comments

Talk over people

I just feel different than everyone else and I have never understood why. Others seem to grasp things as if theyre obvious but I kinda pretend to.

People will thank me or give me a compliment and its almost off putting.

Example of something/situation that happened in 2001 - I was at a party at a friends house, he wasnt there but his roommate was. This was our friend group thats why I went. The roommate kept saying and talking crap about my friend, his roommate/owner of the house so I got upset and left. I just came to the conclusion that he was joking about the insults because theyre still friends. (Im still not 100% sure but it only makes sense, right?)



There are just some of the reasons I suspect.

Are your parents still alive. If so, have you ever asked them about your early childhood? Was your speech delayed? Did you not babble? Did you show interest as a baby in other people? Unusual eating and sleeping habits? Repetitive movements? There's a whole bunch of early developmental things can also help diagnose if your parents can remember and are willing to complete a checklist. If you see someone who specializes ASD or diagnosis, it should be pretty easy to get evaluated. Though that won't really solve anything. There's therapy and lots of strategies that one can use to try to improve certain areas. I guess the more important question than are you on the spectrum is what about yourself would you like to change?

Also your story about leaving because someone is making fun of your friend doesn't seem all that odd to me. Seems like a very normal reaction to that situation.

It wast that I left, it’s that to this day I still don’t know if he was serious or not. I think he might have been joking, I dont really know.

I guess I don't see how that is abnormal though. I've had conversations with people where I walked away unsure how serious they were about what they said. We all don't have the ability to perfectly read the intentions and motivations of other people. I am sure everyone has misread situations where we thought someone was kidding but they were serious or vice versa.

You asked, I answered. I gave you 17 examples and you chose one that you seem to mildly disagree with or don’t understand.

I don’t know how to convey to you what I mean and I’m too exhausted to try.

There’s plenty there to suspect you may be on the spectrum. It also could be other things. I was just trying to understand that anecdote. It doesn’t sound particularly odd to me. I have no idea and would never even being to say whether you do or don’t have X. I’ve never met you so my point is certainly not to discredit your self diagnosis. I am not arguing with you, just having a conversation.

I didn’t say you were arguing with me.

This exact thing is what I deal with every single day. I say something that I think is completely normal/innocuous but apparently everyone thinks I’m arguing or being mean.

It’s so exhausting for me to have to preface every single thing I say with -I’m not arguing or I don’t mean to say this the wrong way but…..

It happens constantly. <~~~ (I’m not arguing with you and I don’t mean this to be confrontational, just explaining how a lot of my conversations go)

 

[Ilov80s]

@caustic THANK YOU for the thread. It motivated me to get an appointment set up for next Thursday.

Update:
I went to a few sessions but didn’t really come away with anything and wasn’t enamored with the therapist.

I just called and emailed two others who specialize in diagnosis - i’m starting to strongly believe that I have autism and not ADD/ADHD.

ETA - this isnt a hey look at me post, but more of an attempt to inspire others to get treatment for themselves.

What are the signs you see that make you think you are on the spectrum?

Ive always felt different than everyone else.

Socially I can mask but its incredibly hard.

Hard to make and keep friends

Mostly want to/prefer be on my own

Incredibly blunt or "rude". I call it being down to earth or honest but others do not see it that way

Difficult to judge others sincerity.

I notice things others dont seem to

Im not a pessimist but I see the flaws in EVERYTHING. I should be a companies go to for critique - its a super trait of mine.

Odd topics of interest that I get obsessed with WWII, Apple Computers (from 1979), pre-merger NFL stats, rosters, teams,players.

Incredibly sensitive to smells

I dont like to be touched

Not making eye contact

Excessive fears, worries, thoughts. I think about things that have happened, Ive said or to others, even years, even decades later.

I blurt out comments

Talk over people

I just feel different than everyone else and I have never understood why. Others seem to grasp things as if theyre obvious but I kinda pretend to.

People will thank me or give me a compliment and its almost off putting.

Example of something/situation that happened in 2001 - I was at a party at a friends house, he wasnt there but his roommate was. This was our friend group thats why I went. The roommate kept saying and talking crap about my friend, his roommate/owner of the house so I got upset and left. I just came to the conclusion that he was joking about the insults because theyre still friends. (Im still not 100% sure but it only makes sense, right?)



There are just some of the reasons I suspect.

Are your parents still alive. If so, have you ever asked them about your early childhood? Was your speech delayed? Did you not babble? Did you show interest as a baby in other people? Unusual eating and sleeping habits? Repetitive movements? There's a whole bunch of early developmental things can also help diagnose if your parents can remember and are willing to complete a checklist. If you see someone who specializes ASD or diagnosis, it should be pretty easy to get evaluated. Though that won't really solve anything. There's therapy and lots of strategies that one can use to try to improve certain areas. I guess the more important question than are you on the spectrum is what about yourself would you like to change?

Also your story about leaving because someone is making fun of your friend doesn't seem all that odd to me. Seems like a very normal reaction to that situation.

It wast that I left, it’s that to this day I still don’t know if he was serious or not. I think he might have been joking, I dont really know.

I guess I don't see how that is abnormal though. I've had conversations with people where I walked away unsure how serious they were about what they said. We all don't have the ability to perfectly read the intentions and motivations of other people. I am sure everyone has misread situations where we thought someone was kidding but they were serious or vice versa.

You asked, I answered. I gave you 17 examples and you chose one that you seem to mildly disagree with or don’t understand.

I don’t know how to convey to you what I mean and I’m too exhausted to try.

There’s plenty there to suspect you may be on the spectrum. It also could be other things. I was just trying to understand that anecdote. It doesn’t sound particularly odd to me. I have no idea and would never even being to say whether you do or don’t have X. I’ve never met you so my point is certainly not to discredit your self diagnosis. I am not arguing with you, just having a conversation.

I didn’t say you were arguing with me.

This exact thing is what I deal with every single day. I say something that I think is completely normal/innocuous but apparently everyone thinks I’m arguing or being mean.

It’s so exhausting for me to have to preface every single thing I say with -I’m not arguing or I don’t mean to say this the wrong way but…..

It happens constantly. <~~~ (I’m not arguing with you and I don’t mean this to be confrontational, just explaining how a lot of my conversations go)

Part of that here is just the nature of a message board. Obviously more frustrating I’m sure is this happening day to day with personal interactions. It sounds like that might be the kind of thing you take to a behavioral therapist. Less focus on do I have X or Y and more on I keep having this problem where I am not conveying my intentions clearly, how can I improve my communication?

 

[gianmarco]

@caustic THANK YOU for the thread. It motivated me to get an appointment set up for next Thursday.

Update:
I went to a few sessions but didn’t really come away with anything and wasn’t enamored with the therapist.

I just called and emailed two others who specialize in diagnosis - i’m starting to strongly believe that I have autism and not ADD/ADHD.

ETA - this isnt a hey look at me post, but more of an attempt to inspire others to get treatment for themselves.

Absolutely, share whatever you want! I started the thread to learn how others have pursued solutions for this. Personally, I didn't find therapy alone to be particularly useful either. My therapist recommended a lot of focus techniques that I'd already tried - those techniques were helpful on the margin but didn't really fix the core issue. Hopefully you can land on a diagnosis and treatment strategy that works for you.

Re: splitting Concerta, I believe that would've made the swings/crashes even more extreme. The active ingredient is contained in a slow-release shell, so damaging or breaking that capsule would lead to all of it hitting my system at once. Thankfully, this is no longer an issue as my doctor switched me to Adderall XR 15 mg. I've only been on it for 10 days, but so far it's much better. None of the crashes, dehydration, chest pain, or tingling extremities that I was experiencing on Concerta. Work is actually enjoyable now that I can perform at the level I know I'm capable of. I just sailed through the most stressful week of the year, receiving compliments from my supervisors about my strong performance. I also found the time to clean out & organize my whole office, something I'd been putting off for months.

The medicine itself isn't a panacea, though - the laser focus it gives me is a double edged sword. It's just as easy to lock in on the wrong thing than the right one. I still need to use the focus techniques from before, such as putting my phone at the other end of the room, or I'll spend an hour and a half reading The Athletic without realizing it. I'm also still experiencing significant appetite suppression and heart rate elevation on the Adderall, but I'll take two side effects instead of seven. IMO the benefits are now outweighing the costs, and I'm hoping it stays this way.

So, as I've talked about how this is with my wife, thought I'd give an update.

She saw her PCP a few weeks ago and brought this up as I encouraged her to do so. Since she runs a lot, the side effects of the Concerta or Focalin she was using intermittently made it undesirable.

Her PCP started her on Wellbutrin. While it takes a couple weeks to start working, she said it has off label use for ADHD in adults and can also help with other symptoms that are likely related to her being perimenopausal (not sleeping well, emotional swings, etc). The biggest thing for the rest of us with her was the emotional lability.

Well, this medicine has been a God-send for her and us. She's been the calmest and happiest I've ever seen. She's able to focus so much better than her baseline. It's not as potent as the stimulants, but it's good enough. But the mood stuff is the biggest thing. Plus, it's pretty much working 100% of the time because of the buildup in her system. There's not the off times in morning or night when the other medicines wouldn't work. And she's had 0 side effects with her exercise. Training for another marathon now and has had no issues being on this for the last few weeks. Sleeping better.

So, perhaps something to consider talking to your PCP even if you aren't perimenopausal.

 

[JohnnyU]

There’s a guy I work with that can’t stay focused on a single task for long without having to go to something else, whether he finished or not. He’s an excellent programmer too and fast. Long projects, forget about it. I suspect he is ADHD.

 

[caustic]

@caustic THANK YOU for the thread. It motivated me to get an appointment set up for next Thursday.

Update:
I went to a few sessions but didn’t really come away with anything and wasn’t enamored with the therapist.

I just called and emailed two others who specialize in diagnosis - i’m starting to strongly believe that I have autism and not ADD/ADHD.

ETA - this isnt a hey look at me post, but more of an attempt to inspire others to get treatment for themselves.

Absolutely, share whatever you want! I started the thread to learn how others have pursued solutions for this. Personally, I didn't find therapy alone to be particularly useful either. My therapist recommended a lot of focus techniques that I'd already tried - those techniques were helpful on the margin but didn't really fix the core issue. Hopefully you can land on a diagnosis and treatment strategy that works for you.

Re: splitting Concerta, I believe that would've made the swings/crashes even more extreme. The active ingredient is contained in a slow-release shell, so damaging or breaking that capsule would lead to all of it hitting my system at once. Thankfully, this is no longer an issue as my doctor switched me to Adderall XR 15 mg. I've only been on it for 10 days, but so far it's much better. None of the crashes, dehydration, chest pain, or tingling extremities that I was experiencing on Concerta. Work is actually enjoyable now that I can perform at the level I know I'm capable of. I just sailed through the most stressful week of the year, receiving compliments from my supervisors about my strong performance. I also found the time to clean out & organize my whole office, something I'd been putting off for months.

The medicine itself isn't a panacea, though - the laser focus it gives me is a double edged sword. It's just as easy to lock in on the wrong thing than the right one. I still need to use the focus techniques from before, such as putting my phone at the other end of the room, or I'll spend an hour and a half reading The Athletic without realizing it. I'm also still experiencing significant appetite suppression and heart rate elevation on the Adderall, but I'll take two side effects instead of seven. IMO the benefits are now outweighing the costs, and I'm hoping it stays this way.

So, as I've talked about how this is with my wife, thought I'd give an update.

She saw her PCP a few weeks ago and brought this up as I encouraged her to do so. Since she runs a lot, the side effects of the Concerta or Focalin she was using intermittently made it undesirable.

Her PCP started her on Wellbutrin. While it takes a couple weeks to start working, she said it has off label use for ADHD in adults and can also help with other symptoms that are likely related to her being perimenopausal (not sleeping well, emotional swings, etc). The biggest thing for the rest of us with her was the emotional lability.

Well, this medicine has been a God-send for her and us. She's been the calmest and happiest I've ever seen. She's able to focus so much better than her baseline. It's not as potent as the stimulants, but it's good enough. But the mood stuff is the biggest thing. Plus, it's pretty much working 100% of the time because of the buildup in her system. There's not the off times in morning or night when the other medicines wouldn't work. And she's had 0 side effects with her exercise. Training for another marathon now and has had no issues being on this for the last few weeks. Sleeping better.

So, perhaps something to consider talking to your PCP even if you aren't perimenopausal.

I really appreciate this info. Haven't been on the board much for the last few months, but my Adderall has been working great - those two things might be related. I'm still on the 15 mg XR and recently added a 5 mg IR booster for the afternoon. I finally feel like an actual, functioning adult - I'm on top of my personal & professional deadlines, keeping my home clean, as organized as I've ever been. Exercise intolerance is the last issue I need to figure out. Running with the elevated HR is not very fun, which has caused me to run less and get out of shape, making running even less enjoyable now. The Adderall is working so well in every other aspect of my life that I'm not sure I want to rock the boat and try something else just yet, but I really do want to get back on track with my physical fitness. Going to make another effort to re-establish my old running habits this spring, and if I can't make that work I'll probably look into Wellbutrin.