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Adult ADD in the UK

Flitcraft — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 11:44:12 -0800

Anyone with Adult ADD in the UK - Did you try a private route to get a diagnosis? If so, who would you recommend? How did a diagnosis affect things at work? If you have a history of heart disease in the family is it too risky to take meds? I asked a similar question years ago, but got mostly US people responding who, though helpful, couldn't address the problems of getting a non-NHS diagnosis in the UK. The condition is barely recognised in Scotland, where I am, so there's little point in going to my GP, but I have enough money to follow a private diagnosis route and would like recommendations, especially in London.

I've known for some years, since I first came across the concept, that this is very likely what I have - I can see all the symptoms from my childhood onwards. I've previously managed quite well with it because my chosen job is a good fit. However that has all changed. My employers have been making rounds of cuts and outsourcing which have left me without admin help, having to cope with a myriad of nasty online form filling tasks which reduce me to a wreck, and having to remember to do more and more admin tasks without prompting, or face failure, and doing all the admin and organisation slows me down and demotivates me, causing me terrible stress and overwork to make my deadlines, which were never a problem before. I can't pay for outside admin help, as these bloody forms are all on internal systems which are only accessible within the organisation to employees.

This is a reason why I'm considering going down the medical route. If I turn out to be right, and get a formal diagnosis, do my employers have any responsibility to provide help for me? Or could this be a bad move which might lead to discrimination against me in the future? I'm also worried because of the shocking history of heart disease in my family, and my own age and risk factors, as to whether medication for ADD could increase my risk of a heart attack. Any relevant experience and recommendations would be appreciated. Thanks!

ADD in LA

Anonymous — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 18:05:52 -0800

ADD help in LA? Diagnosed with ADD NOS right before I left college, then moved to LA. My success in managing it comes and goes, but seems to be at a particularly low point right now. Which, combined with unemployment, means I just feel like my life is out of control and I can't focus on any one thing long enough to get my life back on track.

Since I'm unemployed, I'd prefer options that are cheap or free until I can get back on my feet. I've tried GTD and similar organizational structures and have had no luck sticking to them. It's not that I don't want to, it's that I can only seem to follow any routine until something unexpected happens, then it's all lost in the shuffle and ugh.

Anyway, ideally a professional. And friends in other places who also have ADD seem to have done well with drugs and CBT. But in trying to do some research on options here, I've been fairly snowed under by the myriad options and the high percentage of dubious-looking advertorials.

Talk to me about talking to my doctor about ADD.

fedward — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 10:13:13 -0800

I think I have ADD. I'm seeing a doctor tomorrow. How can I best take advantage of the visit? I'm 37. Ever since I was a camp counselor in college, I've suspected that I have (and have always had) ADD. I didn't get into any trouble in school, but I also got by mostly on my wits. I learned fast, did well on tests, and did as little homework as possible (often none). The kids at my camp taking Ritalin were the ones just like I had been, except I had gotten away with it. I haven't since learned anything about either myself or ADD to make me think my approximate self-diagnosis is incorrect, but I've also mostly been able to get things done in spite of it.

In addition to the suspected ADD, I have had sleep problems all my life. I finally saw a doctor (a neurologist, as it happens) about that and have gotten my sleep issues somewhat managed mostly with a combination of light therapy and melatonin, and a fallback prescription for Ambien (although I prefer to reserve that for when my sleep patterns get very out of whack).

Recently I have found, however, that even though I'm sleeping better and more regular hours, I am still often unable to concentrate on work. Since I'm basically self-employed, this is bad, because hours I don't work I can't bill for, and that adds up. So after a really bad brain week I called my sleep doctor's office for a referral to somebody to ask about ADD, and it turns out my sleep doctor does the screening, and then refers patients internally to neurology or psychiatry depending on what's appropriate. So I'm seeing a doctor I already have a relationship with, and I'm armed with a general understanding of how I've probably had ADD all my life and mostly managed to get by in spite of it. I've talked to a few friends who said, "um, YEAH" when I asked if they thought I had ADD, and I talked to my mom, who said she didn't think that ADD was it, but who also said she was glad I was seeing somebody about it (she also recounted a few things I didn't remember, but that will probably help a doctor with his diagnosis).

What questions do I need to ask my doctor? What answers do I need to beware? I plan on going in with an open mind, since he's the doctor and I'm just a geek with internet access, but I'd like to come in as well-informed as possible on how I can best use his time.

So dudes I've got this pro--whoa shiny!

schroedinger — Mon, 24 Oct 2005 10:09:19 -0800

Has anyone had experience coming off of ADD/ADHD medications? How did you cope with the return of all the negative ADD/ADHD symptoms, and the nagging feeling that you were a better person on the meds? I've been coming off of Adderall XR for the past month or so as I can no longer afford the medication under my current health insurance. Luckily my psychiatrist kept me well-stocked with a variety of dosages so I've been able to step down gradually. It's been painless, except for the past week. As I reach the lowest dosage and approach total elimnation the decrease has gotten particularly noticable. When trying to focus and when interacting with people I have the same impulsive all-over-the-place fidgety thinking that I did before I started taking the meds. Added to that is the realization that I'm a heckuva lot less obnoxious when on Adderall.

So, ADD/ADHD Metafilterites, anyone successfully take themselves off of meds? How did you do it? Any mental hacks, coping techniques, tips or tricks that you use to keep up the same level of effectiveness that you had on medication?

asperger's vs. adult add?

SpecialK — Sat, 18 Jun 2005 21:53:48 -0800

I have always had attention problems, but when I was tested in 1993, the tests came back inconclusive: the neuropsychologist concluded that only 7% of my 'issues' was ADD. That was twelve years ago. In my adulthood, I'm having serious problems concentrating, but am unsure of the effects the common ADD medications will have on me, and I'm curious if there are different treatments for attention deficit due to adult ADD and due to other 'issues'. Other information: I'm heavily self-medicated with stimulants, most notably caffeine. I've tried to cut back, but I still consume at least 36 ounces of caffinated sodas per day. (I don't like coffee, it tastes like mud mixed with Fat Bastard's toilet leavings to me.) When I, noting the health effects of consuming that many empty calories per day, cut caffinated sodas out of my diet, my life and my business started to fall apart. Having experimented with caffeine as a stimulant over the past year, (cutting it out of my diet and adding it back in), I'm finding that I require it to focus enough to accomplish anything in a day. It's not the sugar; drinking decaf but sugared sodas has no effect on me.

Commonly available psychoactives and OTC drugs (exotic alcohols like asbinthe, marijuana, claritin etc.) can have extremely unintended effects on me. Claritin, for instance, will make me extremely depressed for three days after one dose. Marijuana will make me extremely paranoid. We're not going to discuss what asbinthe did to me the one time I tried it. I've completely stopped experimenting with drugs and am extremely hesitant to take *anything*, even presecribed ('cept antibiotics), lest it unbalance me in some strange way. I've always overcome psychological or behavioural issues with a focus on self-discipline and 'self-counseling sessions', but this seems to be unsurmountable.

My experimentations with caffeine have lead me to the conclusion that I need a stimulant for my particular brain chemistry to avoid the 'ooh, shiney!' effect. I do have a long history with an undiagnosed learning disability that involved several processing disorders and a small degree of ADD when I was tested for it in the early 90's (before the asperger's diagnosis made it into the psychologist's version of the physician's desk guide, or was really even heard of); the symptoms and childhood behaviour led my mother to one day email me a scan of the list of Asperger's symptoms from one of her education trade magazines (we're not talking Newsweek here) with each line checked off in red magic marker... and then another list of adult aspergers' symptoms, which also almost precisely matched me.

Having had long experience with my particular HMO, Kaiser Permanente, I know that I need to go in with a clearly defined set of problems and researched potential resolutions to get anywhere. My mental health coverage is minimal, so I'd like help doing research in advance while avoiding the trap of self-diagnosis (Which, yes, I realize I've mostly fallen into. Bear with me...). If I don't go in with that clearly defined set of issue and resolutions, they'll milk me until my coverage runs out and I have to start paying out of pocket for mental health office visits.

How can I focus my requests to the mental health professionals at my HMO in order to get some sort of treatment for my inability to focus or maintain personal discipline without a chemical stimulant, or are there other resources I can seek out to help figure out why my brain needs to be fueled by caffine to get anything requiring focus completed?
Also, does anyone have any stories they'd like to chip in about overcoming psychological or behavioural problems that might help me overcome this issue, with or without medication?

Adult ADD in the UK

Flitcraft — Sun, 05 Jun 2005 12:26:01 -0800

Adult ADD in the UK. Is it worth getting diagnosed? What is the best route to getting a diagnosis and does medication actually help? My partner has adult ADD and when he described the symptoms I recognised myself as if I was looking in a mirror. I've browsed the web quite a lot and tried various checklist which all seem to indicate that I could have it. My partner tried medication but rejected it because it affected his writing. I also work in a creative job, where my odd way of working seems to benefit me quite a lot - though some of the bureaucratic aspects stress me beyond all reason. I'm wondering whether it's worth seeing whether I have ADD or not. I've looked around various sites but they all point to going to your GP and I don't think mine would take it seriously. I wondered what other people's experiences were?