Should I continue to seek ADHD treatment?
April 25, 2012 7:30 AM Subscribe
I've struggled with what I believe to be ADHD for a long time. I've read through "Driven to Distraction" and it describes me perfectly. I went to the doctor and was basically told that since I have a job and completed college, medication won't do me any good. Say what?
It took a lot of courage for me to go to the doctor and seek help, and I was sort of dismissed as just seeking uppers. I was told that people with ADHD do not make it through college and struggle to keep menial jobs. I went through college and did well, but did not exactly have a hard course load. I never really studied, I just sort of went to class, flipped through the book and took exams.
Fast forward to several years out of college. I do have a good job and appear outwardly successful, but I feel like I'm drowning. I'm so bad at keeping up with things at work like filling out time sheets, they've given me an intern to do that work for me. I'm horrible with details and staying on task, but what I do is in demand, I get paid well and appear to be successful on the outside.
Should I seek a second opinion or does being outwardly successful preclude me from truly having any sort of ADHD that requires treatment?
It took a lot of courage for me to go to the doctor and seek help, and I was sort of dismissed as just seeking uppers. I was told that people with ADHD do not make it through college and struggle to keep menial jobs. I went through college and did well, but did not exactly have a hard course load. I never really studied, I just sort of went to class, flipped through the book and took exams.
Fast forward to several years out of college. I do have a good job and appear outwardly successful, but I feel like I'm drowning. I'm so bad at keeping up with things at work like filling out time sheets, they've given me an intern to do that work for me. I'm horrible with details and staying on task, but what I do is in demand, I get paid well and appear to be successful on the outside.
Should I seek a second opinion or does being outwardly successful preclude me from truly having any sort of ADHD that requires treatment?
Definitely get a second opinion. "Has a college degree" and "can keep down a job" aren't be-all end-all clinical standards by which to judge if someone has ADHD.
posted by griphus at 7:34 AM on April 25, 2012
posted by griphus at 7:34 AM on April 25, 2012
Your doctor is bullshit.
Was it a GP, or a Psychiatrist? I'm an adult who also graduated from college and can hold down a decent job. I also have ADHD, and life became significantly better once I got on the right meds for it. I also had a GP who felt the same way. So I ditched him, and got one who is a lot more understanding.
If possible, I'd see if you can see another doctor for a Psychiatrist, preferably one with experience in diagnosing and treating Adult ADHD.
posted by spinifex23 at 7:35 AM on April 25, 2012
Was it a GP, or a Psychiatrist? I'm an adult who also graduated from college and can hold down a decent job. I also have ADHD, and life became significantly better once I got on the right meds for it. I also had a GP who felt the same way. So I ditched him, and got one who is a lot more understanding.
If possible, I'd see if you can see another doctor for a Psychiatrist, preferably one with experience in diagnosing and treating Adult ADHD.
posted by spinifex23 at 7:35 AM on April 25, 2012
Diagnosing ADHD is a specialist task. Are you in the UK? It's not surprising that your GP would dismiss you because that's their knowledge state and, bluntly put, they're gatekeepers whose job is to stop you from getting treatment for any condition that's beyond their expertise.
If you are in the UK you may have to go private. Memail me and I will tell you where to start looking. If you are elsewhere, try looking for local ADHD support groups.
posted by tel3path at 7:46 AM on April 25, 2012 [1 favorite]
If you are in the UK you may have to go private. Memail me and I will tell you where to start looking. If you are elsewhere, try looking for local ADHD support groups.
posted by tel3path at 7:46 AM on April 25, 2012 [1 favorite]
Get another Dr. I have an Ivy degree and one of those cute little keys, which I got by white-knuckling my way through 4 years of college. I still had trouble with impulse control, balancing my checkbook, paying attention to mundane tasks, etc..--I read a piece in the NYT magazine in 1986, and a light bulb went off inside my head. Went to the Dr. and the Dr. said--take this pill (and no more jumping on the bed!)
Get a neurologist, not an internal medicine type, not a psychologist.
posted by Ideefixe at 7:48 AM on April 25, 2012 [2 favorites]
Get a neurologist, not an internal medicine type, not a psychologist.
posted by Ideefixe at 7:48 AM on April 25, 2012 [2 favorites]
Yeah. Some doctors feel that way. Others don't. Go see one of the others.
posted by Obscure Reference at 7:49 AM on April 25, 2012
posted by Obscure Reference at 7:49 AM on April 25, 2012
I agree that a second opinion is a good idea. But I also would not read too much into having read a book and seeing commonalities between what it describes and what you perceive about yourself. You're not an objective observer of yourself.
That, of course, does not mean that your first doctor was correct.
posted by dfriedman at 7:53 AM on April 25, 2012
That, of course, does not mean that your first doctor was correct.
posted by dfriedman at 7:53 AM on April 25, 2012
Also be sure to describe your situation/ concerns as truthfully and completely as possible. I went without help for far too long because I was worried I was making up problems where there were none. It wasn't until I opened up to a school counselor that I realised that this was something real that I could actively deal with.
posted by BucketOBees at 8:09 AM on April 25, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by BucketOBees at 8:09 AM on April 25, 2012 [1 favorite]
Second opinion, agreed.
posted by insectosaurus at 8:22 AM on April 25, 2012
posted by insectosaurus at 8:22 AM on April 25, 2012
Yeah, no, definitely get a second opinion. There are plenty of people with ADHD who can be relatively successful in school and work due to a combination of their intelligence/skills, the difficulty of the work, the structure of the work (especially re: deadlines and time pressure), and the degree of severity of their ADHD. A good doctor should recognize that. Did this guy even ask questions about your coping mechanisms at school and work, or did he just rule it out based on hearing about your degree and job? (In fairness, you do have to demonstrate "clinically significant impairment" to be diagnosed, so it's not like your successes are irrelevant. But "clinically significant impairment" does not have to mean "impairment so severe it's impossible for a smart and motivated person with coping mechanisms to make it through college and hold down a decent job.")
You might find it helpful to browse other ADHD questions on AskMe, including but not limited to this mega-thread, to get a sense of other people's stories, their experiences pre-diagnosis, and the impact of treatment for them.
posted by EmilyClimbs at 8:34 AM on April 25, 2012 [1 favorite]
You might find it helpful to browse other ADHD questions on AskMe, including but not limited to this mega-thread, to get a sense of other people's stories, their experiences pre-diagnosis, and the impact of treatment for them.
posted by EmilyClimbs at 8:34 AM on April 25, 2012 [1 favorite]
My doctor didn't think I could have ADD because I got good grades in college (eventually), but gave me a self-eval and a computer based test. When she got the results, she looked at me and asked "Are you really smart?", and I was taken aback and didn't know how to answer. She said that I was "off the charts" for the self-eval*, the computer test showed that I had problems with impulse control*, but that since I did well in school, I must be very bright and test well. I said that sounded about right. So go back and tell your doctor that you're really smart! Or, yeah, just get a new doctor.
*Both of the tests were designed for children, though, and she told me to answer the self-eval about myself in childhood through high school. I feel like my answers about my child/teen self were very different than my child/teen self would have answered, and a lot of my answers contradicted each other ("Did you ever feel X?" "Yes, sometimes! I was a teenager! I felt ALL THE FEELINGS!") so I don't know how legitimately useful it was.
posted by amarynth at 8:43 AM on April 25, 2012 [1 favorite]
*Both of the tests were designed for children, though, and she told me to answer the self-eval about myself in childhood through high school. I feel like my answers about my child/teen self were very different than my child/teen self would have answered, and a lot of my answers contradicted each other ("Did you ever feel X?" "Yes, sometimes! I was a teenager! I felt ALL THE FEELINGS!") so I don't know how legitimately useful it was.
posted by amarynth at 8:43 AM on April 25, 2012 [1 favorite]
Mod note: This thread is absolutely not where you make the "ADHD may not even be real" stance.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 9:12 AM on April 25, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 9:12 AM on April 25, 2012 [2 favorites]
Get a new doctor because this one is an uninformed and lazy douchebag.
posted by elizardbits at 9:18 AM on April 25, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by elizardbits at 9:18 AM on April 25, 2012 [1 favorite]
That's nuts. I wasn't diagnosed until I was in my late 30's, by which time I'd graduated from college, earned a Master's degree, and published two books. You can have untreated ADHD without being a failure. Find a doctor who knows what they're talking about. You might not have ADHD, but that's not the standard for determining it.
posted by The corpse in the library at 9:34 AM on April 25, 2012
posted by The corpse in the library at 9:34 AM on April 25, 2012
Find a licensed therapist that specializes in ADD/ADHD. You could ask a local university for recommended referrals over the phone. You will likely get more than one referral. Call them all to make sure that they're in network on your health insurance, and then arrange for an evaluation with the best option therapist.
If your evaluation yields a diagnosis, which it very well may, see a different doctor with the evaluation from your therapist. Your present doctor seems insensitive, misinformed, and stupid.
posted by oceanjesse at 10:58 AM on April 25, 2012
If your evaluation yields a diagnosis, which it very well may, see a different doctor with the evaluation from your therapist. Your present doctor seems insensitive, misinformed, and stupid.
posted by oceanjesse at 10:58 AM on April 25, 2012
Here's a simple self-eval. I recommend reading more about ADHD, and learning to manage it. Medication can be very helpful, but there are lots of other strategies for coping. Read Delivered From Distraction, and visit the author's site. You may want to consider visiting one of his centers, or getting a referral to a resource near you with more expertise. There have been a lot of ask.me threads about ADHD. The consensus seems to be: get more exercise, get outside, get organized, coffee may help, medication will probably help, omega-3s are quite promising. But I recommend reading up.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4749307
http://www.helpguide.org/mental/adhd_add_adult_strategies.htm
http://www.helpguide.org/mental/adhd_add_parenting_strategies.htm
http://www.webmd.com/add-adhd/guide/adhd-home-remedies
http://www.everydayhealth.com/adhd/adhd-treatment-and-diagnosis.aspx
http://adultaddstrengths.com/2008/02/21/top-10-ways-to-manage-adult-adhd/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002518/
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder/complete-index.shtml
http://en.wikipedia.org
http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/adhd/treatment.html/wiki/Attention_deficit_hyperactivity_disorder
I got diagnosed well into adulthood. Meds have been a huge help.
posted by theora55 at 12:24 PM on April 25, 2012 [3 favorites]
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4749307
http://www.helpguide.org/mental/adhd_add_adult_strategies.htm
http://www.helpguide.org/mental/adhd_add_parenting_strategies.htm
http://www.webmd.com/add-adhd/guide/adhd-home-remedies
http://www.everydayhealth.com/adhd/adhd-treatment-and-diagnosis.aspx
http://adultaddstrengths.com/2008/02/21/top-10-ways-to-manage-adult-adhd/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002518/
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder/complete-index.shtml
http://en.wikipedia.org
http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/adhd/treatment.html/wiki/Attention_deficit_hyperactivity_disorder
I got diagnosed well into adulthood. Meds have been a huge help.
posted by theora55 at 12:24 PM on April 25, 2012 [3 favorites]
This is an area where seeing a specialist, especially a psychiatrist, is worth it. You'll get a much more knowledgeable reception.
posted by Mr. Justice at 3:06 PM on April 25, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by Mr. Justice at 3:06 PM on April 25, 2012 [1 favorite]
I just wanted to say, anonymous, that I have had the exact same reaction from a couple psychiatrists (in fact it came up recently in my answer to another question). I pretty much let them convince me that I WAS just seeking uppers, when actually, I just recognized that it shouldn't be taking me an hour to read five pages! I think that in my case, it's possible that my trouble concentrating is more to do with anxiety and depression, but still. It's extremely gratifying to finally get some validation that yes, that condescending, dismissive douche of a psychiatrist really WAS being a condescending, dismissive douche.
posted by désoeuvrée at 6:45 PM on April 25, 2012
posted by désoeuvrée at 6:45 PM on April 25, 2012
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posted by jessamyn at 7:33 AM on April 25, 2012 [15 favorites]