[quote=sunrise;839777]I think misdiagnosis for ADHD is common (and also for other conditions). ADHD and depression and anxiety often travel together. It can take some effort to tease them out. Sometimes the easiest approach is just to try different things and see what works rather than trying to get an exact diagnosis.
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I have since added a stimulant, Vyvanse, and gotten even more help with the ADHD symptoms and mood.
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I have heard a lot about Vyvanse, and I wonder how it compares to the stimulant I take (Dexedrine XR). I have a good response to the Dexedrine XR spansules, except that some days when the medicine wears off it can be most unpleasant. I've been told that Dexedrine is rougher on most people when it wears off than the other stimulants, although it reportedly has excellent response rate in adults otherwise.
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Wishmouse, what type of antidepressants have you been taking? If you have been taking an SSRI (e.g. Prozac, Lexapro, Paxil, etc.), then it wouldn't help with ADHD symptoms, as you need something that affects the dopamine pathway for that, and those ADs work via serotonin. Wellbutrin acts on dopamine, so it might be a good thing to try if you have both depression and ADHD symptoms. Stimulants like Adderall, Concerta, etc. also act on dopamine, which will help not also with ADHD but with depression. It's a great "secret" that stimulants help with depression, and you will find very few practitioners who will prescribe them for that unless there is comorbid ADHD (because they are controlled substances and addictive, whereas ADs are not).
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Excellent points. I've actually only heard of Welbutrin being used in the AD class (for ADHD), but really nothing would surprise me with the lack of education on ADHD (esp. in adults) in our psychiatric/medical community.
I think that you and I are some of the lucky ones in that we both seem to have good providers who are educated in adult ADHD.
The misconception that some people have that stimulants are addictive (vs. having potential for abuse; two diff. things) is widespread enough that it even biases doctors and other prescriber's (including psychiatrists) against prescribing stimulants for ADHD. The ones who think you are a drug addict or that "don't believe in stimulants" oftentimes then prescribe a antidepressant as a first line treatment even if a stimulant isn't contraindicated. I think this can be discouraging if the patient doesn't see a response from the AD, and the patient might then shy away from ADHD treatment and not try anything else. Of course your case is different and you had depression issues and ADHD issues intermingled (as many of us do if we go untreated for most of our life). In my case I have anxiety issues intertangled with ADHD issues. Rarely travels alone is right!
Schedule II prescription drugs have
potential for abuse, which can lead to addiction(s), but in itself it isn't addictive. It sounds like a semantic distinction, but it really isn't as abuse and addiction are different clinical terms. Anyone who takes a Schedule II
prescription drug to abuse it is likely not a person with ADHD. It's not like taking methamphetamines (commonly compared to legal stimulants due to similar chemical compounds), and there are many extended release versions that virtually eliminate the abuse factor. Multiple longitudinal studies have actually shown that children and adults with ADHD who take stimulants are actually LESS likely to become drug addicts if they are treated with a stimulant than if those with ADHD who go without.
