New ADD Diagnosis: Your Wisdom?

Hi, I'm brand, brand new to the forums. I hope it's okay to start a New Thread so soon

I went to a new psychiatrist today to get "adjusted" and to explore deepening depressive problems that seem linked to the SSRI I take. I shared with the doc that I had read some stuff about Adult ADD (I'm 44) and I was curious if I fit the profile.

The answer was "probably." We started a very low dose of Adderall 5mg x twice day to see what the effects are. May I ask some questions of you experienced forumites? Gratefully, Jenn

Yay! I'm "legal" on the forums now.

Any takers to answer a few ADD questions?

What kind of things would you like to know?

It's never to late or early to post a new thread! Welcome to the forums!

Thank you, B&B, for the nice welcome!

Well, to start: I know that ADD is not an adult-onset issue, and I think there are childhood and adolescent markers that make a good argument that I've had ADD all my life. The prelim diagnosis is "Predom. Inattentive" type.

However, there have also been stretches of my life that have been good and relatively free of anxiety/depression/non-focus/procrastination, etc. I'm quite a controlled person (people tell me I always seem very calm and collected); is it possible to overcompensate and cope in ways that sometimes beat the problems back for a while?

I'm 44, female.

You are very welcome!

There are definitely ways to compensate for certain things that go along with ADD/ADHD. I'm also a very controlled person and a lot of people do not know that I struggle with anxiety or depression, because they really don't know what goes on in my head.

I'm 19 and last year I went to see the counselor at my college about my anxiety and she told me that she thought I had ADD, but up until then I hadn't really thought about it seriously. She told be that I compensated up until then by being intelligent (I'm in the honors program, Dean's List, etc.) Looking back I see how it did make a lot of things in school harder than they should have been for me.

So, I think it is really easy to keep certain symptoms at bay, but just because they are not always apparent or obvious does not mean they are not there.

Hi jennshark - Welcome to PC and the forums! I also have ADD/ADHD and 2 of my 3 adult children inherited it. I also have depression. I'll answer any question that I'm able to, but I'm not an expert.

It's nice to have you at the ADD forum and I look forward to talking with you in the future. Take care, slow

Yes it is possible to compensate and cope very well so that no one, including yourself, sees any problems with functioning. Then we can reach times in our life when we have many more stressors and our ability to cope gets overwhelmed, and voila, there is the ADHD! That's how it happened for me. My PNP says it is not uncommon for women in middle age (that's me) to reach their limit on coping with their underlying ADHD when they have all these other stressors going on, such as taking care of kids, taking care of parents, deaths in the family, divorce, declining female hormones, etc. It is a pattern she has seen a lot. I feel lucky she knows what she is doing and is experienced at distinguishing ADHD from other conditions. I can look back on my younger years and see signs of ADHD but I somehow just dealt with it. Now I'm older and can't deal with it as well, so meds are helping me.

I met someone recently who is a healthcare provider and he told me he never prescribes stimulant meds to adults for ADHD, unless they were diagnosed while still a child. Instead, he gives them Wellbutrin or Strattera. Wow, I am glad he is not my doc. I did start on Wellbutrin, but my PNP was not satisfied with the improvements we saw. She said, we can do better than this! And she added a stimulant for me. It makes me wonder what is with this other doctor and his rigidity: no stimulants for adults! He doesn't hesitate to prescribe stims for kids though.

Wow, a doctor that won't give an adult stimulants, but has no problem handing them out to children. Strange.

I've always done well in school by compensating for my ADHD, but when I got to college and the workload got harder, it became harder to control on my own. I was already in therapy for bipolar disorder, so I mentioned my symptoms to my doctor and she decided to try me out on Adderall. Its amazing to no longer jump from thing to thing to thing and actually be able to sit still long enough to focus on something. I still struggle a little, even with the medicine, but its much better than it used to be.

Wow. I'm comforted by reading these posts. I struggled so much in school--always in the honors classes, but always at the bottom of the best, even though I knew I was working so much harder than the other students. I was very controlled about everything. I've swung pretty much to the opposite since I've been in treatment--a lot less anxiety since I don't feel I have to control so much, but now I struggle with the things I used to be controlling about: messy house, late paying bills, awful with time management, . . .

I took Adderall for awhile, but couldn't afford it without insurance. I think it worked well for me. Right now I'm taking both straterra and concerta.

Ummm... Sorry I got off track with my own stuff... Yes, I definitely compensated for the ADD by being controlling, and that might be what drove me over the edge with anxiety and depression.

BTW, I've been told that girls tend to experience AD(H)D differently than boys, and are therefore less likely to get noticed and diagnosed.

Also in my experience with kids, I know that the squeaky wheel gets the grease. When one child's behavior is disrupting the class they demand attention that the struggling student who is not disruptive may not get. So, also, it makes a lot of sense that ADD without hyperactivity is less likely to get noticed, diagnosed and treated.

Sounds like the doc who doesn't prescribe stimulants doesn't get it. Can't tell you how much it's helped me...

Yes, I agree. I think he is cautious because his patient population includes a lot of adults with addiction issues (past or present) and he is very suspicious of drug-seeking behavior. But it seemed like a huge generalization to make, "I don't prescribe stimulants for adults unless they were diagnosed with ADHD as a child." As sara76 wrote, girls are less apt to be diagnosed as children. So women may present disproportionately as adults, looking for help as their coping becomes inadequate. With this provider's approach, some adults who could be helped will not get it. He is a family practitioner, so maybe he makes referrals to specialists if he is in doubt. I think there is nothing wrong with taking a cautious approach and trying Wellbutrin or Strattera as a first course of treatment, but if that doesn't work, what does he do? Hopefully, he refers. I will be talking to him again in a week, and I may ask him about this.

I too am one of those people that compensated over the years. After my son died, the ADHD/ADD came out full bloom. My therapist thinks that I am focusing so much of my energy towards holding myself together after this monumental loss, that I can no longer use my coping strategies.