how do I know I have adult ADHD? (diagnosed at 40)

I am 40 years old. My psychiatrist diagnosed me with ADHD over the summer. I only started seeing him in late March after a very traumatic surgery (perforated ulcer). My pdoc of 10 years is retiring. He has spoken with her as they both work in the same small clinic.

Over the summer, he diagnosed me with ADHD and put me on Adderall. I instantly was able to read books again and concentrate on TV shows, but I'd thought all the symptoms I was having were part of bipolar, either being hypomanic or mixed (pdoc says I'm mixed). And of course, I had more energy but could still sleep at night.

How do I know this is ADHD? I have a hard time believing it and tend to just think it is the combo of bipolar, panic disorder, and the pharmacy of meds I'm on. Do I have ADHD, or is my pdoc giving me Adderall off-label, to increase energy and improve concentration?

I'm just confused.

((((Blueberrybook)))) If you were diagnosed with ADHD, then I'd say you probably have it. That doesn't exclude having other diagnosis as well, though... like Bipolar.

You can't just "get" adhd. You would have had symptoms your whole life, just not recognized it as such.
I would ask your pdoc why he thinks this, and discuss it with him. Does the diagnosis make sense to you? It seems pretty complicated to me, and there is a lot of comorbidity, obviously. Adderall can exacerbate anxiety, so I wouldn't think he / she would just throw you on it for now reason.

My doc is a new pdoc to me since my old one is retiring. I did look again at my medical records from the old pdoc, looks like my last visit with her & her summation to the new doc says no ADHD/ADD, but there are symptoms that have been present for awhile that make her feel it warrants more investigation.

I did come to her with a mis-diagnosis of depression & I was a month post-partum when I started seeing her. It took her a bit to determine the pdocs I'd seen the last 10 years were wrong (not a shocker since no one re-diagnosed after the 1st doc who just seemed to want to give me a lifetime supply of Paxil), and then she figured maybe I had bipolar II, tried treating that, things weren't working, then I had a psychotic break, hypergraphia, etc., and she had to start again trying to control bipolar I. So I guess she'd felt she finally had the bipolar & panic disorder somewhat stable which made her start wondering about ADHD type things. She was a very good doctor, one of the top pdocs out there, and my new pdoc is very good too. I suppose if she told him she suspected it, he probably started looking for it. There are things that could point to it, I suppose. I need to speak more with my new pdoc about why he included the ADHD diagnosis when the old pdoc did not, what exactly it was that made him diagnose that.

—-my new pdoc keeps suggesting that I have adhd because I often go off on tangents when I speak if I’m nervous. This infuriates me because right, you don’t just suddenly get this. I had incredible focus up thru my masters degree and worked my whole life. She says that the symptoms may have been masked. Oh boy. My brother is going to try to help me to get a better doctor. I too have trouble reading but not when I’m less stressed.

Pretty much this describes me too. My pdoc said something about hyperfocus and all my other MI masking it since that was all untreated. I have a Master's too (M.S. in Cell & Molecular Biology, you can bet that is not an easy major!).

IDK, even if it's used off-label, at least the Adderall lets me read & watch TV shows again, and I haven't had an increase in panic attacks, sleep is OK, usually around 6 hr/night (bipolar mixed, pdoc says, in this case, I think he is right), but last night 13 hours.

((((Blueberrybook)))) I'm glad your new meds are working, at least.

—-we have so much in common, it’s sort of eerie. Glad you’re here.
I just googled this and a 2017 article in Psych Today said that a study showed that almost always these symptoms are caused by something else, like maybe STRESS, you silly pdocs! Well, if the adderall is working, it’s still a big win even if the doc calling it adhd is wrong. I have gad, so I don’t think I should try it. I’m going to have a complete meds eval done soon. The last couple yrshave been murder for me too. Message me anytime. Hugs!