Adult ADD + Questions?

I was wondering if Adult Attention Deficit Disorder is common these days. I have been on and through so many antidepressants and mood stabilers in the past 6 years it's unreal. And if that's not enough, Bi-Polar meds, sleep meds, almost xanax. Nothing has ever come close to me feeling liike one of you regular souls who have the drive to do what you do. I am only 18, and do not have a doctorates degree yet, but I can tel you one thing; all the SSRI's and MAOI's and MOI's and SSNRI's and SNRI's are NOT going to work on me. I believe I have ADD - but only because i took a test on the internet and identified all of my symptoms in a clear voice. What should I say to my doctor? It's only a pediatrition but he gave me paxil once, and that ended me up in the hospital
i will never ever do that again.
What do you think the chances of him giving me adderol? or any other popular ADD drug without going through another one of those stinking evaluations that takes months to even see a psychiatrist?

Howdy ADD; By your writing I can empathize with your frustration; however, frustration may be a result of an emotional allergic reflex by your understanding and sensing of your inner self which may be harmful to your future emotional welfare.
Antidepressants do work on many people especially those that suffer anxiety disorders.
Mood Stabilizers (Paxil, Prozac,etc.) also tend to alleviate some of the symptoms associated with ADD.
I can feel for you if you had an adverse reaction this far into your treatment with psychothropic medicants.
At this time and in my limited psyche can only offer a comforting suggestion and that is that you may be a 'hyper-allergic' person.
Have you had any physical allergy tests to date?
It is my opinion that an allergic reaction in the atmosphere may irritate the mind into a distracted state that will make short-term mamory stagnant in neural flow and therefore long-term memory retention impossible.
Retake your psychological tests again and ask the Psychologist to place the results of both tests side by side for your personal assessment.
It is normal to forget the answers that you have provided in the previous test, but it you reapproach this process with a hopeful attitude I am sure that you will be that much closer to your emotional betterment. Good Fortune to you, Jose

I think self diagnosis is usualy incorrect. Go through the testing done by professionals. After all if you do get on some kind of meds and that isn't what you need it may screw you up worse.

I think it's pretty common these days. I'm 23 and recently saw a psychologist about whether or not i have it. He seemed to be very thorough in his evaluation. I suggest seeing a psychologist as another option, rather than seeing a psychiatrist.

I am much older than you and during a difficult time in my life went to see a shrink. He gave me the ADHD test right then and there and could tell at a glance I had it. I've been on 30mg of adderall 4x a day and can take up to 10mg xanax/day. He has tried me on so many anti-depressants and they have all had horrible side effects, so I just take myself off of them. My son was diagnosed with ADHD when he was 5 yrs old, and my Daughter with ADD when she was in the 5th grade. Prozac worked for them. As I am constantly losing things, I can at least stay focused with the adderall and the xanax stops the panic attacks. My shrink explained it to me like this: Ppl with our condition have a much lower tolerance to pain, tend to interrupt ppl, etc. We are basically a different breed as most of the ppl that haven't ever experienced what we have think we are nuts and don't understand why we can't "Get Over It"....
If yu are serious about getting on adderall or ritilin or whatever, be patient if the appt takes 6 months. It'll be well worth it. If you lived in Tulsa, I would refer you to my dr. In my opinion your best bet would be see a shrink. Reason being my internist didn't even know what to prescribe me. Hope I helped at least a little bit. If ya want to know anything else, please just ask..... I Care!!!!!
P.S. I am allergic to most meds, but fortunatelly can take these. They also have come out with a one a day capsule for adderall. Since I am so hyper the adderall slows me down. That is why you need to see a shrink instead of a regular DR, cause of all the ppl that just want to get a speed rush, a shrink that specializes in ADD/ADHD can handle the situation much better. BTW, my shrink also has ADHD. Go figure...

Pizza man

The first thing you should do is DETOX.. a health food store can direct you on how and what to use. Once all the heavy metals and garbage is out of your system then see if its still there. There are so many chemicals and additive in foods these days that anyone of them can cause problems..aspartame can mimic MS! The body turns aspartame into formaldehyde!You wouldn't drink embalming fluid now would you?..

If you do get a script for Adderall be very careful.....it can be addictive. I am speaking from experience. I was diagnosed w/ADD by a psychiatrist about a year ago. The adderall did help but when it wears off it seems like someone let the air out of your tires. I tried other ADD meds and nothing worked.....most made me sluggish. I have talked with my Dr. about the Adderall 'cause it seemed like it was the only thing that helped. I could concentrate like never before and had much energy. I have disciplined myself by tapering off to 20mg once daily. I still have the craving to want more but I am slowly weening myself off the 40 mg I used to take. Good luck to ya!