OT- Adult ADD

[iheartdisney]

Does anyone have experience with being diagnosed and/or treated for ADD as an adult? If you've never been diagnosed, how do you approach the subject with your doctor?
When I was a kid, I don't think there was such a thing as ADD. When I started learning about it as my nephew grew up, all the literature I kind of said to myself, "hey, that is me!" The problems in school, socially, you name it.
Well, now I am about to start college in the fall at age 30, and thinking ahead for once, want to be prepared for the classwork.
I'm just not one of those people who has an open relationship with doctors, in fact, haven't seen a doctor since my youngest daughter was born (she's 3 now) and kind of nervous on how to ask without looking like a dork, I guess.

 

[lalagrace]

I was dx as an adult, and my regular dr was not comfortable prescribing meds to me with out a lot of testing. So I went to a psychiatrist practice for a morning worth of IQ type testing. They also wanted any documentation I had that this had been a life long problem. Luckily my mom kept everything and I had multiple grade school report cards documenting my lack of attention, daydreaming unable to sit still etc. This was almost 10 yrs ago, and there is a lot more acceptance now about adult add, so your MD might not have you go through all that.
I would print off a symptoms checklist, fill it out yourself and have your partner fill one out, and bring any report cards etc to your regular MD and see what they say.
I feel that the medications have helped me a lot, but I also felt great relief in the DX itself. I was not just this head in the clouds unable to function in the real world person. I also really recommend behavior/cognitive therapy to help. Check out CHADD.com
I really feel that the meds have helped me learn better habits about staying focused, making priorities, finishing one task before moving on to the next etc. It’s not a 100% thing, but I can tell if I forget to take them. Also there will be a trial and error in figuring out which meds work best for you.
Good Luck