# What to expect from an ADHD appointment?



## TyrosineKinase (Jan 20, 2010)

After seeing a university therapist and speaking to him for several months he suspects that I have adult adhd that was never dealt with when I was a child, which he suspects is a cause of both the depression and the anxiety I have on a regular basis. He wants me to see a psychiatrist for this but I don't know what to expect at all. I have seen a psychiatrist before but not for ADHD treatment. I'm really nervous about this for a number of reasons, but the foremost probably is that he will get suspicious because I am a college student (we all know the huge stigma attached to college students and psychostimulants). I don't want to go in there and say I want to get tested for adhd or something stupid. I just don't know how to approach this issue? Do I say the university therapist recommended it or do I never even tell him this and just explain my symptoms?

So in short, if anyone else has adhd, how did the appointments go? What happened, what caused you to see the doctor for them, what tests did you do, how many appointments did you have to have before they began medication treatment?

Thanks for the help


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## TyrosineKinase (Jan 20, 2010)

Anyone?


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## Duke of Prunes (Jul 20, 2009)

I've got one coming up, so I'll let you know if you don't have yours first


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## B V (Feb 19, 2011)

My mom had me tested when I was 13-14. 

My mom did alot of the talking in the beginning so I forget (probably wasn't paying attention ) what type of questions he asked us. There were several different tests he did. He would read me a series of numbers that I had to remember and would get me to repeat them back to him. I think I was only able to get up to 6 or something. 

He had me read a short story that had a bunch of details, and after he asked me to describe the story with as many details as I could remember. Another one was, he had a picture of a bunch of cartoon animals on the wall behind me doing different tasks like cutting trees, painting a fence ect.. He got me to look at it for (forget how long) a little bit. Than had me tell him the different animals and the actions that they were doing. 

The last one was horrible, He put me in a quite room in front of a computer screen, different symbols would come onto the screen and when a certain symbol would pop up, you'd press space bar. It felt like I was doing it for an hour, But it was probably about 10 mins, at that point I just gave up on trying, and decided I'd speed things up.. I started pressing the space bar like crazy. That test ended like 10 seconds after I started doing that 

I was diagnosed with ADHD. I wasn't very hyper, it was more my attention span.. It was horrible! I tried 5 different prescriptions, and they all made me feel crap so I stopped taking them. 

Now that I'm older, I can really tell how bad my ADD is. It's affects quite a bit. Working in the kitchen of a busy restaurant was a huge struggle because of it. 


Although.. Im sure the testing is ALOT different for adults. I just felt like i'd share my adhd testing story.


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## TyrosineKinase (Jan 20, 2010)

Thanks for the replies guys. And please be sure to message me about your appointment Duke. What day is that going to be so I know when to expect the message, I don't get on this website too much.

Does anyone know if there are good adhd forums (similar to this social anxiety forum) that could probably answer similar questions?

Thanks!


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## Noca (Jun 24, 2005)

I see a pediatrician not a psychiatrist for my ADD even though I'm 24. In fact I saw him just this afternoon. He and I chatted about how im doing, my healthcare treatment update from my other doctors, I asked him for Wellbutrin SR which he gave, he asked for feedback for the meds which I'm on which he prescribes. 

I asked him a few questions about ADD and its relation to my schooling and he gave long, complete, philosophical answers to me. 

He checked my weight, pulse and BP, handed me my script and booked another appointment. The whole appointment lasted about an hour, which of course in Canada is free.


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## Duke of Prunes (Jul 20, 2009)

TyrosineKinase said:


> Thanks for the replies guys. And please be sure to message me about your appointment Duke. What day is that going to be so I know when to expect the message, I don't get on this website too much.


I dunno, I had to cancel the first one because I wasn't happy with what they put in my referral, so now I've had to find another doctor who can make private appointments without referrals. It might be a while.



> Does anyone know if there are good adhd forums (similar to this social anxiety forum) that could probably answer similar questions?


Addforums.


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## Noca (Jun 24, 2005)

Duke of Prunes said:


> I dunno, I had to cancel the first one because I wasn't happy with what they put in my referral, so now I've had to find another doctor who can make private appointments without referrals. It might be a while.


did they put "smokes weed" in it? lol


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## ValiantThor (Dec 6, 2010)

When i was like 7 i had an appointment to see if i had add. I remember having sensors stuck on my chest and head, and i was put underneath some sorta dull red light and thats all i remember. But yea i had add, and had to take ritalin. Which for some reason caused a nervous tick issue and i would shake and twitch alot. I was picked on all day everyday which is where my current mental health issues all stem from, that and alot of drug use.


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## TyrosineKinase (Jan 20, 2010)

Thanks for the posts guys. However, I am having a difficult time finding specific information about how a typical visit goes. I understand that every psychiatrist is different, but I'm basically looking for someone to tell me exactly what tests they have you do or example questions they ask you so I'm not so nervous? I'm surprised I can't find a straight answer on any forums?

Can anyone point me in a specific direction to find something like this?


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## stevedav (Mar 17, 2011)

I think this is awesome....


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## Duke of Prunes (Jul 20, 2009)

Bit of a thread bump, but I've got my appointment on Saturday morning, so I'll be able to give a good report on it some time this weekend. In the mean time, they sent me a big stack of questionnaires and tests:

1. A medical form, requesting information on:
a. social/behavioural status (marital status, who I live with, employment status, interests, crimes, friendships, religion)
b. diet/physical activity
c. birth/early years (birth weight and complications, development times, behavioural problems as a toddler, history of abuse)
d. family (health problems, siblings, children, who I grew up with)
e. education (age started and left school, behavioural problems at school, number of schools attended, number of times suspended/expelled, qualifications)
f. occupation (I skipped over this because I'm unemployed)
g. previous psychiatric diagnoses/prescriptions
h. physical health (surgeries, hospital visits, prescriptions, supplements, allergies, drug use)

2. A set of ADHD screening self-tests:
a. CGI
b. ASRS v1.1
c. Barkley childhood scale
d. Barkley current scale

3. A set of observational ADHD screening tests to be taken by a close relative or close friend (I got my mum to take these for me):
a. CGI
b. WURS-25
c. Barkley childhood scale
d. Barkley current scale

I filled all of them out truthfully for the most part, just omitting my old ASD diagnosis as it was inconclusive and later proven incorrect, and of course drug use, where telling the truth would evoke a hysterical, biased response and probably end up with me receiving no help at all let alone a prescription. I just omitted all drugs except for weed and ticked the "monthly or less" and "in the past" options, which correlates with everything my therapist (who is referring me but will probably omit that part) and GP (they have an instance of it on my record) have on file. I figure it would look more suspicious having a completely clean record as somebody of my age with a history of bad behaviour, and I can't rule out the possibility that the psychiatrist consults with my GP and uncovers it, making me look like a liar which would be even worse.

Omitting and downplaying things is ok in my opinion, where telling the truth would create massive bias. I didn't exaggerate any of my symptoms, and I've got school reports and the screening tests my mum took to prove it, so I think I'm reasonably safe.

I'll report back after my appointment! If you don't hear from me, barring internet problems, it's because the assessment was a failure and I've jumped in front of a train.


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## TyrosineKinase (Jan 20, 2010)

Hey Duke, I actually had my ADHD appointment yesterday. If you want to know how it went, just ask me. Maybe I can answer some questions if you have any too?


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## moke64916 (May 31, 2011)

Don't think about the future and possible scenarios that can go wrong. Just be in the NOW. The university doctors the one who pointed it out. Tell the psychiatrist that. There will be no suspicion. When I was younger I used to do the same thing you did. Obsess on what could go wrong on a future event. Don't think about it. Your waisting energy into nothing, when in reality it will go just fine. Doctors are humans just like you and me. They are there to treat their patents. Basically you got a referral to see the psychiatrist. You have nothing to worry about. College student or not. Doesn't matter. Your creating a problem out of nothing.


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## Duke of Prunes (Jul 20, 2009)

Actually, doctors tend to look down on their patients and treat them like meat in my experience. You try discussing anything with a doctor and they'll think that you're trying to tell them how to do their job, and at that point, their snobbish 'I'm the professional, you're not' attitude kicks in and you're lucky to get a word in. When it comes to situations where they might have to prescribe abusable drugs, they are on alert for 'drug seeking behaviour' and anything you do or say that might resemble it makes the alarm bells go off, and they dismiss anything you say to them, give you the non-abusable alternative and get you away from them as quickly as possible. Their training and guidelines explicitly tell them to do the latter, and the former is just how people act when their 'professional' opinions are contested and they go into stuck-up-prick mode.


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## Duke of Prunes (Jul 20, 2009)

Just an update, I had my assessment today with a neuropsychiatrist (who was actually very kind and caring, unlike most doctors I've dealt with in the past), and had an overwhelmingly positive experience.

Because I had 2 relatives present, a stack of school reports and my old inconclusive Asperger's assessments to back me up, I had an easy time confirming that I'd had the symptoms since childhood, which meant that the whole thing was over in a couple of hours.

I walked out with a definitive diagnosis for ADHD-C (mostly inattentive, but enough hyperactive symptoms to qualify as combined) and a prescription for IR Ritalin. Because of my anxiety, they only started me out on 5 mg, but with the intention of increasing it and possibly switching to an XR form after a month if it doesn't exacerbate it, and if that's not effective, amphetamine.

Just a relief to finally get it out of the way!


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## TyrosineKinase (Jan 20, 2010)

Congrats Duke. I'm not sure if you've been reading any of my recent posts but I was diagnosed with ADD as well, a few days ago. I didn't go to a neuropsychiatrist, just a regular psychiatrist and told him what my therapist said and told him my symptoms. I was perscribed Adderall XR.

All in all, it was nothing at all what I expected. This particular psychiatrist simply knew from my demeanor and just talking to me that I had adhd symptoms. I expected to be given several tests or that he would interview some of my family members and he did neither. However, I think that him reading the letter my therapist wrote, observing my symptoms first hand and the fact that a previous psychiatrist wrongly treated depression and anxiety as the central problem (when it wasn't), which meant a waste of 2.5 years, lead him into the add diagnosis.


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