Posted by undopaminergic on July 7, 2008, at 11:57:48
In reply to Re: Dumb and Dumber - Convo w/ Pdoc's 'assistant' » sunnydays, posted by atmlady on July 7, 2008, at 7:54:47
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> I may look into seeing an adult ADD specialist. Ever since my great response to Provigil - better focus, clearer thinking - I have wondered if ADD wasn't a factor/contributor to the MDD I've suffered from since my 20's. Both my kids were diagnosed with it, and my only sister as well. Maybe I just found a way to live with being a space cadet. It was never an issue that I'd go to a doctor about, unlike the depression, which forced me to the doctor when my thoughts turned morbid - scary.
>My experience is similar. I've probably always had some type of ADD, as I've always had trouble with following through on tasks, but no problems starting new ones and a strong tendency to becoming distracted or side-tracked by whatever turns up and seems interesting. However, none of those issues seemed severe enough to seek professional help for until they become compounded by depression. Now in retrospect, I cannot help but wonder what my life had been like if I had received proper assistance in time, as opposed to trying harder and harder only to accomplish less and less and eventually burning myself out. I think there's a good chance that my grades would have been better - in particular, the extreme lows in the subjects I found boring might have been avoided with proper medication. Perhaps I might even have finished my college degree. Fortunately, when I think of such matters of the past or of future possibilities, it's more in the form of curious speculation rather than morbid rumination, so there's at least one problem I'm free from.
> So anyway, that's what I'm thinking. I just have a feeling my current pdoc won't be very open to exploring this possibility. But maybe I'm just being paranoid. I'm thinking an adult ADD specialist (if there is such a thing) could tell me if I'm barking up the wrong tree or not. At this point, I'd trust an objective third party over my pdoc, who I already know has issues with prescribing ritalin.
>From the little that I know about your doctor, I'm inclined to think that finding one that is more knowledgeable and open minded would be a good idea. Although no-one, including doctors, is perfect, it should not be impossible to find one who is not phobic about important medications that may be of value for your treatment.
poster:undopaminergic
thread:835768
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20080706/msgs/838623.html