Adult ADHD Diagnosis and Medication

LFireman Mal on 25/01/2023 - 00:27
Last edited 25/01/2023 - 11:04 by 1 other user

Hi all I read with interest some on ADHD in adults.

I was diagnosed with ADHD in my 20's and was medicated with Dexamphetamine. I stopped using it after a short period of time, for various reasons.

Now I am now 60 and looking to get medicated as life is difficult. I would like to ask is anyone able to point me in the direction of a Psychiatrist online that can asses me and prescribe Dex? I am not a drug seeker and I am married to a mental health nurse who has no doubt I would benefit under the right conditions.

I just want a quick diagnosis (I have been assessed before some 35 years ago) and medication so I can be a better, more focused person and easier to live with.

Thanks for your time. Kind regards Mal.

Health & Beauty

Comments

  • tensionday on 25/01/2023 - 00:53
    +12

    Speak to your GP. You'll need a referral to begin with.

    • Gunnar on 25/01/2023 - 07:06
      +4

      This. Speak to your GP first! It can save you a lot of time and money than trying to seek a specialist in the first instance.

      More importantly, and I hate to be the one who tells you this, any healthcare professional who is competent would/should neither be diagnosing nor prescribing you with Medication based on a 35 year old assessment and your self report. The understanding of understanding and interventions for ADHD in adults has changed quite a lot since then

      In other words if they are good, it won’t be a quick in and out job. Taking your information on board? Definitely, but the information is too old to be going straight for pharmacological intervention.

    • SF3 on 25/01/2023 - 10:54

      Speak to your GP. You'll need a referral to begin with.

      Yes, the obvious path, and considering wife is a nurse.

      But my OzB forum vibes tells me something isn’t said in the OP.

      I just want a quick diagnosis

      Perhaps the OzB collective opinion?

  • AustriaBargain on 25/01/2023 - 01:01

    Have you tried coffee? Most of us self medicate with caffeine. Lots of caffeine.

    • jv on 25/01/2023 - 01:18

      Red Bull…

  • freefall101 on 25/01/2023 - 03:21
    +2

    You've waited 40 years and now you need to rush to get medication as quickly as possible?

    Do it properly, internet research is not a substitute for actual medical advice and what might have been labelled ADHD 40 years ago that people popped a pill for might be treated very differently today.

  • ifyareckon on 25/01/2023 - 05:21
    +2

    There is a (mostly) online service called ADHD-BED. They do consultation via telehealth. You would need to physically see their in house GP once before starting meds but subsequent appointments are via telehealth as well. A bit pricier than others, but means wait time are much shorter. Most psychiatrists aren't taking patients for assessment currently or have very long wait lists.

    • jjjaar on 25/01/2023 - 17:18

      Was gonna suggest this- they’re usually less than a month wait. Which is insanely good. In Vic at lest, most ADHD specialist psychiatrists are 6-12 months wait at the moment.

  • holdenmg on 25/01/2023 - 07:56
    +2

    Hi,

    It seems like you would benefit discussing the reasons you stopped using the medication after a short period of time (for various reasons) and what your plan would be should Medication be prescribed again, what you can expect, side effects and staying in touch with your Doctor or Pharmacist.

    While prescribing that Medication seemed right to your Prescribing Doctor at the time, Medicine has moved on and you and your current heath are 35+ years on.

    Good luck with it all.

  • thatonethere on 25/01/2023 - 08:04
    +1

    That is an s8 controlled drug addictive and abused for recreational reasons so unlikely it will be prescribed "quickly" without assessments. In fact if you press for medication you ll likely get flagged and it will be more difficult.

    Getting to a psychiatrist will need a gp referral and mental health plan.

    • Quantumcat on 25/01/2023 - 08:59
      +2

      It isn't addictive. The biggest problem in treatment for ADHDers is forgetting to take their pills. Sticking to medication also lowers the risk of developing substance abuse.

      • Quantumcat on 25/01/2023 - 10:47
        +5

        The neg voters need to read research

      • Cuchavira on 25/01/2023 - 11:07
        -2

        Uhh yeah it is. It's basically legal speed.

        • Quantumcat on 25/01/2023 - 13:11
          +1

          Have you actually done any reading on stimulant medication or are you making a snap judgement based on the name?

          • Cuchavira on 25/01/2023 - 13:45

            @Quantumcat: I have ADHD and was prescribed Ritalin. It's gross and addictive.

            • Quantumcat on 25/01/2023 - 16:09
              +2

              @Cuchavira: Were you titrated properly? Maybe you got side effects because you were started on too high a dose, or your body needed a different medication, and you confused those side effects with the physical symptoms of dependence.

      • mailbox on 25/01/2023 - 12:53
        +2

        yeah man I forget my scripts all the time even with it written down and highlighted.

      • jv on 25/01/2023 - 15:26
        -2

        The biggest problem in treatment for ADHDers is forgetting to take their pills.

        Combine with amnesia pills ?

      • trapper on 25/01/2023 - 17:31
        +1

        Yeah when used as directed by a doctor the risk of addiction is considered to be low.

        Addiction risk is higher when used improperly though.

  • Quantumcat on 25/01/2023 - 08:13
    +1

    Most psychiatrists have a waiting period of ten or more months, so you aren't likely to find anything quickly.

  • akyeeeahdude on 25/01/2023 - 08:17
    +3

    Despite having had it prescribed before, I'm confident the Psychiatrist won't be able to access much in terms of your previous records which means they'll test you again and then if they agree you have the condition, they'll start you on a very low dose, get you to return in a month or so, discuss the effect and then increase the dose, until the optimal dose is found. That took a few months in my case.

  • dogboy on 25/01/2023 - 08:38
    -5

    I thought ADHD wasn't a real thing??

  • bobbified on 25/01/2023 - 10:22
    +2

    Now I am now 60 and looking to get medicated as life is difficult

    I'm wondering - Is life really difficult because of this or could there be another reason that's making you feel that things are difficult (and you're just falling back to the ADHD diagnosis from many years ago because that's the only possibility you can think of)? You've survived 35 years without the medication - has anything changed? For example, have you recently retired and feel bored and restless?

    • Mechz on 25/01/2023 - 18:36

      Really sounds like some major life change has prompted this. Like winding back to part-time employment or a change of job.

  • Quantumcat on 25/01/2023 - 10:50
    +1

    Aside from asking a GP I would also advise finding a local face to face support group or else a Facebook group for people with ADHD to ask for advice on what steps to take and what's likely to happen at each. They can give you recommendations based on their actual experience. You're not likely to get useful suggestions from random members of the public who have no idea about the condition aside from what's in popular media.

    • jjjaar on 25/01/2023 - 17:20

      This +100000000

  • payless69 on 25/01/2023 - 11:04
    -6

    Stop watching mainstream news.
    Life is so much better after it!

  • Oofy Doofy on 25/01/2023 - 11:43

    Consider differential diagnosis. I think you're too confident in assuming ADHD is the problem.

    • jjjaar on 25/01/2023 - 17:25
      +1

      They’ve literally already been diagnosed? Of course they’re confident.

      That’s like suggesting someone to who was prescribed glasses in their 20s, but had a weak script and was able to see but it was a bit blurry, so stopped wearing them because they didn’t like the look on their face, who now wants to get their eyes checked again and actually wear glasses because they’re struggling to see, “oh it could be something else”.

      If anything, most medical professionals incorrectly diagnose people with anxiety, depression and various other things and provide treatments for those which don’t work, until later they’re finally correctly diagnosed with ADHD and the treatment (both meds and non-meds) finally helps them.

      • Mechz on 25/01/2023 - 18:31

        I share your view but in reply to your analogy it could literally be cateracts.

        • Quantumcat on 25/01/2023 - 18:45
          +1

          In that case they might have cataracts AND short-sightedness.

          Getting more conditions doesn't mean your other life-long condition is gone. OP could equally have developed BPD or OCD or anything else as well in the years that have gone by but that would be on top of their ADHD not instead of.

      • Oofy Doofy on 26/01/2023 - 12:33

        So its been 40 years and it's still assumed to be ADHD?

        I'm not saying it isn't, but a whole lot of things would have changed in that time.

        • jjjaar on 26/01/2023 - 13:14

          Well yeah, ADHD is lifelong, and if they’re experiencing the same problems as they did 40 years ago, it’s very likely to be the same thing.

          Either way, OPs desire to see a psychiatrist to be rediagnosed is the correct procedure. If the psych has other diagnoses to make, they can do so.

          • Oofy Doofy on 26/01/2023 - 13:53

            @jjjaar: Call me skeptical, but 40 years before deciding to do something about an old dx… how much of an impact has it really had?

            https://youtu.be/6cEC0k1gRoM

            • jjjaar on 26/01/2023 - 16:53

              @Oofy Doofy: I wouldn’t call you skeptical. I’d say you’re just completely ignorant and uneducated about what ADHD actually is and how it impacts people.

              ADHD is literally a chemical imbalance in the brain. It’s that simple.

              People with ADHD do not make enough dopamine to be able to do things the way people who do make enough dopamine do.

              The amount of dopamine that ADHDers make varies from person to person and day to day, hence why some people have been able to go through life without dedicated treatment (both meds and non-meds). Sleep, food, exercise and social interactions, among other things, can greatly impact dopamine, and therefore a persons ADHD symptoms from one day to the next.

              Many ADHDers have come up with strategies to work with their brains, or hide (“mask”) their ADHD from the world. Also, the traditional criteria for diagnosing ADHD is based on a hyperactive white male child (don’t even get me started on how many medical diagnoses are focused on the symptoms of a white male…).

              This means that people who do not exhibit “typical” hyperactive ADHD (ie they are inattentive, or combined), women with any type, and people who have successfully used strategies and masked throughout their lives have been able to get by without dedicated treatment (medicines or not).

              However, this does not mean they have not struggled.

              Everyone needs to expel urine from their body. Most people go to the toilet and barely think about it as a process. Many people struggle with pain or flow when they use the bathroom, and this process not only is difficult, but there is stress around having to do it in the first place. Some people use a catheter. All of our bodies need to expel urine, but the way in which we approach the task and struggle with it varies from person to person, and day to day. And you never know exactly how much another person has struggled, because it’s not necessarily something we share with others.

              Same goes for ADHD. A lot of the ways in manifests is in your personal life. ADHDers are often very successful in their careers (Richard Branson, Ingvar Kamprad (IKEA founder)), but it is the tasks that require executive functioning in their personal lives that are most difficult. And this too is something ADHDers don’t share with others, as they can experience a lot of shame around this.

              So just because OP has taken 40 years to do something about it, it doesn’t meant they haven’t struggled. If anything, they may have been experiencing a lot of shame around it, and have been battling with their ADHD for ages.

              There is also lot of stigma around ADHD (your comments and that YouTube link are two great examples), so on top of the shame, the stigma can make it really difficult for people to want to seek help.

              But, hey, if you wanna watch fluff videos from other uneducated people to reinforce your incorrect views, then stay ignorant. But don’t try to tell others to believe the same as you when you’re just so incredibly wrong and literally have no idea what people go through.

              • Oofy Doofy on 26/01/2023 - 23:28
                -1

                @jjjaar: JBP is uneducated? Did you even listen to what he had to say?

                https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attention_deficit_hyperactivit…

                I can read wikipedia, references, citations and studies also.

                Have you seen the list of differential conditions? Sure it's possible to be a sole disorder, but it doesn't mean it's beyond possible to be the only cause of the OP's problems in his 60s.

  • pao2x on 25/01/2023 - 12:25

    No psychiatrist in their right mind would prescribe controlled substances purely online.
    Speak to your GP get a referral and be ready with all your documentations. Anything that would help with diagnosis. Even school records, therapy, prev diagnosis, legal records.

    • Quantumcat on 25/01/2023 - 13:13
      +1

      Except that most psychiatrists offer telehealth, as many places have no access to psychiatrists - either there aren't any serving the area or the ones that do have closed books (not taking new patients). So they actually do "prescribe controlled substances online".

  • mailbox on 25/01/2023 - 12:44
    +1

    echo what other people said here.

    Go to a gp and get a referral then find a physiatrist who will assess and maybe prescribe you. In my case I had to take a couple ECG tests for my heart health, and some tests with the doctor.

    If you think you could have ADHD just go get it checked out and take the pills, they improved my life a lot. Also (in my case) they haven't been addictive for me and if anything my scripts lapse all the time because I just forget.

  • DingoBilly on 25/01/2023 - 13:12
    +1

    This will take quite a while to obtain - I had to wait 3 months for my own assessment/diagnosis, and it was $1200 (and up to $2400 for some clinics). I'd expect something similar for yourself.

  • Guinan on 25/01/2023 - 13:23

    Hi Mal,
    I'd agree with those who say the starting point is a chat with your GP.
    Be wary of online questionnaires that diagnose ADHD - many seem to give a positive diagnosis very easily.
    (Does it seem 'fashionable' to attribute parts of peoples personality to ADHD/autism at the moment?)
    See here for one telehealth psychiatrist and a peer-support organisation with good resources online;
    https://www.adhdsupportaustralia.com.au/adhd-listings/psych2…
    Hope this helps.
    Ian

  • [Deactivated] on 25/01/2023 - 16:47

    I am married to a mental health nurse

    Gosh, you reference your partner as a mental health professional yet you set up a new account on a bargain site to seek assistance with mental health ??

    • Mechz on 25/01/2023 - 18:33

      Doesn't want mental health help, just a pill doc.

      To be fair, sometimes ADHD doesn't impact mental health.

      • [Deactivated] on 25/01/2023 - 18:59

        So, more likely that someone on a bargain site will be able to refer them to a 'pill doc'?

        A more sinister reason would be OP trying to profile OzB members

  • iridiumstem on 26/01/2023 - 07:26

    I would look around and see whether you can see a different specialist as well, just because of how long the wait time is for the psychiatrists.
    Because you already have a diagnosis, I would strongly recommend you flag that when you look around as there are psychiatrists who don't assess ADHD.
    That said, given how long ago the previous diagnosis was, I would not be too surprised if they would want to do re-assessment.

    The regulations on ADHD medications vary between states, so I would probably see a GP about options.
    You would need a referral for a psychiatrist anyways, even if you go down the telehealth route.

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join