Amileaminute,

I'm sorry that you have not been able to find relief for all of your symptoms. I'm not a doctor so I can't tell you what would be the best medication for you, and not everyone responds the same to medication. I can give you a few pointers and suggestions that I have learned however. It is important to find a doctor who understands ADHD in adults and understands medications very well. It may be a psychiatrist or it may be a general practitioner or another type of doctor. The most important criteria is his knowledge and experience with ADHD.

How to find that particular doctor is easier said than done. But if you happen to know any adults with ADHD who are treated with medication, nurses (who are familiar with lots of doctors), an adult ADHD support group, such as CHADD (go to www.CHADD.org to find support groups in your area), ask them if they have any recommendations. Your family doctor or insurance company may have knowledge of a doctor to refer you to. The right doctor can make all the difference in the world.

We have been extremely fortunate to find a doctor who understands adult ADHD, depression and other mental conditions, as well as having an amazing ability to deal with complicated cases and individuals with multiple conditions. I have learned that it is extremely important to treat everything that is wrong and that sometimes the sequence of conditions treated can also affect your response. For example, if someone has anxiety that is untreated and has ADHD as well, a stimulant may make the person's anxiety WORSE. But if the individual or doctor is not aware of the undiagnosed anxiety, they may conclude that the medication does not work for them. If the doctor recognizes the possibility of anxiety (generalized anxiety disorder is often missed because many of the symptoms are internal, not external, and since it is usually a lifelong condition, it doesn't seem unusual to the individual--that's just the way they are----my daughter and I both have GAD and it was not diagnosed for many years) and treats the anxiety with the proper medication (again, knowledge is the key because different types of anxiety respond better to different types of medications---you would not give Xanax to someone with GAD), then the stimulant may work fine without causing any jittery or anxious feelings.

That's just one example of how having two disorders but only treating one of them may worsen someone's condition. Having an accurate diagnosis of ALL conditions and the knowledge and ability to treat them all while understanding how medication affects not only the targeted condition, but the other conditions as well, is very important.

I wish I had the ability to point you to the doctor who would best be able to help you but I only know of the doctor in my area who fits that description. If you live in Florida, I have the perfect recommendation. Otherwise, I can only offer the suggestions above and tell you to begin researching and getting recommendations from those who are knowledgeable about ADHD treatment in adults and/or some of the best physicians or psychiatrists recommended by those in the field of medicine whom you know and trust.

We have had the experience of seeing different psychiatrists and doctors for years without any of them recognizing all of the diagnoses that were present. Only until we found our present doctor, who came highly recommended by a friend of a friend, and is a general practitioner, did we finally get a complete diagnosis of all conditions that were affecting us and the proper treatment for ALL of them. My husband, daughter and I all see this doctor in spite of the fact that we have to drive more than an hour to see him. I have sent many friends to him as well and they've all had the same positive results.

Sorry that my response has been so longwinded. I hope you are able to follow it. If I need to clarify something I wrote, send me a message and I'll try my best to improve on my response. I hope you are able to find someone who can help you.

Happy New Year!

Elaine

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Thank you for reminding me that persistence and patience is the key to not only finding help but following the recommendations. It seems so ironic that these are the traits that I lack and as my frustration grows I will maybe follow this all the way through, but for now i will clean my purse, take down my tree and write you all at once! It could be worse,,,at least I don't get bored with one task! Again thanks Elaine for your support and great ideas! I welcome 2009 as an opportunity to work on this!

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