I don't have the answers you need, but I feel if you have seen your psych doc for 2 years and have the feeling she's not addressing you and your issues as a whole package, I think you need to find another psych doc or at the very least get another opinion. I've known too many people who have delayed in seeing a diff doc and they regret they waited so long.

The very best of luck to you.

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I am sorry you have been unable to get the help you want and are asking for from your psychiatrist! My daughter has both bipolar and ADHD. She was diagnosed with the ADHD and depression first, however we talked about the possibility of bipolar from the start, based on her symptoms. It took AGES for her psych to put her on medication for bipolar, though. Looking back, I should have moved to another psychiatrist in order to get her help earlier. She ended up spending months in a psych. hospital where other doctors immediately put her on seroquel, etc. which helped her. (This may be why it's good to address the bipolar disorder first, perhaps!)

She complained of her ADHD symptoms bothering her terribly, too, especially since they had taken her off of adderall or the like for the first time in years. Now she takes Geodon (sp?) for bipolar, zoloft, plus the adderall and has told me that she's very happy with it for the first time in ages. My understanding is that medication must be monitored carefully, because it can stop working without too much warning (which happened to her, too - or we may not have known what to watch for then.)

Whatever the case is, I really encourage you to take your health into your own hands. You don't have to "leave" your own psychiatrist to visit another and get a second opinion. A friend of mine who is a physician offered me this advice: you wouldn't take years, or months waiting if you were trying to control or rid yourself/loved one of cancer! He told me to be smart & upfront with the doctors about my goals and how much life was affected in all ways, and to keep records of all that (just a tablet) to show you're serious.

Sorry I went on for so long... I hope so much you find the answers and relief you need. In the meantime, this site offers many tips that are great for whether you have medication or not for ADHD.

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Thanks for the suggestions...i brought the subject up to my psych doc the last couple of times...she completely dismissed me and made me feel like i was out of my mind. Needless to say i am now elsewhere. I have been to 2 appts already. This new doc seems open-minded. Im scared to let him see any of my old records though. I want him to know me for me and make a diagnosis on ME!! A couple of docs in the past just read the old file and see what I was previously diagnosed with, talk to me for a couple of minutes and convince me that I have whatever they say and give me the same old meds in different combos that didnt work the first time around! I am hoping for the best and reading a lot of tips and suggestions on this websites and others like it. I am learning a lot about the real me. I should've stuck up for myself a long time ago instead of believing them because they went to school longer than me!! I know what my real symptoms are and I am going to get help for them this time. Glad I finally have a place to get advice from people who know how I really feel. Thanks

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I just want to say "GOOD for you""" taking your life in your own hands. It is really great to hear that you are in the control seat.

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