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Old 05-16-2019, 03:53 PM
 
Location: Shreveport, LA
1,609 posts, read 1,593,865 times
Reputation: 995

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Quote:
Originally Posted by townshend View Post
I am hesitant to answer this post, but maybe I can be helpful.

I am not exactly sure what you mean by brain fog, but you do mention not paying "full attention." And that you are twenty-three years old.

One possibility is that you have adult ADHD -- attention deficit (hyperactivity) disorder. There is one particularly common subtype -- as the indicated by the qualifying phrase "predominantly inattentive subtype."

Here is a link to the adult ADHD self-report scale: https://add.org/wp-content/uploads/2...re-ASRS111.pdf

Please go to it, print it out and fill it out as accurately and honestly as you can.

ADHD is a clinical diagnosis -- usually there is a constellation of "inattentive" symptoms which suggests the diagnosis.

Pardon me for the next sentence: I know what I am talking about, having worked in psychiatry, diagnosing and treating ADHD in adolescents and adults.

ADHD is a real disorder, and not some fiction made up by doctors and pharmaceutical companies. 4-5% of the population are never diagnosed as children or adolescents and continue to have this disorder in their adult life.

At any rate, do the self-report and if your answers point toward an ADHD diagnosis, then take the self-report and see a psychiatrist, to confirm (or refute) or diagnosis and if confirmed, to treat the condition.

If you have ADHD, and if you are put on the right medication at the proper dose, it makes a huge difference. I have heard how much of a difference it makes from my patients.

Best wishes, and I'm here to help.
The answer all all 18 of those questions is “very often”
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Old 05-17-2019, 08:36 AM
 
4,286 posts, read 4,736,676 times
Reputation: 9639
Quote:
Originally Posted by Magic Qwan View Post
I go to bed at a time to allow at least 8 hours of sleep, though I often lay awake in bed a long time before I fall asleep. When its time to get up, I struggle waking up.
It's only the actual sleeping time that counts but I'm sure you know that. It sounds like you may just be tired from not getting adequate rest. I think you need to address that first. Maybe a sleep study would help.
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Old 05-17-2019, 01:57 PM
 
Location: Shreveport, LA
1,609 posts, read 1,593,865 times
Reputation: 995
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rowan123 View Post
It's only the actual sleeping time that counts but I'm sure you know that. It sounds like you may just be tired from not getting adequate rest. I think you need to address that first. Maybe a sleep study would help.
I hope so—there are times I just stare at what I need to do a couple of hours instead of doing it.

I’ve had wet clothes in my washing machine a week because I spin them and forget about them till the next day, but I don’t want to just dry them, either, so I rewash them.
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Old 05-18-2019, 10:13 AM
 
385 posts, read 322,320 times
Reputation: 1578
Magic Qwan -- thank you for your reply.

If the answers to those eighteen questions is "very often," then we should at least be suspicious that something is going on here, and that something needs further investigation. Those are not just eighteen random questions pulled out of thin air; that self-report checklist was carefully crafted by psychiatrists based on known symptoms and signs of ADHD. It is not absolutely positive that you have ADHD, but the initial step in the diagnostic workup has created a clinical suspicion that warrants exploration.

Two additional questions that should be asked are:
1) Is there any evidence of attention deficit disorder among your family -- esp. immediate but extended as well? You could be the only individual in your family with ADHD, but it is common for others to have it as well. But note: not everyone will have it, but someone else may have it. Ok?

You may reply, "no one in my immediate family has ever been diagnosed with ADHD, and as far as I know the same goes for my extended family." What would that mean?

Two possibilities: a) it may be that there isn't a history of ADHD among other families members. But you may still have ADHD.
b) Other family members may have ADHD, but no one was ever diagnosed with it. That is a distinct possibility.

2. ADHD symptoms are pervasive and effect all situations in life: school, work, and family life. If you only have trouble paying attention in school, but do fine at work, that doesn't fit ADHD. ADHD even affects sports performance. I know the psychiatrist who has worked with the Texas Rangers. Lapses in concentration lead to errors in professional baseball.

At any rate, regardless of how these last two questions are answered, I recommend you find a local psychiatrist, take your adult self-report scale with you, and work with him/her to investigate this matter. My goal in this thread is help you by pointing you in the right direction -- see your local psychiatrist.

You are welcome to PM me privately if you wish.

There is lots of ignorance and nonsense out there about this topic. I have addressed these misconceptions numerous times in my clinical evaluations of new patients. I'm okay with those questions. The best way to dispel skepticism is to see a professional, and if the MD surfaces sufficient evidence that you have ADHD, he/she will run as medication trial (you need the right medication at the right dose).

I have literally done this dozens of times, sometimes with skeptical patients and parents, and here is what I tell them, "I don't want anybody on any medication that doesn't work. That would be a waste of your time and your money. Let's run a medication trial, and if you don't feel that this medication (at a particular dosing level) doesn't significant benefit and justify your investment in treatment, then either 1) we need to try a different medication at a different dose; or 2) if we don't have a medication that produces significant clinical benefit to you, then it isn't worth your time and money and there is no reason to continue with treatment."

Final remark: if you have ADHD, and if you are placed on the best medication at the best dose, my experience is that it will well be worth it. Best wishes.

Last edited by townshend; 05-18-2019 at 10:26 AM..
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Old 06-13-2019, 11:45 PM
 
Location: Shreveport, LA
1,609 posts, read 1,593,865 times
Reputation: 995
Quote:
Originally Posted by townshend View Post
Magic Qwan -- thank you for your reply.

If the answers to those eighteen questions is "very often," then we should at least be suspicious that something is going on here, and that something needs further investigation. Those are not just eighteen random questions pulled out of thin air; that self-report checklist was carefully crafted by psychiatrists based on known symptoms and signs of ADHD. It is not absolutely positive that you have ADHD, but the initial step in the diagnostic workup has created a clinical suspicion that warrants exploration.

Two additional questions that should be asked are:
1) Is there any evidence of attention deficit disorder among your family -- esp. immediate but extended as well? You could be the only individual in your family with ADHD, but it is common for others to have it as well. But note: not everyone will have it, but someone else may have it. Ok?

You may reply, "no one in my immediate family has ever been diagnosed with ADHD, and as far as I know the same goes for my extended family." What would that mean?

Two possibilities: a) it may be that there isn't a history of ADHD among other families members. But you may still have ADHD.
b) Other family members may have ADHD, but no one was ever diagnosed with it. That is a distinct possibility.

2. ADHD symptoms are pervasive and effect all situations in life: school, work, and family life. If you only have trouble paying attention in school, but do fine at work, that doesn't fit ADHD. ADHD even affects sports performance. I know the psychiatrist who has worked with the Texas Rangers. Lapses in concentration lead to errors in professional baseball.

At any rate, regardless of how these last two questions are answered, I recommend you find a local psychiatrist, take your adult self-report scale with you, and work with him/her to investigate this matter. My goal in this thread is help you by pointing you in the right direction -- see your local psychiatrist.

You are welcome to PM me privately if you wish.

There is lots of ignorance and nonsense out there about this topic. I have addressed these misconceptions numerous times in my clinical evaluations of new patients. I'm okay with those questions. The best way to dispel skepticism is to see a professional, and if the MD surfaces sufficient evidence that you have ADHD, he/she will run as medication trial (you need the right medication at the right dose).

I have literally done this dozens of times, sometimes with skeptical patients and parents, and here is what I tell them, "I don't want anybody on any medication that doesn't work. That would be a waste of your time and your money. Let's run a medication trial, and if you don't feel that this medication (at a particular dosing level) doesn't significant benefit and justify your investment in treatment, then either 1) we need to try a different medication at a different dose; or 2) if we don't have a medication that produces significant clinical benefit to you, then it isn't worth your time and money and there is no reason to continue with treatment."

Final remark: if you have ADHD, and if you are placed on the best medication at the best dose, my experience is that it will well be worth it. Best wishes.
I forget if I contacted you before or not, but I was on pretty much every ADHD medicine under the sun growing up—all of them had awful side effects and I had no symptom improvement. Yes, my symptom cluster matches Sluggish Cognitive Tempo and Predominantly Innattentive ADHD exactly, but I have tried all the medicines with no improvement. Its the same story with my chronic low-grade depression, really.
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