Who can help me threat ADHD

WellHello

Hello,

As a child (9 years old) I was diagnosed with ADHD, but my mother preferred not to threat it with medication, but rather strict discipline (she sent me to catholic boarding school for 2 years instead).
During my teenage years I was seeing a psychologist several times a month for several years, and again instead of medication my mother prefer alternative ways, such as acupuncture, meditation etc.
During my 20s I knew I had major problem focusing but I never felt it was that big of a deal. Now I am in my early 30s and for the past few years the symptoms have gotten so severe where I feel I am getting depressed due to not being able to focus on small little tasks at work and at home.
I am at a stage where I know I need professional help.

Who do I contact for a proper diagnosis and possible treatment? Although I already live 10 years in Ireland, I've never been to a doctor.

Do I just go to a random GP? Or psychologist? Someone told me to find a psychologist, others say for ADHD treatment I need to find a GP because psychologist can't help with that.

I am very unsure how this works. Where do I find them? Do I just go on the internet and google for one, and call them for an appointment?

Maybe someone could give me some advice or even recommend me a doctor.

Thank you.

Keane2baMused

If you type in 'psychiatrist blanchardstown' the second suggestion that comes up (professor xxxx) is extremely well known in this country and diagnoses adults. He can also prescribe medication if needed. He is known for being extremely quick and fires alot of questions out in a short space of time, however he has a wealth of experience and worked for years and years within the HSE.

He is also comparitvely reasonable in what he charges. I haven't personally been to him but know many who have. It would be good to get a GP anyway but as far as I know you don't need a gp referral to see him.

Best of luck

Keane2baMused

Just to add you can also see this individuals CV online, 3rd link down.

WellHello

Thank you so much for this. I will have a look at that.

joeprivate

See this video www .nutritionfacts.org/video/treating-adhd-without-stimulants/ a while back also the NNT for drugs for this condition need to be looked up.

Transcript of video
Every year in the United States doctors write 20 million prescriptions for stimulants like Ritalin to give to kids for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and it goes up every year. In fact, more than any other drug class: another 800,000 added every year to that 20 million. That's a lot of amphetamines for a lot of kids.

These drugs are thought to act by increasing dopamine and norepinephrine levels in the brain. Guess what else can increase dopamine and norepinephrine levels? Exercise. And it happens within minutes of getting on a bike, the levels of dopamine and norepinephrine shoot up. Medications take an hour to work; physical activity works almost immediately. But does it work for ADHD? According to the latest review, there isn't a lot of research out there, but the current evidence suggests that both acute and chronic physical activity can mitigate ADHD symptoms.

So while medications and exercise with regard to ADHD shows that they both work to more adequately regulate dopamine and norepinephrine levels in the brain, some of the new long-acting formulations of drugs can work for up to 12 hours, whereas the therapeutic effect of exercise may only last for an hour or so. But the drugs produce unwanted side effects and have the potential for abuse. Exercise has been shown to be effective in controlling ADHD symptoms and has essentially no side effects. However, that's not really the full story. It should be noted that a major difference in the 2 treatment modalities is that medications have a defined effect on ADHD symptoms alone, whereas exercise produces physical, mental, and emotional advantages that are far-reaching. So exercise does have side effects, but they're all good.


Best of luck

topmanamillion

It seems to me your main problem is you've never had a proper treatment programme.
As a first port of call you can never go wrong with visiting your local GP. They are the "gatekeepers" of the health car esystem.
He/She will be able to give you advice on medication and the possibility of involving other professional.

joeprivate

topmanamillion wrote: »

It seems to me your main problem is you've never had a proper treatment programme.
As a first port of call you can never go wrong with visiting your local GP. They are the "gatekeepers" of the health care system.
He/She will be able to give you advice on medication and the possibility of involving other professional.

I am not sure if it is fair to say you can never go wrong visiting your local GP
The old saying doctors differ and patients die come to mind
A quick google did not reveal what happening in Ireland but if it anything like the US you need to be carefull before going to you doctor

Medical care is 3rd leading cause of death in U.S.

The popular perception that the U.S. has the highest quality of medical care in the world has been proven entirely false by several public heath studies and reports over the past few years.

The prestigious Journal of the American Medical Association published a study by Dr. Barbara Starfield, a medical doctor with a Master’s degree in Public Health, in 2000 which revealed the extremely poor performance of the United States health care system when compared to other industrialized countries (Japan, Sweden, Canada, France, Australia, Spain, Finland, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Belgium and Germany).

In fact, the U.S. is ranked last or near last in several significant health care indicators:

13th (last) for low-birth-weight percentages
13th for neonatal mortality and infant mortality overall
11th for postneonatal mortality
13th for years of potential life lost (excluding external causes)
12th for life expectancy at 1 year for males, 11th for females
12th for life expectancy at 15 years for males, 10th for females
The most shocking revelation of her report is that iatrogentic damage (defined as a state of ill health or adverse effect resulting from medical treatment) is the third leading cause of death in the U.S., after heart disease and cancer.

Let me pause while you take that in.

This means that doctors and hospitals are responsible for more deaths each year than cerebrovascular disease, chronic respiratory diseases, accidents, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease and pneumonia.

The combined effect of errors and adverse effects that occur because of iatrogenic damage includes:

12,000 deaths/year from unnecessary surgery
7,000 deaths/year from medication errors in hospitals
20,000 deaths/year from other errors in hospitals
80,000 deaths/year from nosocomial infections in hospitals
106,000 deaths a year from nonerror, adverse effects of medications

Best of luck

Keane2baMused

topmanamillion wrote: »

It seems to me your main problem is you've never had a proper treatment programme.
As a first port of call you can never go wrong with visiting your local GP. They are the "gatekeepers" of the health car esystem.
He/She will be able to give you advice on medication and the possibility of involving other professional.

To wait for public treatment would likely be in excess of a year. Services for children are basically non existent and take a very long time so it would be twice as bad for adults.

The GP is not the go to for medications etc. These can only be subscribed by a psychiatrist.

As I said in my original post the OP should get a GP anyway as it's important to link in, but their knowledge is extremely limited of disorders such as thism

Keane2baMused

Joeprivate I presume you are not suggesting that adhd is a simple kill it with exercise and apples and you'll be grand disorder?

Many many parents of children with adhd would strongly disagree on that one!!

OP best of luck with your treatment going forward. I hope you start to feel an improvement.

WellHello

Just to clarify a few things here.

I am now 32 years old I have been diagnosed with ADHD at the age of 9. I was hyperactive at home and had major problem focusing at school. My parents were told by teachers I can't focus, have a short attention span and always day dream.
I went to multiple psychiatrists back then. They all suggested that I take Ritalin. However my mother was strictly against it, as Ritalin back at the end of 80s early 90s was going through a massive negative media hype.

Instead my mother put me into a strict catholic boarding school from he age of 10-12, where I would only allowed to visit my parents once every 2 weeks for 1 day. My mother believed with the help of god (funny enough I became atheist) and strict discipline, I will learn how to pay attention. This along with a diet consisting of very little sugar, enough Omega 3, B12 and regular exercise was believed to "cure" me.
I spent 2 years there.

About 15 years my dad was also diagnosed with ADHD and has been on medication to treat it ever since. He says it helps him and he couldn't imagine a life without it, however it tells me that he is addicted to it, in the sens that he will get angry and depressed if he doesn't take it.
This scares me as well.

In my teenage years I was no longer hyperactive, however I still had severe problems focusing at school. There were several parent teacher meetings about this, but my mother refused to use any drugs.
Through out my teenage years and early 20s I simply forgot about it and started accepting that I am ... well... different and just not able to achieve as much as others.

At the age of 27 I started my own company and became self employed. I work as a web developer.
That is when I started noticing again how much problem I have concentrating, having difficulty completing tasks, procrastinating etc.

I always believed that it was just a motivation problem and I am simply a "lazy person".
Over the past few years it has gotten so much worse and I started remembering about ADHD as a child, so I started looking it up and I fit pretty much 95% of the symptoms.
However instead of getting professional help, which for me was kind of last resort and a sign of failure, I started doing all the "natural" treatments, such as making sure to be active, going to the gym, eating healthy, take vitamin supplements such as omega3, b12 and many more. Made sure I keep up my social interactions and I even took Yoga classes for 6 months hoping it would with my concentration.

Now at the age of 32 it's gotten so bad that 80% of my work time is lost due me procrastinating, zoning-out in the middle of conversations, day dream, started becoming very easily frustrated, can't finish any of my projects on time, having difficulty with every day tasks.

My last relationship has ended because of issues related to this. Now I am also afraid that if it continues like that, that I will lose my job and on top of that I would not be surprised if I am not already depressed or at least holding back a depression.

For me asking for professional help, took quite a lot out of me. I know I have tried all the natural ways, and it has been helping me a little bit, but nowhere close enough as I would like it to be.
Of course I have no idea of medications actually work, but if there is a treatment, I am finally willing to give it a shot. This along with regular counseling.

I don't think people can relate to me, because I am sure we all procrastinate and have problems focusing, and i am often told to just "get my act together". But if it takes over your life and no matter what you do, you just can't focus, I'm telling you, it's really no fun.

joeprivate

WellHello wrote: »

Just to clarify a few things here.

I am now 32 years old I have been diagnosed with ADHD at the age of 9. I was hyperactive at home and had major problem focusing at school. My parents were told by teachers I can't focus, have a short attention span and always day dream.
I went to multiple psychiatrists back then. They all suggested that I take Ritalin. However my mother was strictly against it, as Ritalin back at the end of 80s early 90s was going through a massive negative media hype.

Instead my mother put me into a strict catholic boarding school from he age of 10-12, where I would only allowed to visit my parents once every 2 weeks for 1 day. My mother believed with the help of god (funny enough I became atheist) and strict discipline, I will learn how to pay attention. This along with a diet consisting of very little sugar, enough Omega 3, B12 and regular exercise was believed to "cure" me.
I spent 2 years there.

About 15 years my dad was also diagnosed with ADHD and has been on medication to treat it ever since. He says it helps him and he couldn't imagine a life without it, however it tells me that he is addicted to it, in the sens that he will get angry and depressed if he doesn't take it.
This scares me as well.

In my teenage years I was no longer hyperactive, however I still had severe problems focusing at school. There were several parent teacher meetings about this, but my mother refused to use any drugs.
Through out my teenage years and early 20s I simply forgot about it and started accepting that I am ... well... different and just not able to achieve as much as others.

At the age of 27 I started my own company and became self employed. I work as a web developer.
That is when I started noticing again how much problem I have concentrating, having difficulty completing tasks, procrastinating etc.

I always believed that it was just a motivation problem and I am simply a "lazy person".
Over the past few years it has gotten so much worse and I started remembering about ADHD as a child, so I started looking it up and I fit pretty much 95% of the symptoms.
However instead of getting professional help, which for me was kind of last resort and a sign of failure, I started doing all the "natural" treatments, such as making sure to be active, going to the gym, eating healthy, take vitamin supplements such as omega3, b12 and many more. Made sure I keep up my social interactions and I even took Yoga classes for 6 months hoping it would with my concentration.

Now at the age of 32 it's gotten so bad that 80% of my work time is lost due me procrastinating, zoning-out in the middle of conversations, day dream, started becoming very easily frustrated, can't finish any of my projects on time, having difficulty with every day tasks.

My last relationship has ended because of issues related to this. Now I am also afraid that if it continues like that, that I will lose my job and on top of that I would not be surprised if I am not already depressed or at least holding back a depression.

For me asking for professional help, took quite a lot out of me. I know I have tried all the natural ways, and it has been helping me a little bit, but nowhere close enough as I would like it to be.
Of course I have no idea of medications actually work, but if there is a treatment, I am finally willing to give it a shot. This along with regular counseling.

I don't think people can relate to me, because I am sure we all procrastinate and have problems focusing, and i am often told to just "get my act together". But if it takes over your life and no matter what you do, you just can't focus, I'm telling you, it's really no fun.

These videos may help you make up your mind does medication work for ADHD and drugs in general for similar problems.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wd3_Iq8P3Fo&ebc=ANyPxKpr5D-PZ1iXPbamoevtf76MU5rNdZedqxNTWy4G_PJO0WFSi5M2s1l9_D-Ty1ckEJpCM3RYfCWtllMd6H1h1kC7kbF4ZQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dozpAshvtsA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNpGe5r0jI0&ebc=ANyPxKp4xvrL4iKRm5N8eHNwgcs3-FnCzLnkiqjBU5luJCcZ9gsS4xOOXqJ8AvXlgTkhkrOuS5NuM6KJbEFpvxK6-oEQKYpmCQ

Published on 6 Oct 2015


"Psychiatric Drugs Do More Harm Than Good" - Part 2: "Why Few Patients Benefit from the Drugs - and many are harmed by them" with Dr. Peter Gøtzsche, leader of the Cochrane Centre in Copenhagen. Peter Gøtzsche has arranged this conference about the dangers of psychiatric medication. Is this video, he presents the research about SSRI's and antipsychotics.
madinamerica.com
deadlymedicines.dk

FRUB

Hi wellhello.

I have just discovered that I may have adhd, have decide to join a support group, as I am new to this site it will not allow me to post any links to help you, so all I can is tell you that by talking to people in a group you should get help on and withthe right paths to choose.

good luck.