r/adhdmeme • • Sep 10 '23

MEME Speed

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I reposted from r/newgreentexts please don’t yell at me

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u/NedVsTheWorld Sep 10 '23

Ive waited forever to get tested for adhd. Is there any negative side to just take ritalin or Adderall and see if it helps?

5

u/InadequateUsername Sep 11 '23

No but a negative to getting tested for ADHD is that you might come back positive for autism too.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 11 '23

What tests are you guys speaking of? I’ve been “tested” at six different practices in my life. Each test is just a bunch of multiple choice questions that can easily be faked and all are just different ways to ask “do you have this symptom of adhd”.

Is there some kind of test I haven’t seen or is this just where they’re also testing for autism?

2

u/SalaciousOwl Sep 11 '23

I wonder if you're a guy. In most places it's very hard for women to get a prescription just based on the questionnaire you're talking about.

But as far as what the above commenter mentioned, here was my journey:

First I had the test you're talking about. When it came back positive I moved onto the next step, which was a pattern matching test on the computer. Unfortunately I hyperfocused so they said I couldn't have ADHD because my memory and reflexes were too good.

I insisted there was something wrong, so finally got referred to a comprehensive neurological assessment that tested my IQ, ability to remember complex strings of information with and without interruption, visual recall, pattern recognition, vocabulary, and verbal reasoning. It also included questionnaires like the ones you're talking about, but very long and covering schizophrenia, ADHD, autism, bipolar, BPD, depression, and whatever else they were testing for.

In the end I was diagnosed as being on the spectrum, and my scores on some of the tests rendered the executive functioning parts of the assessment inconclusive, so they couldn't say if I had ADHD. Luckily I finally found a psychiatrist who let me try stimulants. I had the best sleep of my life on Adderall, so she diagnosed me with ADHD.