I grew up having no idea I had ADHD (probably on the spectrum too, given that my kids both have it and ADHD and autism are almost like smoke and fire), and instead just had no idea what was wrong with me. Because that’s the support I got, being repeatedly asked “what’s wrong with you?” for thirty years.
My GI for irritable bowel disease (IBD) noticed my ADHD and likely my autism before my psychiatrist. Note: IBD is a lot more common with autistic people, so they likely see autism and ADHD pretty often. Anyway, he told me to tell my psychiatrist about my attention issues. I tell my psychiatrist that, “My GI told me to tell you that I have attention issues.” I swear to anything, that psych looked away from his computer and at me, then said exactly, “I’m not going to prescribe you any stimulants.” That was my ADHD assessment. 7 years later, I pay for a private autism and ADHD assessment, and the results were clear: AuDHD.
I’m happy we have communities like this one where we can come together, validate each other, and figure out ways to navigate the system. We’ve been bullied enough.
I got stimulants from my PCP. Pro tip: go for old, nearly retired doctors. For the most part, they don’t have debt to pay off, cars to buy, or chicks to impress, they’re just there to do good medicine. I’ve had a lot of luck with finding doctors who listen and give a shit in old docs.
I grew up having no idea I had ADHD (probably on the spectrum too, given that my kids both have it and ADHD and autism are almost like smoke and fire), and instead just had no idea what was wrong with me. Because that’s the support I got, being repeatedly asked “what’s wrong with you?” for thirty years.
That’s messed up.
My GI for irritable bowel disease (IBD) noticed my ADHD and likely my autism before my psychiatrist. Note: IBD is a lot more common with autistic people, so they likely see autism and ADHD pretty often. Anyway, he told me to tell my psychiatrist about my attention issues. I tell my psychiatrist that, “My GI told me to tell you that I have attention issues.” I swear to anything, that psych looked away from his computer and at me, then said exactly, “I’m not going to prescribe you any stimulants.” That was my ADHD assessment. 7 years later, I pay for a private autism and ADHD assessment, and the results were clear: AuDHD.
I’m happy we have communities like this one where we can come together, validate each other, and figure out ways to navigate the system. We’ve been bullied enough.
I got stimulants from my PCP. Pro tip: go for old, nearly retired doctors. For the most part, they don’t have debt to pay off, cars to buy, or chicks to impress, they’re just there to do good medicine. I’ve had a lot of luck with finding doctors who listen and give a shit in old docs.