Diagnosing ADHD in Adults

Hello Dr. Ballas,

I was wondering about your comment that ADHD symptoms become less obvious as a person ages.  I am nearly 50 years old and maybe it is less obvious, but I think that it can cause you to have more problems with life issues as you get older.

When I was younger I did not worry so much about my future income/support the way I do now.  I was never able to concentrate enough to go to college, although I did try at one point.  I had many personal relationship problems, which I still have today.  But financially I am more concerned about my future welfare than I ever was before.

People who have had good paying jobs during their entire life are able to make plans and save for their retirement.  But for someone like me, at this age I am pretty scared about the possibilities of not having the income or savings to help me survive during my retirement years.

I was married for 20 years and now I am divorced so I have lost that security.  (No health insurance either.) I am also raising a young child (as an older parent).  I worry about money issues all of the time.  My ex-husband does pay alimony and child support, but when the alimony ends I am going to be very concerned about my ability to work full time and still care for my son when he is sick, etc., at a low paying position (when I have to take time off work to care for him).  How can I ever be more self sufficient and not rely so much on my ex?

I live in the state of Texas, which has it's own rules regarding child support & income.  When my ex makes sooooo much more money than I could ever even consider making, it makes me wonder if a judge could make him pay more child support because of that, especially due to the fact that I do have ADD and have to deal with all that it means to a person like me.

Just some thoughts....

I'm 19 years old and am in my second year of college. I struggled through life with family problems and some depression in high school. I also had a lot of anxiety and once i start college it got much worse! That's when I seeked help; especially after having a mother that is an undiagnosed mother whom is bipolar. I was scared and don't want to turn out like her.

I'm seeing  a psychiatrist currently and I'm being treated for bipolar with Abilify and I'm also on Xanx, daily. Before hand, I saw my physician and he tried several antidepressants which made my anxiety that i was have much worse. What My main issue right now is that I'm struggling to find energy to work and stay focused with my school work. So my doctor put me on vyvanse, which got me focused and together but I really didn't feel "speedy" like my doc said I would be? Is that normal? THe vyvanse only lasted 4-6 hours and then I would like crash to the point where i felt like I had ADHD more than ever. So i called my doc and he put me on two 20mgs of Ritalin a day. The Ritalin got me focused but again, I don't have any energy on the drug, it like made me tired; and when you're on xanx daily it's tough to find evergy to get your work done in the first place. So I called the doc again and I am now going in for an appt? I'm confused and I don't know what to do? I want to know if I have actual ADD or ADHD or what my body needs. In high school I recall an appt with my doctor and my grandma and going in there to talk about me struggling to focus in school but I came out of the doctors office with no help or guidance.

Thanks for reading through this, I just need someones else's out look on all of this? I'm very frustrated. I also have chronic migraines and have been medicated daily for them as well for two years now. Migraines are heredity in my family.

Could the bipolar have something to do with the way I'm feeling at this point?

Ks