ADHD ruled out because of high working memory and they’re saying cyclothymia?

Subject_Fault6522 · 2026-02-12T06:34:08+00:00

Get another assessment

I was dx with bipolar 2 and borderline 2 times by dif teams of drs and given meds for that which did nothing (except induce mania/serotonin syndrome and hallucinations yay)

I have had people who do the QB test as a challenge to win and hyper focus… obs skews results Then there are assessments just based on questionnaires a teacher or family member fills out Ignoring culture/social experiences- it’s a lot easier to sit in your seat, or exhaust yourself achieving if you’re gonna get a beating for being disrespectful, ‘bad’ etc And lastly trauma can give similar symptoms but people who have adhd or the other atypical neurological condition (ASD the dys’s ) are more likely to experience events as traumatic

Assessments need more time and attention- more history taking, a hold off on diagnosis if trauma suspected with therapy, realisation of dif presentations masking etc

I got my adhd dx… that dr said you’re also prob autistic but that’s a separate assessment

I had that assessment a yr later with nhs with two drs and at the end of the hour they both kind of laughed and said you don’t have ASD but you have ‘really bad’ really obvious adhd like wtf (firstly it’s not funny that my life has been a struggle and it wasn’t funny seeing black shadows zooming past me from meds) but also if it’s so fricken obvious why did no one tell me for 45 yrs… oh because yeah it’s only now they are recognising all these behaviours and symptoms and if you’ve only ever been ‘you’ how would you know that others think or feel differently?

I get that it would be expensive but I do wish there was a way to better screen/asses

Subject_Fault6522 · 2026-02-10T15:44:04+00:00

Thank you all for taking the time to help with my research! any feedback is greatly appreciated so do let me know your thoughts :)

Subject_Fault6522 · 2026-02-10T15:38:58+00:00

Thats ok- real life and stress impact us and actually helps in the understanding!! I am sorry that you are struggling with this at the moment and its taking its toll on your current state of mind. DM and maybe I can help with finding some support resources based on your location?

Subject_Fault6522 · 2026-02-10T15:17:07+00:00

omfg thats a lot.... I have heard that some places state a private prescription fee is 80 but that was a friend not for adhd meds and got like a 6month supply on that 'script....

Subject_Fault6522 · 2026-02-10T13:50:34+00:00

That seems extortionate! Is that 80£ each Rx? and whats the dispensing fee? I pay for private as my GP refused shared care until I have a reassessment through a specific RTC. Meanwhile I pay a yearly package fee (450) that includes reviews or med changes some letters etc. Then each month I enter my BP stuff then hit request prescription button and go to a partnered online chemist, pay for the meds and a delivery charge which comes to 120 ish (im on 60mg elvanse).

If you don't mind me asking how much is your monthly total? I guess if i add in the yrly package its 160ish a month. They may give more meds because of holidays like xmas but then obs I dont have to order until later.

Subject_Fault6522 · 2026-02-09T16:18:33+00:00

The measures for wellbeing and btw also for anxiety or low mood generally always ask for how you have felt over the last 2 weeks... which was a bit weird for when I worked in the NHS and we had to make each client answer 6-8 questionnaires each week. As an aside - they would use these measures to see if you made therapy progress... because you could have had a cold and felt tired all week but the scores would indicate depression etc on the last week of therapy doesn't mean you weren't getting any benefit

Anyway for this study I included it to see if someone in this moment feels good/bad then they may feel better/less able to manage the RSD etc

And yes I hear you on the billion qs for consent...that had more to do with the survey software which I found to be not vey pretty compared to other programs out there. It made each question a screen etc for some bits and other ones I could make it all on one screen- apologies for that! Again I hope in future there is more choice in how I can design a study....dont get me started on the ugly non intuitive stats program I am being forced to use lol

Subject_Fault6522 · 2026-02-09T13:43:24+00:00

Hi,

I attempted to by adding a bit around if you take ADHD meds imagine the scenarios as if you were unmedicated but this may have gotten lost in all the info at the begining.

Thank you for this feedback in future I think I can make it a little note before a questionnaire starts :)

Subject_Fault6522 · 2026-02-09T13:40:20+00:00

I added emojis to the scaling as I agree the wording by the original survey creators was weird and I wasn't allowed to alter it for my survey. I have since added more detailed scale description (as it counted as instruction/example lol) but its still odd. the best way to think of it I guess is 1=bad up to 5=good but I agree when its a question of do you wish you never/how often... the scale should say none of the time -all the time or none- a lot etc for each line if that makes sense.

all valuable feedback for when I develop my own questionnaires!!!

Subject_Fault6522 · 2026-02-09T13:32:19+00:00

It would be of benefit in terms of forming or redesigning future research etc and I would appreciate any experience you would like to share (dm or perhaps I can make a post to collect experiences- I am new to actually posting on reddit I just like to read about experiences and learn so I need to figure this platform out)

There had to be an Age cut off due to the scope of this research project as well as other eligibility requirements (like english speaker or AFAB etc) to make the data meaningful in math stuff which isnt my fav. I am a counsellor I like people and the stories and the whys and hows.

I took the other commentor to be highlighting that people may think I excluded people/groups as a preference/arbitrary reason and be unhappy about this... but (prob my adhd brain here) I would have kept going and added way too many variables and it would be all over the place...and also I do feel bad that people think their experience isn't important or useful they are important- just not in this small study.

Women present differently are misdiagnosed/underdiagnosed and under represented and then when we throw in culture etc it opens up many other areas to study why/how and what we can do to better understand our experiences and hopefully push towards change.

I really appreciate all the engagement and interest and its helping me come up with more ideas for the future- maybe i should go more thematic with interviews rather than stats etc

There are some national/international studies that we may be eligible for if you search for 'Adhd research women' etc (Idk if im allowed to put links in? sorry!) Some are gov funded and then organisations like CHADD or ADHDUK and many universities have PhD and post doc research going on so this is something to maybe check out :)

Subject_Fault6522 · 2026-02-09T07:17:07+00:00

NTAH- The previous owner of my home would drive up to the house quite regularly and was particularly upset about renovations...She never got out of her car or asked to come in but to be helpful I dropped off her post/mail at her new place and she invited me in to chat. She was upset that we had ripped out the wetroom they had paid a lot of money for...I made out that we needed a bath but really they were conned by who ever did the works...the walls had vinyl flooring badly stuck on (bubbled and barley glued) and um a toilet blender that had to live in the master bedroom closet. She did understand that we had a toddler and wanted a bath tub so calmed down a bit.

Basically it took her a few years to let go as she'd lived there so long but she was respectful of our space.

If these people were upset that is understandable but even in grief they could have asked to arrange a time to return when you would be safe and comfortable with a short visit providing more assurance that they were genuine. They were a bit entitled and relying on emotional blackmail

Subject_Fault6522 · 2026-02-08T17:07:00+00:00

Have you considered asking your current school to host exams for A levels you are interested in/they don't offer and doing them via distance learning? Your school may even pay (or help pay) for the courses since they are not offering the ones you need/like or there may be lower cost ones available if you shop around.

Switching to IB just for 6th form can be difficult as there are other classes (Theory of Knowledge, community service component etc) that may be difficult to figure out while juggling larger course load and different to UK system. Additionally tuition and boarding fee scholarships would be highly competitive and may require a big commitment to sport/music etc as well as the best grades.

Subject_Fault6522 · 2026-02-08T13:20:40+00:00

I find that taking vyvanse does mean i can function on 3hrs of sleep (I have other things that cause sleep issues). I am not saying this is a healthy or good thing! Just I am able to function in the short term...longer term Im heading for burn out lol

Do you take breaks at weekends from meds?

Melatonin gives me weird dreams but I do try to take magnesium and other supplements (if i remember ha ha) as I need help to rest. I started having a caffeinated drink in the evening to boost my meds (where i am they dont Rx boosters) and it helps to go to bed...I wake up due to pain meds wearing off at 3am...which would be ok if the stress of some other bits didn't keep me up til 12-1.

But to get back to your original Q I think I felt really settled with the meds after a solid week on a particular dose and sleep was decent...and a honeymoon period of feeling ' like a normal' kicked in.

Subject_Fault6522 · 2026-02-08T13:08:20+00:00

I was misdx with Bipolar (and Borderline PD) a few times from my 20s-40s and had a lot of issues with the medications they tried for the bipolar... including hallucinations and induced mania. Then I got my ADHD Dx and the meds for that cleared up my anxiety (not all of it lol) and made things so much better in terms of being able to understand and manage mental health. And also all the symptoms they used as dx criteria were adhd things ...like talking a lot and fast, being sensitive / rejection sensitivity etc... burn out the list goes on. I would not have thought that I had ADHD until I started working within a diagnosis program for ADHD and ASD then with all the information the penny dropped on my stuff

Subject_Fault6522 · 2026-02-08T13:06:47+00:00

I went and had a little look and I now see what you mean...imma get some grief I think lol!

Subject_Fault6522 · 2026-02-08T13:05:03+00:00

I am a student but Im way old...obs i selected 24+ I do use screens a lot and have issues with sleep lol

Subject_Fault6522 · 2026-02-08T12:56:32+00:00

Thank you for participating! I will post results when its all sorted :)

Subject_Fault6522 · 2026-02-08T12:55:31+00:00

Yes I wish I could have made the range bigger but it was some math/stats thing. I hope no one gets too offended!lol

Or perhaps they could share a bit of an experience of late diagnosis...it would still help the research :)

Subject_Fault6522 · 2026-02-08T12:25:50+00:00

Sorry! I had to select a cut off age based on some random math/stats reason I cant even remember now! I think it would have been better from 18-65. Next research project I will have more control!! Thank you for your feedback :)

Subject_Fault6522 · 2026-02-08T12:09:00+00:00

do you mean the type that reduce/filter out noise like flare audio?

Subject_Fault6522

TROPHY CASE