Prior to a diagnosis did you suspect ADHD?

[Anonymous]

Prior to a diagnosis did you suspect ADHD? What signs did you see? My older child was suspected of ADHD. We had her tested and it turns out she doesn't have it. She does have anxiety. That said, in filling out questionnaires and what not, I felt like maybe her sister is ADHD. So many things described her. And it never occurred to me. She's 5. Very moody, always angry, and impulsive. She seems like it's hard for her to keep her emotions in check, resulting in angry outbursts and/or temper tantrums. She's always talking about death and how no one loves her and how she's a bad person.

[Anonymous]

I didn't suspect, I was sure of it, but this was for a textbook case of inattentive ADHD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I didn't suspect, I was sure of it, but this was for a textbook case of inattentive ADHD.

+1. I knew by the time my child was 3 that he didn't have typical toddler impulse control issues. I had to bide my time until he turned 5 to get the actual dx and medicate.

[Anonymous]

We had our daughter tested at age 15 and the results showed ADHD and mild anxiety. I'd suspected this for years but put off my suspicions because DH didn't believe in ADHD. He was wrong and admits as much now. Lesson learned to follow my gut instincts on these things.

[Anonymous]

At the beginning of 1st grade, my DD developed a clear case of OCD and anxiety. We got the OCD under control using CBT, but the anxiety continued and caused behavior problems. or so we thought. At the end of 1st grade, it turned out she had OCD, anxiety AND ADHD. Then it become obvious, and if it weren't for the anxiety, we would never have missed it. But it's still hard to tell the anxiety apart from the ADHD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At the beginning of 1st grade, my DD developed a clear case of OCD and anxiety. We got the OCD under control using CBT, but the anxiety continued and caused behavior problems. or so we thought. At the end of 1st grade, it turned out she had OCD, anxiety AND ADHD. Then it become obvious, and if it weren't for the anxiety, we would never have missed it. But it's still hard to tell the anxiety apart from the ADHD.

+1. Teasing this out right now with all three of our kids. Middle child has been showing classic inattentive ADHD symptoms in early elementary for a couple of years. Also high-anxiety. Discovered then that about four of DH's relatives have ADHD so started probing further. Turns out DH has inattentive too. Right around the same time we had our middle schooler evaluated for ADHD because she was complaining she couldn't focus at school. Turns out her ratings scales came back on the low end for ADHD and much, much higher for depression/anxiety. So now we are puzzling over the littlest, who is 4, and wondering about some of her symptoms, many of which could go either way for either ADHD inattentive or anxiety.

[Anonymous]

What things did you all see that made you know it was anxiety?

What things did you all see that made you know it was ADHD?

[Anonymous]

ADHD- distractablity, impulsivity, hyperactivity, extreme difficulty transitioning tasks. Difficulty responding to social cues, problems with executive function (organization, time management, etc).

Other stuff that is ADHD but could overlap with anxiety- poor emotional regulation, low frustration tolerance, perfectionism, hyper sensitivity to feedback/criticism, self critical, low self esteem. These behaviors may be ADHD, anxiety disorder, or both.

I suspected ADHD by the time my DS was two. He's combined type- "hell on wheels" would be an apt description of his toddler/preschool years.

[Anonymous]

Yep by 2. When you know you know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Prior to a diagnosis did you suspect ADHD? What signs did you see? My older child was suspected of ADHD. We had her tested and it turns out she doesn't have it. She does have anxiety. That said, in filling out questionnaires and what not, I felt like maybe her sister is ADHD. So many things described her. And it never occurred to me. She's 5. Very moody, always angry, and impulsive. She seems like it's hard for her to keep her emotions in check, resulting in angry outbursts and/or temper tantrums. She's always talking about death and how no one loves her and how she's a bad person.

What tests were used?

Our HMO only used questionnaires that were given to our child, the parents and a teacher. Based on that and talking with the psychologist, they said that the likelihood of her having ADHD was X%. ( I can't remember exactly but it was not over 50%). The HMO did not look at historical data and did not spend much time interviewing us parents for our observations beyond just the questionnaires.

We took her for a full psycho educational test, which included almost 2 hours of an interview, with review of documents, 7 years of teacher evaluations etc. Then about 5 hours worth of testing over a period of a couple of weeks. Child was diagnosed with ADHD-combined, anxiety and depression.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Prior to a diagnosis did you suspect ADHD? What signs did you see? My older child was suspected of ADHD. We had her tested and it turns out she doesn't have it. She does have anxiety. That said, in filling out questionnaires and what not, I felt like maybe her sister is ADHD. So many things described her. And it never occurred to me. She's 5. Very moody, always angry, and impulsive. She seems like it's hard for her to keep her emotions in check, resulting in angry outbursts and/or temper tantrums. She's always talking about death and how no one loves her and how she's a bad person.

What tests were used?

Our HMO only used questionnaires that were given to our child, the parents and a teacher. Based on that and talking with the psychologist, they said that the likelihood of her having ADHD was X%. ( I can't remember exactly but it was not over 50%). The HMO did not look at historical data and did not spend much time interviewing us parents for our observations beyond just the questionnaires.

We took her for a full psycho educational test, which included almost 2 hours of an interview, with review of documents, 7 years of teacher evaluations etc. Then about 5 hours worth of testing over a period of a couple of weeks. Child was diagnosed with ADHD-combined, anxiety and depression.

OP here - we did psycoeducational testing too for several hours over 2 days. ADHD was ruled out. Perfectionism/anxiety was the diagnosis. That said, my child is a disorganized scatter brain SOMETIMES so I often wonder.

My younger child who has not been tested has poor emotional regulation, low frustration tolerance, is hyper sensitivity to feedback/criticism, self critical, and has low self esteem. I don't know if it's ADHD or what. Both girls. She's not inattentive or hyperactive. But she seems depressed if nothing else but she's only 5 yrs old!

[Anonymous]

Op, tests said mine didn't have ADHD either. It was part of a full-psycho educational evaluation. It depends on how the rating scales come out as I understand it. He did have another diagnosis and was at risk for ADHD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op, tests said mine didn't have ADHD either. It was part of a full-psycho educational evaluation. It depends on how the rating scales come out as I understand it. He did have another diagnosis and was at risk for ADHD.

So what does that mean? Do you treat your child as having ADHD? Should I get a second opinion. These things are expensive! We're doing CBT for the anxiety and the therapist is not the person who tested for ADHD and they CBT therapist asked me if DD has ADHD combination type (my child was literally bouncing at the time. She stays in motion). So even if DD doesn't she surely makes a lot of people ask. It concerns me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

My younger child who has not been tested has poor emotional regulation, low frustration tolerance, is hyper sensitivity to feedback/criticism, self critical, and has low self esteem. I don't know if it's ADHD or what. Both girls. She's not inattentive or hyperactive. But she seems depressed if nothing else but she's only 5 yrs old!

That's really tough. Even 5yo's can have anxiety and depression though. A lot of that would have described my DC when he was 5yo. He has ADHD and anxiety and they feed into each other. The stress of K brought out both and we ended up having to pull him out of public K to put him in a more supportive school environment. It's heartbreaking listening to your Kindergartener talk about not being around much longer and hurting himself. I would really encourage you to do a full neuro-psych for a definitive diagnosis and a starting point for treatment -- especially if she's starting public K in the fall. K is now generally a lot more pressure than it was 20 years ago and sensitive kids can have big problems. Our DC is in 2nd now and between more maturity, support at home, medication, and a small, supportive school environment he's doing worlds better.

I also always recommend this book -- http://www.amazon.com/What-When-You-Worry-Much/dp/1591473144 -- What to do when you worry too much. We have read it so many times over the last couple of years and it really does help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op, tests said mine didn't have ADHD either. It was part of a full-psycho educational evaluation. It depends on how the rating scales come out as I understand it. He did have another diagnosis and was at risk for ADHD.

So what does that mean? Do you treat your child as having ADHD? Should I get a second opinion. These things are expensive! We're doing CBT for the anxiety and the therapist is not the person who tested for ADHD and they CBT therapist asked me if DD has ADHD combination type (my child was literally bouncing at the time. She stays in motion). So even if DD doesn't she surely makes a lot of people ask. It concerns me.

Treat the symptoms for sure. Many of the ADHD techniques, yes.