ADHD possibly?

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Before I was diagnosed with AS, I was convinced I had ADHD, because of difficulty concentrating, getting bored really easily, restlessness, forgetfulness, plus a tons of other symptoms related to ADHD. Also, when I was a child I was hyperactive and my mum took me to see a doctor, who said to cut out "E numbers" from my diet.

I mentioned it to the psychologist, who performed my AS diagnosis, and she claimed that AS has similar symptoms to ADHD, but they have different causes, so ADHD medication wouldn't work and she didn't give me a co-morbid ADHD diagnosis.

However, after struggling through university with depression/anxiety (as you've probably seen me mention before :/), I'm beginning to wonder if ADHD is at the bottom of it. My psychologist suggested my problems come from my perfectionism, which may be true, but I also hate doing tasks which require a lot of thought and concentration (studying). Since I wanted to get my degree I forced myself to do it, but in doing so caused myself a lot of stress. To make it clearer, it's possible that my perfectionism/whatever drives me to study hard, but my ADHD makes studying at that intensity really difficult. The conflict results in extreme depression/anxiety.

Does this sound plausible?

Is it possible for someone with ADHD to do get really good exam results, even though it took a lot of effort and stress to get those results?

How do you get a diagnosis as an adult? GP referral?

Has anyone tried Ritalin, etc and has it helped your ADHD symptoms?

I have ADD without the 'hyper' part, its totally plausible. I'm taking a break from college at the moment but your experience sounds just like mine, I have a very hard time concentrating so I can only take 3 classes tops at a time without getting overloaded.

I have a script for ADD meds..I am treated for ADD but though the meds seem to help to some degree with a few things, I continue to have serious difficulties.

It gets annoying when doctor's only want to treat one thing. I've been such a screwup that my doctor pretty much refers me for anything.
I have combined ADHD and Ritalin helps me a lot. I can't imagine doing a test without it but I did it for many years. Work was too hard for me back then so I barely put effort in doing them except when I was aware of my ADHD and put in extra time studying and got good results.

I think you need a second opinion. Ask your doctor to refer you to a psychiatrist. I prefer them over psychologists, well mainly because in my country they can only diagnose conditions like ADHD or AS.

Well I scored 90 on this quiz http://psychcentral.com/cgi-bin/addquiz.cgi

Also, looking at my school reports they mainly said something like "intelligent, but too quiet and rarely gets work finished because he's too precise". Also, when I was 10 I got "please teach him to tell the time". Dunno how relevant that is... I was never a trouble maker in school.

1. Easily distracted; forgetful; daydreaming - Yes

2. Procrastination; inability to complete things - Yes

3. Disorganization; messiness; clutter - Yes, could be AS

4. Difficulty with making decisions - Yes, could be AS

5. Behavioral or verbal impulsiveness - Yes, sometimes say things despite knowing it's inappropriate.

6. Difficulty with expressing thoughts in speech or in writing - Yes, especially in speech, but could be AS

7. Significant periods of depression; low self-esteem - Yes - could be AS

8. A sense of failure; not living up to one's potential - In the sense I haven't finished my degree, and I've been studying for 5+ years for it

9. A sense of being different, unconventional - Yes, could be AS

10. A sense of internal restlessness; constantly active - Very fidgity, hands and/or feet moving constantly while sitting down.

11. Difficulty with falling asleep or waking up alert - Yes.

12. Very sensitive to being told to do something, teasing, criticism, rejection or anger - Yes.

13. A sense that your mind is always active; thoughts jumping from one topic to the next - Yes, even when I'm browsing the internet I jump from website to website.

14. Easily bored; intense need for excitement - Yes.

15. Difficulty with following rules - only if they're stupid

16. Very impatient; low frustration tolerance - Yes!

17. Emotionally sensitive; easily upset, depressed, hurt or angered - Yes.

18. Difficulty with personal or work relationships - Yes.

19. Frequently late or rushed - ALWAYS!

20. Difficulty in estimating how much time something will take - Yes!

21. Impulsive spending and money management problems - Yes!

22. Personal or family history of substance abuse, depression or anxiety - Yes.

23. Difficulty with reading comprehension or retention - Reading takes effort, because I tend to forget what I've just read

24. Frequently changing jobs, interests or activities - I've only worked part-time so far, but I tend to get bored after 2 years and leave. I've only stuck current job as I'm only there once per week.

As for interests, I get obsessively interested in something for a while, and then suddenly drop it for something else

25. Frequently losing or misplacing things - yes

26. Perfectionistic tendencies - yes

27. Strong need to control or have things your way - yes

Trouble is so many overlap with AS.. how do you know if you have both!?

does it really matter what diagnosis you have?
maybe depending on the doctor. ADD/ADHD and AS are so similar I dont know where one ends and one begins (ive been told i have both). if you try medication and it works for you then stick with it. if you cant get the doctor to prescribe you meds do your research. If theres one thing ive learned from my horrible experience with these types of drugs, its that they work differently for everyone. the only person who can really know how well these type drugs are working is the person who is taking them (and its really hard to know sometimes if its working). also doctors do not always know about all the different types of drugs that you can try and how they will work. if you do your own research and did i mention i have ADD?lol sorry i dont remember what i was going to say

Having spent a lot of time around ADHDers who do not seem to be autistic (at least online) I think there's a distinction, with overlap.

I wonder if I should have posted this in the "Other Conditions" forum, although this one did mention ADHD.

How exactly do they test you for ADHD? Just an interview, or do they make you do tasks?

It's really frustrating that no one in my country seems to have a clue about ADHD..

theres a lot of ways to test for ADHD since theres no actual scientific test for it. they can do brain scans of some sort now i believe but they dont always work for ADHD. when i was diagnosed from what i can remember (it was 10yrs ago) its mostly like an interview and usually you have to do mental tasks like counting telling a story from pictures. but i was also a child when i was diagnosed so its probably different for adults... im not quite sure