[theVirtuoso]

Well, I'm afraid I don't have the experience there in it's entirety yet, because I'm on the same path as you... prescribed Klonopin and trying to get prescribed Adderall, but I went through months and months of different prescriptions, part of that time being stimulants to help me concentrate.

There are numerous variables involved, but I'll try to give as much help as I can...

This is very dependent on your doctor and your relationship with him or her. Most PCP (family doctors; primary care physician) dislike scripting "harder" meds and would rather you went to a specialist, so first thing is you would need to see a psychiatrist. Seeing as you already take a Benzo and SSRI it leads me to believe you already do.

The key difference between ADD and ADHD is the individual's behavior. I would personally say Adderall is more commonly scripted to those with ADHD. As kids use Adderall to "tweak" recreationally, kids with ADHD feel the opposite and are calmed down by Adderall; the H is for hyperactivity so in other words ADHD are people who become hyper when they lose their ability to focus, whereas ADD deals more with what is just going on inside one's own head. ADD can land you a script for a lot of the non-recreational CNS stimulants seeing as there's no need to be calmed down, but in more prominent cases of ADD Adderall can be prescribed because of the need for a much stronger stimulant.

For a very long time I thought it was all anxiety and it wasn't until recently when I discovered a lot of my "anxiety" was actually ADD (although I still have a significant amount of anxiety... not one benzo gives any form of relief anymore).

Basically, ADD is the inability to concentrate. You find your thoughts distracting, pulling your conscious away from your surroundings. If someone is speaking to you, you find it hard to listen and probably drift off; kind of like daydreaming. You can become restless due to lack of brain stimulation. You will find yourself constantly looking for stimulation... anything to focus your thoughts on so they don't wander (racing thoughts).

ADD/ADHD are really two of the most easiest "diseases" to become diagnosed with. They all factor with something the majority of the people on this Earth have problem doing: concentrating, focusing; whatever you wish to call it... and even being productive and just overall motivated to accomplish goals.

I do not condone faking problems or lying to your doctor, but if you were to go in there for ADD...

Tell your psychiatrist you can't concentrate on your task whether it be school or work or anything else important, and that you become restless if you aren't doing anything; you constantly seek stimulation. You find it impossible to keep a train of thought or listen to or converse with people because your mind forcefully wanders off (your thoughts are actually distracting you). Make it apparent that this inability to focus is affecting your daily life very negatively. Odds are the doc would start you off with a much weaker medication; with luck you could get a low dose concerta script, which is like weak ritalin and needs to go through a process to become recreational (if anyone has concerta and wants to know that process; PM me).

My doctors knew I smoked weed so that alone made it at least three times more difficult to obtain my Klonopin prescription, so do not put out any vibes to your doc that you are using any substances for any reason because they will discontinue listening to anything you have to say. So... don't expect what you want right away as you may need to go through a few medications or even more (I went through over a dozen different med combinations in ~7 months until I was scripted Clonazepam aka Klonopin)

If you have any other questions or I missed something (I feel like I did; Adderall tends to make me ramble) please let me know so I can answer them. Unfortunately I have to leave for now, so I won't be able to answer questions for a bit.