Expert: Dr Billy Levin - 5/25/2007

Question
I have gone off of my medication in the past year.  All seem to give me huge side effects and make me have a lack of appetite and not want to be social.  It was inhibiting too much of who I was so I stopped them.  I feel now that I have such a hard time sitting down and doing my hw.  I'm a 4th student in college and plan on applying to med school this summer.  It's gotten so bad that I feel like I'm just lazy and I spend so much time avoiding my homework and getting distracted.  I tend to get behind in my classes and then get overwhlemed and put it off.  I'm at the point where I'm trying to figure out if this is really ADD at work or just laziness or lack of motivation.  How do you know?  I would really like to find a physician near me who could help me with this but it seems that most experts are on the East Coast.  Is there a directory, what would you recommend?

Answer
As I live in South Africa I cannot suggest anybody. However I do have a few things to comment on. There is no such thing as lazy. It is always caused by an underlying neurological condition. There are never such severe side effects needing to stop medication as they all settle in time. As you have given me  very little detail about your medication it is impossible to comment. I do not know what you took, when you took it, how much you took , how often you took it. If you do have ADHD which from your describtion seems likely, an expert medical doctor will monitor the effect of correct medication to an optimal level using rating scales and there would be success. There are without a doubt expertson the east coast!