Thanks NHS, Newly and quickly diagnosed and treatment
Jun 17, 2018 10:22:28 GMT
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roland, vagueandrandom, and 2 more like this
Post by Kent on Jun 17, 2018 10:22:28 GMT
Hi everyone
Well I’m 47 and I’ve struggled with everyday life for ever, and just got used to it stuck to the rules of.
That’s me,
That’s how it is,
You can’t change so don’t.
Never considered ADHD as a cause or reason, I’m just odd, never held down a job, have been self employed for the last 30 years as no employer can put up with my time keeping, disorganised working and general chaos but that’s just me, nothing wrong with me, just the way I am.
Then just before Xmas 2017 I heard a report/interview on local radio with a lady in her 30s describing me down to a tee, and her struggle with diagnosis and getting treatment and being actually taken seriously,
So I did some reading and the more I read, the more I realised that there was a pretty good chance that this could explain why I’m the way I am, so armed with this I made an appointment with my GP, I will say at this point I didn’t even have a GP my surgery had closed 5 years ago and it was one of those things I forgot to do, so I had to register with a local surgery and this was quick and painless.
Got my first appointment with the GP and started reeling off all my issues and he just stopped me and asked “Why are you here, Do you have a specific concern or would like confirmation if a diagnosis”
Kinda took me by surprise, so I said I think I may have ADHD, he then asked why and discussed some of my reasons for thinking this.
He then opened up a referral form on his laptop, and went through the form asking lots of questions and filling it out, this was 23rd December 2017.
10th March I get an email notification of an appointment for the 20th March in Sittinbourne along with a load of questionnaires to fill out, this appointment was then changed to a telephone appointment/interview which was certainly better for me and I had to post off the questionnaires. This was quite long winded and took about 40 mins but was interesting for me as it actually helped me realise that this has been going on since a lot longer than I had previously thought.
So that bit done so time to wait for next appointment or further referrals, but I had it in my head that things could be heading in the right direction.
Beginning of June 2018 I receive a letter notifying me of an appointment with an ADHD specialist on the 12th June in Canterbury with more questionnaires, many of which I thought were
Irrelevant to me but answered what I could and marked were I thought irrelevant to me as such.
I arrived early as parking can be a pain and was sitting in the waiting room and was told I could be seen early if I’d like. I handed over my questionnaires and she flicked through them, stopping to read what I assumed were the items that were needed.
Spoke to the doctor for probably 2 hours, went through all kinds of questions, some from the computer screen and quite a bit of what was general guided chit chat digging into my life and how chaotic it has been for ever.
Before I knew it we were discussing treatment for ADD and that on the scale of 1-9 I was now an 8 and at school I was about a 6 and that there are plenty of treatment options out there and advised that although not the only one, medication is recommended for me, as well as further counselling and support at a centre in Ashford.
So prescribed Concerta XL 18mg for 2 weeks increasing to 36mg and a telephone assessment after the first 2 weeks. I was told to expect headaches as a side effect as well as some others, my blood pressure and weight was taken and told I needed to have this done again and ready for the telephone assessment.
So Wednesday 13th was day one, and although sceptical about what to expect, I certainly got the headache, but pre armed with paracetamol I was good, now im sure it’s different for everybody but I didn’t hit me like a train definitely no light switch , But wow what a difference to my first day, maybe some of it placebo effect because I was looking for a change, but I finished 4 jobs by lunchtime that would normally have taken all day and some.
The biggest and smallest thing I noticed is I didn’t put down and lose anything, now this sounds daft but I spend approximately half my day walking round trying to find tools, parts and my keys that I put down without thinking or realising I’ve done it, 1000s of hours wasted throughout my life dedicated to the finding stuff task. But I haven’t done it since. It’s a small thing to some, but a massive thing to me. That is probably the biggest change I have noticed above all.
It’s early days yet, I’m on day 5 and am realising that I am just doing things rather than going to do things, so many “I’ll do it later or in a minute “ then sidetracked and find myself on google looking up a word or thing and ending up in a link fest of “ooo that looks good clicking away ” then 2 hours later remembering I should have been somewhere an hour ago.
So it took Just 6 months to get the diagnosis and treatment started for a lifelong problem, the improvements are so far life changing, some of which I haven’t realised fully yet as most of the things I was doing I didn’t actually realise I was doing, but I think that many of the changes are affecting those around me.
Well I’m 47 and I’ve struggled with everyday life for ever, and just got used to it stuck to the rules of.
That’s me,
That’s how it is,
You can’t change so don’t.
Never considered ADHD as a cause or reason, I’m just odd, never held down a job, have been self employed for the last 30 years as no employer can put up with my time keeping, disorganised working and general chaos but that’s just me, nothing wrong with me, just the way I am.
Then just before Xmas 2017 I heard a report/interview on local radio with a lady in her 30s describing me down to a tee, and her struggle with diagnosis and getting treatment and being actually taken seriously,
So I did some reading and the more I read, the more I realised that there was a pretty good chance that this could explain why I’m the way I am, so armed with this I made an appointment with my GP, I will say at this point I didn’t even have a GP my surgery had closed 5 years ago and it was one of those things I forgot to do, so I had to register with a local surgery and this was quick and painless.
Got my first appointment with the GP and started reeling off all my issues and he just stopped me and asked “Why are you here, Do you have a specific concern or would like confirmation if a diagnosis”
Kinda took me by surprise, so I said I think I may have ADHD, he then asked why and discussed some of my reasons for thinking this.
He then opened up a referral form on his laptop, and went through the form asking lots of questions and filling it out, this was 23rd December 2017.
10th March I get an email notification of an appointment for the 20th March in Sittinbourne along with a load of questionnaires to fill out, this appointment was then changed to a telephone appointment/interview which was certainly better for me and I had to post off the questionnaires. This was quite long winded and took about 40 mins but was interesting for me as it actually helped me realise that this has been going on since a lot longer than I had previously thought.
So that bit done so time to wait for next appointment or further referrals, but I had it in my head that things could be heading in the right direction.
Beginning of June 2018 I receive a letter notifying me of an appointment with an ADHD specialist on the 12th June in Canterbury with more questionnaires, many of which I thought were
Irrelevant to me but answered what I could and marked were I thought irrelevant to me as such.
I arrived early as parking can be a pain and was sitting in the waiting room and was told I could be seen early if I’d like. I handed over my questionnaires and she flicked through them, stopping to read what I assumed were the items that were needed.
Spoke to the doctor for probably 2 hours, went through all kinds of questions, some from the computer screen and quite a bit of what was general guided chit chat digging into my life and how chaotic it has been for ever.
Before I knew it we were discussing treatment for ADD and that on the scale of 1-9 I was now an 8 and at school I was about a 6 and that there are plenty of treatment options out there and advised that although not the only one, medication is recommended for me, as well as further counselling and support at a centre in Ashford.
So prescribed Concerta XL 18mg for 2 weeks increasing to 36mg and a telephone assessment after the first 2 weeks. I was told to expect headaches as a side effect as well as some others, my blood pressure and weight was taken and told I needed to have this done again and ready for the telephone assessment.
So Wednesday 13th was day one, and although sceptical about what to expect, I certainly got the headache, but pre armed with paracetamol I was good, now im sure it’s different for everybody but I didn’t hit me like a train definitely no light switch , But wow what a difference to my first day, maybe some of it placebo effect because I was looking for a change, but I finished 4 jobs by lunchtime that would normally have taken all day and some.
The biggest and smallest thing I noticed is I didn’t put down and lose anything, now this sounds daft but I spend approximately half my day walking round trying to find tools, parts and my keys that I put down without thinking or realising I’ve done it, 1000s of hours wasted throughout my life dedicated to the finding stuff task. But I haven’t done it since. It’s a small thing to some, but a massive thing to me. That is probably the biggest change I have noticed above all.
It’s early days yet, I’m on day 5 and am realising that I am just doing things rather than going to do things, so many “I’ll do it later or in a minute “ then sidetracked and find myself on google looking up a word or thing and ending up in a link fest of “ooo that looks good clicking away ” then 2 hours later remembering I should have been somewhere an hour ago.
So it took Just 6 months to get the diagnosis and treatment started for a lifelong problem, the improvements are so far life changing, some of which I haven’t realised fully yet as most of the things I was doing I didn’t actually realise I was doing, but I think that many of the changes are affecting those around me.