duckster
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Post by duckster on Mar 4, 2015 0:07:41 GMT
Hello everyone, I had an appointment with a GP a few weeks ago and said i think i have adult ADHD and would like to be tested/diagnosed for it. He went on to say that there are no centres locally and he would have to apply for funding. So i said.. well, i have printed out the symptoms and highlighted it (i wanted to show him that i didn't pluck the condition out the sky)and i explained how its really affecting uni and got a bit upset (insert embarrassed face) he tried to to say it is the same symptoms as depression (i am on fluoxetine but it has been under control for about 17 months now.. and the issues have going on waaaayy before then) i think he believed me and he said he will refer me to a psychiatrist and he/she will see what they think? something like that. he then went on to say that if he/she believes i have it then he will have to apply for funding and even then they can still turn round and say no.
I have waited for nearly 3 weeks now and I cant help but feel frustrated, I do appreciate the NHS is free but I cant help but feel let down by them.
What is anyone else's experiences been like? have they been good? bad?
Thanks Duckster.
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Post by computermandan on Mar 4, 2015 16:15:44 GMT
Hi Duckster!
I have just been through almost exactly the same process as it sounds you are about to.
I was diagnosed with depression initially - put on fluoxetine and then came off it after six months as I felt it wasn't really changing anything.
spent a year or so backwards and forwards with GP, Counselors and eventually stumbled on ADHD and discussed it with GP in a similar way it seems as you have.
I was referred to a local community psychologist and saw him every 2 months or so over a period of 18 months. we discussed adhd, aspergers autism and depression. he prescribed me all sorts of anti-depressants hoping to cure anxiety and bad sleep habits i think. none of which helped really at all.
he said I wasn't impulsive or hyperactive which is true to an extent as I'm predominantly quiet and very inattentive if anything. eventually in july 2014 I think he agreed to recommend a referral to my GP surgery.
They took 3 months to agree to the referral as it had to go through a funding meeting or something.
Then I was referred in september for an ADHD assessment at the Maudsley clinic - I was offered an appointment in Dec and then Feb (which I couldn't make unfortunately) and eventually went for the assessment last week.
hopefully gives you an idea of the timescale for me. not sure if I will get diagnosed or not through lack of childhood info. someone from Muadsley is actually booked to speak with my mother today to gather more information.
I should call her and see how it went actually lol.
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spanna
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Post by spanna on Mar 4, 2015 21:22:14 GMT
Hi Duckster,
It really seems to vary depending on where you live. Where do you live?
I went to the doctor in January for the first time and said I wanted to be referred for an ADHD assessment. He first said that it was difficult to get an assessment as an adult and tried to fob me off. I was prepared (for once) and pulled out my NICE guidelines and all the other info I found off here and he said he'd refer me.
After reading other people's experiences on here I was prepared for a long wait - anything up to a year it normal from what I've read on here. Anyway after I bit of chasing (I'd forgot to update my mobile number with my doctor which my fault else it would have been sooner) I had a call with the access team where I briefly described my symptoms over the phone, he said he would discuss it at a team meeting and they'd send me an appointment out.
I have my assessment at the end of March - I was offered an earlier appointment however couldn't make it due to work commitments.
I'm pretty surprised at how quickly and I'm now paranoid that I've been fobbed off with a trannie!
I wonder why your doctor needs to apply for the funding and mine, as far as I know didn't?
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spanna
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Posts: 66
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Post by spanna on Mar 4, 2015 21:23:36 GMT
Oh I mean trainee not trannie...
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Post by computermandan on Mar 4, 2015 23:09:13 GMT
Oh I mean trainee not trannie... loving the explanation haha.
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Post by contrarymary on Mar 5, 2015 0:23:35 GMT
Oh I mean trainee not trannie... i actually just split my lip and then fell off the sofa with laughing - thank you!
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Post by Foxtrot on Mar 5, 2015 17:34:36 GMT
Oh I mean trainee not trannie... You are too funny!!! I'm in public, on my own and convulsing with laughter!! I keep getting funny looks. Cheers!
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duckster
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Posts: 97
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Post by duckster on Mar 8, 2015 0:06:27 GMT
thanks for the replies I hope you don't mind me asking, Computermandan, but was there a reason why you went to the doctors? as in... what i am trying to say is that, with me, i was actually really depressed where as you never sounded depressed? (apologies if i have this wrong). Also, how did it go with your mam? I live in Carlisle, Spanna. sounds like you had a really good experience :)i am sure it isn't a trainee.. and even so, they will surely have someone that is qualified with them anyways Thanks Duckster
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spanna
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Post by spanna on Mar 9, 2015 13:34:53 GMT
Have you had an appointment though yet?
My letter was signed of by a doctor but had ST Trainee in brackets (not Trannie) - no offence intended to any transgender / sexual in the typing of my post! Glad I made some laugh though!!
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duckster
Member's posted somewhat
Posts: 97
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Post by duckster on Mar 13, 2015 22:02:09 GMT
I phoned my doctor surgery yesterday since it has been 4 weeks now and they said it's been passed onto (whoever they said- can't remember) so i should hear directly from them. I received a phone call today of my GP saying the place have rejected my referral (i think that's what was said) and he is going to apply for funding so i can be referred to north tees? He did say a funding is rarely rejected so fingers crossed!!
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Post by computermandan on Mar 19, 2015 12:45:28 GMT
thanks for the replies I hope you don't mind me asking, Computermandan, but was there a reason why you went to the doctors? as in... what i am trying to say is that, with me, i was actually really depressed where as you never sounded depressed? (apologies if i have this wrong). Also, how did it go with your mam? Hi No worries, share and share alike and all that. I had been "suffering" with whatever for a long time. most of the things I might now call symptoms I always thought were just weird stuff that were just me. I had no highs and no lows just boring middle ground, kind of lost interest in everything and it was bothering everyone around me... so the first GP visit the diagnosis was depressive - low mood. I did some counseling and took some fluoxetine. felt a little better after a year but same cycle of issues led me back to the docs... The real hit and ADHD light bulb came with some more serious marital issues and my wife telling me how it was... you don't listen, you don't talk, you're always in your own world, you'd rather spend time on your PC, you're only ever on time when it's something YOU want to do you're like a child in the morning - you never get up, you're always late etc etc etc. So I hit the GP again and got re-diagnosed with depression and more fluoxetine. trial separation (moved in with my folks for a month) didn't really eat at all and lost a couple of stone in the process. spent all my time at work and home between googling where I was going wrong in life and checking up on my wife (not good idea btw). I worked out how to access her phone bypassing the pin she'd put on all of a sudden and it turns out she was texting my brother in law lots (around 1500 texts a month!) and had (in her words) "fallen" for him as I never paid her any attention. Well after clearing up the mess and lots of shouty threatening nonsense we talked and I can admit she was pretty unhappy and despite numerous attempts it never really sunk in with me how unhappy she was. Most of her issues relate to how bad i am with money, bad decisions, building site for a house, but the biggest all rounder is the broken promises... I'll do this in a minute, or I'll do this job at the weekend etc... hold on thats a massive tangent sorry... in any case Adult ADHD came up in almost every google search I did and so I looked into it. did a lot of online tests and it pretty much summed up I'm generally inattentive and slightly impulsive and it might be adhd. so I went to speak to the GP about it and she referred me to the local pscyh and we went from there. apologies for the ramble! Dan.
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duckster
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Post by duckster on Mar 20, 2015 23:53:50 GMT
Thanks cmd your reply was very helpful to me was it a relief to realise that you weren't depressed once you had the ADHD diagnosis? What was it like talking to a pscyh? did they assess you for everything or purely ADHD? p.s nothing wrong with a ramble (not that i thought you were anyways) duckster
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Post by computermandan on Mar 25, 2015 15:25:03 GMT
ok.. backwards step here... I guess you could say I am depressed but dealing with it (sometimes badly sometimes ok) I felt little benefit from the meds for the depression. I felt a need after counselling to fix the source rather than sticking plaster it all. I'm ok at the moment, but I haven't got a diagnosis yet either way. waiting on a second assessment appointment at maudsley and hopefully a decision after that. it's not easy as while undiagnosed when you think it is something, you could still be wrong. I feel a bit of a con artist who's trying to convince someone at times, so I probably over compensate in trying to just show who i am not who i think i am. (if thats logical?) my wife accuses me of excuse making and relying on thinking I am/have adhd. I was assessed I think for autism/adhd/aspergers as the community psych reports kept referring back to aspergers as he'd clung to my social shyness and awkwardness and clumsiness in conversation. I'll be honest if there isn't a diagnosis at the end of this and I have a strong negative feeling that may end up being the case as my parents reiterate i was "just a normal kid" over and over - I'm not really sure what I will do. having had another annual work review today and same old... lateness, timesheets not filled out, never completes tasks, lack of motivation, lack of confidence "objectives" are set I struggle to see where I could move on to next. sorry if this is a bit negative. I kind of roll in and out of both sides a lot and easily forget what mood i thought I was in five minutes ago
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Post by contrarymary on Mar 25, 2015 16:58:37 GMT
computermandan you still sound very like me, whatever the label(s) end up being....and i'm also a bit concerned as to what effect my mother's input might have - she's always tended to cover up and gloss over any family issues, and is likely to simply say "she was fine, got on well, achieved just fine" despite all my own experience to the contrary. isn't the changing mood thing an adhd symptom? and isn't also that part of the same thing as "negative experience, negative mood, everything catastrophic; positive input, positive mood, everything amazing" xx
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Post by computermandan on Mar 25, 2015 22:40:42 GMT
computermandan you still sound very like me, whatever the label(s) end up being....and i'm also a bit concerned as to what effect my mother's input might have - she's always tended to cover up and gloss over any family issues, and is likely to simply say "she was fine, got on well, achieved just fine" despite all my own experience to the contrary. isn't the changing mood thing an adhd symptom? and isn't also that part of the same thing as "negative experience, negative mood, everything catastrophic; positive input, positive mood, everything amazing" xx lol i guess so when i read it back. its being able to do something positive about it that worries me. apologies duckster if this has hijacked your post a little
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