Annie
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Post by Annie on Jan 29, 2020 11:18:45 GMT
Hello! I was referred over a year ago now by my GP and am still awaiting on an appointment - I get the impression this is not a unique situation. I finally got letters through to ask for details and questionnaires in November, but since then - nothing. I was just looking at all the private options - I told my GP it sucks because I want to work more (self employed) but personally I think I struggle because of ADHD and therefore would struggle to afford to go private. I'm sure, again, I'm not the only one in this catch 22 situation. Anyway, I came across this link from Psychiatry UK: www.nhs.uk/using-the-nhs/nhs-services/hospitals/guide-to-nhs-waiting-times-in-england/I believe it says something to the effect of that we shouldn't be waiting longer than 18 weeks. It also says this, "does not include public health services commissioned by local authorities," - so maybe I'm reading it wrong? Anyway, I wondered if anyone else had noticed this and thought it was worth complaining anywhere? I'm tempted to contact my MP after my dad mentioned I should. Is that the right person to flag it with or is it the Care Quality Commission? Also, if anyone wants to recommend any private services that they found super helpful, I'm all ears. I'm based in Oxford. Thanks so much to you all - this forum is unbelievably helpful.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 29, 2020 19:02:47 GMT
I didn't know I was being referred for my ADHD diagnosis. The subject never ever came up. I want to be a self-employed the only thing I think I will struggle with is maintaining relationships. Do you find that hard? What is it that you do?
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Annie
Member's not posted much yet
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Post by Annie on Jan 30, 2020 11:08:03 GMT
Hi igetboredeasy, I do online marketing, things like Google Ads, Websites and sales copywriting. What kind of relationships do you think you would struggle with? What kind of thing do you think you might do? Although I know I earn less than I could being self-employed vs a normal job (most likely due to lack of structure and adhd - I think!) but there are some things that come with it that I just love. I love that I don't have a boss to tell me "not to tell a client something", so I can be totally honest with people; I don't have to go to a boss either to get time off if my family need me. I can also choose to turn down work from clients that I don't think are a "good fit" (i.e. ones I know will be a complete nightmare!) On the downside, I also don't love being on my own in all honesty. I've been self-employed for over 4 years now and finally got a dog this year (hooray!) but I am a people person and it's a big drawback not being able to just do the everyday social things - like ask how people's days are going. Maybe one day I'll grow the business enough to hire some friends My biggest struggle is simply making myself sit down and do the work. Very frustrating - I hope if it is ADHD that medication might help.
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Post by vickytheviking on Apr 2, 2020 18:38:51 GMT
Hey Annie, I was diagnosed with ADHD back in 2009 aged 30. I stopped taking my Concerta back in 2017 for no other reason than I kept forgetting to collect prescription and the longer I left it my life spiralled more out of control. I went back to my GP in October 2019 and asked to be put back on Medication and he refused and said I had to be reassessed. So I chased it all up a few weeks ago to see where we were at with that. Apparently there is over a 2 year wait! they suggested I go private. So today I made some phone calls, did some digging and I also came information on the 'Maximum waiting times for non-urgent referrals
The maximum waiting time for non-urgent, consultant-led treatments is 18 weeks from the day your appointment is booked through the NHS e-Referral Service, or when the hospital or service receives your referral letter.'
So I' m also going to follow this line.
Initially though from seeing my GP to getting my diagnosis of ADHD the process took 4 years! from 2005-2009 - keep pushing because sometimes they need a kick up the backside....
BTW I am self employed - I found it easier when on my medication because I felt more in control of my environment and I made it work for my ADHD. I work in a creative industry and I think that helps....
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 4, 2020 14:20:13 GMT
Hey Annie,
I did not go private, so i cannot help on that bit. I did not know I was ADHD or being diagnosed at the time. I would like to be self-employed because I could be my own boss, I can maintain relationships it is just a lot other other people lie to get ahead to compete and if you pay your own salary that creates a bit of risk. I would rather work for myself and do my own thing than to be told what to do.
Your dad supports you to contact your MP and you seem to have good education and support structure with opportunity - while I will admit I am a bit envious due to my bad happenstances and I do believe you have described some signs of ADHD which are difficult without medication ie starting something (unless it is something you really want to do),and honesty which can get you into trouble, so I will try to help you without prejudice. To be honest you sound pretty functional with ADHD, not that I don't understand the overcompensation and daily struggle which is exhausting without medication. Tell me more why you think you have ADHD and you think medication will make life easier i might be able to help? If you are functional without medication then they might not even prescribe you medication and only diagnose you? I did not think the NHS care about quality of life in that regard (esp. since the outbreak), you still might have to go private for your prescription?
Here are some of the main things I really struggled with before medication and this can make life very stressful and hard, which can be beyond our control: 1.) Structure - Starting work I always used have to be located near work, but then with medication I can start an early routine and start an job task in the day and stop and start uninteresting jobs without overcompensating too much, before this i would take many short breaks. 2.) Driving (Hitting Kerb, changing gear and not hitting clutch, when i first started out i refused to have radio on i knew it made me unsafe as i was a channel changer, even if using mobile would have ever be legal i would have still made sure i did not drive holding a mobile ie locked it in the dash - knowing I would want to use it and would I have to do this to drive with a mobile and feeling like this is not a good thing for someones self-esteem) 3.) Learning (Never finish course couldn't learn at school either no attention span & thought i was stupid it is why I know some very complex things that make people go wow, but find things like basic maths and english difficult - I noticed your good hence was envious, good for interview tests) 4.) Reading- (Reading lot's of ebooks & never finishing and starting projects) 5.) Panning my day - with medication it is easier i know it sounds silly i swear i find it easier to plan a day because i spend less time procrastinating for example i do not put something in an oven and get engrossed in something else completely, sometimes i will overcompensate and use a timer, but from the age of 18-23 if i did not stand in front of the oven i knew i would forget - ironically told i can come up with a good dish. 6.) Lose things - I have lost my mobile lost of times and keys before medication and this is very stressful, i do not lose them or misplace them as much. 7.) Memory - Thinking about thing al the time and miss things people say - miss bits of conversations is embarrassing and time consuming, I turned up early on the wrong day for my driving test was the next day then turned up next day passed flying colours and full of adrenaline I spent the next three months not knowing how to use fog lights in the car until i looked it up because the instructor never taught me but I knew everything else of by heart. I needed to be shown how to use everything in one of my lessons to familiarise myself to be comfortable its how i learn and I could have passed my test in a week not 5 months 1 lesson miss 2 weeks forget everything etc. 8.)Maturity - While I used to waste time thinking how I could get around things and while I have never been able to think about a life plan what i want to to do or be, I never really thought i would be independent I just couldn't my brain did not engage in anything I did comprehend anything like Council Tax, VAT, Mortage, Insurance, Rate etc and to be fair I had no one like your dad to say: ' Hey you might have ADHD or you might need to do this' - my parents did not really help me get out of my rut. I would read about topics and subjects that interested me at the time rather than ways of bettering my circumstances I should have aspired for a career and not wasted time.
Conclusion Medication as silly as it sounds has helped me realise I can read, study and achieve but on the down side the late diagnosis is a late point to starting your life with obstacles i would not have anticipated ie discrimination and late education. You could kind of say after a while medication is like wearing glasses, you do not become smarter - that's not how it works, you begin to see ie it is less hard to sit down to read, you don't lose you belongings, you don't damage your car, 'you do not tell people things', 'relationships are a better fit', your day go goes as planned, you fit in and overall this creates more quality of life and the stress and anxiety is dramatically reduced to what you are used to.
Have you considered anything else other than ADHD for your symptoms?
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Annie
Member's not posted much yet
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Posts: 20
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Post by Annie on Apr 20, 2020 17:25:18 GMT
Hey! I'd love to help answer, but I noticed your account's deleted - if you get back on, please reply here and I'll write more if it's any help. Had an absolute mare with the NHS - they decided I wasn't high enough on a single scale to be put forward for a diagnostic test, and I heard a lot of "this is a problem only really seen in children" and "most them also grow out of it". About 16 months after being referred by GP, this is the only contact I get. Anyway, I gave up and went private. Days after, I got my diagnosis with an adult adhd psychiatrist. Meds have made such a significant difference already, I can't tell you how much I want to cry and wish this hadn't taken so long and so much effort to get sorted. But also so very happy that I finally have an answer and something that truly helps. I have the ability to do the boring thing and finish. The memory to actually go back and check my to do list. The realisation that I never don't have a million running thoughts - but now I can attempt to quiet them and be at peace for a few moments. I have pretty much all of the same symptoms you mention above, the only one which (thank you for the compliment by the way) I haven't struggled too badly with maths and English growing up. But I also went from being a 7 year old the school recommended to skip a year, eventually to not finishing my degree because I was failing so bad. I had times in maths where the teacher said " your problem solving score is so much higher than your knowledge and understanding - no one else's scores are that way" - and I didn't know why or what to do with that info, but a lot of these things finally make sense. Hope to hear from you
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jeff
Member posts quite a bit
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Post by jeff on Apr 24, 2020 5:49:50 GMT
Hey! I'd love to help answer, but I noticed your account's deleted - if you get back on, please reply here and I'll write more if it's any help. Had an absolute mare with the NHS - they decided I wasn't high enough on a single scale to be put forward for a diagnostic test, and I heard a lot of "this is a problem only really seen in children" and "most them also grow out of it". About 16 months after being referred by GP, this is the only contact I get. Anyway, I gave up and went private. Days after, I got my diagnosis with an adult adhd psychiatrist. Meds have made such a significant difference already, I can't tell you how much I want to cry and wish this hadn't taken so long and so much effort to get sorted. But also so very happy that I finally have an answer and something that truly helps. I have the ability to do the boring thing and finish. The memory to actually go back and check my to do list. The realisation that I never don't have a million running thoughts - but now I can attempt to quiet them and be at peace for a few moments. I have pretty much all of the same symptoms you mention above, the only one which (thank you for the compliment by the way) I haven't struggled too badly with maths and English growing up. But I also went from being a 7 year old the school recommended to skip a year, eventually to not finishing my degree because I was failing so bad. I had times in maths where the teacher said " your problem solving score is so much higher than your knowledge and understanding - no one else's scores are that way" - and I didn't know why or what to do with that info, but a lot of these things finally make sense. Hope to hear from you Hi Annie, I'm just wondering if you could answer my question about going private - I'm think about doing the same! Can you literally take your diagnosis to the GP and they have to give you the meds?
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Annie
Member's not posted much yet
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Posts: 20
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Post by Annie on Apr 28, 2020 11:02:13 GMT
Hey Jeff! From what my psychiatrist said (I haven't gone through the GP yet, because I need at least one follow up with her, could be many more depending on how you respond to the medication, to find out which works for you and what dose, so the number of follow ups will likely vary for everyone) it sounds like it depends on a few things. Once you and the psychiatrist are happy with a dose, it will depend if you can get your GP on board I believe. She recognised the name of my surgery as one that is normally quite good at working with psychiatrists, so that's positive, but I won't know for a few weeks at least, if not more. It sounded like to me your experience of getting prescriptions via your NHS GP may vary depending on the individual GP and/or surgery unfortunately. My overall impression is that it likely depends on how educated the GP is on Adult ADHD and/or how willing they might be to find out or work with your psychiatrist. If you're struggling and can find a way to cobble together the funds, I can't recommend going for it privately highly enough though. I wish I'd taken the plunge earlier. But also so glad I continued to pursue it in general, at least it's onwards and upwards from here Hope that helps, and if I remember to post later, I'll let you know how things go with getting the GP to prescribe.
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april
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Post by april on Aug 18, 2020 17:20:25 GMT
Hi Annie, I was wondering if you'd be able to send me a private message (if possible? I don't know how the site works yet!) with the psychiatrist you're using? I'm looking to go private and your experience of ADHD sounds very much like mine (I'm also self-employed but currently not managing to do much work at all!).
I'm really struggling with how to chose a practitioner as I've had such a varied experience from private counsellors and really can't afford to go through a load of psychiatrists before finding the right one, because the cost is so much higher. I'm based in Surrey but Oxford would be doable.
Thank you!
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Post by Mappeal on Sept 17, 2020 11:49:32 GMT
Hi Annie,
I know it's been a few months since you posted this thread, but I've been on the waiting list for an assessment since May 2019 (16 months) and still have not heard from the assessment clinic aside from a response to my (numerous) emails asking for a time frame for an assessment. The response was that they can't give me a time frame...
So, I was thinking of going privately because at my age, I feel that I need some support and strongly suspect I am ADD. How did you find a practitioner to provide an assessment? Is any medication prescribed via NHS or is that private too? Finally, can I ask how much it cost? (don't tell me if you don't want to, I won't be offended!)
Thanks in advance! emma
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