mcfairy
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Post by mcfairy on Jul 13, 2015 15:12:57 GMT
Ok so this is just a ranty ranty. Husband been medicated now pretty much all his life and rings up today for his prescription for his new doctor to declare he has never prescribed and wont do as he doesn't agree with it. Receptionist went to hang up...no offer of help or advice! We now, after chasing it have an appointment with a different doctor but apparently have to go through the whole process of assessment again. Husband is understandably upset to be put through this again, I am fuming.... There is one thing to dot i's and cross t's but the lack of support is so frightening. Any length of time without medication will be so hard on him and that worries me. Fingers crossed for a good doctor on Wednesday, and hopefully will prescribe during consultation period.
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taetaeds
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Post by taetaeds on Jul 13, 2015 16:08:17 GMT
Hi there, who was it that said he has never prescribed it? The receptionist? Or did you actually speak with the doctor? You need to take charge here for your husbands sake, are you are clearly more able to organize for this problem than he is presumably unmedicated.
This new doctor is definitely an older doctor i.e. studied pre 1995 when ADHD was taught to medical students. Some of the doctors who studied before this time have been kept up to date on ADHD through colleagues or their own self awareness. It's very very difficult to describe, or convince, someone without ADHD what ADHD is like and how it is a real disorder. This is because 'normal' people have the necessary executive functions to function normally in life. At it's core, ADHD is an executive functions deficiency. You are unable to regulate yourself like a normal person of your age. So the question here is 'How do you convince someone who is able to do something without trouble that an equally gifted person is unable to do it because he isn't able to regulate himself?' It's quite difficult to word, anyone with ADHD will understand what I'm trying to say. I'll try and give an example in the next paragraph.
Example: 'New Doctor' needs to file his tax returns for April and he has over a month to do it, he can either decide to do it that day or do it in 3 weeks, 2 weeks, 1 week, or leave it to the last day. He tells himself that he will do it in 2 weeks online. When people take in new information, it is mainly controlled by his cerebral cortex. When he tells himself to remind himself in 2 weeks time and to do it online, that information will be stored there, waiting to be sent to his frontal lobe - where his executive functions lie. The key bit is in the name. In 2 weeks time the back part of his brain will spark neurotransmitters to the front part of the brain and thus will remind himself to do his tax returns, and to do it online also.
Now take all that into account and add that the 'New Doctor' has ADHD, any subtype. Because he has an executive functions deficiency he will not realize how important it is to file the tax returns, and will not take into account any problems that may occur during the process e.g. website being down, computer troubles etc. This time he waits until the very last day and depending on the severity of their ADHD 1 of 3 things will happen: 1. He will fill out his tax returns at the very last minute, and be fine. Unlikely. 2. He will remember by some miracle to do it at the last minute, by himself or a family member/partner, and have computer troubles and face the consequences. 3. His neurotransmitters will not fire or won't have enough Dopamine or Norepinephrine and the message won't make it to the frontal lobe.
A good way to put this is: Every person in the world get's given the exactly same car, with the exactly same parts, by the exactly same manufacturer etc. yet 5% of people say they can't start their car because the battery is faulty. It starts sometimes but doesn't others. There is a fix available but the other 95% won't accept that 5% of the batteries were faulty because all the cars are supposed to work the same way and are designed the same way. A few people manage to get their cars to work after 18 or more years of coping with it working off and on, some people don't have that luck. The 95% point to those people who managed to fix their problem themselves and say those other 5% people should just stop whining and get on with driving. Some days it works, some days it doesn't, and nobody can actually tell because in this alternative universe it's impossible to open the car bonnet.
I hope I've explained everything in a simple manner, some parts might be incorrect but I'm not sure I might have forgotten something. Your new doctor needs to realize - just like homosexuality - people are born a certain way and they can't just change it, as it's chemical/biological. The mind is not something we have control over at all. You should ask this doctor what his hobby is, and they ask him to change his hobby to something totally different that he definitely wouldn't like. He would definitely respond but I'd never enjoy that. You should ask him why? If your husband could change how he behaves surely the doctor can?
ADHD is seen as a moral failing, that people choose to not do things and forget things on purpose. But it's not a moral failing at all. This new doctor needs to realize this, because he will see more and more patients who maybe present with depression or with anxiety symptoms and doesn't consider ADHD because he 'doesn't believe in it', and those patients who very well may have ADHD will go lead a life of desensitization from anything enjoyable because it doesn't give them the normal stimulation it does other people, might get hooked on drugs, might get depressed, anxious, god forbid suicidal. All because this doctor doesn't believe in the fastest growing peer reviewed studied subject in the history of psychiatry.
I hope your husband gets medicated soon, but someone needs to act about this doctor because it affects possibly many more people.
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mcfairy
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Post by mcfairy on Jul 15, 2015 7:17:19 GMT
Hi There
Thank you for your reply. We moved doctors to an other area as we have moved house, we did have a great surgery. We then had a doctor at the new surgery that gave repeat prescriptions but wouldn't do more than a month at a time, which is fine, we had to build that relationship with the other doctor to prove the usage wasn't being abused, happy with that.
Now when he rang to check he could collect his prescription this time, one of the partners who was given it just told the receptionist he didn't agree with it, he has never prescribed the Ritalin and never will. No request to make an appointment to discuss or anything, just closed case. I rang up straight away and asked to meet with the Practice Manager, the receptionist waffled and rearranged an appointment for later today with in her words a 'Sympathetic' doctor who may or may not continue to prescribe whilst he goes through referral to be re-diagnosed again. This worries me, I don't even know how good they are in our area in this area, let alone if there is any NHS cuts at play here!
I am going with him and I will be fighting his corner for sure, I am incensed. I will try and address it with fact and try not to get emotional but that will be hard. I am already aware of the lack of support for Adult ADD'ers and there families but this is my first experience of having to fight for help. It is frightening that one doctors decision will just turn my husbands world upside down.
We work very hard at our marriage and medication is one of the things that does help my husband on a day to day basis, he hates taking them, they make him feel sick and just ugh. But he does with the odd break maybe once a week. The receptionist made it sound like my husband was a drug addict (another one of my complaints) and kept going on about it being and 'Amber' drug. No matter how helpful this next doctor is (I pray he is) I will be taking this further.
Thank you for the description above, to reason with someone who thinks that way and in the end has a say on so many peoples quality of life is frightening concept. I'm not normally a particularly feisty person, but I am now!
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taetaeds
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Post by taetaeds on Jul 15, 2015 8:51:44 GMT
Hi There Thank you for your reply. We moved doctors to an other area as we have moved house, we did have a great surgery. We then had a doctor at the new surgery that gave repeat prescriptions but wouldn't do more than a month at a time, which is fine, we had to build that relationship with the other doctor to prove the usage wasn't being abused, happy with that. Now when he rang to check he could collect his prescription this time, one of the partners who was given it just told the receptionist he didn't agree with it, he has never prescribed the Ritalin and never will. No request to make an appointment to discuss or anything, just closed case. I rang up straight away and asked to meet with the Practice Manager, the receptionist waffled and rearranged an appointment for later today with in her words a 'Sympathetic' doctor who may or may not continue to prescribe whilst he goes through referral to be re-diagnosed again. This worries me, I don't even know how good they are in our area in this area, let alone if there is any NHS cuts at play here! I am going with him and I will be fighting his corner for sure, I am incensed. I will try and address it with fact and try not to get emotional but that will be hard. I am already aware of the lack of support for Adult ADD'ers and there families but this is my first experience of having to fight for help. It is frightening that one doctors decision will just turn my husbands world upside down. We work very hard at our marriage and medication is one of the things that does help my husband on a day to day basis, he hates taking them, they make him feel sick and just ugh. But he does with the odd break maybe once a week. The receptionist made it sound like my husband was a drug addict (another one of my complaints) and kept going on about it being and 'Amber' drug. No matter how helpful this next doctor is (I pray he is) I will be taking this further. Thank you for the description above, to reason with someone who thinks that way and in the end has a say on so many peoples quality of life is frightening concept. I'm not normally a particularly feisty person, but I am now! It sounds like this doctor is letting his personal feelings get in the way of practicing medicine, which is not allowed. Imagine if a doctor refused to give the patient an option of a liver transplant just because they were a Jehovah's Witness. It wouldn't happen because it is not allowed. You need to implore this doctor to read the NICE guidelines on treatment for ADHD and studies pertaining to treatment for Adult ADHD. This doctor is definitely an older doctor, which means he is stubborn and feels he is above you. Try and explain to the doctor what the medication does for your husband. Also say that you've tried dietary changes and environmental changes but they haven't been any use whatsoever.
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mcfairy
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Post by mcfairy on Jul 15, 2015 10:07:00 GMT
Yes I will definately. I will keep you posted. Thank you...
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mcfairy
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Post by mcfairy on Jul 15, 2015 15:20:47 GMT
Ok so got back from the Doctors, different doctor who knew exactly what had happened. The original doctor has never prescribed Methylphenidate and doesn't agree in doing so, he also doesn't believe ADD exists in particular in adults. This doctor knew this and went out of his way to be helpful, apparently the doctor prior to the skeptic did write a referral to an Adult ADD specialist but her boss threw it away.....(the Skeptic Dr) This Doctor in the same practice has done his own research...the first issue is that Methylphenidate does not have a UK product licence for use in Adults with ADHD, doctors can prescribe it (analogy given like prescribing paracetamol to an under 6 month year old child) but some doctors don't like doing so, which is why we have had issues in the past. But this doctor is more than happy based on my partners past medical history. He has also found us an Adult ADD clinic in Leigh in which we are being referred to. I am really pleased he has found somewhere, particularly specialising in Adult ADD. The second issue is the unbelievable amount of doctors who believe you turn 18 and it all goes away! It is actually written in the NHS guidelines to use the above drug as first line treatment but must re-assess if required still as an adult!! In the meantime He has given us two other doctors names in that surgery who will continue to prescribe....phew... I will be writing to the local primary care trust still. Thanks for allowing me to rant again
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taetaeds
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Post by taetaeds on Jul 15, 2015 17:24:45 GMT
Ok so got back from the Doctors, different doctor who knew exactly what had happened. The original doctor has never prescribed Methylphenidate and doesn't agree in doing so, he also doesn't believe ADD exists in particular in adults. This doctor knew this and went out of his way to be helpful, apparently the doctor prior to the skeptic did write a referral to an Adult ADD specialist but her boss threw it away.....(the Skeptic Dr) This Doctor in the same practice has done his own research...the first issue is that Methylphenidate does not have a UK product licence for use in Adults with ADHD, doctors can prescribe it (analogy given like prescribing paracetamol to an under 6 month year old child) but some doctors don't like doing so, which is why we have had issues in the past. But this doctor is more than happy based on my partners past medical history. He has also found us an Adult ADD clinic in Leigh in which we are being referred to. I am really pleased he has found somewhere, particularly specialising in Adult ADD. The second issue is the unbelievable amount of doctors who believe you turn 18 and it all goes away! It is actually written in the NHS guidelines to use the above drug as first line treatment but must re-assess if required still as an adult!! In the meantime He has given us two other doctors names in that surgery who will continue to prescribe....phew... I will be writing to the local primary care trust still. Thanks for allowing me to rant again Glad to hear it all have gotten sorted. I'm not under the care of the NHS ADHD clinic in my area due to massive waiting lists but what I've been told is that there are lots of support once you are part of the system there. The doctor purposely disposing of the original referral is definitely legally in the wrong in doing so, and you can definitely take this further via your local PCT.
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