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Post by mccutcheon on Jul 14, 2013 14:33:13 GMT
Hi guys! I am considering moving to London from Austria and would love to know some more about how Adult ADHD is dealt with in the UK. Maybe someone here has done this before me or can answer some of my questions anyway 1. Does ADHD count as a 'disability'/'learning disability' (like dyslexia) or a 'mental health issue'? 2. Do I have to disclose my ADHD to potential employers when applying for jobs? 3. How can I ensure I continue to receive my medication once I've moved? I am currently taking Medikinet and Medikinet XL (called Medikinet retard here in Austria) and don't want to risk having to start an all new medication regime. 4. Is there anything else that's finicky about ADHD in the UK that I haven't covered in my questions here? Help/hints/ideas would be much appreciated. Thanks!
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Post by mccutcheon on Jun 12, 2012 13:37:37 GMT
gods I love that song!!!
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Post by mccutcheon on Mar 18, 2012 20:28:45 GMT
hey mighty, yeah it's been a real relief to function again, and more even I've written about my Strattera experience elsewhere in this forum, but long story short: I felt nauseous, - all the fucking time. felt like my brain was sloshing around in my head^^ even when walking I'd get motion sick so I guess you can imagine public transport, cars... it all culminated with me throwing up in a metro station two days before Christmas. I can laugh about it now but back then that was the last straw and I stopped taking Strattera immediately. it got better pretty soon after that with some lingering nausea way into January. but boy... that stuff was mean to me!
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Post by mccutcheon on Mar 13, 2012 14:16:39 GMT
I guess I am lucky because my better half has taken the time to understand me. I have been with him since before my diagnosis, which was a bit dicey. After a couple of years I came by ADHD (a bit of a fluke) and I realised what was wrong with me. I then explained what it was to him and he came on board straight away. We have worked together to overcome the difficulties and work out how to deal with them. I still annoy the hell out of him, but he says I am a laugh and good to him. If someone really loves you they will do their best to work with you. Similar story here. My wife has been with me since way before my diagnosis and before things got out of hand. So she knew she wasn't in a relationship with a general twat who doesn't listen but that something was off. She's read the "Is it you, me or the ADHD" book and it has apparently helped her a ton. Now things that drove her mad don't anymore because she knows I'm not doing them to be an ass. It sure helps that I've been very receptive to getting treatment and that my treatment seems to work pretty well. So my zoning out/dropping things moments and all that have gotten a lot less frequent. And when they do happen we can laugh about them because they're not dominating our life anymore. For us the key really has been 1) medication because it is making the "hurts" I inflict on her a lot less frequent and 2) her understanding what happens in my brain. Because if there's science in something she's game
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Post by mccutcheon on Mar 13, 2012 14:04:51 GMT
I hought I'd check in again and give an update on how I'm doing now, about six months after my first diagnosis. I haven't been here so much lately, mostly because I'm doing better and thinking of my ADHD less and less. So the Strattera was a disaster and the IR Ritalin to volatile. But Concerta has pretty much changed my life. I've only been taking it for two months but to me it seems like I've had it forever. It has simply become part of my daily routine. Wake up, take pill, be okay. Sometimes I just marvel at how normal a little bit of MPH makes me and how that gives me the possibility to be exceptional and special in the things I do instead of the quirks I exhibit. I've done a lot of creative work, I'm not depressed anymore, and I get so much stuff done! And I sleep. Finally. After years of insomnia I can actually sleep again. I've even tested my strength against a ten hour day doing directing work - and as long as I top up with IR Ritalin when my system runs out of MPH from the Concerta I'm doing alright. I have to ask my doctor if I can simply take another Concerta on long days as that would be much more convenient. The one thing that's a problem is fatigue/tiredness but I've only recently learned that I actually have a wheat intolerance (not gluten, wheat in general). So I still have to work out if maybe that was causing the fatigue. I can't really tell at the moment because I've got this damn spring cold and have to take antibiotics so fatigue is kind of a given in this case So yeah, Concerta = awesome for me. Makes living with ADHD absolutely manageable
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Post by mccutcheon on Feb 17, 2012 10:49:32 GMT
just a quick thought as an example: my friend who has dyslexia has way worse concentration issues than I do with my adhd.
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Post by mccutcheon on Feb 12, 2012 22:37:40 GMT
tbh, I never quite got what the problem is with taking concerta regularly. the short release ritalin - yes, that was complicated with timing and all that. But since I'm on concerta I just take my pill whenever I wake up/have to get up. Then it lasts me about 8 hours. if I'm having an easy evening I just leave it at that. And if I have to continue functioning or am a bit restless or getting prematurely tired or cranky I supplement with instant release ritalin. then I go to sleep anyway so I don't need any immediate mph dosage until I get up the next morning and take my concerta which is on my nightstand. rinse and repeat. but then again, my comorbid issue are negligible. a teensy bit of depression and that's it. sometimes pms fucks with my system. oddly I do have a hard time remembering to take my omegas though. probably because my inner alarm just doesn't ring three times a day
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Post by mccutcheon on Feb 12, 2012 14:08:28 GMT
mccutcheonsorry for flooding your thread here.. :0( hey, don't worry, I have no claim over it
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Post by mccutcheon on Feb 8, 2012 18:43:46 GMT
hey, I thought so! I'm from Austria myself. hm... what helps me with the depression is the fact that I finally get things done. so I don't feel shit about myself, and I end up less depressed. give it some time to work it's magic, get you back on track and then you can judge whether the depressions have gotten better and maybe some day you can drop the ADs as well. Or not. The priority is feeling better
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Post by mccutcheon on Feb 7, 2012 22:12:15 GMT
I've actually been using this for about two months now. not regularly, but whenever I need a reminder in the not-so-close future (somewhere in the next 6 months) that would be horribly out of place in my calendar.
neat service so far, once you get the hang of the commands it takes. however, you can't really save one email adress to your address book so it requires brain power every single time.
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Post by mccutcheon on Feb 7, 2012 22:06:56 GMT
@canesmum hehe, yeah I guess I get it I take concerta and antidepressants (but only a minimal dosage) and they seem to get along fine. I do hope to get off the ADs once winter is over because I'm pretty sure the depression was only an effect of my untreated adhd, comorbidity and all btw if you don't mind me asking: where are you from? because I noticed the way you spelled "Antidepressiva". but maybe you just typo'd - in that case, forget I asked
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Post by mccutcheon on Feb 7, 2012 12:23:19 GMT
Hello mrpineappleman, welcome to your life I'm sure it has missed you seriously, congrats!
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Post by mccutcheon on Feb 6, 2012 19:26:07 GMT
hey, as long as you're good WITH the strattera - good for you I had major fucking issues with that damn atomoxetine... why did you stop in the first place?
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Post by mccutcheon on Feb 6, 2012 15:20:53 GMT
haha, yeah I keep diagnosing people around me as well. mostly my mother, but hey, she should be happy, because before I knew about adhd I was pretty sure she had BPD (which is much harder to manage I hear) so yeah, I'm totally doing her a favour
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Post by mccutcheon on Feb 2, 2012 13:38:46 GMT
I know how hard it is to just let t h i n g s g o... Since I don't know what happened it's a bit difficult to give advice but if this is not an issue between you and your hubby it shouldn't be an issue at all. Someone simply tried to sow discord. Whatever their reason it didn't work. So they don't need to matter to you. Delete the messages. Block them on facebook. Do you run? Do martial arts? Get it out of your system with excercise. And if you still feel it's an issue maybe talk about it with your husband again. Hope my educated guesses can help a little
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Post by mccutcheon on Feb 2, 2012 13:19:27 GMT
Hi spikey, I have a mac, and androids when it comes to phones. So I mostly use: - gmail/google calendar with different sub calendars (colour coding FTW!) - any.DO on my android for simple and quick jotting down of things to do (there probably is an iphone app though) - wunderkit for project management (filmmaking, but also for planning holidays etc.) - I send stuff I want to read later to my gmail via www.notesforlater.com (the bookmarklet is in my bookmark bar which I sync to all my computers) or if I see them on my phone I just send the link to myself - I use mobisle notes on my android for shopping lists etc. hope that helps
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Post by mccutcheon on Jan 31, 2012 15:24:59 GMT
thumbs up, audrey
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Post by mccutcheon on Jan 31, 2012 15:09:28 GMT
URRRRRGH! It is MADDENING how many doctors don't have a clue about ADHD. But what is making me even angrier is how much bullshit they talk just so they don't have to admit they don't have a clue! Take, for instance, my eye specialist: She found out that my field of vision is impaired. I told her that my eye hurts and that I'm feeling nauseous a lot and that I have taken Strattera for my ADHD. "Your what?" she says. "My Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder," I say, patiently. "Ah! Yes yes yes," she says quickly. I frown inwardly but let her go on. She tells me to get my prolactin levels checked because of the field of vision thing but fails to write me a referral to the lab. Instead she tells me to go to my gyno so she can write the referral. Whut? Ah well, I'll just get my referral elsewhere then.
A week later I called her to tell her that my prolactin got checked and is fine. She says. "I'd like you to see a neurologist." Sure, sounds good to me. So I went to pick up the referral and right now, at home, I wasn't quite certain whether I was reading it correctly (it is partly handwritten), so I called and asked what she wanted the neurologist to check. Answer: "Well, what you said you wanted." Me: "Huh?" Answer: "Well, it says Antihyperactive Therapy. It's what you said you're doing. Me: *multiple headdesks* Well, turns out I was reading correctly I just didn't WANT to be reading that. She has NO IDEA so she just cobbles a couple of words together that don't even make sense in the SLIGHTEST! GNAAAAAH! And she's not the only doctor who doesn't have a clue. This is a widespread problem, at least where I live. How about you? had any doctor-cluelessness induced head-meet-desk moments?
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Post by mccutcheon on Jan 31, 2012 13:51:43 GMT
can we please just ignore him? all of us? he'll go away eventually, as all trolls do... *sigh*
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Post by mccutcheon on Jan 31, 2012 13:47:14 GMT
Update: Got my proper MRI results today. Indeed, not a brain tumor. However, I seem to have an arachnoid cyst. Wich is benign and doesn't even have to operated on if it's not symptomatic. But since I do have symptoms... still waiting on my doc's input but godsdamnit I fucking hate hospitals so I hope I don't have to go in According to the very reliable source called the intarwebs (hrhrhr) arachnoid cysts can have something to do with ADHD so I'm kind of curious to find out about that. In that case an operation could not only mean goodbye to the nausea and the headaches but maybe even a lessening of my adhd symptoms. So yeah, that's it so far.
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Post by mccutcheon on Jan 30, 2012 17:42:43 GMT
Alan, well done! And the segment's really good because it shows that ADHD doesn't have to keep anyone from living their life!
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Post by mccutcheon on Jan 28, 2012 19:38:10 GMT
congratulations, phil that is great! I'm happy for you!
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Post by mccutcheon on Jan 28, 2012 19:35:24 GMT
For future reference:
1. Don't call people names. Especially not ****. That is so fucking low. 2. Don't you dare tell other people that they "don't suffer properly" 3. I'm done.
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Post by mccutcheon on Jan 28, 2012 18:50:21 GMT
To be honest, so far I've avoided most of amblyman's threads because they kind of "annoyed" me. But I sort of stumbled into this one now without noticing at first. And now I feel a bit annoyed again. I thought I would just walk away again and not comment, but I've been giving it some thought and I kind of feel like I need to.
So, my point, and I do have one:
I think MOST OF US have had the problems of being misunderstood etc. MOST OF OUR LIVES. It's part of the disability. So I find it a bit harsh to assume you have it harder/rougher/tougher than everybody else.
Sure, we all have DIFFERENT PROBLEMS if you spell them out, but at the end of the day we ALL have to take responsibility for our own lives - ADHD or not, diagnosis or not, medication or not.
Yes, that's a lot EASIER with a proper diagnosis, some therapy and medication. But the fact that you don't have that YET doesn't mean you get to lean back and whine.
None of us got meds right away - hell, some STILL don't take meds for various reasons - but we still ALL make an effort to get better, to fight the disability, to improve.
Before I had meds I never knew when to keep my mouth shut either. But the thing is: I TRIED damn fucking hard to learn it. And I improved. I still wasn't what's considered "normal" but I got better once I knew why I was doing these things (diagnosis!). And now with the meds I'm quite the functioning person, and I've even begun to like myself (shocker!).
But I digress. When I first read your postings, amblyman, I thought "Oh shite, that's fucking bad." I was worried about your suicidal thoughts etc. But - and I hate to admit that because suicidal thoughts should NEVER be disregarded - after a while I began to get the feeling you just WANTED to whine. Like you WANTED to feel bad. And whine. And feel sorry for yourself. And then whine some more.
And sure, that's what this forum is for, in part - to get some pity when you need it and to vent and to commiserate. BUT it's also for getting better. And I have to agree with kameel (I went back and read the other threads now so I saw that she was actually really trying to help you out in a commiserating way first) that you seem quite stuck on the whining part.
I think feeling sorry for oneself is definitely part of the process. But it's a PROCESS. And that means that once you're done feeling sorry for yourself, you go pick yourself up off the floor, you wipe away the tears, you take the advice you got from your friends here and you start your path to getting better.
I really don't want to make you feel worse, amblyman. Really not! I'd like you to see that THINGS DO GET BETTER and that YOU HAVE THE POWER to make them CHANGE. That is some seriously awesome power, mate.
Any disability - be it ADHD, dyslexia, BPD or any other kind of disorder - IS an excuse. But only to a certain extent, I think, especially if it is diagnosed. It can get us some leeway when we desperately need it and that's a great thing and only fair. But then we're expected to get better, and that too is only fair, namely to the people around us.
Sorry for the long-winded comment. I do hope you get better and don't kill yourself. As stupid as that sounds just now. But it's just like I hope everyone else here can find a way to get better too.
Big fucking hug, everyone.
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Post by mccutcheon on Jan 28, 2012 18:12:48 GMT
you will never hear the end of it tsk tsk....
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Post by mccutcheon on Jan 28, 2012 18:02:45 GMT
twix, I luuuurve colors! No study session without a gazillion of pens and pencils strewn about the table
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Post by mccutcheon on Jan 28, 2012 18:01:08 GMT
oh noes, kameel, you spelled "condescending" wrong. that's going to be it now...
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Post by mccutcheon on Jan 28, 2012 17:53:22 GMT
hey shiny, nice of you to ask I've been a bit better again since I decided to avoid reading on my galaxy tablet as much as it's possible. I've also observed that the wooziness and nausea seem to come hand in hand with headaches. I'll go to a neurologist soon. I suppose it might be some kind of migraine thing. after all there are about a gazillion versions of migraine/headaches It also help that I'm not scared and watching anything my body does like a hawk
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Post by mccutcheon on Jan 26, 2012 12:59:32 GMT
kinesthetic and writing combined. reading alone doesn't work. When I studied for my diploma exam (something between Bachelor's and Master's degree here in Austria) my desk was covered in pages and pages of handwritten stuff. Some I never looked at again, because writing it down lodged it in my brain. And I love mindmaps. huge fucking mindmaps to visualise correlation. edit: But I definitely learn best by doing and not by learning. It's just not always an option (school, uni)
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Post by mccutcheon on Jan 26, 2012 9:18:24 GMT
So I went for my MRI yesterday and the doctor there immediately looked at the images and said he can't find any kind of tumor. I'll get the full results on monday but I am so fucking relieved! I knew that 99.9% it wasn't going to be a tumor, but that 0.1% chance is hella scary anyway. I feel like I put my life on hold for two weeks. got my bounce back now thank you all so much for your support. I didn't post replies but I read everything and it meant a lot to me
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