find help for adults in uk? | ADHD Information
hi sb,i had tons of forms to fill in before seeing dr. dowsonthen had a two hour consult with him.
i had waited two years so i had a long time to pprepare for this and made sue i gave him all the relevant info particularly about my childhood. this was fairly easy for me as i am wriring my autobiography fo i had lots of examples to give him.
i felt that he listened well and rally took on board what i had to say unlike all the other psychs and with the exception of my gp.
we also did some tests on a computer and lots of questions similar to what was on the form.
i asked him about counselling/coaching and he said there was none available [no funding] and to buy a book!
he then referred me back to dr anderson to prescribe ritalin - another dealy of 5 weeks - and then i had to have tests to see if i could take ritalin which delayed a farther 4 months.
i am now on my 8th day of ritalin and it has changed my life. i feel free.
jhaz
ps whilst i find the info on adders.org good i find the experts and advanced members rather 'precious'. having had to be proactive i prefer this to accepting the status quo which i feel they do.
also i feel that with the exception of yourself and ideaspring i get very few responses to my posts especially in the 'ask the experts section'!
Hi jhaz,
Thanks for that. I'm afraid I agree - things have gotten a little worse as of recently though.
I find that the combination of this site, Adders + ADDforums and Amenclinic forums are useful TOGETHER, in keeping me informed.
It's kinda' nice too, to see posts from some of the guys including Chazinmo, IdeaSpring and Scatterbrain and many others .... on other sites....I think because it gives a sense of unity and not competition between the various ADD forums.
I'm really glad that the Ritalin is having such a great effect on you -- Dexedrine did the same for me... but I became rather preoccupied, after seeing a number of posts on the subject and reading much on 'tolerance' with ways and means of maintaining and not losing the therapeutic benefits of medication without increasing the dose...with time.
The 'ask the experts forum' cannot unfortunately be posted to, by anyone - only Billy, administrators and moderators -- and unfortunately no replies are permitted. Probably best to post in ADDults if you'd like feedback from us.
Anyhow, glad you're doing well and it's ever such a nice day in Cambridge today, isn't it :-) I've just spent a couple of hours in Grantchester.
SB
Jhaz,
Welcome to the board, and well done for making the effort. Did you go through the NHS, or privately. The Addenbrooks in Cambridge is one of only 2 NHS hospitals to deal with the condition in adults.
I got my diagnosis a week ago, and am awaiting the report, which I can take to my GP to get the Ritalin prescription.
My doc mentioned ADD coaching as an option, although I think I will make a lot of progress on meds alone, as I've tried various routine changes, and have always felt I've been "so close" - if only I could have "a little more self discipline" etc!
You will also find www.adders.org extremely useful.
thank you so much to the 3 people who have contacted me so far! i am not very good at using my computer, getting in to sites and finding out how to respond. i get very frustrated and put off when i cannot do things immediately or if i have to go around the block to repeat a process which i oonly did a short time ago!
this is my third day on ritalin and already there have been significant changes which i hope are due to the drug and not to any psychosomatic or circumsstancial affect. i am being cautious just in case.
i would greatly value hearing from anyone elses experience of ritalin in the early stages.
re adders. org i contacted them 2 months ago and received no help and i find their site more complicated than this one.
would like to hear also from other people who have struggled for diagnosis.
i went through nhs and one psychiatrist blocked me for a year and this put another 6 months on my assessment [doone by dr dowson at addenbrookes].
thanks again for your replies and ideaspring, i hope youget your ritalin soon. mel, maybe this is your chance to educate some people especially those in positions such as social wworkers who should know better. but i do undeerstand how you feel about them.
best of luck, jhaz
Hi,
I live in Cambridge too.
If you jump onto Adders.org - you'll see that there are plenty of us ADDults about, in and around the UK,
SB.
And I thought you poms sent all us ADHD types to Australia in convict times and eliminated the gene in the homelandHi! I am a Life Coach Expert specializing in helping adults with ADD. I am delighted to share what I have found out about ADD from my coaching clients with you:
1.Medication plus ADD coaching can work wonders in helping you have a more organized, focused, stress-free life.
2. Aerobic exercise, exposure to sunshine, St. John's Wort herbal supplement and a positive attitude toward life can also do wonders to help.
3. Massaging your scalp three times daily has also been found to be very helpful in alleviating ADD symptoms for many of my coaching clients.
I wish you great success!
Michele Glance Rooney
Lifecoachexpert@aol.com
Hi
I am from the uk and I got diagnosed last year at the Very young age of 36 .. I went to www.lanc.uk.com .. thay are in west sussex .. thay also do a follow up service where you can phone them up ... I also go every year for a like I call it a top up !! .. I can recommend them .. I have been helped so much.
Good luck Moon6
Hi P
I know its hard having ADHD and also being a mum .. 
Hi!
I live up north near hull and I'm currently having a hell of a time getting a diagnosis. For the last few years i've been treat for depressin, social anxiety, anxiety etc with no joy. I mentioned the possibility of adhd about year ago and was basically shrugged off. My phychiatrist has blocked me too. I've found a new gp now and all though it took some time, she's come round to the possibility of adhd. Now I need to get a diagnosis and she says she can't give me one. I'd be interested jhaz, where did you get diagnosed and how did you go about it? Was it through the NHS. With all the media interference, it's so goddam hard to get this disorder taken seriously
pretty_lost
Try Integrated Neurocare - http://www.integratedneurocare.com/
It will cost you - £215 for the first appointment, and there will be follow up, but it will be money well spent. See earlier posts about adders.org too for further advice
hello,
i fully sympatise with your situation.
it is two years since i first suggested that i may have adhd.
the first psychiatrist i saw gave me a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder, the second cyclothymia and the third told me that i did not have a mental illness, i was not 'ill' enough to warrant any support and maybe in 20 years when more was known about the brain they would be able to treat people better!
she did promise me initially that she would refer me but kept putting me off. after 11 months i finally took an advocate with me and challenged her. she admitted that she had said she would refer me but had not done so for 'my own protection' against a negative result. she thought that i was just looking for a label. she also said that even if i was positive she would not prescribe ritalin or similar drug. she finally agreed to refer me and subsequently left without doing so.
luckily her replacement referred me immediately but i had to wait 6 months for my assessment and a farther 5 weeks for the report to travel 2 doors down to her room.
they then meade me have extensive tests to make sure that ritalin would not damage my liver and finally 4 months on i am on my 7th day of ritalin.
i had no option but to go down the nhs route. it was not through choice and i am very very angry at the length of time it has taken me.
if you choose this route you will have to be very very strong and be prepared and persevere. but it is worth it.
i feel as if i have been let out of a prison and that life is worth living instead of just existing.
go for it!
see adders.org for good info about being referred.
there are only 2 nhs hospitals in the country which diagnose, addenbrookes where i went and the maudsley.
good luck!!!!
jhazjhaz38248.4011805556
Hi jhaz,
Did you see Dr Dowson? and what was the diagnostic process like?
I had to fill in a bunch of forms and had about a 30-45 minute consultation.
No follow-ups with Dr Dowson though.
Thanks,SB.
SB_UK38248.4784027778Thanks Moon6. Actually, I am the mum of an ADHD adult , I don't have ADHD myself. I'm truly grateful for that! I shall give that number a ring tomorrow, or soon. I haven't had any luck tracking down anyone in my area. But thanks for the info. Is there anyone else in this forum who may have more they can tell me? Thanks ParlicootAll through childhood social workers and people would put my behaviour down to bad parenting but my brother & sister are both normal they are in their late 20's much older than me. Im the baby 18yrs old! Cos I have Adhd I always used to get jealous of my brother and sister always felt like they came before me as my mum had hard time coping with the way i acted all the time being naughty. I got dianosed at the age of 6 with Adhd but again my psycharist and social services wouldnt belive it they became very anxious as they thought something bad was going on in my family but it was nothing like that. At 13yrs old my psychairst told me he knew I have Adhd but wanted me to believe it within myself, I was put on Ritalin which I took for for years but now I am 18 they don't want me to take medication anymore as they think I am normal now I am an adult but it dont just disappear of course my Adhd is still with me. Im having a battle with my local Doctors surgery. I have coped this long without seeing my child psycharist I dont need to see a shrink to discussions my life problems or be monitor now hi sb,thanks for the tip about posting rplies. i am still quite illiterate vis a vis computers and web sites but now i can pay more attention, focus and sustain effort i am learning more everyday.
took up also your suggestion about addforums and have now registered there.
yes yesterday was glorious, just as today is miserable!
a thought i had about ritalin yesterday - 'it is the key in the ignition which starts the engine, then i can and have to do the driving.' - does this make sense?
jhaz
jhaz,
That does make sense. I'd say that it is the stabiliser on the steering wheel which stops me wanting to come of the motorway (freeway for our American friends) at each exit, so I can get on with driving to my destination.
In fact jhaz, the comment that you've made has been made several times before on these various sites -- and so a resounding yes.
You get to focus, concentrate ... to be motivated and achieve a sense of reward more easily....but the direction one chooses to direct these newfound skills isn't driven by the medication....it's driven by your aspirations...
PS--Your question about med effects on ADDers vs NonAdders is one of the small handful of questions that I have also needed to find an answer to.
In fact, that's the jist of the thread I started and that was locked by the moderators of the site. Unfortunately I haven't received any answers to that specific question on this site as yet...but I have on the AmenClinics Forum...from a stimulant user of 13 years standing now.
SB.
I'm just about to call lanc.uk. I've suggested it to my doc and she said that she'd refer me. Not sure if I'l get it on the NHS though. Its really frustrating that my doc can't give me any meds until an official diagnosis. I'm really angry bout the length of time it takes in the Uk to get such a diagnosis. I guess it makes sure that they diagnose the right people. Only people who seriously think they have this disorder can get the right diagnosis. Probably due to the persistance, determination and knockbacks we have to deal with.Too right! We looked at lanc.uk, and my son rang them. He has an info pack, but we know it's going to cost too much. And our gp isn't convinced ADHD is the right diagnosis - not that he's got any other ideas!! Or if he has, he's not prepared to say. It is truly frustrating. On every indicator chart we've ever seen, there's a forest of 'yes' ticks for all the symptoms. We've known for about 6 years, but things weren't helped by my son's insistence that he likes himself the way he is, and didn't want to become a zombie on meds. He's still terrified that Ritalin (or whatever) will change him for ever. The rest of us are praying for the day!!!! Only joking. But I sometimes feel I'm coming to the end of my tether with all the worry. Even tho he's a man, his daily life is in such chaos, and I can't do anything to help.
ParlicootParlicoot,
The Meds won't change his personality, but they may well help him get more done. I've been taking Ritalin for about a month now, and have been able to get much more done, even if I am still pretty easily distracted. I am much more able now to anticipate distractions, and try to keep the modem cable detached!
My energy levels are up massively, but I am ultimately more "stable" - getting somewhere near a 9am start each morning, which I haven't been able to do for years. That's a big plus.
I know we don't like paying for things we are used to getting for free, but I am a firm believer that it was worth the investment. Can he really afford not to seek treatment?
I've just been on the phone to lanc.uk and it will cost £575 for the initial assessment and diagnosis, a further £180 for a meeting with a phychiatrist and further costs for telephone consultations (charged by the minute - please ask bill payers permission before calling). Heck, that's a lot of cash. Worth it I'm sure. But I'm gonna try and go through the primary care trust. Does anybody know about how likely that is? Or anything about medical insurance? The lady on the phone mentioned that when claiming it's all about the wording.
Hi Jhaz
You are at an interesting stage in you life .. I am also an ADHD adult .. I was diagnosed last year .. I felt as if every emotion was going off all the time .. it was a relief to finally
get it , then I would think oh s*** and get angry at all the missed oppertunities 
... lol ... give me a email if you want to chat .. I live in Cumbria uk .. ok hang in there Moon6
hello,
ihave recently been diagnosed with adhd at the age of 49. i live in cambridge, uk and have had to fight for 2years to be diagnosed and be put on ritalin which i have just started today.i asked for counselling and was told none was available and therefore to buy myselfa book and get on with it.
i have been unable to contact any other adult in the uk with adhd although i have tried. i need to talk to someone who understands. can anyone , anywhere help me pleasse?! I WOULD BE SO GRATEFUL!
JHAZ
added to this first message on 14th to respond to replies.
sorry i find it difficult to use these sites and realise i should have posted new message.
bear with me whilst i find my way around, computers frustrate me!
jhaz
jhaz38244.8811111111Hi there Im also in UK I live near Harlow so cambridge is only train away from me. Im 18yrs old & have had behaviouhal problems since I was dianosed with Adhd at the age of 6. Life has been a struggle as social workers and authority put it down to bad parenting they just thought I was a naughty child but my mum fight on & now I have been on Ritalin since the age of 13 when my psycharist admitted he knew I had Adhd but wanted me to believe it myself come to turns with this disorder. Im 18 now but there's still days when I smash things my temper is still there my problem will never go away you can't just cure it medication does help. I got a letter other day from my mental health team where I live as now Im adult Im under the adult team they want to assess me see if I still got Adhd but of course I have Im not going to attend the meetings otherwise I will never get shot of them they will be monitor me all the time I've coped so far as long as Im on medication Mel17herts38242.2242592593