Adhd

[Lakia11]

Had a diagnosis done privately unfortunately can't continue privately due to the costs however my doctor is refusing to prescribe the medication and its at least a years wait on the nhs. My doctor said I have to be assessed again by the nhs and have them prescribe the meds.

Same happened to an old friend. She knew beforehand though, she has two other mental health diagnosis (nhs) and when she'd asked to be assessed for adhd the GP and her psychiatrist both told her that there's a long waiting list and that even if she went private she needs to be aware that she can't just get a diagnosis privately and then expect the nhs to provide the medication. She'd either have to pay for private prescriptions or wait to have an nhs diagnosis.

Yes, this is the case in some (or most) NHS trusts. I was diagnosed privately and assured at that time I'd go through titration privately but then my GP would take over prescribing on the NHS. I was then told categorically by my GP that was not the case and my local trust was (at that time) dealing with several formal complaints from other people in my situation - one person was apparently suing.

I had to undergo the full assessment process again through the NHS, then after (re)diagnosis I was discharged to the local mental health team for titration. Thankfully I'd been referred to the NHS ADHD service several months before that so I didn't have to wait long at all - in fact, the only reason I paid to go private in the first place is because the NHS service told me that my referral had been lost and I wasn't even on the waiting list. 6 days after I was diagnosed privately, I received a letter with an NHS assessment date

I haven't started the diagnosis procedure yet but I have been reading a lot about adhd and follow really helpful social media accounts and Facebook groups.

It is really helpful as I'm kinder to myself and I'm learning coping strategies - way to boost my dopamine to do tasks that I put off for example. Lions mane supplements are really helping too.

Good luck, OP. It's a long, expensive road here in Australia, too.

@Vikinga how do you boost your dopamine? I suspect a few of us would like some strategies while we wait. My procrastination seemingly knows no bounds, and my home office is squalid.