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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Pursuing an ADHD diagnosis

5 replies

Whenwilligrowup · 27/10/2022 21:44

Sorry, not really an AIBU.
So for about ten years I've been 98% sure I have inattentive ADHD. It literally affects every single aspect of my life, and most of the time I'm ashamed, embarrassed, feel useless, and sad that I've never reached my potential. Ive done about a million self diagnosis quizzes online and every time my results are off the chart, and I've done enormous amounts of research (whilst procrastinating!) everything I read is like reading about myself.
I'm nearly 35 now, and I just need to get my life together for my kids sake as much as mine. But I'm so overwhelmed about how to even approach my gp? It's impossible to get a face to face appointment in my practice so you generally send an email request at first. Would it seem nuts to just email my gp with all my symptoms? There are so many that I can't even really articulate properly!
Can't afford to go private unfortunately.
Anyone in the same boat or who is able to share any advice?

OP posts:
TequilaSetAWatchman · 27/10/2022 21:55

You could be me this time last year. I’m 35 and got my ADHD diagnosis in April. I was very lucky to have the diagnosis covered by private health cover, but paid privately for my follow ups while my medication was titrated.

look at the adhd uk website for advice. If you’re in England you can take the Right to Choose route which means you can ask your gp to refer you to an adhd specialist service, eg psychiatry uk. They have a long waiting list but the sooner you’re on it, the sooner you’ll get to the top. The adhd uk site will have a copy of a brief screening questionnaire you can fill out and take to your gp and advice of what to say.

good luck - I hope you get the help you need. It is honestly the best thing I’ve ever done, it has made my life so much better. Meds don’t fix everything (I still procrastinate a lot) but they are such a help. It’s like getting glasses and suddenly being able to see better.

CandidaAlbicans78 · 27/10/2022 22:08

I asked my GP 8 months ago. She told me I had to put it in a letter to her ( history etc). The fact that 8 months on I am no closer to writing that letter should be diagnostic in itself 😳🙄 I'm very certain I meet the criteria, I've been medicated for depression from 17-44 and going through my daughter's assessment was like an epiphany, maybe I'm not actually bloody depressed after all. GP said NHS looking at 2 years + for a referral here.

roaringmouse · 27/10/2022 22:44

Hi OP. You've spent a lot of time considering this and although you're almost certain of your ADHD diagnosis, you are looking for a medical professional to confirm this back to you, to help validate your experience, and hopefully move forwards with greater personal insight, and perhaps some practical, possibly medicinal, support.

This is completely understandable, and to me it sounds as if you need to stop doing the online quizzes and get on with pursuing the professional assessment that will ultimately confirm or deny an ADHD diagnosis.

I would suggest you contact your GP in the first instance, to request a face to face consultation.

Then, while you're waiting for a response, write an email/letter to the GP, both outlining, and detailing, your concerns. Definitely list your symptoms, along with how these affect your daily life. Summarise what you'd like to happen next, i.e. an assessment.

Then, depending on whether you are given a face to face appointment, or requested to write to the doctor directly, you have something ready to either use as a reminder in your face to face meeting, or send via email.

It's likely that if the GP agrees to referring you for an assessment, the wait time is likely to be many months, although not always. You may be lucky and be seen more quickly, and the process is likely to be multi-faceted and multi-staged.That said, I only have experience of child services, and maybe it's different for adults. In our case though, we were initially sent questionnaires to complete (as were the school and other relevant settings), then we were seen by a nurse for a triage appointment, and then finally another appointment with a consultant psychiatrist.

I wish you the best OP, although do be prepared for the strange mix of relief, sadness, grief and loss that comes with such a diagnosis.

And remember, most of us, ADHD or not, never reach our full potential, so try not to feel too bad about that. Life just gets in the way!

quokka5 · 27/10/2022 22:44

See if you can have an initial phone call with the mental health nurse at the surgery. I did that, as it was easier than getting GP appointment.

Kennykenkencat · 04/01/2023 23:47

Could you print out your results from one of the online tests and send that

It was my Dd who thought there was something wrong with her and came to me with a list of symptoms of ADHD.

I told her that I had all those symptoms and I had them as a child as well and I had never been diagnosed with ADHD and no one had ever even suggested it.

4 months later I was in the psychiatrists office having just been told I had scored 9/9 for both inattentive and hyperactive adhd. To which I replied

Wow… Top of the class… I’ve never scored full marks in anything before

And walked out of his office clutching my first prescription for 20mg of Elvanse

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