To think £290 for my prescription is insane?!

[Justintimeee]

Posting here for traffic

I was diagnosed with ADHD 18 months ago and have been receiving monthly medication since.

I have been having follow up zoom calls with my psychiatrist every 6 weeks at a cost of £170. On top of that, to actually have the prescription written is £25 and the meds themselves are £95 so it is a huge cost for me.

The meds have completely turned my life around so I really do not want to go back to life without them.

The issue is, I can no longer afford to pay for the £170 follow ups so regularly. I have asked for a prescription but it has been refused if I don't book a follow up so I am at a loss... I had no idea they were mandatory for me to get medication when I have been diagnosed.

Do I just find another doctor? Is it the same everywhere? I have been refused shared care due to some NHS rules against accepting patients from private ADHD doctors so I don't know what to do.

I am in Essex if it helps.

So have you actually been referred on the nhs?

Grandmasswag · Today 07:03*

*Yalta · Today 00:46

Grandmasswag. Which do you think is a ticking time bomb.
Middle aged people who are obese and can’t stop constantly snacking

Or people on ADHD meds who have lost 5 stone in weight and have a healthier diet and lower blood pressure

My blood pressure and heart rate have gone down since I have been on meds and stopped my snacking and now am 5 stone lighter*

That might be the case in the short term for some people. I mean there are other less risky ways to lose weight though, with help from drugs too. But the fact is increasing numbers of people taking amphetamine medications, many who have survived to middle age without them and many who are wrongly diagnosed anyway, will lead to problems down the line. There will be a scandal akin to the opioid scandal in time. They have normalised them in exactly the same way as they normalised opioids use. It was all brilliant, successful businesses to boot. Until it wasn’t

What exactly are these less risky ways to lose weight that work for someone with ADHD

You do realise that untreated ADHD has its own already documented risks that on average knock 13 years off someone’s lifespan

Can I ask why losing 5 stone and lowering blood pressure and heart rate is only short term?

The biggest scandal is how those of us of a certain age are only just being diagnosed now and left to look back on the wreckage of our lives despite having classic symptoms in childhood.

Surviving till middle age is exactly what those of us who did make it to middle age did.
Surviving isn’t living well.

Look around at those who didn’t get treatment. A lot didn’t make it to middle age.
The prison population is mostly made up of people with untreated ADHD. I read about a woman who helps many prisoners who have undiagnosed adhd to get diagnosed and get meds and on their release have never reoffended. Which given the reoffending rate is something of a miracle.

You mention opioid use and people getting addicted to their medication
That just proves you don’t understand ADHD
Anyone with diagnosed ADHD and in charge of taking their own meds will be laughing at the comparison
Being addicted means you desperately need your meds and wouldn’t miss a single dose
I would say that we need reminders to take our meds
The very opposite of addiction.

The biggest scandal is how those of us of a certain age are only just being diagnosed now and left to look back on the wreckage of our lives despite having classic symptoms in childhood.

This. This a million times over. And many of us are still waiting.

It’s amphetamines. Essentially speed (though I realise it not the same as street speed). It’s makes you feel great, have loads of energy, get shit done. Of course there are risks and downsides. And the risk that people relying on it function may not be able to come off (otherwise known as addiction) despite negative physical side effects. I predict there will eventually be lawsuits akin to the Perdue crisis (opioids). It’s exactly the same playbook. Make loads of people think an addictive and dangerous drug is a miracle cure for a condition thats diagnosed by dodgy private clinics based largely on self reporting. It’s no wonder the NHS won’t take on prescribing for private providers really

There is so much wrong with this

Firstly I take the top amount of meds you can take. I don’t feel any different. I don’t run around like a tornado getting shit done. The only difference is I don’t have to take a nap every 2 hours and am not looking in the fridge every 5 minutes trying to find a dopamine hit. I only get the quiet mind that NT’s have for a couple of hours twice per year at most and in that time I always think why can’t It be like this always. I could run a huge multinational if my mind was this quiet everyday

There is this thought that having ADHD and taking meds (speed) means you will get addicted
Believe me when I tell you that to get addicted you would have to take your meds without prompting from someone or something which for someone with adhd is never going to happen.

Anyone thinking that their ADHD child is going to become an addict to SPEED. I can assure you that isn’t going to happen and even after 10 years and they are an adult you will still be asking, “Have you taken your meds today” “Go and take them now”

Trez1510 · 17/01/2024 17:17

*Whoopsmahoot · 17/01/2024 16:36

The bar is set so high to save the nhs money. The panorama documentary was poorly run as the man who was tested told the adhd companies different things to what he told the nhs. No consistency. My son’s nhs exam (which I witnessed some of) was run like a police interview, very strict, very dismissive. The private company was relaxed and got to know my son first before any questions. Why would we pay over £2000 so far if we didn’t think it was working? Within 1 hr of taking meds my son was able to sit and concentrate on college work- I’d never seen anything like it.

*Not sure what your point is, really?

Is it that people who have their needs met do not display symptoms?

Is it that when a person's needs are not being met (by themselves as adults or their caregivers as children) their ADHD symptoms manifest?

Is it that NHS 'interrogate' those claiming to have ADHD? (Personally, I read that as robust investigation by professionals who know their stuff and can spot a chancer when they see one .... )

Is it that commercial providers who are taking money directly from the person claiming to have ADHD (or their caregivers/indulgent parents) have a warm, fuzzy approach and tell them what they want to hear when presenting them with the bill?

Surely the answer is for the adult would-be ADHD patient (or their caregiver if a child) to ensure the person's other needs (emotional, dietary, sleep, exercise - as defined by you) continue to be met rather than zap them up on dangerous stimulants?

The reason you'd pay £2k is because you believe you know better than a qualified psychiatrist and you've found a warm, fuzzy person (with a ravenous eye on your bank account) to agree that, yes, indeed, you are right and the qualified professional is wrong. 😉

PS Hit me with stimulants and I'd be able to perform just about any feat you want of me*

Adhd is something you are born with. If you have it then most likely one or both of your parents have ADHD or someone in your family has it
It isn’t caused by anything external.it isn’t cured by 8 hours sleep and some healthy food
Someone with ADHD isn’t going to run around feeling fantastic after they have taken their meds. They are just (if they are lucky) going to get a quieter brain and be calmer

Adhd medication is something that helps deliver dopamine to the parts of the brain that need it.

Physically our brains are a different shape and lack certain veins compared with a neuro typical brain

When we take speed the result is at best we get to your normal brain function. When NTs take speed then that goes beyond anything we can hope to experience.

Adhd is a dopamine difficiency in the parts of the brain that needs dopamine.
Living with and without dopamine is the difference between coping with life without too much effort and spending your life masking who you are and putting in more effort than you ever thought was humanely possible and failing

@Yalta

I was responding to pp who argued when a person's basic needs are fulfilled, then ADHD does not manifest. I was questioning why, then, parents don't strive to meet such basic needs in their children, rather than dragging them around for assessments/drugs?

(I don't buy the pp's argument, but she's on a mission to prove that her adult child whose ADHD only manifested in early adulthood has been transformed by diagnosis ..... and, of course, amphetamines.

Now, you are saying there are genetic factors at play, along with physical differences in the brains of those with ADHD.

"Physically our brains are a different shape and lack certain veins compared with a neuro typical brain"

My question would be why spend time and effort psychologically diagnosing people (and leaving them open to suspicion when it's a private diagnosis for which they are unwilling to pay for ongoing medication) when a scan would confirm ADHD where it exists?

Surely scanning would be very effective at preventing people taking
amphetamines unnecessarily whether that's via the public or their private purse?

Given that they do look different on scans, it's a very good question why it isn't used to diagnose ADHD. I can only guess cost/resources.

Agree with PPs. I'm not seen 'addictive' behaviour in my DD - she doesn't take meds at weekends or school holidays (I wish) and I have to remind her to take her meds all the time. Yet I can tell in around 5 minutes conversation if she forgot to take them.

And no, the effect isn't like someone NT on speed. She just appears normal - you can have a rational conversation, she's not fidgeting with everything. Far from being hyper and 'getting stuff done', she's calm and can focus on one thought at a time rather than going off on tangents every two seconds.

In any case, the evidence shows that people with untreated ADHD have extremely high levels of self-medication - alcohol, nicotine, street drugs - so I have zero problems with my child taking medication under specialist supervision that will probably hugely reduce the likelihood of her doing it herself.

I'm slightly confused by people's anger over the choice to go private - if anything it frees up the waiting lists on the NHS. When we were facing a 3 year wait, the NHS GP very strongly advised that we find the money and use a private provider. That way DD might actually pass some GCSEs and not end up in a far worse mess with her mental health (at a much greater cost to the NHS).

When you have been stuck trying to get a Dx for 4 years because everything stopped with Covid, the schools are all in lockdown (so how can any teacher write a report on a kid they've only ever seen on zoom) and you can't see a GP let alone a consultant, why would you take the risk of waiting until they have already finished school when there's the option to get seen in a couple of months - and it's going to be far cheaper than a tutor?

There isn't a ring-fenced pot of money for ADHD drugs either so it makes no difference if the NHS have written the Rx or if you are on shared care. Yes there's currently a global shortage of the meds, but that should be temporary.

@OhCrumbsWhereNow nice attempt at deflection/ justification of queue jumping... no ring-fenced pot of money. I'll repeat: NHS budgets are FINITE. I'll also repeat: Either go private and accept all the costs of doing so or don't. Just don't pretend you're not using your financial advantage to queue jump your child onto NHS budgets, thanks.

Fine - I paid privately to get my child seen and treated. And now I happily get my NHS GP - WHO TOLD ME TO GO PRIVATE - to sign off her prescriptions via the NHS. Given the NHS is not free I feel totally justified in doing this.

Zero guilt here. Just as I have zero guilt paying for tutoring, music lessons, art classes, holidays and everything else that I do to give my child the best possible start in life.

Perhaps if the NHS spent less money on rainbow flags, 'chest-feeding leaflets' and other diversity bollocks there might be some more money in this 'finite' pot for important things.

It’s the diagnosis appointments that there are queues for not medication. If you need it you need it. Makes no odds how you had your diagnosis so you should be entitled to needed medication on the NHS.

Wonen and girls are the ones likely to have been missed when they shouldn’t have been. They are more likely to be stuck on lists with damaging behaviours when older . If they’re driven to private diagnosis that’s not their fault.

Have you read the thread? That's not correct

Yes I have read the thread, what isn’t correct?

All the comments about the difficulty in getting shared care for medication after a diagnosis made privately or using RTC.