Not good

[thesootherfairy]

Hi everyone.
Been on MN a long time but NC for this.
I'm late 40s. Have had anorexia for a very long time (since teens). Had no help then despite v low BMI during teens 20s and early 30s.
Asked for help last summer. Was officially diagnosed with anorexia.
At first I was told by local Ed service that there was no waiting and treatment starts immediately.
Transpires this isn't true and only applies if you're under 20.
I was at first fobbed off with monthly appointments.
Then given booklets which were clearly aimed at teens (talks about school and generally aimed at v v young people).

The local service didn't even have chairs for adults during appointments. Same low chairs they have at my sons primary school for the children.

Psychologist for the monthly appointments has a style more suited to a police interrogation. Rapid fire questions and very push. When I did try to answer the questions, she would interrupt with: "oh look we only have x minutes left". And then rapid fire more questions she clearly didn't want an answer to.

I kept asking why if I had been accepted for weekly treatment, I was only having monthly appointments. Eventually she admitted that there was a 2 year wait and these appointments monthly (that I had been lead to believe was treatment) isn't treatment at all.

If the service didn't bother with these monthly appointments then they'd be able to treat people more quickly.

The local service is supposed to treat all ages. However it's only geared up for children. Even down to the furniture.

I've gone off the whole idea. I don't like the lady I have to meet monthly. She's quite rude and clueless about adults.
I've emailed and said I won't be coming for any more of these very upsetting monthly things and I would just rather wait.
I've had a reply back to say I have to attend as they have to monitor my physical health by weighting me, checking blood pressure and blood test. In 5 months they've not done this so far. I've not had a single blood test, had my blood pressure taken or been weight (all she commented on re weight was, "well as you weigh yourself, you know what your weight is doing").

I really don't want to go back there. I don't want to spend another minute with the rude woman. And I really don't think I actually want any treatment now. The whole thing has been counter productive and made things worse.

Does anyone here have experiences of adult ED services? Pref experience regarding some one middle aged and how the service dealt with that and how treatment was provided and waiting times etc.

Tia

ED services are so underfunded accessing treatment is difficult. I am in the middle of a long and frustrating wait for treatment.

Are you under CMHT? If so, they might be able to ask some questions on your behalf about the monthly appointments.

In many areas GPs are responsible for medical monitoring. Are you concerned about your physical health?

It sounds like you have been on the waiting list for a while. Can you contact them and ask how much longer before you start weekly treatment?

Hi @Rustnot
Not under CMT I don't think? What is CMT?

Here GPS don't do medical monitoring I don't think. My Gp said the ED service would take care of me.

I've got another 2 years on the waiting list. If I'm really lucky and other people drop out, it's 18 months. If I'm unlucky and they get more under 18s, it could be much longer than 2 years.

It's very age discriminatory. If I was 18 I would be 4 months into weekly treatment by now.

CMHT is the community mental health team.

I wish I had a suggestion as to how things could be sped up for you - it's far too long to be waiting. It's so disheartening to ask for help only to find that the wait for it is so long.

Which part of the country are you in?

Tagging this to reply later. My experience with adult ED services has been very different to yours.

Actually, I have a bit of time now.

How did you access the service? I was referred via my GP twice. The second time he was proactive in chasing things up when movement wasn't quick enough.

Both times I had an initial assessment with adult ED services and my treatment went from there and has varied from weekly to up to 4 weekly. Alongside community MH I have regular GP appts for the bloods and repeat meds (I think it's standard for the GP to monitor physical health during community MH treatment).

This is two different counties.

I know provision can vary, but your county seems to have none at all.

Is your GP supportive?

I do want to ask, do you feel ready to engage in treatment? What was it that made you ask for help last summer (a very brave thing to do OP [hugs])

Orig, how long did you have to wait from referral to treatment? Did you have an anorexia diagnosis?

@TheOrigRights my GP has already chased them around to no avail.
She even offered to make a special application to the local CCG for them to fund adult treatment elsewhere as the local service isn't offering what they claim to be!! My GP couldn't do more tbh.

The problem with making that special funding application is that it will take up to a year to get the funding through and I would then need to be accepted elsewhere and wait for treatment there (ie other area most likely London).

@Rustnot I'm in Kent.

@TheOrigRights my GP referred me to them. It's the only service she can refer into.

Both GP and the service said the Ed service would monitor physical items. However they're not doing this and haven't been for more than 4 months.

In my view unless you're a teenager, they're about as much use as a chocolate teapot.

I did contact BEAT who said I should complain about them.

I'm not feeling much like complaining tbh.

I really feel for you - my experience has been different but similarly frustrating. I was wondering if you were in the same area as me but you aren't.

I would take your GP up on their offer to take it to the CCG, because it sounds like you have nothing to lose but perhaps something to gain.

Could you write to your MP? I know you say you don't feel like complaining but it might help. I would also contact the ED service and ask about bloods etc. I realise that is a lot of chasing you shouldn't have to do. Is there anyone who could support you with all of this? I know how exhausting it all is.

@Rustnot

Orig, how long did you have to wait from referral to treatment? Did you have an anorexia diagnosis?

Not very long at all. Initial contact from MH services was very quick, then appt for initial assessment came through quickly for a few weeks ahead. Then the actual appts with psychiatrist and ED nurse were set up very quickly.

That was the first time.

The second, again it was all quite quick, but then first lockdown happened a few days after my initial assessment. I didn't hear a thing for a few weeks, but then everything was set up virtually (apart from physical checks obv).

[quote thesootherfairy]**@TheOrigRights my GP has already chased them around to no avail.
She even offered to make a special application to the local CCG for them to fund adult treatment elsewhere as the local service isn't offering what they claim to be!! My GP couldn't do more tbh.

The problem with making that special funding application is that it will take up to a year to get the funding through and I would then need to be accepted elsewhere and wait for treatment there (ie other area most likely London).

@Rustnot I'm in Kent.

@TheOrigRights my GP referred me to them. It's the only service she can refer into.

Both GP and the service said the Ed service would monitor physical items. However they're not doing this and haven't been for more than 4 months.

In my view unless you're a teenager, they're about as much use as a chocolate teapot.

I did contact BEAT who said I should complain about them.

I'm not feeling much like complaining tbh.

[/quote]
This sounds awful and I'm so sorry. Essentially they don't have a service then, so it seems entirely fruitless to be referred.

It sounds like it needs to be escalated way up, but that's not your battle.

Orig, your experiences sound really positive. Were they both within the same service?

I also wonder if wait times also have anything to do with the way they triage risk i.e. those with lower weights are seen quicker as they are more likely to have physical problems (not that I am asking you to disclose any information about weight etc).

I'm so pleased you were able to get help quickly - it is such a shame that access to help seems dependent on where you live.

for fairy - I really hope you are able to access support and treatment soon.

I recognise that I have been very fortunate.

They were in different (but neighbouring) counties.

I am 50 BTW, so not a young woman by anyone's definition!

@thesootherfairy maybe Beat can help you write a complaint, though I totally understand why you don't feel like it. from me, too.

@TheOrigRights @Rustnot thank you both.
Not really sure what I'll do. I'm just very fed up.