ADHD privately diagnosed but I can't afford psychiatrist fees to get medication

[katalex]

I have been diagnosed with ADHD privately and referred to a psychiatrist for treatment but I can't afford it. The appointment will cost around £400 and then there's the prescription cost on top of that, which I assume will be £100+. Presumably it will require several follow up appointments to ensure that there are no bad side effects and that the medication is working. Is it likely that my GP will be able to refer me to an NHS psychiatrist or does anyone know of any more affordable private options?

What’s the prescription for? Are you sure a GP can’t prescribe it?

I don't know what medication they would recommend. I guess I could ask my GP but, even the psychiatrist I saw originally (for anxiety and he suggested that I get assessed for ADHD) said that I need to see a psychiatrist who specialises in ADHD. For clarity, the original session was covered by my health insurance for anxiety but they don't cover ADHD.

I'm waiting for a diagnosis from the NHS. I was told I had to have an NHS diagnosis in order to get meds from them. They will not give you meds on NHS from a private diagnosis.

I don't know if that is all Trusts, but it is the case with mine. I've been waiting well over a year for an appointment.

Most trusts won’t let you get meds without a nhs diagnosis. They used manage meds from private but have stopped. so if you go down the private route you now have to stay on it until you get a diagnosis from the Nhs. There is a thing called right to choose it’s paid for by the Nhs but is a private assessment and then you could get meds from the dr. It’s for anyone over 18 and you are seen very quickly

It was autism not adhd but nhs wouldn't accept diagnosis from elsewhere

First step is to get yourself on the waitlist for NHS services. That could take a while, so do it sooner rather than later.

Then yes, titration will take a bit of time and potentially a few expensive private sessions. The £400 should just be for the first session and then reviews will be approx £150 til you're stable. On top if that, you will have to pay private prescriptions costs. I'd say realistically, you are looking at about £1200 -£1500.

Once you're stable on meds, you will no longer need regular psychiatrist appointments. However, if you end up on stimulant medication, you can expect to keep paying for those privately til you get an NHS appointment: iro £100 pcm. However, if you end up with non-stimulant meds, your gp might be happy to take over prescribing.

Did you suspect you had ADHD before the dx? I'm only asking because if its all new, then there are so many gains you can make just by learning more about ADHD. Once I started finding out what ADHD was then a lot of my co morbid stuff - mainly depression- eased significantly: had lived with such crippling shame and helplessness for so long.

So maybe don't worry about meds and going private for the moment and just find out as much as poss about ADHD and see what changes you can make while waiting for NHS appointment?

If you do start thinking about going private, you need to be prepared to spend that big chunk at the start and then potentially ongoing prescription charges til you get seen by NHS.

Even if the private psychiatrist writes to the GP to ask them to prescribe? My dc was privately diagnosed with ADHD and we had to pay for two months' worth of medication (until the psychiatrist was sure that there were no bad side effects) and then she wrote to the GP to ask them to prescribe it and now they get it on the NHS.

Thanks for the suggestion about 'right to choose'. I'll look that up.

I saw a psychiatrist for anxiety, under private health insurance. He diagnosed ADHD, and sent a
prescription request to my GP for Concerta. I received the medication a week later from the NHS pharmacy.

My health insurance covered 2 more sessions, as I spent a long time discussing the fact that ADHD and anxiety were both being addressed.
The dose was increased during this time, and sent via the GP.
Then health insurance decided to stop paying, and I didn't have further appointments.
I still get Concerta dispensed via the GP.

I'm really confused about why my experience was so straightforward and inexpensive.

1. Ask your GP about right to choose.

1. Have a look at Psychiatry UK.

I had my diagnosis with them, the follow up appointment was 175, prescriptions were 15 plus cost of meds, about 35 for a month. Then it went over to shared care with my GP.

We had a private appointment for my daughter for a physical health issue. We were in the waiting list for an NHS appointment but wanted help quicker as she was in so much discomfort with it. He issued us with a private prescription. I contacted my gp surgery and they said if I dropped the prescription off at the surgery they would issue an NHS prescription for the medication. One of the meds could only be prescribed by a specialist so we had to wait a few or so for the letter from the private consultant summarising the appointment to be posted to the GP surgery. We only saw the private doctor for one appointment since then our GP has continued to prescribe the medications and our NHS paediatrician is happy to follow the treatment plan set out by the private Dr.