Adult ADD

[TRus]

Has anyone been diagnosed with ADD as adult.
Would my GP prescribe medication or refer me to psychiatrist for that?
I tried an online test. It's interesting to know that even when doing a questionnaire I missed two questions.

Not a GP thing, it's a psychiatrist thing and you need a proper assessment. The meds are controlled, so my GP won't get involved at all except for the initial referral. It's also different in every area, so talk to your local support group.

The GP will refer you to a psychiatrist. There will be a very long (around 18 months-3 years) wait. Then you will be assessed by a psychiatrist. At that point you will probably be offered medication, but will need to have lots of health checks first, and will then be under the supervision of a psychiatrist until you are sorted out with the right meds at the right dosage.

What's "a proper assessment" and can it be done by a psychiatrist under NHS?
I do realise that this will take a long time and is very expensive.
At the minute I struggle to get even past primary care ( but I didn't mention suspected ADD). It does stop me from functioning and I thought trying the medication would solve the problem.

Thanks for a reply.
My son's schools both mentioned his struggles with focusing on a task and being prone to distraction. He has been an extremely active and sociable child all his life (to the point when I couldn't breast feed other than at night when he was five months old). School also points out he is very able. Been exceeding expectations since joing nursery.
I looked at ADD again recently and found out two things: it can be caused by low dopamine and it can be genetic/ hereditory.
I read a description of a woman in her 40s who got diagnosed and there are many similarities.

It's a proper assessment by the psychiarist. Goes through all the rating scales and all your history, problems and symptoms. It's quite thorough.

GP is the first port of call. They will tell you what it's like locally, total postcode lottery. Lots of people go private and there's also right to choose in England, so they get referred to Psychiatry UK.

Have a look at the info on the ADHD Foundation facebook page and website. Adult ADHD group on FB.

The dx is ADHD, not ADD too for reasons to do with the official definitions, which I forget!

@TRus Hi there, I was diagnosed with ADD this year at the age of 44 and it has been life changing. How are you getting on?

@TRus this is the form that I had to fill in, had to ask my parents for help which in itself was quite therapeutic. I ended up going private due to the NHS delays.......www.advancedassessments.co.uk/resources/ADHD-Screening-Test-Adult.pdf

Hi - I know this is not the most recent thread but we have worked out that DS 18 has most likely got ADD. I wanted to know where to go for private assessments. Looking online near us they are around £1000! Also meds, are these always necessary, the possible side effects look quite worrying or is this not always a problem? Can it be managed in another way? Thank you.

@gegs73 Hi there. I know it's a lot of money but for me it was totally worth it....it has been life changing insofar as it has explained a lot of things, and it might well be the case for your son as well? I have BUPA health care so they covered the initial assessment but then I have had to pay for everything else.

I was unsure about taking medication, but I only take it as and when and there are no real side effects. There are other ways to manage it but it is very much dependent upon the individual I think.

Hello - thank you for getting back to me. It’s a really good idea about BUPA as we do have it. I’ll check out if we can get him assessed through them. Good to hear there are no real side effects with the meds, what I have read about them all sounds pretty scary. I’m really pleased that it worked out well for you getting the diagnosis.

I'm convinced I have this. Disappointing to hear about the long waits but lovely to hear how its changed your life @dustybrother
Thanks for the link

@gegs73 No problem at all. Basically, BUPA will cover the cost of ruling out ADHD/ADD as they don't cover the treatment costs associated with behavioural diagnoses (certainly under my cover they don't). Good luck with it all.

@TheLighthouse23 Yeah I was a bit put off initially but definitely worth it. Good luck with it all and happy to answer more questions on it.

Thanks so much 😊