Final Year student recently diagnosed ADHD

[Tenpastseven]

Hello

This probably isn’t the right place for this thread but I’m comfy here so trying here first…

Hoping for some advice for eldest DS who has recently been diagnosed with ADHD (the non hyperactive type). I organised the assessment for him privately at great expense with a psychiatrist. well known in this field. I googled extensively and researched loads. His assessment and diagnosis was online. He tried the short acting drug which was very helpful.

BUT the psychiatrist follow up has been woeful. He should have had a follow up 4 weeks later but this hasn’t been organised. Also I was very perturbed that the assessment was sent with no encryption which feels dodgy. I don’t think the psychiatrist is dodgy but the admin system around it is a little bit off. I realise I could have chased but something has made me hold off…

So, do I chase them for a follow up and a titration procedure or do I go elsewhere and possibly closer to home for the follow up stuff now he has diagnosis. Even the GP? He’s keen to try the other sort of medication to compare the benefits to him.

Sorry this is a rambling and I’m not even sure what I’m asking but I’m anxious and want to help my son who is also low and has had MH issues in the past. I want to be enabling rather than controlling. He does appreciate and is wanting me to support him with this.

Anyone still reading 🙄🤣?

GP can't prescribe ADHD drugs, so you'd need to go back to the psychiatrist.

Ah @OberthursGrizzledSkipper that is very helpful. Thank you. Do you know if it’s ONLY psychiatrists who can prescribe? What about clinical psychologists? Mental Health nurses? Feeling really lost as to who to turn to now for a bit more proactive support…

Yes you need to chase them for titration.

Which service did you use?

A lot of private ones use nurses for titration and they tend to have long waiting lists at the moment.

GPs can’t prescribe the medications.

@BitcherOfBlakiven was it always our responsibility to chase for titration? Have I perhaps got my knickers in a twist over nothing?

Do you think it’s odd that the report was sent un-encrypted or is that standard practice? My youngest DS’s dyslexia stuff has always been sent encrypted but perhaps that’s because he’s a child cf eldest who is now 21.

PS thanks for your input both. Hugely appreciated!

Oh @BitcherOfBlakiven, we went to Dr Rosewicz.

Hi, OP -

I assume you have posted here because your DS is at university? I am writing as a former lecturer who spent several years on the Mitigating Circumstances Committee of my large School in an RG university. The details of what I say may change from place to place.

I strongly suggest consulting with the Office for Students with Disabilities at your son’s uni, if you haven’t done so already. If he should need to submit a petition for extra time, a quiet room, etc, for exams it will likely be thru this office. They will tell you what evidence they need. (At my former uni it would be too late for Jan exams but not too late for Spring coursework and May exams.)
Staff should be working from 10 Jan, latest.

If your DS should need to submit a petition for Mit Circs because of his ADHD, it will likely be beneficial if he is registered with the OSD and following their recommendations as well as any recommended medical regime. A couple of years into my term on the Committee the OSD started sending a rep to all Mit Circs meetings at my uni. The rep could and did advocate for students working constructively with the office. OTOH, a student caught short term after term by a chronic problem, who had declined to engage with the office or otherwise properly care for themselves, was often in a weaker position. (It is a tricky question of how to be fair to all students, and also of what remedies are practical.) OSD maintains strong confidentiality. Lecturers would only know who has special arrangements if they needed to; in a large course they usually don’t. And no one cares. There really isn’t any stigma. It is important for students to know this. The whole point is to help them succeed.

If you already knew this, I apologise and hope it might benefit someone else. Best wishes to your DS

Thanks so much for your thoughts @poetryandwine. The DDSS dept at his Uni are aware of his dyslexia and now his ADHD. He’s on a product design course which is 100% coursework. The Ritalin he started trying was helpful for his motivation and getting project work done but generally he’s low and stuck in a rut hence wants to try the other medication to see what difference that might make day to day.

What’s his dose?

And yes it’s up to him to communicate with his medical team.

Like you I paid for my DS to be privately assessed for ADHD. After his ADHD diagnosis, he was prescribed various medication (one at a time of course!) to see if any helped him. Unfortunately for each of them either the side effects outweighed any benefits or they had no effect on his ADHD In total he tried 4 different medications and he always had an appointment every month with the psychiatrist to discuss how he was getting on with it. I believe follow up appointments should definitely have been arranged for your DS, I mean if your DS is feeling low thi
could be a side effect of his new medication? Maybe it was an oversight but I would certainly contact them.
Eventually my DS decided that a short acting version of one of the drugs he had tried would give him some benefit during lectures (i.e help him stay awake!) and so the psychiatrist has arranged for his GP to prescribed this drug under what I believe is called a 'shared care agreement'. So he now gets his ADHD medication on the NHS.

@Dove0709 I was diagnosed privately and once I’d finished titration, my NHS Psychiatrist (that I see for CPTSD) agreed to do mine. It was a relief after months of forking out. I also take quick release, Methylphenidate, 20mg - they’re easy to snap in half too. I take them on days where I’m at Uni. And on the odd weekend when I need to focus and get some cleaning done

Thanks again for your responses. I think my DS takes the fast release one too but I don’t know the dosage. He def found it helpful as you describe @BitcherOfBlakiven. I will get back in touch with the psychiatrist to organise a follow up. I had thought that this would be automatically scheduled. Perhaps my DS has dropped the ball, which is obviously possible. I’ll follow up tomorrow and see where we get to. I will suggest the secretary copies me in to emails (my DS has given permission for this).

He’s been low for quite a while so I don’t think it’s a side effect. Plus he’s not been taking the medication that regularly, only as and when he needs it. Bitcher, do you just take the Methylphenidate (that’s Ritalin, right?) or do you want take that in combination with anything else?

Yes it’s Ritalin. I had awful side effects with Elvanse (Adderall) due to the other medications I take.

I have CPTSD so I’m on quite the cocktail although I am weaning off most of them.

That’s helpful to know, thanks again @BitcherOfBlakiven. Can I modify ask if you think your ADHD and CPTSD are connected? Absolutely no pressure to respond of you don’t want to ‘go there’ here x

Nosily* (autocorrected to modify)

My dc got an ‘educational ‘ diagnosis of ADHD in her second year of uni, with various helpful things offered, which she mostly didn’t use. We ended up getting a private psychiatrist diagnosis when she was really struggling to continue her degree. She did all the follow up of sorting out meds and did have follow up phone appts with the psych - tried Ritalin first and didn’t get on with it, then went onto Elvanse which suits her well. Once settled on that, the psychiatrist sent a recommendation to her GP (who was lovely) and now she gets NHS prescriptions which is great - a tenner a month rather than £90! Using the meds she was then able to engage more with the help offered at uni as well as doing better with the work itself, and ended up with a good degree. She is now in her second year of work and still on Elvanse for work days.

So yes I think you or your son need to chase up his psychiatrist - good luck.

To add - when my daughter got to the point where she was struggling, she was very low in mood, because battling against the ADHD and not getting anywhere, always feeling a bit useless etc, was pretty miserable and not a nice way to live! Feeling low because life is hard is a rational response, but the meds can really help.

Thanks @AtiaoftheJulii, that’s helpful. We will chase the psychiatrist today. I also had a look at the psychiatry-Uk website. Very interesting. They seem to offer support from a wide range of professionals.