Where can I find treatment?

[Anonymous]

Dr.J~ Great website. I live on southern Vancouver Island BC and am exhausted looking a professional for ADD treatment. I have had ADD for over 30 years. It feels like living in quicksand. Over 350,000 people live here & only one Dr. specializes in this.(& he was a large disappointment). I am so tried of this disorder and find myself engaging so very little in daily life as I get older because of never finishing things and all that goes with it. I have lost my sparkle for life and forget what joy and passion is. Your website gives me hope but where do I go from here? I have looked everywhere I can think of on the internet and still come up with nothing. Leah

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[Anonymous]

Leah, I really can relate to how you feel. I also find it VERY hard to stay “up “. Somehow, I manage to keep going…. I can say ditto to your comments about joy, sparkle and passion.

. I’m in an area where there seem to be many resources. A CHADD group, A few psychiatrists who claim to have ADHD as their specialty, and a growing number of coaches and on and on. I’ve spent a lot of time and $$ and yet I feel like I’m not really getting anywhere. The MDs seem to only use medications and I’ve often been misdiagnosed as bi-polar. I am currently working with yet a new MD. I think he has helped me to get to a place where I’m ready to make some changes. When he starts me on a new med he starts very slowly and that has made a previously not helpful med work much better. But he does not work with a therapist who really gets it. He is the only professional who has even mentioned sleep and exercise (really important, tho’ I find it hard to do ! ) An ideal situation would be a place where all of the needs could be provided in one place !!!! Perhaps that will happen…..

BUT….. There is a wonderful book by Nancy Ratey, The Disorganised Mind. The book and her website promote the possibility of “self-coaching”. My problem is I really need an understanding support person to help me do the things she suggests !!! And that has been hard to find. About 5 years ago I started an adult ADD support group. It really had potential. Lots of people came. But it was a bit of chaos. It needed a non-add person to help it work. The organisation ADDA (www.add.org ) has a manual for making a support group. I may try to do one again.

Well this has been a lot of reply. I’m getting older and really need to help myself if the balance of my life is going to have value.

Perhaps we can help each other if you are interested… In hope, Jayzee

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[Anonymous]

Hi Folks I really like the idea of self-coaching and, in the absence of any other useful help, I guess that is at least a place to start.

I found the website http://www.flylady.net very helpful both for the strategies offered to help overcome procrastination, clutter (in the home, in the office and in the head), poor self esteem and for the daily emails that act as reminders of the habit that you choose to work on.

The website and email reminders may seem overwhelming at times but the basic philosophy is to start with one habit at a time, establish it until it becomes autopilot then tack on another habit and so on until you can feel some relief from longstanding issues.

Dr. Jain mentions this technique in one of the videos on this site and flylady.net is a system that sets out how to do it.

There is criticism of the website all over the net but many, many people have been helped. My family and I have benefitted greatly.

It is free to join. The website sells tools for the home but you do not have to buy anything and just ignore the stuff about tools if you want.

So there is one idea about how to get started self coaching.

Now that I have some hope about how I have learned to keep the clutter at bay in my home, I have been able to approach a friend to help be an accountability buddy for my finances. Before, when everything seemed overwhelming, I did not feel I could reach out for help.

Hope this helps.

Karen

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[Anonymous]

Karen, Thanks for the referral to the “FlyLady” I checked it out a couple of years ago. I wasn’t so computer-able then. AND, this is also important, I’m now in a mellower or receptive mode. I’ll check it out…again. What I really respond to is contact with another person. To be sort of accountable to and for cheering when I’ve failed. Thats the reason I think online or phone co-coaching would be valuable for me. Jayzee

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[Anonymous]

Finding someone to make a diagnosis? Here are a few hints- a) seek out a local support group both for names and reputations; b) contact the on-line national and regional support networks like CHADD, ADDA or CADDAC; c) go to the professional medical search engines (in Canada the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada http://www.cpso.org) has a search tool as do many of the psychological websites and d) get your family doctor to explore their network of referral sources. Unfortunately, one of the most common strategies is still going to your doctor waving a book and saying, “do you know about this?” Sometimes the public has to educate the docs first and then get them to be a partner in treatment.

One of the difficulties is that, as you pointed out Leah, whoever you get might not be that good but that is all that is there. As professionals, it is our hope to educate our colleagues so that YOU, the consumer, have choice. Takes time.

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[Anonymous]

Good Luck. An adult psychiatrist commenting about adult ADHD said “Don’t believe it, don’t see it, don’t treat it, don’t waste my time!” Rather succinct. Problem is most doctors were told kids outgrow it, they never received instruction on it in medical school, and the common reference guide is inadequate to address ADHD in adults. So in their minds how can it be real? What you don’t know – you avoid. Diagnosis and treatment is left to the brave souls that have ventured into the area. Other issue is the term “psycho stimulants”. The terms are so emotionaly charged by myths. Acceptance might be better if the meds were labeled by what they do – ie dopamine reuptake inhibitor to address low dopamine levels primarily in the pre-frontal cortex. Hey – that might get their attention. Doctors do want to help – most are on a learning curve. They’re not being ‘stupid, lazy or crazy’

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[Anonymous]

You are absolutely right that they most ignorant of the bunch are actually adult psychiatrists. Pediatricians do a better job because they see the childhood presentation. If you think life began at the age of 18, you probably didn’t take the 6 months of your child psychiatry mandatory rotations seriously during your residency. Go figure.

One of the most treatable conditions in psychiatry and they don’t get to enjoy the treatment success for their patients and for themselves. Fools.

The literature about outgrowing ADHD goes back to Lafleur in 1957. They need to read a book for God sake. No wonder our patients are so frustrated. Thank goodness new physicians are being trained so things will get better.

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[Clive]

I went to my doctor , which was very difficult for me .

He tried to get me into the local hospital , but because i do not live in the same city they would not except me .

Now there will be a 2 month wait just to see if i meet there criteria , and up to nine months to see any one .

So how does this work , a friend of mine with who i have discussed this goes to his GP who prescribes him Strattera after one visit .

How does this happen .

I am pulling out my hair , not that i can afford to lose any more .

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[Anonymous]

Leah, do check out the local ADHD groups/meetups to assist with finding a psychiatrist who deals with adult ADHD. I just started googling all sorts of combos of Adult ADHD, groups, support groups, ADD, etc. to find a name. (My family doc had threatened to Form 1 me if I continued asking for another referral). .

I decided then and there that if I needed to, I would go south to the US if need be and pay the $$ necessary to get a proper diagnosis. I’d been incorrectly diagnosed as bipolar 2 and put on meds that did ‘nada’! (Well, except gain a lot of weight.) Then that pdoc took me off those meds declaring that I no longer needed them (miracle cure, I guess).

My particular field of study/work made me well aware of what my real issues were but hey, what did I know? I finally decided I would no longer be pushed around and would find a psychiatrist who wouldn’t say, “Well, if your other doctor said that you were bipolar, you must be bipolar. ADHD? That?? Oh, I don’t DEAL with THAT You’ve got to be bipolar because you talk quickly.”

There are good doctors out there (and in Canada!!) Through my ‘googles’ I found a name. Reading through the postings of members on one of the sites I found a local doctor’s name and got my true diagnosis. Hang in there and don’t give up. The internet is a wonderful resource!

Good luck! BTW, I no longer harbour ill will due to my past experiences with doctors. They are busy and get caught up in ‘stuff” so sometimes they do miss on diagnoses. Now then, being treated with a lack of respect, ……. that still has my hackles up. but I’ll get over that too.

As Scarlett O’Hara said, “Tomorrow is another day!” :o)

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[Clive]

I have had enough !!!!!!!!!!

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[Anonymous]

Clive, what city are you in?

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[Clive]

Hamilton

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[Anonymous]

Clive,

I had to do a similar thing – I’m in York Region. However, the psychiatrist at the hospital up here eventually did see me (about 6 weeks if I’m not mistaken, I can’t believe they want to make you wait 9 months). He did a lot of the preliminary questions and said “ah, you probably have ADHD, but who knows for sure”, prescribed me Strattera, didn’t really seem to give a crap about whether I did or didn’t, then had me come back in a month, I told him in the followup visit that the Strattera was working, and now my GP is prescribing me my Strattera. No, I haven’t done a full assessment. But the important thing is my GP would not prescribe anything for ADHD until I had seen a shrink. Now that the shrink has signed off on it, my GP is quite happy to help me adjust dosage and whatnot – he’s seen the results in me.

Why my GP won’t directly prescribe for ADHD but will for depression and anxiety issues is totally beyond me, but I haven’t had the nerve to bring myself to ask him.

The Ontario heath care system is seriously fucked up (and I choose to use the f-word deliberately, I don’t care who I offend by using it, there’s no other way to express my horror and disgust at it) when it comes to psychiatric care. That said, do what you have to do to get treatment. If you have ADHD Clive you’ve lived with it for a long, long time, and I know you want to get it fixed right NOW, dammit.

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[Patte Rosebank]

What really frustrates me about Ontario’s (and, indeed, all of Canada’s) health care system is that it covers medical care, but there are huge waits for any sort of specialized care (or to get a family doctor) because there just aren’t the resources; and that it doesn’t cover dental care or psychological treatment.

Dental care is horrifically expensive, and dental problems, left untreated, will lead to catastrophic health problems, including blindness and death. The Toronto Star did a big feature on this, last year. I call attention to this, because I have a cracked root in a tooth, which has spread infection to the surrounding bone and tissue. The Bank of Mom and Dad has already paid $700 for diagnostics (2 visits to an endodontist, and a CT scan from another endodontist), and will be paying over $1000 for the oral surgery to cut off and remove the damaged root (the “business end of the tooth will be left in the 5-tooth bridge it’s a part of) tomorrow morning. OHIP no longer covers even basic extractions, and even private insurance (which I don’t have) is usually quite limited in what it covers, so if it weren’t for the Bank of Mom and Dad, I’d be totally screwed.

As for psychological care, it’s long-since been proven that mental conditions are best treated with a combination of medications (psychiatric treatment) and talk-therapy (psychological treatment). But only the psychiatric treatments are covered by OHIP, leaving patients on the hook for the $125 an hour sessions with a psychologist. And we all know just how many people with mental conditions are able to afford that. For those on disability or welfare, that $125 is 1/3 of their monthly benefit cheque.

Governments are so willing to piss away billions on show-off events like the Olympics, the Commonwealth Games, and the G8 and G20 summits, or on joining wars in other countries that really don’t have anything to do with us. But whenever someone suggests they increase spending on health care, or special ed programs for schools, they insist they haven’t got the money. Health care and special ed just aren’t sexy enough. When it becomes personal (as when a politician loses a mentally ill family member to suicide, or someone goes postal in a workplace), only then is a bit of attention paid to the problem. This is clearly a case of closing the barn door long after the animals have escaped. (Not that those of us with mental issues are animals, but it’s a perfect metaphor for the situation.)

Waste, injustice, and missed opportunities always make me angry, so this has me furious!

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[Clive]

Thanks for the feedback .

To my amazement i got a call from the original contact in Burlington , who said they would not see me .

They completed an over the phone questionnaire and then proceeded to ask me why my GP did not ask me the questions, and prescribe me the regular drugs for 15 days and see what happens ???

So its all about teaching the GP s how to check the List of questions and prescribe the drugs .

Why is there such a big swing in diagnosis in this area ????

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