Re: Concerta vs Ritalin

[Anonymous]

I’m north of Toronto in Barrie, Ontario, and fortunate enough to have an ADHD clinic right in Barrie. Dr. Timothy Bilkey is supposed to be a top Canadian expert on adult ADHD, and from his website and other searches, I guess he must be travelling and giving seminars, etc as well as doing his clinic work (he also has a Stratford, Ontario clinic). He’s also writing a book.

I got in early because of some appointment cancellations. His office visits are fortunately covered by our provincial health-care plan (OHIP) but the testing (computer and questionnaires) are not. If I want to wait for a fully OHIP covered assessment done at our local hospital, it could take months. My family doctor explained that Dr Bilkey would assess for other issues like depression, anxiety, bipolar, etc. and also provide her with treatment recommendations (specific meds) whereas the regular hospital assessment wouldn’t give recommendations. So it seemed more helpful in terms of guiding my doctor, who clearly doesn’t want that responsibility of diagnosing/assessing. As for the fee I will have to pay, I might be able to claim it on my husband’s private healthcare pension plan, or I will be able to claim it as a medical deduction on my income taxes. I figure it’s worth the extra $ to get a comprehensive assessment from someone who is an expert.

Dr B’s approach is apparently different than most other assessments for adult ADHD. He doesn’t use just the standard questionnaires but has a series of profiles that he uses for assessment. As it was described to me, the first visit will be computer testing and probaby an interview with Dr Bilkey – I am supposed to bring along a “collateral historian”, someone who knows me well and can corroborate or dispute my responses – that will be my husband (who also has ADD). I’m not sure what the second visit will entail, but I have homework from the first visit in the form of an extensive ratings/questionnaire package. The third visit is the “feedback visit”, where he will give me his findings and within two weeks of that visit, will provide a complete written report to my family doctor.

I tried to book a followup visit with my family doctor based on her receiving the report (since I have already booked that final visit in June), but her receptionist refused, saying “let’s see what happens”. I pushed her, saying I knew the date, but she repeated the exact same words. I really wonder what that means. I am having a tough time with my family doctor, her body language says I’m a bother and it’s as if she would like to be rid of me. It’s impossible to switch doctors here, you can’t get a new doctor if you already have one, and we have a shortage of doctors so if I give mine up, it’s unlikely I will get another. Very poor situation.

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