Relief and trepidation. Waiting to find out is driving me crazy!

[Tiddler]

I think this is probably the best place to introduce myself and try to put my thoughts down as I try to unravel all this!

And now nothing is coming out of my brain at all so I’ll just leave it at this –

I am desperate to know one way or the other now because finally having something that makes sense of my chaotic, stressful life makes me feel so relieved, but not having the label means no help at uni or work and I admit – I really need it. And it’s scary to think that maybe I won’t be diagnosed and I’ll have to keep looking for answers.

So, maybe what I really want to do is to ask:

Where do I go to get a private diagnosis (one way or another) in England?

How can I be sure that I’ll be seeing someone who really knows about this, as my GP said diagnoses are ‘as rare as hens’ teeth’?

Is it reasonable to want to know NOW? Should I just be doing something sensible to help while I’m waiting?

I’ve been trying frantically to ‘get on top of stuff’ because I’ve had this idea that now I know that it’s just my brain maybe I can just work smarter instead of harder but instead I’m doing the same old things and making piles of paperwork with no idea what to do with them next…

So, basically, hello and thanks for the site. I absolutely love it.

Also, the sunflower is about feeling like I’m coming out into the sun since I started finding out about this, but I’m not quite there yet…

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[Tiddler]

Thought I’d add this because it made me smile.

The paperwork is in piles on my bedroom floor. My husband calmly reminded me that he’d suggested only 2 piles plus an ‘other’ pile, which I’d forgotten to do. I said to him,

“I’ve got a system that’s never worked for me and I want to keep on doing it.”

I had to laugh when I realised what I’d said.

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[Anonymous]

Maybe it works for you in a certain way? At my home, scattered papers everywhere has proved to be a disaster. However, scattered papers all over my work desk has actually proved itself effective. I have to clean up the desk because I share a desk. This means that each scattered paper must be looked at a second time. I was nice and organized at one point and one important paper sat in a nice little slot I never looked at. Very contextual sometimes.

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[nellie]

Tiddler I’m not in the UK but decided to google and see what came up – here’s a site for adults with ADHD in the UK:

http://aadduk.org/

Hope you find what you’re looking for!

Sugar and Tiddler – can’t help commenting on the piles: I think we do it as a reaction to our out of sight out of mind issues. I’ve partly conquered it by temporarily stacking papers in a horizontal cubby type organizer with 8 slots for different categories. But I can still pile along with the best of them in a nano second if I’m not careful !

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[Anonymous]

Welcome Tiddler

I am also in the category of waiting to find out. I have an appointment with a psychiatrist in late September that I made in June. Waiting is killing me, but I have made the effort to try and put into place some helpful strategies and systems to enable me to cope better with things. What I have found works best is the support here. And trying very hard not to create piles!! They are my doom 👿 I have recently upgraded our storage at home with some open shelving units in place of cupboards and drawers. They work really well to keep things from being “out of sight, out of mind”.

And yes, I understand wanting help “now”. It’s normal not to want to wait once you have a suspicion of a diagnosis, especially if it is ADHD that’s likely, as we are all an impatient bunch to start with! Hopefully you can get some help soon. And start with the ADHD associations/organisations in your area. That’s how I found some names of who I could see. Good luck

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[Tiddler]

Thanks all.

Nellie, I’ve found what seems to be the right consultant through that site and I’m waiting for my GP to call me back.

This is really hard work as no-one here seems to acknowledge adult ADHD even exists. The first number (from the site) I was forwarded around various people and finally told they didn’t know anyone who could help me.

The second number wasn’t in my area and they didn’t know about out of area funding but they gave me a private number and the woman had an ‘annoyed’ tone so I didn’t want to use them.

The third number had someone who answered the phone ‘hello ADHD services’ and they were fantastic. They can see me within 3-6 months if the GP jumps through a couple of hoops (at least I don’t have to do it or it’d never get done!)

I liked them and would rather see them than the neuropsychologist I’ve been referred to, which doesn’t seem to be the right service.

Phew. I’ll keep you posted.

I’m quite proud of myself for turning away a private immediate appointment in favour of waiting! I can’t work with someone who is frustrated with me from just a phone call – that’s just not going to work!

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[nellie]

Tiddler,

Well looks like you’ve got the ball rolling in the right direction. When I first started looking I didn’t know where to turn either. I started out calling a place that was a support or counselling service for kids with ADD. The woman was trying to be helpful but really didn’t know anyone specializing in adults. Go figure! She gave me a few names of psychologists, I procrastinated calling them and then I lost the sheet I’d written the names on LOL! I remember laughing at myself thinking there’s the diagnosis right there!

Eventually a google search brought me to a neuropsychologist and she did the diagnosis. Just wondering why you didn’t think the one you are referred to was the right service – you didn’t like them or they had a bad attitude ( good reasons not to go!). But in terms of diagnosing ADD a neuropsychologist is a good choice in terms of area of specialty.

The neuropsychologist I went to specialized in learning disorders among other things. According to a definition I just pilfered off the internet

“Neuropsychological testing is designed to determine the brain’s capacity with respect to short and long term memory, abstract reasoning, attention, concentration, executive functioning, motor skills and other cognitive and psychological factors.”

Anyway just wanted to pass that bit of info along in case you weren’t aware and it wasn’t because they were some sort of totally miserable person on the phone

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