Late Diagnosis ADHD/ADD (Women) #2

[Hollaaa]

Spoiler: Weight management spoiler

I tend to do meal replacements and have a couple of proper dinners every week on nights when I have free time to enjoy planning, shopping, cooking etc. It gets me out of that forgetting to eat/being suddenly ravenous/eating too much/blood sugar crash/eat more quick cycle.

 

[kingseven]

Does anyone have any career ideas? My daughter is wanting to come off her college course and feels a bit lost. Career ideas for an asd/adhd brain is hard (she doesn’t want to do my job and I don’t think she’d be quite ready for it). She needs something around people even though it’s exhausting so she needs it away from people too, she needs routine and structure but also change and a challenge. Oh the joys of a ND brain
Edited to add, we live in a city but we’re rural

Does she have a special interests or aptitudes for a particular subject?

 

[conrea37]

Hi all, sorry to derail slightly - it's obviously the time of year to think about it but does anyone have any tips for improving their fitness/losing weight? I lost a load of weight when I was on Elvanse but now I'm unmedicated I always eat crap for the dopamine I also don't have anyone who could be a gym buddy to help motivate me, so I feel a bit stuck!! Ant advice much appreciated

It’s a bit expensive but wegovy has changed my life food wise

 

[WeHadFunRight]

I have a doctors appointment tomorrow to talk about an ADHD diagnosis. I did the ADHD Think self assessment- has anyone else done this prior to approaching their GP? I don’t know the GP I’m seeing so I can’t think how it’s going to go. I think he’s young and the younger GPs at the practice tend to be really proactive.

 

[peekachu]

I noticed on psychiatry UK it has a specific notice on there about referrals from Kent - obviously I don’t know where you are!

mad that people can have a 5-7 year wait.

to be totally honest as my major issue is inattentiveness (over hyperactivity - so I don’t need medication…) I guess I need to work on structures I can put in place to help - I used to have good ones but they’re not available to me at the moment.
I have checked some books out of the library to understand it more - that social media guy who does the instagram posts I thought would help but it’s just raising awareness really isn’t it, which has its place but once you think you identify with the symptoms you need help with how to manage them… like I lose my keys a million times a day and it’s absolutely maddening - what structure can I put around that to help me remember where I put them or create a reflex of returning them to where they should go?

oh, I also asked about the whole self-diagnosis thing and asked if it was a result of the bottle neck for diagnosis? He said he thinks that self diagnosis will eventually fall away if (and he expects this to happen) they allow GPs to diagnose people rather than having to refer them etc etc. not sure if that is helpful to anyone. So for now I suppose I am self-diagnosed?

I am in Kent, unfortunately It’s awful how access to healthcare is a postcode lottery. There’s no other option other than to go private, which most of us cannot afford, especially when ADHD can affect your ability to work and hold down a job.

I have seen lots of people across England on the ADHDUK Reddit and the Right to Choose FB group who’ve also been waiting 12 months+ with PUK, so it seems it’s not only Kent with longer waiting times. They used to say referrals were processed in date order, but that doesn’t seem to be the case anymore.

I also present mostly inattentive symptoms, so I can empathise completely with you! I wish I could offer some advice but I’m just bumbling my way through life (hence trying to seek help). I always thought my forgetfulness, time blindness, procrastination, etc would sort itself out by the time I was an adult but I’m 30 now and feel no different to when I was 12.

I think the current bottlenecks are a combination of increased awareness and knowledge about ADHD, which has highlighted how many people were not diagnosed when we were younger (particularly for females and males with inattentive ADHD).

Unfortunately the NHS is stretched to its limit in all areas, so it’s interesting that your GP mentioned allowing GPs to diagnose patients, rather than referring to a psychiatrist. Would that not increase their workload, require funding for specialist training and therefore place more pressure on services? I really feel for NHS staff and the pressure they’re under!

I don’t know what can be done to improve things in the short-term, other than offering the Right to Choose with more providers to reduce waiting times. The reliance on private services is very worrying though

 

[Fifah1907]

@Alfie1234

 

[Underthetabletop]

@soupmodel
I hear you and I hope things are feeling better (I’ve taken a few days to ignore anything that needs a response whilst I’ve took leave to fully switch off!).
Despite me saying this xmas I’m a bit overwhelmed with work and still settling back on happy pills, it seems all household and Xmas present buying and remembering partners life bits is down to me! Good job I have the type of brain that remembers stupid crap isn’t it…. Coz my other half doesn’t have the brain that remembers stuff (he doesn’t see the reminders and crap I have about!)
I am buying my partner a book on adhd and he can get it read! It’s like nothing changed with us, I have a name to it, but if I do stuff then rather than it being a ‘ahh that’s it moment’ it’s still why do you do it issue. So I get the challenges of it all.