How I got ADHD assessment and medication

Hey there. How are you ?

Before you continue. This is about the Right to Choose service offered by ADHD360. Right to choose is only available in England. If you are in Wales or Scotland, you should, in the first instance, speak to your GP.

Crazy, I know.

I’ve had a really great couple of months. I’ve been able to actually do and complete things that I never thought possible.

First of all decisions. Yes. I have made decisions. This might seem minor, but I lived a lot of my life fearing failure and possible decision choices and “what ifs”.

And what was the primary reason these decision or choices did not get made ? Because of the fear of rejection.

This week I listened to a podcast from ADHD chatter with Alex Partridge:

You can listen here - https://open.spotify.com/episode/4vZjRNQWDYZZIrbrhtVhIC?si=f6bb2v8jRASpX9ApJsVU_g&pi=8smc5KX0QF-OU&t=0

When you have ADHD, rejection sensitivity disorder (RSD) is brutal. It stops you from making decisions, and when it does happen (for me anyway) it could last for a day or more. It could be something completely minor too. So minor that only my subconscious mind understands it.

Looking at me, you would know what is going on, but internally because the cause of RSD could be so minor, I don’t even know what caused it.

But is there an answer ? Yes. It’s definitely not for everyone. I got assessed for ADHD and then I got medication.

I’ve now been on that for 4 months. Here is an excerpt from the letter to my GP from ADHD360:

“Baseline results:

Screening result using ASRS 1.1:

5 / 6 screening questions were positive with 4 being required for a positive screen for ADHD. 90% of those screened positive

at this stage go on to warrant a diagnosis.17 / 18 questions were positive

Most recent results:

Follow up result using ASRS 1.1:

0 / 6 screening questions were positive, a reduction of 5 which would not be a positive screening result

2 / 18 questions were positive, a reduction of 15.”

This is a reduction of symptoms of nearly 100%.

Like I said above, medication isn’t for anyone. But I wanted to share how I feel now and the changes it has made to my life.

The biggest change is that instead of thinking about ideas and discounting them for fear of rejection, I wrote these ideas down and action them.

Executive functioning for the win.

It’s been very profound.

How to engage with ADHD360?

ADHD360 have been amazing. It sounds silly writing this, but every interaction I’ve had with ADHD360 I have felt they really truly understand ADHD and how to communicate with someone who potentially has it.

To start the process click the link below:

Right To Choose | ADHD Diagnosis And Treatment | ADHD360

Then after you sign in you ask for right to choose. Then I think you either get some forms sent to you to complete or you fill them in online.

It takes about 4 months to get an assessment appointment and they’ll tell you at the end of the call if you have ADHD.

Then they will recommended medication if you have ADHD.

Then it’s another wait for about 2/3 months.

Then you start titration which is when they work out what level of medication you need. That takes a period of about 3 months.

After the end of that ADHD360 send your doctor a report and asked to go into a shared care agreement. But your doctor won’t. The NHS never do. But what’s good about ADHD360 is that they continue supplying you medication under NHS prices.

I’ve got a medical exemption certificate and my medication is free.

Go for it.

Yes it takes a long time. But the time is a known factor rather than unknown which is what I went through with the NHS.

Good luck. I’m happy to chat about any of this if you need. Get in touch - jon@jondoesflow.com

Special thanks to Katie, Amy, Hayley and Sarah. Who have helped me to share this experience.

Until next time

Jon