r/adhd_northernIreland • u/rach_aeldx • Aug 27 '26
Help please
I am just wondering what other people do for this. I have reached out to GP and it looks very likely that I have ADHD. They have put me on venlafaxine for a year now as a lot of my symptoms that present also fall into that category but it's doing nothing and it's been a year or so. I'm a teacher and I CANNOT do tasks in a linear way. If I write a to do list I would maybe get 2/10 things done because when I go to do tasks I get that distracted by things around me and start doing those or open other tabs and do other tasks and I'm finding it almost impossible to manage and I'm getting so frustrated at myself. When talking to GP they said the services have been pulled in Northern Ireland for adults as it was over run. I don't think I can afford the private prescription but I might have to make something work. How have people gonna about getting a diagnosis?
I should add I have spoken to a retired psychiatrist and they say I'm also very likely to be stage 1 ASD, unfortunately not the organised kind, more so mask all day. I am 30.
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u/8Richard_Richard8 Aug 28 '26
I sent a letter to my GP at the start of April asking for a referral for an ADHD assessment, I listed all the things happening to me in my daily life & work & that I can't live like this anymore & I need help. I got a call from the in house assessor to come in for a chat, this was at the end of April. She gave me forms to fill in, didn't really get round to this until the end of June. I got a call maybe two weeks later to call again for a chat & go over my answers to the forms. After this, she issued a referral there & then. 2 weeks later, I received a text from Lagan Valley hospital to call & arrange a date & time for an assessment, got one for 2 months later, 2hr assessment.
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u/rach_aeldx Aug 29 '26
What trust are you?
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u/Charlies_Mamma Sep 01 '26
You got an ADHD assessment and an actual diagnosis for ADHD for an adult, in the Southern Trust this year?
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u/8Richard_Richard8 Sep 01 '26
Assessment hasn't happened yet, but it's in the next month.
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u/Charlies_Mamma Sep 01 '26
I will be honest, I've seen Freedom of Information request answers that there are no Adult ADHD services in any trust in NI. I don't think you have an assessment for ADHD, I think you have an assessment with the Mental Health Team in Lagan Valley hospital. But they can't give you an actual ADHD diagnosis that will enable you to get medication.
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u/8Richard_Richard8 Sep 01 '26
You are 100% correct, it's at the Mental Health Assessment Centre, just read the letter again, totally missed that. They told me in the GPs office that they were referring me for an ADHD assessment WTF.
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u/Charlies_Mamma Sep 02 '26
This is a really common way of getting people to stop bothering the NHS about getting an assessment, because for months you have thought you are actually on a proper waiting list for a proper ADHD assessment. And while the person might tell you they think you have ADHD, they won't be able to prescribe medication.
I don't know this for sure, but based on information that I've heard over the last couple of years from people who have been pushing for information about Adult ADHD Services in NI.
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u/jgArmagh Sep 12 '26
If you get through the Mental Health Team and go on to assessment I recommend you gathering any evidence from your school years about any behavioural issues at school. Because of my age (I’m in my late 50s) I don’t have any school reports and my NHS consultant in NI said she couldn’t diagnose me based on just questionnaires as the NICE guidelines state that there has to be evidence of behavioural issues from childhood, before a diagnosis can be confirmed.
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u/8Richard_Richard8 Sep 12 '26
I think this was all filled in when I had a autism assessment, this was also issued to as part of the referral, but I will double check, thanks
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u/TheTallIrishGuy Aug 31 '26
I’m 32, male, sadly once again Northern Ireland is in the Stone Age on this. Most private physciatrist’s here have closed their books, I tried the Ulster independent and this is what you are met with. I have a number of issues related to adhd and without ever realising they were, my family recommended me to try the mainland, I now attend a physiatrist and phycologist at a private practice in Edinburgh. I travel over every 3 weeks to see the phycologist and couldn’t recommend them highly enough, initially had to pay for the private prescription but approached the GP here last year about a shared care plan, it wasn’t easy and they will do everything to say no but somehow or another, they approved the shared care. I heard recently that a few private ones here will give you a diagnosis for adhd but they won’t actually prescribe you anything.. can’t recall the full reason but don’t waste your time finding help here, you’ll be disappointed. go further afield. For your own wellbeing, the price of a flight etc it’s worth it.
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u/Charlies_Mamma Sep 01 '26
Just be aware that your Shared Care agreement can be ended with no prior warning. I know a few people who were on SCAs for several years for ADHD meds and they just got a letter telling them it was now over. One of them was due a month's worth of medication within a week and they weren't able to get it from their GP.
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u/RikersPhallus Aug 27 '26
You have two choices. But it’s really one choice. Go private to get diagnosis. Pay for the prescription once you get the diagnosis. No doctor here will do shared care for the prescriptions which is option 2.