[Tara2013]

Hello friends,

I am moving to England in September to continue my studies there. I have been diagnosed to have ADHD 4 months ago and it changed my life,...for the better
First by finding this blog and all the helpful people here, second finally everything makes sense, to all of those anxious, sad days that I had and punishing myself for not being able to finish anything.

So my question is. Does anyone know how is it with adult ADHD in England? I know that in Europe people are more sceptic about this. Do they prescribe meds to students with ADHD or try to avoid them in England? Is there any student here from England with ADHD? Is it hard to find a GP with enough knowledge about ADHD? Is the option for meds the same as in the States and Canada? Probably yes, but with different names, no? What are the prices like?

I would really like to continue with the meds because they change my life with studying. I can finally focus!!

I havent slept for 2 days, because of dexedrine. But I don't care, because it helped me so much at the exam that I had today! Finally I feel good about myself, because I was able to concentrate. What and amazing feeling to be able to do this, even if it is just for a while. I just hope that it will not have side effects like Concerta.

Sorry out of the context again.

Hopefully there is someone out there.

Ok thank you,

Love to all

[Travelinglady]

I hope so, too. I'm glad you have gotten on track and we have been helpful.

[yellowted]

hi i am in England, i am not too well up on ADHD, but know that if you tell your tutor at college about it , you get additional support and time if needed to complete things. every learning environment from pre school to universities all have a SENCO (special educational needs co-ordinator) it is their role to assist any pupils who have additional needs.

you will need to register with a GP, and depending on where you are from you may get free medication otherwise you will have to pay £7.85 per item
www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/Healthcosts/Pages/Prescriptioncosts.aspx

but if you need lots of items every month it may be worth buying a pre payment card
Help With Health Costs Help with Health Costs NHS Business Services Authority

you will need to check out your eligibility as i know students from other countries are not always eligible for the same things as the residents are.

registering with gp process is ...go into the surgery, ask receptionist for a registration form, complete it fully, make appointment to see the nurse to go over the form and hyave pre registration checks done ..height weight discuss dx's and medication etc. only after that can you make appointment to see a GP to get a prescription, they will give you it straight away, you must then take the script to a pharmacy(chemist) which is usually external to the surgery to collect the medication. often you can opt to wait whilst they make up/count out the meds, come back later or if it is not in stock most will usually have it by the following afternoon. on the side of your script there will be a list of meds you can reoredr without seing the GP, to do this simply tick the ones you need and hand it into the gp reception, it usually takes around 3 days to process but can take up to 7 in a lazy surgery, you can opt to collect the script yourself from the surgery or have it collected by a pharmacy which collects from them, you can then go straight to the pharmacy to get your meds, but you need to discuss this with the gp receptionist first.
try and get a letter from your doctor at home explaining your dx and medication needs, hand it in with your registration form at the GPs here, but keep a copy as they are notorious for 'loosing ' things!

GP appointments are usually limited to 15 minutes, and more often than not run late...very late... up to an hour late, but they still expect you to be on time for your proper time, so best to not expect to be out of the surgery in much less than 90 minutes after your appointment time!

don't wait till you run out of meds before reoredering them, it takes from 3-7 days to get a new prescription!

do use the same chemist regularly to redeem your prescription, that way if you do run out they are more likely to allow you to buy a few to tide you over and redeem the money on production of a new prescription...they will then take the number of tablets you 'bought' off the number they give you!

hope this helps a bit!