Simon Baron-Cohen can stuff right off

[Smunder Woman]

Good luck today, Cerise!

[Cerise]

Thank you and thank you for your input everyone! X

[Bat Macdui]

Hope it goes well, Cerise.

[Cerise]

I’ve done two rounds of interviews but I kind of feel like it’s the same questions over and over and there are other things I want to say and talk about.

They’re going to compare notes now.

[Luce]

Oof that sounds horrible stressful, the repeating questions I mean.

Hope you’ll be home with a nice cup of tea, soon!

Asked my sister what her diagnosis meant to her and her text just said ‘validation’. I hope you get that too!

[Cerise]

I’m done, have an adhd diagnosis and am having a cry in the car! :)

Will fill you guys in more later but thank you for supporting me.

[Luce]

Oh I hope it’s a happy cry. Let out a big breath and then onwards and upwards!

[Cosmopolitan]

Oh Cerise, I hope this is a first step in helping you feel less broken and appreciating your own uniqueness.

[Cerise]

So, he said from my mum’s responses and the first interview that he wouldn’t have said I had ADHD. The results of the second interview which had the DIVA test questions, I scored really highly and this, coupled with Mr Sax’s responses, my school reports and J’s ADHD diagnosis, put me over the line. He said that I had caused him a dilemma as some parts of me really aren’t representative of ADHD and some very much are. We talked about Mum’s answers and I was able to give them some context for why she might have given the answers that she did. He asked if I’d ever tried out J’s medication and I said that I had been tempted to! :lol: He said he was really interested to see what affect medication has on me.

Next I need to se if I can get an ECG and blood test from the GP but I need to wait for a note from him.

I’ve had a cup of tea and a couple of paracetamol and feel a bit more human again!

[Cosmopolitan]

My old boss (a very straight laced accountant) told me he'd tried his son's adhd meds which made me laugh. He said he was tripping and like he'd taken speed. I pointed out that it was technically speed I always wondered why speed didn't seem to have the same effect on me as it did on others when I was a wayward teen.

Meds have made me much happier, even though they're aimed at calming some of the brain, they've really improved the emotional dysregulation and the rsd.

[Jet]

I hope you feel some relief, cerise.

I have have often considered taking the kids meds but have yet to do it.

[Smunder Woman]

How are you feeling about it today, Cerise?

[Cerise]

How are you feeling about it today, Cerise?

I’m ok, thank you. I had a little stress in the night about whether it would be worth taking medication. I will totally be trying it if I can.

I had lunch booked with my mum and sister today so we were able to have a chat about how their view of ADHD is outdated (Ritalin and naughty boys) and that we’ve (me and R) been learning about ADHD since J was diagnosed aged 8. They asked if I felt like I had ADHD as a child and I said that I didn’t know about ADHD then but I certainly displayed some traits. I had found a pretty good booklet on the internet and I printed some off, highlighted key bits that refer to my experience of ADHD and have asked them both to read it. I said that I just wanted them to understand a little bit. It was a good conversation.
\

[Cosmopolitan]

That all sounds positive. I did similar with my mum and sis and sent them a few links to read from credible sources. Conclusion, my mum thinks she has adhd now.

[Smunder Woman]

That does sound positive. I'm glad they're open to learning more about it. My sister has just contacted my niece's school about having her assessed for ADHD because she's so like me

[Jet]

I have have often considered taking the kids meds but have yet to do it.

It's funny that I came back to this thread and this is one of the last things I said :lol: Well, I did try them. About a month ago and the result (or the meds??!) spurred me on to make an appointment with a new doctors office that my friend had recommended possibly 1-2 years ago (I haven't had a regular doctor since before I had kids). I happened to speak to the doc herself as her receptionist was out when I called so she told me the paths for looking into ADHD etc - they would discuss medication without a formal psychologist diagnosis, they have an online assessment (that you pay for, its lengthy and the results/diagnosis come from an actual doctor) that they use, and then its really up to me if I want a formal diagnosis.

I haven't had the appointment yes (its this week) but I did do the assessment and it spat out ADHD and generalized anxiety disorder - neither of which surprised me at this point obviously. The other interesting piece was some questions around things I had associated more with either anxiety or autism were actually around OCD (for example the stuff I ended up writing/answering that fit into obsessive thinking and compulsive behaviours) and although it didn't spit that out, I scored upper end of moderate on that portion of the assessment and I think its worth exploring as well.

So we'll see how it goes. I haven't fully decided about the formal diagnosis part yet but think I will probably go ahead and do it. While minimum is trying to see what my options are for things that may help, I also would like to better understand if its 'just' ADHD or if I'm autistic or where all these different things may converge, be related or be part of or caused by eachother.

[Dutchie]

That's really interesting Jet. Especially the OCD part. I think people tend to think of OCD as the people that have to lock their door 34 times before they can leave the house but as with all such things, there are of course many degrees of severity. A friend's boyfriend has OCD to the extent that they can't move in together because it's just not do-able, it's really sad. Let us know how the appointment goes, Jet!

[Jet]

Thanks Dutchie! The appointment was fine, but she concluded that she'd rather I go and see a neuropsychologist to sort through some of it vs just throwing me ADHD meds especially with OCD getting a mention. So that's fine and I have a good recommendation from her (someone that will spend the time and do it properly and not just read my existing report and throw meds at me).

She also is very thorough and did quite a lot of tests over an above the ones I usually get with my obgyn. And turns out that's a whole other conversation...I have a high TPO (Thyroid peroxidase antibodies) and am deficient in B12, vitamin D and folate. The TPO thing by itself doesn't point to current thyroid issues but indicates increased risk and also that my immune system makes antibodies that mistakenly attack normal tissue. I'm going to have to explore links between the cause of autoimmune issues I had a while back (in my teens, blood clotting disorder) because its a virus that you then always have (epstein barr - the cause of mono/glandular fever which they think caused antibodies to attack my platelets) and can become active again at any point (two triggers are stress (check) and menopause/hormone changes (quite possible given my age)). I haven't talked any of the last bit out with the doc, this is just me piecing bits together with the help of Dr Google.

My B12 levels are such that apparently 5-10% of people in that range may experience neuropsychiatric things. I'm definitely not talking myself back out of ADHD, because that's a bit silly at this point, but I do wonder about things like this (thyroid stuff, stupid antibodies up to no good, vitamin deficiencies) exacerbating things. I've heard plenty about menopause and hormones impact on ADHD that it could explain a lot if for the last several years I've been on some slow decline of other things that likely impact it (without knowing) and I've just always put it down to 'everything is shit since covid'.

Sorry tl;dr. Most of this belongs on its own/other threads. I just wasn't expecting 'other things that may make you a little mental' when I just wanted to find out if I actually have ADHD/autism/OCD/something

[Ruby]

I am B12 deficient, Jet. Well, I'm not because I have injections but before that I definitely had brain fog.

[Jet]

My friend who has a thyroid related immune thing (the one that comes up if you google high TPO) also has both B12 and D deficency - she also has injections because the supplements were not working. I was told to do liquid B12 and regular supplements for the folic acid and vit D so that's the plan.