JlolSenior Contributor
Trouble getting medication - looking for advice
Hi all, sorry if this is the wrong place to post this - I don't know where it belongs.
I'm having trouble getting medication and I don't know what to do.
About 6 years ago I was with ADD. This was about 7 years in the making - my GP first suggested I might have it way back in 2013 and it took that long to get a diagnosis. I have since been perscribe medication for this from the psychiatrist who diagnosed me.
However, the problem is this: about 3 years ago that psychiatrist dissappeared. I was seeing him through a public hospital and I think the funding for that program just got cancelled. I just got a call from the hospital one day advising me not to come to the next appointment as he was no longer working there - there was no follow up advice on what to do next.
My GP was able to continue repeats of the medication, but is uncomfortable doing this without the support of a psyhciatrist. He has indicated he will no longer be continuing to perscrive me the medication. Furthermore, he feels uncomfortable when perscribing me other, unrelated medication because he is uncertain how it will react with the ADD meds. Fair enough, really.
So I've spent the last 3 years trying to get a new psychiatrist to take over the management of this medication. And so far all of them have rejected me, for the following reasons:
- They are unable to get notes from my old psychiatrist - and they can't contact him
- The notes my GP have are not enough
So, I suggested they re-diagnose me. However, that too has it's own complications:
- They say they require my school records as supporting evidence for the diagnosis. These records are non-existant - I graduated over 25 years ago!
- As ADD medication is a very controlled substance, they say they are uncomfortable perscribing on "weak evidence" as they might get into trouble and lose their licence, so they err on the side of caution and don't perscribe at all.
Recently the Federal Government allowed doctors to diagnose and perscribe ADD medication. I was hopeful and have looked into this. However, only some doctors can do this and they seem to share the same issues as the psychiatrists - lack of written evidence, risk avoidant, etc.
I've had both my regular GP and a Medicare Mental Health team try to assist me with finding someone to just keep repeating the script, but they too have run into the same issues.
So, I'm wondering if anyone here might have any ideas? Many thanks in advance.