First of all, I am not certain I have ADHD. I do recognize myself in a lot of attitudes, hardships and little things, and it’s impacted my life for too long now.
I can’t afford to go on like this anymore. Who should I go to? How long does it take for me to recieve a diagnosis and how expensive will it be? If I’ll have to take meds, for how long and how expensive are they in your experience?
Thank you all in advance
I’m in the US, I found a local psychologist’s office that does adult evaluations. It was a virtual intake, a bunch of questionaries for me and my wife, about an hour of in person testing, then a virtual feedback appointment to go over my diagnosis, answer questions, and discuss options. I actually never got a bill for this but have followed up since I’m pretty sure that was an error. I expect it to be about $1500 with insurance coverage for the three appointments. The whole process took about two weeks, from my first appointment, but they book three to six months out usually.
I then had to find a psychiatrist to ask about meds. I use talkiatry which is an online practice and have been happy with my doctor so far. Each appointment is about $200 under my high deductible health plan. It took about a month to get an appointment.
I am on 60mg atomoxetine right now. The sticker price is around $330 a month but with GoodRX it’s about $25. I need a prior authorization through my insurance to get it covered which I’m fighting through now but the price is a few bucks less through them (and more consistent, GoodRX prices can swing a lot month to month). Unlike stimulates, atomoxetine takes about a month to start really taking effect, and I’ve stepped up my dosage once so far with maybe one more in 4ish weeks.
Even at $300-$400 a month with appointments and medications it is life changing worth it. I have moderate combined type and have generally been successful but knowing now this is how I could have been for years is frustrating to a degree but now is better than later for sure.
Timeline wise I made my first appointment for a diagnosis evaluation in early august and got a prescription the day before thanksgiving. From my understanding that’s on the quicker side of things.