Asperger Syndrome and GP's

[The Chez]

I have a diagnosis of Asperger Syndrome and went to my GP a few months ago to ask if he would refer me to an Autism specialist for an adult assessment of my needs as well as my original diagnosis.

Also I've been having some other Asperger related problems that should be brought up to date with my diagnosis as well.

I saw my GP and put this request to him, he promptly told me he would write a prescription for Prozac, which I had a bad reaction to as a kid, and thats all he was prepaired to do!

Also my medical records are lost, they never left my hometown when I left home, I have lived in one other address before the one I live at now and they did not go the surgery I signed up with there ether.

His general attitude was he was not prepaired to pay £400 for the refferal as I had refused the first line treatment, the Prozac.

Is there any way to bypass this stupid anti depressants for everything attitude and get the refferal?

[Bookworm]

Why should he pay £400 for a referral?

Which part of England are you in? It might be a good idea to contact your local NAS and see what support they can offer.

Prozac being an anti-depressant, there is no reason for you to go on it unless you are also a depressive, simple as that.

Is there another GP in the practice you could see? Or maybe you might need to change surgeries if the attitude is that closed to ASDs.

As for your medical records, are they lost or might they just still be at your old surgery? It might be worth contacting them to check just in case.

Don't get discouraged, the current NAS campaign is all about adult ASD awareness as it is one of the most neglected areas of care, so hopefully your local NAS will be able to support you.

Let us know how you get on.

[The Chez]

Originally Posted by Bookworm

Why should he pay £400 for a referral?

Which part of England are you in? It might be a good idea to contact your local NAS and see what support they can offer.

Prozac being an anti-depressant, there is no reason for you to go on it unless you are also a depressive, simple as that.

Is there another GP in the practice you could see? Or maybe you might need to change surgeries if the attitude is that closed to ASDs.

As for your medical records, are they lost or might they just still be at your old surgery? It might be worth contacting them to check just in case.

Don't get discouraged, the current NAS campaign is all about adult ASD awareness as it is one of the most neglected areas of care, so hopefully your local NAS will be able to support you.

Let us know how you get on.

The NAS have offered me a lot of advice and time, but due to the social services in this area not recognising me as disabled, I am unable to access their ongoing services as that too needs funding only they can give

I have asked at the surgery, but they do not have the records, they only have sketchy bits going back to my previous address, not my home one when the records never left apparantly, so it might be worth contacting that practice and asking there. Would they tell me though without seeing me in person over the phone? The distance would make this awkward as it's about 30 miles from where I am now. I spose I could do it though if I had to.

What kind of ID would they need as I don't drive, don't have a valid passport anymore and no bills come to my address in my name apart from bank statements, which I don't want to go showing off to anyone if I can help it. I'm not even sure they would accept a Council Tax sheet as proof it was me. I have nothing with my photo on apart from one of those prove it things for buying age restricted stuff.

I asked my currant GP, he la la'ed about and said he would look into it, he never did.

Does it cost to demand to see your own medical records under data protection? Because I could demand to see the ones they have at my currant surgery as proof they are not my full records I spose.

[Warren1]

Originally Posted by The Chez

His general attitude was he was not prepaired to pay £400 for the refferal as I had refused the first line treatment, the Prozac.

Did you specifically state that your refusal of the prozac was due to an adverse reaction in the past???

If so, he should have offered an alternative anti-depressant or discussed another form of treatment. Antidepressants are also used in some cases of anxiety and other conditions so it isnt automatically for depression.

If thats the case change gp if possible as it is quite frankly absurd to refuse a referral when you have a valid reason to not take the prozac.

Of course he may just be using the prozac as an excuse to avoid referral rather than a specific rule. Most GP's are "financially aware" these days when it comes to treatments and they are often encouraged to take the cheaper treatment options.

[tendogs]

Evening guys,
Prozac is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) and its sole purpose is to reduce the normal metabolism of serotonin in order to increase the level of that neurotransmitter in your synapse.

They have many therapeutic values and not just as anti-depressants, they are very good at helping with information processing and, as a consequence are used in the treatment of disorders where non-ruminative thought processing is useful, obsessive compulsive disorders and asperger’s syndrome are examples of this.

They are also used to retard ejaculation in some male sexual dysfunctions and are used in the treatment of PTSD and many other presentations. The SSRIs have a bad press but are very useful if used with care. They can be of great help with Aspergers and there are a number of different kinds of SSRI that can be prescribed. If you can find one that is compatible with your physiology then you will find it to be of great benefit.

Aspergers doesn’t go away and you will not get “better” you can, however make a positive difference to your experience of the disorder but this needs to be done collaboratively with the service providers. What you want is the best care that you can get and this must be your first priority, there will be a patient advocacy service and they will handle any complaint that you have.

Write to the chief executive of your primary care trust outlining you problems and ask for his/her intervention. You can make a subject access request, it’ll cost you £10.00 but it might take forever.

Best wishes,
Dogs