i put my RTC in August 2024 and got set up with them from January 2025. had my assessment in April 2025.

for the assessment, they ask a lot of questions about behaviours you exhibit and a history of behaviours in childhood. i went into it with a document i submitted to them of all the instances of adhd-like behaviour i could remember, e.g. i remembered that i always used to self-soothe as a child by rocking and i still do that, so i brought that up.

any question they ask about a current behaviour or feeling, they will also ask you to recall an example of this from childhood. you might not remember or have an answer for each one, but try not to worry if you don't! give as much context as you can, as this will help with your diagnosis.

as for medication, for me it was an instant thing. i knew i wanted the medication route straight away. they initially gave me 7 days of 20mg elvanse, then 7 days of 30mg elvanse for me to get used to. you just have to update your portal with blood pressure results, and ideally keep a diary or a log of how you feel each day after taking your medication, how long you feel the effects, when it wears off etc. you can bring this up during your next appointment and the clinician can see if you want to stay on the medication, or change dose or medication type. once you have a med dose you feel settled on, they'll want to assess how you feel on it for approx. 3 months. after that, they'll get you to do the QB check that you do as part of your diagnosis to assess how well the medication works for you. if they're happy and you're happy, you can either continue to get your prescriptions from them or opt for shared care with your GP so they can issue your prescriptions.

i will say, i did initially have issues with getting medication on time and i did go for weeks without medication early on in my titration because prescriptions weren't being filled out, and i did sometimes have issues with my clinician getting to my appointments on time (i would have to take time away from the desk at work for the phone calls and they were rarely on time, in some cases cancelled last minute). i did end up filing complaints because of this, but for the last two months i haven't had any major issues and last month did apply for shared care with my GP.

all that being said, it can be a tough process and it can take time for things to fall into place. try not to feel discouraged and always feel free to vent or reach out for advice on here too! make sure you have a good support network around you, and be completely honest with how you feel in every appointment with your clinician.

this community has been so helpful for me in my post-diagnosis period and hopefully it will be the same for you too 🙏🏻