An eating disorder is a compulsion in which the main problem is a person eats in a way which disturbs their physical health. The eating may be too excessive (compulsive over-eating...
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2 YEAR waiting list
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I simply don't know what to do anymore. I was working a job in Oxford, England, but the pain of my bulimia got too much and I couldn't stay there anymore. I was literally dying within myself. I had just got in on a treatment programme there at a specialist research centre and was just due to start treatment when I resigned from work. I had to go home. But now I had treatment it was ok, this might be my chance. Home (Manchester) is only 3 hours drive away, I could travel for treatment and finally get better without the pressure of feeling like I'm dying in work every day.
But wait, hang on, they inform me that I "cannot, under any circumstance, travel from outside the local Oxford area for treatment", but "not to worry", they will "refer for treatment in Manchester and bypass waiting lists as the referral will be at a specialist level". I got my referral to Manchester. The waiting list is 2 years. TWO YEARS. I have been on the phone to the place in Oxford, written them letters, argued my case for them to over-ride the need for a local address. As long as I turn up to the appointments why should the technicality of an address matter? No. No leniency. No arguement. Closed case. It's 2 years or nothing. I'll be dead within 2 years. Thoughts of suicide are consuming me every single day and because I'm not emaciated I'm not considered as an "urgent" case. I just don't know what to do any more. It's been seven years and I've tried everything. I feel like my time to drown is almost here. Posted on 08/29/08, 07:08 am |
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Suze, this is really awful. I'm so sorry you've been put in this position.
I can sympathise to an extent because I was on a long waiting list for treatment at home in Edinburgh. While on teh waiting list my boyfriend got a job in Glasgow and we decided to move through there. Typically I got called up for speciallist treatment (CAT) about a month before I was due to move. I started my therapy and thankfully I am able to travel back through to Edinburgh once a week for my treatment. At no point did anyone imply that me having another address in another city would matter though. That seems so silly!! If you're willing to travel and you were living in that city at the time of going onthe waiting list then why does it make any difference? How horribly frustrating!! It sounds like you've really tried to resolve the issue. I too have felt like I desperately want to get better but I don't know how and the help is so hard to get. It really feels like you have to push and beg for it. It shouldn't be that way. Have you told your doc in manchester that you're feeling suicidal? Maybe he could put you in contact with a counselor while your waiting? I know none of that is ideal but you can't be left completely alone to feel the way you do. I hope everything works out for you. x x 
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Suze! Fellow Englandite here! I am currently living in Harrow. Visited Oxford about a week ago for some shopping!
2 years is mad! I have got private Health insurance and I was admitted to a Priory hospital in Southgate, London almost straight away. 2 years on I am continuing to recover. NHS is a bum! - Have you spoken to a Psychiatrist. You really need to stress to them about how you feel! Have you got savings? You could go private? Some one to help financialy? Perhaps a loan? Sell your car? Just trying to be creative here... There is an amazing ED place in Aylesbury Buckinghamshire where I grew up I know that they accept people from all over. Sounds like you need to be an inpatient for a while like i was. Hope this helps? XsparkyX
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That's nuts! Go see a dr in Manc and see if they can shuffle you up the list. If you get an emergency referral from a dr or psychiatrist they have to offer you at least an assessment within a couple of weeks. I'm not that far from Manc and didn't wait nearly that long but did have to keep persisting with appointments. Tell your dr exactly how you feel maybe even write it down so it goes on your record they can't ignore this clear depression and desperation. I really hope it works out. x
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Thank you so much ladies. It's so complex, I seem to have tried everything, and I'm still pushing for the treatment in Oxford. Thing is, if I do get it it's under their remit that I must not be partaking in any other sort of treatment, counselling, or therapy, I am therefore holding out for this for the moment and have not requested other counselling from my doctor as of yet.
I spoke at length with one of the doctors from the centre this morning and she kept going on and on about their strict regulations because they are a research centre and ony a subsidy of the NHS. It's private treatment but it would be free. It's complicated, but she argued that the travelling would not work, and I argued that she should just let me deal with that part of it. I have given up my job, I am simply sitting around waiting for answers and slowly drowning further. She doesn't seem to understand that this would have my 100% commitment as I have NOTHING else to do right now except focus on treatment, otherwise I won't be here much longer. I'm trying so hard, yet to them I'm just a statistic. To me this is my life. I'll keep pushing. I'll keep trying. Thank you so much for your support.
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Welcome to the world of mental health care in the UK. I am afraid that as you become an adult the provision for Eating Disorders is limited, ( we waited 2 years for adolescent care too) you wont be allowed to die however, you will be admitted if your clinical condition becomes life threatening, and you will be monitored as an outpatient in the meantime. In ordert o get inpatient treatment anywhere payment has to be arranged, you need to be assessed for this funding and Oxford wont pay if they dont have to, simple as that. Contact your Primary Healthcare Trust in Manchester if you dont get a referral for outpatient care soon xxxxx
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Thanks Fane. How come no-one ever tells you which routes to go down and who to contact? I'm so glad I wrote this post. It took me 5 years to go to my doctor about it and finally admit the problem and then they just make you a referral but don't tell you the people/trusts to contact yourself to push for things. Thank you guys. xxx
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I'm sorry you are struggling with sort of the same issue I am. In the US I don't even have medical insurance. when i did I was in treatment that traumatized me more than helped and in 8 years since first getting 'help' for my ED I have lost my job, my sanity, thousands of dollars and I too am no longer emaciated but am underweight and feel dead and there is no realistic treatment out there. I agree, in 2 years you'll be dead, or that much worse and harder to treat. I know in Europe and Canada you get treated by priority and triaged but the world doesn't take ED's seriously so you probably will be among us US citizens that simply can not get the help they need. It makes you feel more worthless than ever to be brushed off as 'not a priority'. Seems we can't have needs because there is no way to get help. I too feel suicidal, like death may be the only real answere to my problems because of the world we live in. I am so sorry for your pain.....Amy
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Yes thats very true all the treatment options are all a BIG SECRET, and even when you do get treatment it stays the same, like they have the answers and no one wants to tell them. Keepo pushing, there is help out there, best of luck and let me know how you get on, also email me and I will give you the national guidelines from Kings College xxxxxxxxx
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Hi Suze,
Just a suggestion here but... do you have any friends in Oxford that would be willing for you to register as a resident at their address for the time being? You could then use their address as a base, even if you don't actually stay there. It seems rediculous that you should miss out on the treatment you clearly deserve, from a centre that you clearly trust. The only down side for the person who's address you use may possibly be a 25% increase in their council tax bill if they live on their own at the moment. This wouldn't be an excessive amount for you to pay each month, assuming you aren't going to be crippled financially with the fuel costs of travelling from Manchester to Oxford!! Just another potential option and I just hope you manage to get something sorted out. You deserve the chance to get better!!
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