Hi Jannie,

This sounds outrageous, and you must not give up. Psychiatrists are
renowned for only looking at how to treat symptoms and how many pills
they can chuck at you. They are never interested in underlying
causes. Your GP, however, should always place your best interests
first. So, several things I would attempt.

1) Go and see your GP again. Tell him/her that you are quite sure
that AS is the underlying cause, and that you would like to have a
referral to CLASS. Also point out that IT WILL NOT COST HIM A PENNY.
Many GP's are frightened to refer because of the risk of passed back
costs. Assure your GP that there will be none, and see if you can get
one of the CLASS leaflets to give to the GP.

2) If you get no satisfaction, you need to start raising complaints
against your treatment. Ideally get some support from family/friends.
They won't be presented with the line "you're under treatment,
therefore I cannot deal with you direct". This webpage
(www.bma.org.uk/ap.nsf/Content/concernabtcare) seems to have some
information about the complaints procedure. Your GP should also have
a complaints process you can work through.

3) At the same time, it would be worth writing to your MP about this.
State very simply that you have suffered for a long time, you have
been undergoing treatment, but that you now believe you have
identified the root cause, and that you want to rid yourself of being
a burden on the NHS, since an appropriate diagnosis would allow you
to address the cause more effectively. Get as many other people to
write to your MP as well (hell, I'll join in if you like).

(Incidentally, I'm not saying you are a burden on the NHS, I'm just
saying that by using that sort of language, you stand a good chance
of getting their attention).

4) You could also consult a solicitor about your situation. Again, it
might be worth taking someone as support. But it would be wirth
finding out where you stand.

I wish you all the luck in the world with this, and please keep this
forum informed, as I'm sure we can all have some ideas as to the next
step as you go along this road.