Coronation Street’s John Thomson reveals life-changing health diagnosis

Coronation Street star John Thomson has revealed a life-changing health diagnosis as he opened up for the first time on the terrifying side effects he dealt with whilst on medication. John revealed his ADHD diagnosis on the podcast, I’m ADHD! No You’re Not, hosted by comedian Paul Whitehouse and his wife Dr Mine Conkbayir, who specialises in neuroscience.

Speaking out on the moment he realised he had ADHD, the Cold Feet star said he was speaking to actress Siobhan Finneran before she turned to him and said: “Oh, love, you heard us two.”

He remembers responding: “I know, what we like?”, before she said, “I get on me own nerves”. It’s at that point the realisation hit him. John added: “Oh my God, that’s, that’s it. I say that every day. That sums it up. Jesus, yeah, man. And I, and I do, I get on me own nerves.”

After being diagnosed with ADHD, the 57-year-old decided to try medication for the condition before quickly finding out it wasn’t the right fit due to the frightening side effects.

“When I tried the Elvanse medication, I was horrified to learn it was an amphetamine. I thought, ‘Hang on, I’m in recovery. Why would you give me speed?” he said.

“I did it for a week – I don’t know how long the titration period is for it but some people said they took one and that evening it changed their lives. And I was like, ‘My God, it’s got to be worth a try’ well it wasn’t – it was awful.”

The actor said he took the medication on and off during a difficult month-long period of his life, where he saw family members pass away.

“I started to feel really edgy, like a bit kind of prickly. And I was so gutted that the, all the three people I know had took it and went, chatter gone. I feel like they’d had a spliff,” he explained.

According to John, he exhibited early signs of having ADHD as a child, with his mum describing him as “dervish” and “wild during the daytime”.

Despite “always being comfortable in himself” and having been taken to a medical professional when he was younger, his signs were dismissed.

He did, however, admit that during his school days he “was starting to get into trouble a lot”. John recently made headlines as he looked to clear up rumours of a Cold Feet comeback, dubbing the whispers “fake news”.

That said, he’s not entirely ruling out bringing the hit show back to screens. In a recent interview, he said: “What I’ve been saying recently is, I think to test the water, it might be an idea rather than do a whole series – on the back of the success of Gavin and Stacey – to do just one special. See how that’s received. And if that’s a hit, then we can make another series.”