Health - how best to get an adderall prescription

[codename]

AFOAF thinks he has suffered with add his whole life. he never did anything about it partly because it always seemed so mild compared to his brothers, who had very sever add, and partly because he didn't like taking drugs. both his father and his brother had pretty bad add. AFOAF has done some research and thinks that adderall would work best for him.

how would he get an adderall prescription? is this something that takes a while, because hes starting college very soon so would like to have it as soon as possible. should he make an appointment with his primary care physician or go straight to a psychiatrist? should he lie and say he has been previously diagnosed with add?

[dihydromoron]

SWIM would suggest doing a search on the almighty search engine for the symptoms of ADD (or observe one of SWIYs brothers for a while?)
and present said symptoms to a doctor or health care professional, if SWIY is that way inclined

one thing swim is SURE would not be a good idea is lying about having been previously diagnosed, docs keep records and make phone calls,
which would more than likely result in you being diagnosed with 'drug seeking behavior' not ADD

[onzero]

some docs give it out no questions asked, you just go in and say "i have trouble paying attention in school, i frequently forget routine things, and have trouble staying on task without getting distracted to the point that it causes me to achieve below my potential"

honestly it's the easiest controlled substance script in the world to get, if you go to a doc and he gives you a hard time or wants to write you a script for strattera or something you can just go to a different one.

psychiatrists usually have no problem handing them out but they'll make you take a test, the test is basically a few questions and you can pretty much guess which ones are going to indicate that you have ADHD.

the only thing is, depending on the doc, even if he goes to stimulants first and skips the non-stimulant medications (which is probably more than 80% of docs) he might want to start you with ritalin, concerta, focalin, etc.

you can't just say "well i want adderall" you'll just have to probably do whatever he tells you, then when you have your 1mo. follow up you just complain of stomach problems or something from the initial drug and he'll switch you.

[deja-vu]

I have had adhd since childhood. Was on ritalin for a few years. Now as an adult I have seen a shrink looking to start taking a meds for my adhd again. He has put me on Ritalin. Based on the boards I have read, Adderall seems to be a better fit. Doc thinks it is too risky because the drug has a black box claiming it is highly habitual. I started taking the ritalin a couple weeks ago. I will see him again for a 30 day follow up in soon. How do I convince doc to prescribe adderall instead when he is so worried obout the serious potentential for addiction. I dont want to come of as drug seeking as I am seriouly suffering from this adhd all my life. I am at a point that I really need help as I will be going back to graduate school in search of a new career and no time to waist. Can you come up with better suggestions than complaining about tummy pain? He was an advocate for the other non stimulant drug, Straterra. Not easy to find another shrink in this town. Took 3 months just to see this one because of intake process and case managers.

Thanks.

[Johndoes2121]

It's a fairly simple process, that you will spend much more time thinking about than taking any actual action about.

When swim got his prescription, he simply set up a meeting with his general care doc, and talked about common symptoms of ADD/ADHD. (Google is your friend here)

In swims experience, most general care docs really don't care too much about you. If you can fill out a simple sheet and answer a idiot-proof test question or two, you should be fine.

If the doc offers you Strattera, just say your insurance doesn't cover it. You're probably not even lying, most insurance plans don't cover it unless you've shown bad reactions to stimulants in the past.