[mithametacs]

I literally did the thing you’re not supposed to do.

my psych kept giving me everything by Adderall. So I went to one of those online doctors and got Adderall through her.

Then I just told my psychiatrist that I have Adderall prescription and she took it over.

For the record, she’s actually really reasonable and I like her but very conservative about the stimulants. Which when I finally got them were a revelation. Medication that actually works.

[mandevil]

The DEA put Adderall on its list of the most abused medication, and limits production of it and investigates doctors who prescribe too much of it. This is a response to the problems with the abuse of legal opiates a decade ago- the DEA now takes potential abuse of legal drugs much more seriously and adderall (an amphetamine- it's a cousin of meth) is at a high risk of abuse.

Your psychiatrist is trying to deal with the DEA monitoring, and doesn't want to be the one who first puts you on it, but continuing an existing Rx is not treated the same by the DEA, as I understand it. So the online doc is putting her license more at risk to a DEA investigation, but your in-person doctor is less exposed.

N.B. this is how I understand the things that my wife has said to me. She is actually a pharmacist who has to deal with these things, and I might have garbled something.

[lysp]

> The DEA put Adderall on its list of the most abused medication, and limits production of it and investigates doctors who prescribe too much of it.

The other thing on top of limiting its production, it's not just for the US, it's worldwide.

Australia has a shortage of various types of ADHD medication due to this DEA production limit too.

https://www.tga.gov.au/safety/shortages/information-about-ma...

Also, the Australian Government requested increased production to cover these shortages, and the DEA rejected that request.

So those limitations have a worldwide effect due to the US being one of only a few countries that produce these drugs.

[tstrimple]

> the DEA now takes potential abuse of legal drugs much more seriously and adderall (an amphetamine- it's a cousin of meth) is at a high risk of abuse.

I know that I process Adderall differently having ADHD, but I still struggle to see how it's used recreationally. I took it somewhat consistently for over a year for ADHD treatment until I missed an appointment and couldn't get around to scheduling another before my prescription ran out. After that getting back on became more trouble than it was worth. Not once did I ever feel a high from Adderall. My best naps were on Adderall. Not once after dropping it did I ever feel withdrawals or the urge to take more. The only thing I felt while taking it was constant dry mouth and my brain no longer constantly jumped between topics outside of my control.

My brother abuses controlled substances. When I told him I was taking Adderall he warned me to be careful and talked about his issues with it and I just couldn't relate at all. I'm no stranger to addiction. I'm an alcoholic and am addicted to nicotine via fruity vapes. But Adderall? Nothing at all.

[hnthrowaway847]

I wouldn’t be surprised if this study were funded by some pharmaceutical lobbying shell organization.

I was on various forms of prescribed amphetimines for years and developed paranoia. It took me a few years to somewhat recover. My family has PTSD about that period of my life. I can’t think or communicate well anymore. Fuck that industry.

[ljf]

I found this article about the steps the DEA are taking, really interesting https://www.catherinemccarthymd.com/med-shortage-news-1/the-...

[unethical_ban]

You're right, and the situation is a harm to those who need adderall. Besides, adderall is not nearly as dangerous as Opiods. Whoopty-doo if it's diet Coke. This is why, even though I don't like Adderall's side effects for my ADHD and don't use it often, I keep the prescription, because fuck the government trying to squeeze pharmacists and doctors.

[phendrenad2]

The DEA is a runaway paperclip maximizer[1]. Their directive is "prevent drug abuse", and they will continue to pursue that goal to the detriment of everything else. There is ZERO feedback loop here. You need to build that feedback loop of you want one. It's your government, shape it how you want it.

[1] - https://hackernoon.com/the-parable-of-the-paperclip-maximize...

[99_00]

All abuse is bad. Some abuses are worse than others.

What abuse are they seeing with adderall? What I hear in casual conversations is that people are abusing it to learn things. Is that what the DEA was seeing too?

[elcritch]

I think of this stuff when folks say “trust the science!”. It’s all trust the science until that science conflicts with some broader agenda of a federal agency or a doctor’s whims about risks to their license.

Medicine really has a bad problem with groupthink. To get the best healthcare you have to both trust physicians and be critical of them.

Then the DEA seems to consider stimulants as a moral failing.

I’ve been off Concerta for 3-4 years now because it was so difficult to keep my productivity up when the pharmacies near me ran out due to the unpublished extra-legal DEA caps on stimulants.

Luckily even have been on Concerta has helped me learn how to manage my ADHD a bit better. It also gave me the chance to heal some of the worst traumas due to undiagnosed ADHD.

[graemep]

I think "trust the science" is a stupid slogan anyway. Not all science is equally well proven. Who represents the "science" when scientific opinion i divided? Even when there is a consensus there are plenty of examples when a strong consensus has been wrong.

The end result is that i tends to make the public regard science as something that they are told by experts, so then it becomes a matter of which experts they trust. This ultimately undermines trust in science because some expert opinions turn out to be wrong.

We really need better science communication, which will not happen when the media want sensation, politicians want spin, and the public believe either the media or ChatGPT or some random nutcase on Tiktok.

[abtinf]

> she’s actually really reasonable and I like her

From what you’ve written, she didn’t treat your actual condition and thus put you through needless suffering and placed your health at risk.

[llbbdd]

Which online doctor? I've had the same frustrating experience with "real" psychiatrists but didn't know you could arbitrage the prescription like that.

[baby_souffle]

> Which online doctor? I've had the same frustrating experience with "real" psychiatrists but didn't know you could arbitrage the prescription like that.

There are a few providers out there. The DEA is cracking down on them (they call them "pill mills") and that crackdown is - depending on who you ask - partially/fully responsible for the stimulant shortages the past few years. The /r/ADHD sub has some good discussion(s) from time to time on the latest action(s) taken by the DEA.

---

When I was seeing medical help to confirm or refine my suspected/self-diagnosed ADHD, it was a _pain_ to jump through all the hoops. I was nervous getting my first Rx filled but oh my god was it a night and day difference. Within 45 min, it was _clear_ that the medication was working ... exactly how it's supposed to for people with ADHD. That "validation" was my prize for attempting to navigate the american health care system.

If I could have replaced dozens of hours / 6+ months of phone-tag/paperwork/assessments for a monthly subscription and a 30 min video call, I'd have jumped at the chance.

[adastra22]

Circle is pretty easy to work with.