I would talk to your doctor and pharmacist. I do know that the short acting Adderall has a generic equivalent and so does the Focalin XR, and the regular short acting Ritalin (methylphenidate). Check with your doctor and/or pharmacist to find out what is available and what the cost would be.

Elaine

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If you have no prescription coverage there are programs available through the drug companies that cover your medication completely. You can access these through the individual drug companies or use www.rxassist.org. You can enter the medication that you take and they will let you know what programs are available and have applications available as well. I use this as a professional searching out resources for my clients. It is GREAT! Good luck to you!

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secretgrove said: I am a freelance professional who has ADHD. Unfortunately, I cannot afford a full health care plan that covers treatment. Not to mention that I have been rejected coverage twice by BCBS specifically because of my condition.

ADHD has been a big enough problem that it has lead to several jobs going badly. I worry that going untreated will lead to more professional disappointment. When I am on meds things seem to go better, at least I am able to buckle down and get things done.

I was wondering if anyone else was in the same boat as me, and has found a solution for getting affordable access to medication. It's unreasonable for me to be able to afford psychiatrist visits out of pocket, but feel I need to do something.

Any input?

Wow, I can't believe I found this board. First, I'll answer your question... I believe that by far, Costco has the lowest cost for prescription drugs. I have tried using Adderall and it works wonders, as you likely know. The problem with Adderall (at least in my state), is that it can only be prescribed 30 days at a time by a psychiatrist. My GP is an internist and she is not legally authorized to prescribe it to me. I'm not sure if this helps. Even with my health plan under my employer (from whom I've been fired, by the way), I still had a large deductible and the insurance company said my condition was "non-serious". I'm not sure how being fired from four of the last five jobs because of my inability to focus is "non-serious", but c'est la vie. Seeing as how I've not had a job in four months, I've not been able to pay the balance to my psychiatrist. I have too much pride to call and beg for a refill and I wouldn't blame him for declining, if I did call. Plus, since I'm in the market for a job and am likely to be drug tested, I want to make sure that I'm not taking anything that might remotely show up in a test. Who wants to hire someone who is taking drugs because they can't pay attention to their work?? I wish you the best. God knows I've struggled with this for a long, long time, partly because my 74-year old Mom is ADHD (she doesn't know it, but I do) and she is intelligent, but way to scatter brain to see what my problem was. Plus, she's old school (and never ever misses work, unlike me). My ADHD is bad. I think it's strictly my high IQ that has enabled me to "fake" my way through life because it takes me a fraction of the time to resolve an issue than it does others. Anyhew... I'm rambling... typical ADHD. ;)

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Walmart has generic Ritalin on their $4 Rx program. To find out it was a $4 Rx, I had to call and ask. I was told it wasn't listed because it's a controlled substance. My pdoc didn't even know it was on the $4 Rx list.

At the time, I was taking generic Adderall and it had been very effective. However I decided try the generic Ritalin because I wanted to compare the meds and at $4, it was cheaper than the copay for my adderall. After only being on the ritalin a few weeks--I went well past irritable to stay-out-of-my-way scary. I decided adderall was a much better med for me!

Oh, the Walmart pharmacy I called also said they'd previously had the generic Adderall on their list, but was no longer in the $4 program. I don't know how they revise the list of meds on the $4 program. Plus, there are other companies that offer similar programs and you can try calling them.

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Are you taking any of the ADHD meds that are controlled substances (amphetamines) where you can't get refills and must take an actually prescription form to the pharmacy each month? Will your pdoc only write one script at a time? Does your pdoc make you scedule and pay for an appointment just to get the script?

I can call my pdoc's office, say I need a refill, and he'll write the script within the next day or so and leave it in my file. Then, I can just go to the office and pick it up at the desk. During an appointment he's also written me 3 scripts, 2 of them post-dated, so I don't have to stop by the office and can just go to the pharmacy. Plus, through our insurance plan I can get a 90 day supply of generic Adderall through the mail. I find that very strange since I couldn't walk into my pharmacy and do the same thing.

Perhaps you can get the Rx from a regular doctor--some are comfortable prescribing psych meds. You can get your med records from your pdoc and take them to your regular doctor. With a pdoc's diagnosis and explaining you can't afford to pay to see a pdoc, they may write an Rx for ADHD meds.

Then there's always your friendly, efficient, government low-income, health care. I've had to resort to that a few times, but it's an annoying process and sometimes not very effective.

If you have any affiliation with an organization--college alumni, military (NCOA, VFW, USAA)--they sometimes offer group insurance; how they handle pre-exisiting conditions, don't know.

Well, I'm out of ideas for now-- Best of Luck

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This is primarily a reply to lismar...

1. There are ways around the 30 day limit (see my previous post)

2. Pdoc--If you haven't talked to your pdoc about your financial situation, you should. Explain your situation, make payments on your balance--no matter if it's $5/mo. That could also prevent them from sending the balance to a collection agnecy and having your credit score take a hit--employers sometimes look at credit scores to evaluate. See if the pdoc has a sliding scale fee based on income.

3. Drug testing--There are rules about what the drug testing company can report to your employer. If you provide an offical document proving you are taking stims under a doctor's Rx, then they can't report they found an 'illegal' substance. I don't think they can tell your potential employer they found or know you take stims at all. The drug testing does fall under governemtn restricitons somehow...(all general disclaimers apply, yada, yada...)

Seems like the information would all under your state's Dept. of Labor laws/statutes. Here's a list for them: http://jobsearchtech.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://said.dol.gov/StateLawList.asp

However, there are some jobs, where even legal amphetamine use is prohibited, ie, pilots.

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