#adhd medication shortage

[betbiem]

I am not doing well without my medication, give me my god damn ADHD medication! I honestly forgot how bad it was before my medication, it’s debilitating and affects every part of my life. I’m scared of what I will lose if this isn’t sorted out soon.

[toadallybpd]

is it even worth spending the money to try to get an ADHD diagnosis if you can't even afford therapy for your other illnesses and there's an ADHD medication shortage? i am really struggling with symptoms but idk if getting diagnosed will realistically even be worth the money :/

[chaotic-planet]

ok so who else is being absolutely bodyslammed to the concrete by the adhd medication shortage because I really hope I'm not the only one whose life is falling apart because I've called nearly every pharmacy in the state and nobody has Focalin in stock

Like I can't even have very many coherent thoughts anymore

Relationships are falling apart

I'm even starting to speak less coherently

Graaaah please why is this happening just restock it

[meanya]

I love you stimulant meds baby, never leave me again

[haorev]

officially can’t get my ADHD meds and they don’t know when they’ll be able to get them and I have one pill left, so the next how ever long is gonna be rough

i’ve been doing so much better since i got on them back in 2021, like my parents have even noticed that i’ve been even just more well adjusted and coping better than i had before the meds, and i really don’t want to go back to not having them and i’m trying so hard not to cry right now

[weathernerdmando]

I called 11 pharmacies today. Not a single one had the meds I need. 2 had 10 Concerta, but I can't get a partial fill and then more later I don't think. Ugh.

[dabblingreturns]

I can find my head phones so I am unbareable.....

[chaotic-language-journey]

My hyperfixation has officially hurt my head. I tried to study and my head is literally pounding even trying to attempt to study. I hate ADHD. Just let me do what I want and need to do to not have an existential crisis and like I’m wasting my life because I can’t get anywhere fuuuuuuuuuuuuuu-

Also doesn’t help I can’t get meds cause all the psychs are full cause of the tiktok trend. I need medication and these losers that believe tiktok trends are making it difficult for people who seriously have issues. It’s not fun or quirky to have a mental illness. It’s life crumbling. I can’t fucking function and it’s killing me.

[aelfwyn]

Re: ADHD medications shortage. It's an issue in the US, but also in the UK (and presumably elsewhere). Many who were stable on medication have been struggling with reduced availability or have been off meds entirely for months now, and many have had their titration interrupted or delayed indefinitely until supplies stabilise.

There's a petition to launch an inquiry into this shortage in the UK. If you are a UK resident, please consider signing and sharing:

[fateisnotafactor]

Really frustrating that it took almost 2 weeks for the pharmacy to tell me that I can't get my prescription refilled because it's out of stock. Would have been nice to know that 2 weeks ago so I could have tried getting a refill at another pharmacy.

Not like I need that to actually function or anything. Really looking forward to the lack of impulse control, emotional dysregulation, and everything that comes with that.

[ekho-ekho-ekho]

Flowers, from Algernon

In a 1959 short story by Daniel Keyes, a mentally disabled man, Charlie, undergoes experimental surgery to “increase his intelligence.” His progress is measured against the first successful mouse subject, with whom he develops a sense of kinship. But just as Charlie’s intelligence peaks, the mouse's wanes, and it dies soon after. Charlie can then only watch, horribly aware, as his own faculties drain away bit by bit.

Incidentally, this is how it feels being deprived of ADHD medication.

Enjoy the flowers,

Algernon

—actual note* that I sent to several leading figures in the FDA as well as the Administrator of the DEA — attached to bouquets of paper roses** — while waiting on my prescription this past week***.

* For context, the rate of ADHD diagnoses saw a sharp uptick during Covid, when a bunch of people working outside of a structured environment for the first time in their adult lives found they were having the exact same problems in work as their kids were having in school. Add to that a handful of unscrupulous telehealth apps that pushed through as many stimulant prescriptions as they could (exploiting a short-lived loophole in diagnostic criteria), and in the span of a few short years you’ve got a sudden explosion in demand.

Due to those sketchy business practices, the aforementioned telehealth apps are now in boiling hot water with both the DEA and FDA. But as for what’s to be done about the patients they were treating . . . well, suffice to say, there’s been an Adderall shortage since October 2022 that has now, in February 2023, extended to the regular and generic versions of every alternative on the market, including some of the (generally less effective) non-stimulant options. Case in point, it’s February 14, I’ve been waiting on my prescription since February 3, and I’m not likely to see it filled for at least another three days.

“So why don’t the pharmaceutical companies just make more pills to meet demand?” you might ask? Well, some claims have been made about labor and supply shortages, but a big part of the problem is that stimulants are a controlled substance, meaning the FDA/DEA restrict how much may be produced at a given time. And despite the massive surge in demand, these organizations have refused, point-blank, to raise the production cap for 2023.

The FDA and DEA have also refused to give adequate explanation for this decision, despite inquiries by everyone from The Guardian to state legislators. I can only assume this strategy is meant to weed out the “drug seekers” by testing everyone’s goddamn patience till they snap or give up. After all, those of us who were diagnosed through “legitimate” channels already know how to wait months on end for treatment! (Not that the nine-month diagnostic process could possibly be what drove so many people to those apps in the first place. Nah, surely they all just wanted uppers =_= )

** The more politically savvy among you might be thinking, Bluh bluh that’s pointless you know, flowers are expensive and federal officials aren’t allowed to accept gifts valued at over $20.

This is true! But scroll up and reread what I actually said, and you’ll see they were PAPER flowers. You chump. You rube. Nothing I sent cost more than $15 total.

(also if anyone’s curious, the company is called Lovepop; great alternative to real flowers if you’re a broke bitch but still want to spread the love. or annoy a government official.)

*** There was a word count limit on the note, so I wasn’t able to write out the most detailed summary.

(Flowers for Algernon was later adapted into a novel, but a PDF of the original short story can be found here. Reminder that it’s from the 50s and as such doesn’t utilize the most up-to-date language or understanding of psychology. But the sudden upswing in ability — and the gradual, horrifyingly conscious decline — is intimately familiar in my present situation.

[haorev]

I might be able to get my Ritalin later this week 🧿🧿🧿🧿🧿🧿🧿🧿🧿🧿🧿🧿🧿🧿🧿🧿

[r0-boat]

Whb!Beel with ADHD from a person with ADHD:

Cw: ADHD drug being used in a not so ADHD way...

Beelzebub both feels like an over exaggeration of ADHD and a personal call out so I'm making this out of fun.

Whb Beelzebub not actually knowing or remembering that he has ADHD amd He's at a party where one of the devils provide Adderall to make them all go crazy...

And there he is the king of gluttony sitting politely hyperfocused and calm on the couch why the other demons enjoy their drugs in confusion on why it's not working...

Or The rare moments when he's trying to actually get work done He chugs and energy drink thinking that will work only for him to be past the fuck out on the couch.

Beelzebub randomly getting a hyper fixation on kinds of drugs and drug use and recreational drugs. Bael being forced to listen to all his random facts from human world sharks. Wondering if he could somehow channel this energy into actual paperwork.

Beel walking into a room and turning right back around.

Beel hitting his knees on everything in sight where he has bruises everywhere.

Beel turning a conversation faster than you can say 'I have ADHD'

Beel 'The Man of many talents' because over a thousand years he has dabbled in quite a lot of hyper fixations.

Beel spending his money on something completely fucking useless because it was cool.

Beel spending literally days on TikTok.

Beelzebub demon of gluttony Lord of the flies really likes cinnamon roll from hello Kitty (personal headcanon)

[twosides--samecoin]

Y'ALL I GOT MY MEDS WE ARE SO FUCKING BACK

[infestedguest]

I wish all neurotypicals who take adderall recreationally a very go fuck yourself.

I don’t have a problem with you getting high, I have a problem with you getting high off the highly restricted medication I need to take every single day of my life just to function, especially now when we are in the middle of a nationwide shortage. You are literally taking resources from the disabled. You are also making it more difficult for disabled people to access those resources in the future. You are the reason I have to keep all my medications in a lock box. Go fuck yourself.

[parttimepunner]

Excellent video. If I had it in me to advocate for better access to ADHD medication in front of Congress this is the video that I’d either use in its entirety or at least summarize.