Stimulants Stimulant + Benzo prescriptions?

[Vicious.Vaz]

I'm not sure if this is the right board for this. Mods, feel free to move if it isn't and sorry in advance.

I've struggled in school since I was in high school. Inattentiveness, zoning out, trouble focusing on people while they're talking, taking too long on exams, etc. So I want to get tested for ADD/ADHD. I'm currently in university and I feel like I work twice as hard on my studies as my peers but I keep getting mediocre grades.

I don't know how it works in public school (US) if they test you for ADHD regularly, but I was homeschooled up until university. My parents were very anti-medication (hippy, new-age types), which might explain why they never tested me.

Now I'm in the position as a junior in college where I feel awkward/too old to go in to be tested; like they'll think I'm just trying to score a script. I really feel like getting a diagnoses would help with with extra time on exams and possibly a stimulant script to help me focus. Is there any chance the doctor won't just laugh me out of their office? Also, would it be better to see the university clinic or a specialized private doctor? I've already talked to my GP and he told me he wasn't qualified to make a diagnosis. I'm just worried a psych specialist will be out of my price range.

Another possible problem is I'm prescribed a benzo for panic attacks and GAD. In your experience will doctors prescribe a stimulant on top of a benzo? I know one is an upper and the other is a downer, but they treat different conditions, so in my opinion it shouldn't make a difference. I'm just looking for some help because I don't want to live the rest of my life like this (under performing for my remaining two years in college and past that in the job market.)

Thanks for any guidance you guys can give me. This is my first or second post on this forum, so I'm sorry if I broke any rules (written or unwritten.)

 

[Fellowed]

I'm from the UK so things work slightly different here. With me I went to my local GP and was asked to be referred to a councillor. I explained my symptoms and feelings towards them and they then referred me to a Psychologist. After that I was then referred to a Psychiatrist who finally gave me a diagnosis.

As far as I am aware America seems quite lax in handing out prescriptions to people (but that might just be me misinterpreting the information I gather from others and what I read / watch). In the UK Adult-ADD is only just really just started being taken seriously as a condition, and the only medication officially available is atomoxetine (while dextro and Ritalin are prescribed to kids with ADHD). Luckily I was put on Concerta and my life has improved 10 fold since!

In regard to the benzo, it's impossible to say what they'd suggest. It might well be that your panic attacks are linked to your inability to control your thoughts and that being on a medication could help reduce that, but then again it might make it worse.

"I'm just worried a psych specialist will be out of my price range."

Absolutely shocking that you lot have to put up with this nonsense. You shouldn't have to make financial decisions when it comes to health :/


I've heard that people are paying hundreds of dollars for their treatment in the US. Over here the price of a prescription for me is £8 no matter what it is and the quantity of drugs needed.

 

[Vicious.Vaz]

I've heard that people are paying hundreds of dollars for their treatment in the US. Over here the price of a prescription for me is £8 no matter what it is and the quantity of drugs needed.

The system here is ridiculous. If you don't have the money, you're basically down shit creek as far as treatment for your condition. I really wished that I lived somewhere where there is a more empathetic approach to treatment/healthcare.

I totally appreciate people sharing their experiences in other countries, but if anyone from the US wants to share their experience being diagnosed/cost of treatment I would really appreciate it. That would probably be more practically relevant to my situation.

 

[Ignot]

I have to pay $150 a month for the doctor visit.
$90 for the Pills.
$250 A MONTH. To be on Adderall.

I believe there is a generic that costs like $50-$70 Not sure. I remember getting it once, and it was really poor quality from India. This is what they give you in CVS/WALGREENS.

I go to Publix. and get my High Quality generic from ACTAVIS.

 

[speedballs_over]

It's been getting slightly better in the US - for some. Prescription costs are outrageous but getting better, finally prices are leveling off (Hep C drugs excluded). One month in 2013, I paid $430 for #30, 8-mg generic Subutex when I didn't have insurance.

Since the ACA ("Obamacare") went into effect I pay $15 for genetic Subutex, but my insurance rates have gone up 10% since ACA, but I get that back, and more, in lower prescription costs. My medical costs last year were about $8,000 including insurance premiums. I have six prescriptions, but have to see my psych once a month at $150 and a therapist twice a month at $100, I get 50% of that back of I file a ton of paperwork b/c I'm seeing doctors not covered by my insurance, so that $8,000 could be more like $5,000 for most people. Out of reach for many, I'm extremely fortunate to able to pay for all my put of pocket costs, I'm expensive and definitely not a typical case, I'm a super consumer of medical care.

I've helped sign up about thirty homeless men to get Medicaid (at our syringe access program facility.) Now, after years of no help they're finally able to get on a waiting list for medical dependency treatment they can afford (sliding scale, or essentially free), just two years ago homeless men in the US were fucked for medical treatment, esp., opioid dependency. Unless you had cash, lots of cash, could one afford even mediocre methadone treatment and bupe if you had even more disposable income - MAT used to be a luxury here, it's slowly getting better. A few years ago even cheap ass methadone from a clinic cost me b/w $25- $50/week depending upon where I lived, most clinics had sliding scale payments for the poor, but if you couldn't afford the discounted price they determine for you one month, they'd cut you off with a very fast taper. The better clinics weren't that bad, but never what I'd refer to as more than "good".

Now methadone and bupe are accessible to the middle class and up as well as the the destitute & we all wait the same amount of time on waiting lists for methadone but lots of Medicaid docs don't prescribe bupe. Methadone is clinic only, putting it out of physical reach of millions. The lower middle class still gets super fucked here.

The drug companies recoup their research costs almost entirely in the US market. It's a complicated mix of collusion, better price controls in the EU and patent laws.

That's my take on the American medical care situation in 2015.