ADHD experiences

  • Thread starter Thread starter katiecall87
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I"m on Adderall. When it was first prescribed for me, I mentioned my concerns about addiction to my doctor. He said, “You let me worry about that.” 😀
 
I think recommendations or mention of specific drugs on this thread is getting very close to crossing the line.

I doubt the original poster wants the thread to be closed quite yet, although much good information has been already offered.
 
In regards to medical advice… I am disregarding. I have a good pediatrician, she is advising what she can. Unfortunately, since I can’t afford the medication, I am limited to going to the school for help until my son’s referral goes through and he is further evaluated by the specialist.

I created the thread for two reasons- one to vent towards other parents who have been there done that and get advice on how I should handle the system, and two, to get any advice you have that is non medical, such as good ADHD parenting techniques.

I have received a lot of good advice and am quite happy with it.

I will have to let you all know at some point, perhaps in another thread, how successful I am in working w the school.

For now, I have Jason playing Little League baseball. He went to his first practice last night. Considering that his prior knowledge of baseball is zero (his dad and I aren’t sports people), he did really well. He hit the ball quite a bit during batting practice. On the downside… as soon as it came to being on the field, he was spinning around, staring at the sky, playing in the dirt, howling, etc. We’ll have to work on that part a lot. Socially no hiccups so far- aside from his usual habit of pushing forward with talking even if it should be obvious that the other child is not listening to him / doesn’t care / is trying to be on task when he isn’t. Again- more stuff to work on.

The one thing I am curious about is the coffee tips. I plan to ask my pediatrician about that. It sounds strange to me, but if it helps- hey, it helps.
 
I know you’re waiting on a few things to lower medical expenses, but did you/can you address this with your doctor? Is there a generic form? Samples? Option to order by mail, which can be cheaper than a pharmacy?

It can be very uncomfortable to do, but one thing I have had to learn to do as a mom is be a little pushy and not necessarily accept the answer I’ve been given the first time, even if it’s from an expert. It flies in the face of all the “good manners” I learned, and the natural inclination of my temperament, but sometimes it is necessary.
 
My situation is that my insurance doesn’t cover medications AT ALL, until we hit our deductible. This is my first year ever having normal health insurance. I always had Tricare (military) coverage before- which is very brainless, covered everything without me even needing to think about it. I don’t know how much the prices will come down after we hit our deductible. I am still earning how all this works.

Anyway- we should hit our deductible VERY soon because I am delivering a baby next month.

We will see by May how much prices come down.

In the meantime, there are generic forms of the medication but the price is about the same. It’s about $200 for one month’s supply.
 
Every pharma company has patient assist programs.

Google the name of the med in question + “patient assistance” and you will find the forms to fill out.
 
pensmama87 said:
I know you’re waiting on a few things to lower medical expenses, but did you/can you address this with your doctor? Is there a generic form? Samples? Option to order by mail, which can be cheaper than a pharmacy?

It can be very uncomfortable to do, but one thing I have had to learn to do as a mom is be a little pushy and not necessarily accept the answer I’ve been given the first time, even if it’s from an expert. It flies in the face of all the “good manners” I learned, and the natural inclination of my temperament, but sometimes it is necessary.
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Yes, make sure you are very frank with your pediatrician about the financial issues and ask the pediatrician what he or she suggests you do in the meantime.
 
What others have said.

First go to the doctor, then call the company or google the company website.

But honestly, and I say this as someone with ADHD, PLEASE get the assements and don’t just rely on the GP.
 
Xanthippe_Voorhees said:
What others have said.

First go to the doctor, then call the company or google the company website.

But honestly, and I say this as someone with ADHD, PLEASE get the assements and don’t just rely on the GP.
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From a different perspective, the assessments can be very expensive. My doctor’s advice was to skip them and just try the medications. He said if it works, it works. But you might not want to use trial-and-error with a child.
 
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on_the_hill said:
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Xanthippe_Voorhees:
What others have said.

First go to the doctor, then call the company or google the company website.

But honestly, and I say this as someone with ADHD, PLEASE get the assements and don’t just rely on the GP.
Click to expand...
From a different perspective, the assessments can be very expensive. My doctor’s advice was to skip them and just try the medications. He said if it works, it works.
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That’s great if it’s really simple. But the OP’s case is far from it. Behavior–head tilting, poor social skills, etc. are not really part of ADHD.

As you indicated, at 9, you don’t want to mess with things, either. These drugs are psychotropic and can have long-term effects. They can be a good band-aid for the OP to survive to the testing, but not a permanent solution.

I REALLY get where you are coming from with the assessment. The schools fought my sister* for YEARS regarding her daughter. “She’s just behind” “She’ll go at her own pace” “she’s just upset at household changes” etc. Last year circumstances mounted and I ended up homeschooling her. What the GP and teachers insisted was “minor anxiety and a touch of ADD” was actually moderate Aspergers (autism spectrum disorder), ADHD and severe anxiety. After being with her nonstop all day, I’d strongly suspected the ASD and gave her the tools I could find online.

Something shocking that came out of the assessments was that she literally had no ability to understand time. She could read a clock but to her, something that happened 3 months ago was just the same as 3 days. When we thought about it explained alot…like why she would flip out when clothes didn’t fit anymore or why she could dawdle a day away then cry impassioned tears insisting she’d only taken a few minutes.

Once we began to address the issues with professionals she made huge leaps and bounds. She went back to school this year and is doing well for the first time since preschool.
 
katiecall87 said:
My situation is that my insurance doesn’t cover medications AT ALL, until we hit our deductible. This is my first year ever having normal health insurance. I always had Tricare (military) coverage before- which is very brainless, covered everything without me even needing to think about it. I don’t know how much the prices will come down after we hit our deductible. I am still earning how all this works.

Anyway- we should hit our deductible VERY soon because I am delivering a baby next month.

We will see by May how much prices come down.

In the meantime, there are generic forms of the medication but the price is about the same. It’s about $200 for one month’s supply.
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It is pretty common for medications to not be covered until a deductible is met. In that case, we have used a credit card to pay for expensive medications that were needed immediately- I’d rather pay it off in increments than let any one of us suffer. Then the copays start kicking in sooner, if it’s a long term medication. I am not sure how your insurance works, but my maternity care was covered in full, aside from one copay. Usually copays do not count toward the deductible, so you may find that your upcoming childbirth doesn’t take care of the deductible issue.

Sometimes physicians can seem to be a little insensitive to the financial concerns that patients have, but often it is because the patients do not bring it up. So, if a doctor suggests a particular medication, and you look it up and find that it is too expensive, call the office and ask them to help you come up with a way to address your son’s needs- they can offer samples if available, or discuss another medication that might be appropriate. I’ve found most of my son’s doctors, nurses, and office staff very willing to help once I speak up. For example, they were able to recommend an alternative to the Epipen that cost us nothing.
 
Many of the Pharmaceutical Companies have, or at least did, have a patient assistance program for people that could not afford medication…I’ll look and see if they still do that…just in case.

Just google patient assistance programs. At one time, I was able to get my meds for free.

This website provides patient financial assistance for the medication you mentioned that you have a prescription for. The program comes directly from the company that makes Concerta.

 
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Many doctors have no idea what medications cost. Tall to yours. Talk to the drug company. You are your child’s advocate now.
 
I use GoodRx instead of my insurance for some drugs, it looks like Concerta is $100 in my area (which is pretty rural) you may have better luck in yours.

We private pay for OT and Speech because the wait was insane to get a free therapist through the public school system. It would have taken nearly a year before therapy could start.
 
JetteZ said:
We private pay for OT and Speech because the wait was insane to get a free therapist through the public school system. It would have taken nearly a year before therapy could start.
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This is ridiculous. The school is bound by very strict legal time frames. If you’ve signed an assessment plan, and the assessment shows that your child qualifies for these services, then the school is required to provide that in a timely manner. Is it in your IEP? I’ve had nothing but wonderful experiences, but I know that many, many other people have to fight for what the school is legally required to provide.
 
babochka said:
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JetteZ:
We private pay for OT and Speech because the wait was insane to get a free therapist through the public school system. It would have taken nearly a year before therapy could start.
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This is ridiculous. The school is bound by very strict legal time frames. If you’ve signed an assessment plan, and the assessment shows that your child qualifies for these services, then the school is required to provide that in a timely manner. Is it in your IEP? I’ve had nothing but wonderful experiences, but I know that many, many other people have to fight for what the school is legally required to provide.
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Unfortunately, it’s not so in all places for all ages. If the student’s needs can be “managed” for classroom purposes extra therapy to make greater improvements is not on the same timetable.

My friend is in the same situation. her daughter has an IEP at school and has modifications to the classroom but is still self-paying for assessment suggested therapy outside of it while she’s on a waitlist. Totally leagal in our area.
 
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Our son attends Catholic school; although the public school is required to extend services getting them to do so is difficult. It would be difficult if he was in the public school, too. There is a limited supply of therapists and a lot of need. If we would then also have to rely on them for actually therapy… he is better served by us paying for it. We fill our HSA instead of nicer vacations; but, our son’s handwritting is getting better and he’s learning how to handle frustration. It’s money well spent.
 
JetteZ said:
Our son attends Catholic school; although the public school is required to extend services getting them to do so is difficult. It would be difficult if he was in the public school, too. There is a limited supply of therapists and a lot of need. If we would then also have to rely on them for actually therapy… he is better served by us paying for it. We fill our HSA instead of nicer vacations; but, our son’s handwritting is getting better and he’s learning how to handle frustration. It’s money well spent.
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My son has similar issues. I have learned so much from his time in Occupational Therapy. He is homeschooled through a public charter school, so I take him to all his OT and it isn’t school-based. Because it is not at school, I have get to go and observe and participate if I want to, and I really like that. I think it would be so much different if it was just something he did at school. I had to pay for it myself, we would totally find a way. It is the single most impactful thing we have done for him. He started OT at 4 and is now almost 12. He’s up for his triennial assessment this year and his occupational therapist thinks that it could go either way as far as him qualifying for continued service.
 
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