Medication adjustment for college student with ADHD
My daughter has been diagnosed since 3rd grade with ADHD inattentive type. She was using Daytrana Patch till about 1.5 years ago. It seemed to stop being effective for her and she was finding herself sort of immobile and unable to do things or have a sense that she was not doing things. So, her doctor prescribed Vyvance and it seemed to work a little and for a short time then really caused insomnia and then long crashes like 20+ hours. So, Now she has Adderall XR and it doesn't seem as crazy as Vyvance but we're seeing a difference in manufacturers of the generics. Some don't seem to last very long. Has anyone else ever come across this?
Also, We need a new provider because her current one has become very flaky and keeps canceling appts. We can't have this as her work schedule is important and can't keep expecting an appt and then having it canceled.
thanks.
Parent Replies
I'm sorry the medication adjustments are such a pain as your daughter grows or becomes used to them. It's frustrating that all the publications say you should find a wonderful psychiatrist who will help you try all the different medications and dosages to find the perfect thing, and in reality it seems like they never have the time or inclination for that.
I can't add much, but I'll say that my provider (who has ADHD himself and works exclusively with ADHD patients) feels strongly that Walgreens has the best Adderall generic and RiteAid has the worst. (I think that's regular Adderall, not XR; I don't know if you can draw conclusions.) My provider is Roger Freed in Mill Valley, and I know he does some work with college students over the phone. He can be scatter-brained about details but he never cancels appointments and he has a super-easy scheduling system. He does make you deal with all the insurance stuff yourself, which hasn't been cheap for me.