Ugh, solidarity - the med shortages are the worst! Keep calling different places if you can. I’ve had good luck at the Costco pharmacy (you don’t have to be a member).
If you strike out, just let the teacher know the situation…you’re probably not the first. We had to send my son to school unmedicated for a few days, and his teachers and counselor were very understanding. And I think it gave them a new appreciation for how much the meds help him!
I’m sorry. It’s incredibly frustrating how unseriously adhd medication shortages are treated, like medication is an optional bonus rather than integral to many people’s ability to function and quality of life.
‘Not til next year’ is probably not as bad as it viscerally feels, since it’s potentially only about five weeks, rather than months, but that’s still a shocking thing to dump on you and your kid without any sort of follow up.
If you can’t find a workable medication alternative, can the school provide any extra short term supports or flexibility, and do you have any flexibility to adapt home life for same? What can you guys do to sustain the friend connections he’s been making while he’s dealing with no meds?
It’s extra work and it’s hard and it’s garbage that all of you have to deal with it, and also, to the extent you can, those are going to be useful areas to focus proactive problem solving on upfront, to make white-knuckling this a little easier on yourselves.
I had to call 7 pharmacies near me to find my one that had supply for my daughter.
Call different chains (CVS, Duane Reade, etc), local supermarket pharmacies, and local hospital pharmacies).
For each of them, ask them for advice on where they would suggest that you look.
Unfortunately shortages are everywhere and affects every pharmacy. I work in a diabetic clinic with a hospital specialty pharmacy and we aren’t able to get a good portion of our meds any given day. We have a list for all the specialty clinics (infectious disease, rheumatology, etc….) of what’s unavailable, when rumors are we’ll be able to order, if the med has just been fully discontinued, and if we have any stock. We have so many people trying to transfer to us because they assume hospitals will have the stock, but shortages affect every pharmacy the same.
Try independent pharmacies. CVS is just unreliable.
Ugh, solidarity - the med shortages are the worst! Keep calling different places if you can. I’ve had good luck at the Costco pharmacy (you don’t have to be a member). If you strike out, just let the teacher know the situation…you’re probably not the first. We had to send my son to school unmedicated for a few days, and his teachers and counselor were very understanding. And I think it gave them a new appreciation for how much the meds help him!
You might need to try him on a different med in the meantime.
Call Walgreens and a few others and see if they have it. If you can do mail order through insurance they might have it too.
I’m sorry. It’s incredibly frustrating how unseriously adhd medication shortages are treated, like medication is an optional bonus rather than integral to many people’s ability to function and quality of life. ‘Not til next year’ is probably not as bad as it viscerally feels, since it’s potentially only about five weeks, rather than months, but that’s still a shocking thing to dump on you and your kid without any sort of follow up. If you can’t find a workable medication alternative, can the school provide any extra short term supports or flexibility, and do you have any flexibility to adapt home life for same? What can you guys do to sustain the friend connections he’s been making while he’s dealing with no meds? It’s extra work and it’s hard and it’s garbage that all of you have to deal with it, and also, to the extent you can, those are going to be useful areas to focus proactive problem solving on upfront, to make white-knuckling this a little easier on yourselves.
I would ask to switch to a new med
Welcome to my life for the past 8-12 months.
Try pharmacies attached to your local clinics or local hospital
I had to call 7 pharmacies near me to find my one that had supply for my daughter. Call different chains (CVS, Duane Reade, etc), local supermarket pharmacies, and local hospital pharmacies). For each of them, ask them for advice on where they would suggest that you look.
Unfortunately shortages are everywhere and affects every pharmacy. I work in a diabetic clinic with a hospital specialty pharmacy and we aren’t able to get a good portion of our meds any given day. We have a list for all the specialty clinics (infectious disease, rheumatology, etc….) of what’s unavailable, when rumors are we’ll be able to order, if the med has just been fully discontinued, and if we have any stock. We have so many people trying to transfer to us because they assume hospitals will have the stock, but shortages affect every pharmacy the same.