Who prescribes you/your child’s meds? | ADHD Information

My daugthers' meds are managed by a psychiatrist. Thier pediatrician does not have the experience to get to the best med and dose, but is willing to manage meds once treatment is stable. . She will work with a psychologist on managing meds with other treatment. She is also willing to take over med management from a psychiatrist once things are stable and only if there is only one med and there are no co-existing issues (ODD, anxiety, etc.) - basically simple ADHD and simple treatment.

The med journey has been relatively simple for both of my kids and I could see having the pediatrician manage my older child's meds. The youger child had terrible anxiety, depression and defiance before meds and we need to be on the look-out for these issues to resurface. We are also adding back concerta to the guanfacine, so we are not quite stable on the meds for her. 

You might talk to the pediatrician about the position you are in. The ped may have some good suggestions for options. There are others on this board that are working with a ped for med management and they can be very good, if you can find an experienced one.

vickie39131.4495138889

I am having huge problems getting my son treatment. His pediatrician won't prescribe them, they prefer he be followed by a psychiatrist. I can understand that to a certain extent. But I was wondering, how many of you get your prescriptions from your family doc or pediatrician? I've heard this is a common thing, and some people are really surprised to hear that my doc won't do it.

So, on to the reason why we are having so much trouble...our mental health carrier says that ADHD is a learning disability and we have to prove that my son is having negative consequences and needs counseling.  I think I have that covered...but if they won't give the referral, I'm afraid I might have to switch peds and I didn't want to do that.  Either that, or I guess I could work out a payment plan with the doc that diagnosed him (not on our plan, long story, school paid for).

My DD's meds are rx'd by her psychiatrist. He is the same psych who did the eval, andf diagnosis and we have been with him for years. She sees him monthly.

My dd's ped. informed me she was"not a brain Dr. she was a Body Dr. and therefore did not prescribe ADHD meds at all".

My dd's meds are prescribed by a her child psychiatrist.  Her pediatrician gave us a referral to this psych who diagnosed her with ADHD & he sees her monthly also.

My meds are prescribed by our family doctor.  He also prescribes our daughter's, but requested that she see a psychiatrist as a consultant, since her case has been rather complicated at times.

Since options are rather slim locally, we ended up taking her to one who was located 110 miles away.  At the beginning, he insisted upon seeing her monthly, and then, upon my insistance, reduced it to quarterly.  Recently, I have just quit taking her to him, as timewise it is very inconvenient.  We also have to take her out of school for at least a half-day.  I also have problems justifying the drive of over 90 minutes one way just to have him spend 5 minutes or less with us (he normally also takes 1-2 phone calls during this time, also).  The real clincher was that on  the three different occasions when he did write out prescriptions for her, he made some major mistakes.  One involved writing out her prescription for AdderallXR for 5mg less than what she is supposed to take.  I did not read the prescription before I left his office.  The following weekend, which was a holiday weekend, I took it to the pharmacy.  The pharmacist caught the mistake, and said that he would have to fill it for the amount that the script stated.  I said that I would wait, and contact our family physician the following week.  The pharmacist stated that our doctor was on vacation for a week.  I finally decided to get the prescription filled.  The pharmacist stated that once filled, the change could not be corrected for a month.  There was nothing more that I could do, as the psychiatrist's office could not mail out a prescription for Adderall, or change it over the phone.  I was also not able to coordinate another trip of this distance right away just to get a new script.  So, we toughed out the month on 5mg less ofAdderall.  She does not react well to even a slight change in her meds, so this was difficult.  On the next visit, he wrote out the prescription for 5mg less again, but I caught his mistake, and called his attention to it.  He promptly took the script back and scribbled out the wrong amount, and wrote the correct one.  Not realizing that this was a "no-no" with Adderall, I said nothing, but wished that I had when I took the prescription to the pharmacy.  Our family doctor was in his office, and bailed us out of this one.  On the third occasion, he wrote out her prescription for depakote for 3 times a day rather than 2.  At this point, I decided that this man's absent-mindedness or possible burnout was putting my daughter's treatment at risk.  I just do not feel comfortable with taking her there again.  I feel much safer with having a doctor who is familiar with her case, and who has known her all of her life prescribe her meds.  I just hope that he continues to feel comfortable with doing this without "another pair of eyes" involved.  I would hate to put her in this type of situation again.