At the moment there is a shortage of medications used by many Australians on a daily basis. One such med is Ritalin and from what I can gather it seems to be affecting those who are on the long acting version which is a slow release form of the popular ADHD medication.
The affect that this is having on many families around the country is huge and I wanted to touch on this a little just so those of you who don’t live with an ADHDer understand the implications of this shortage.
ADHD medication can ONLY be prescribed by a paediatrician if your a child or a psychiatrist if your an adult. The script is not given directly to you but instead provided by that professional directly to a pharmacy.
When you fill a script you cannot under any circumstances have the repeats filled until such time that you are within a week of completing the last script. The reason for such stringent rules is simply because stimulant medication can be abused in different ways and it also ensures that those who take it are taking the correct dose.
The shortage means that many families who need to fill a script for their child are not able to secure any and are now having to resort to going without their meds or changing to a different med and here’s why those two options are not sustainable for an ADHDer.
The latter which is switching meds requires one to have a review with their prescribing doctor which can takes weeks to arrange. We all know how hard it is to get into see a specialist at the best of times! Then changing things up when a particular medication has been working extremely well for you can backfire. Your body needs to reset and get use to something new, it may not work as well as the other medication you were on and then there is the time it takes to find the right dose.
A few pharmacies have suggested children switch to Short acting (SA) Ritalin for the time being but so many who are on the LA made the switch from that because of the rebound affect which is down right horrible. We went through this with Leni over a year ago. Changing ADHD medication is not as simple as swapping Nurofen for Panadol!
The other option which is to go without just shouldn’t be an option at all. We know that when Leni isn’t medicated he is a handful, he is hyperactive all day and very impulsive. Without his medication at school he would find himself in trouble all day everyday and so many children would be in the same boat. For those who are inattentive they wouldn’t be able to focus and would struggle to keep up with their peers, and many adults with ADHD would also struggle both at home and work.
One senior health professional on a national breakfast show last week when interviewed about the shortage simply said, “lucky they are not life threatening meds”, which is true however I think it’s safe to say he doesn’t have any children at home with ADHD or does not have it himself!
The Therapeutic Goods Association has advised that the shortage would not be long term but it was an issue 3 weeks ago and continues to be an issue in many states. With close to 90% of Australia’s pharmaceuticals manufactured off shore this current shortage could last a lot longer than we think.
We are fortunate that the medication Leni is currently on is not affected but if it is he wouldn’t be able to go to school. In saying that imagine how disruptive this must be for a year 12 student about to sit their HSC exams, needing to focus right now and quite possibly falling to pieces because the medication they rely on to help them is not currently available????
Life is already bloody hard and this is just another thing for exhausted and overwhelmed families to deal with. The leading authorities need to step up and hold the pharmaceutical companies accountable. In a time where there is already so many things to worry about this is a very bitter pill to swallow!
Staying Focused 
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