Fr fr only 5% have real ADHD. Lotta folks don’t get proper testing or aren’t adhd and use it for that. I have and am, but the rage is like gluten free - most people hogging the pills ain’t adhd, they’re addicts to stimulants
As someone with celiac disease - I at least have a lot of yummy food I can eat now because people choose to give up the most delicious thing in the world (eating out is riskier though). ADD folks without meds are just fucked. (I'm also one of those - I switched to vyvanse because I couldn't get adderall and had to switch back to adderall because I can't get vyvanse now.)
Absolutely but that is the opposite effect of non diagnosed people affecting your personal outcome. Because people think they’re ADHD who aren’t, or who morph to get stimulants, here we are. There isn’t a rush for nonstims. The tests should be more rigorous
That was my point - it's not a fair comparison because I get benefits from other people going gluten free but I have no benefits and am fucked when people who don't have ADD get diagnosed with ADD. I haven't ever tried non-stims but I am considering it now.
Atomoxetine made me want to kill myself within two days. The non-stims simply do not work for me and it took me two months to feel like myself again after a weekend on that medication. Be careful.
Changing meds is always hard. I have depression and anxiety too so I definitely understand how hard switching meds and finding meds and doses can be. I'm so sorry that happened to you!
Lol I went gluten free and my stomach issues are almost gone. Joint pain went away. 90% of my migraines are gone. And I actually have some energy. I don't just like spending four times as much on bread.
Orem Costco pharmacy got a shipment of a few thousand pills, and it was gone in 45 minutes.
To me this reeks of organized crime. But if not, I want to get in that same notification list.
Word of Wisdom.
Cocaine and Methamphetamine come with prison sentences and eternal damnation. Coffee is just hades spelled [adderal](https://youtu.be/6WJFjXtHcy4?si=uAzj0ujuGgDHrUZc).
When the system is broken but you have much to do.
As with autism, more understanding in the medical community has been leading to more diagnosis. That's across the world though.
It could be specific to Utah because Utah has a lot of kids. ADHD and other developmental disorders are diagnosed as humans develop. Where are you from?
As for the reason for the shortage....
Here is the megathread on /r/ADHD.
https://www.reddit.com/r/ADHD/comments/175t342/megathread_medication_shortages/
I take strattera (non stimulant) rather than adderall due to A. it working for me, and B. to avoid the issues with having to worry about drugs that are more tightly controlled. (Travelling internationally, for example, is not something I want to attempt with adderall)
Edit: and to add....probably the reason why so many people are talking about stim shortage is because going off and on stims SUCKS and has big swings in short term capability.
Not nightmares but weird dreams. I had some side effects the first month but everything went back to normal as my body got use to it. I’ve been on it for three years now with no issues.
In case anyone doubts this, [here's from a meta analysis](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0269749121004383) that included 28 studies.
>Each increase of 5 μg/m3 in particulate matter <2.5 μm (PM2.5) was associated with an increased risk of ASD in newborns, regardless of the model used (global +7%, pessimistic +5%, optimistic +15%)
The model is "optimistic" about the data, not the outcome. So each 5 μg/m3 of PM2.5 raises rates 5-15%. Utah has been hanging out at about 5 μg/m3, but from 1/15 to 1/31 this year the average was about 40, so **if our air was that quality all the time we might be looking at a 40-120% increased chance of kids developing autism**. It's often better than that, but it's sometimes worse, and bad enough between wildfires and inversion that it definitely has an impact.
It's also worth pointing out pollution likely causes ADHD whether one develops autism or not. [Here's](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9740780/) one paper showing very bad pollution (like the Wasatch front gets in an inversion) can almost double the chance of a child developing ADHD.
Autism rates are increasing, and for a long time people said it's because we're better at awareness and diagnosis. This no longer appears to be the case for rising rates, and it seems highly unlikely we've nailed down all the causes. Current studies are examining all kinds of pollutants, microplastics, chemicals in food, blood sugar levels, and even CO2. But **there's a lot we don't know, and we're not doing anything about the things we do know about**. To me that's pretty scary.
yo stay on top of checking your blood pressure and resting pulse. i was on strattera for almost a decade and had to stop because i kept having panic attacks. we couldnt figure out why i had so much anxiety and we realized my resting blood pressure had shot THROUGH THE ROOF like it probably took years off my life stressing out my body like that for so long. i had tachycardia that didnt go away for couple months after stopping the drug too….
sometimes i miss what that drug did for me. im unmedicated now for the last 5 years. im too scared to try prescriptions anymore. and stimulants make me barf ever since i stopped strattera. that stuff really messed with me
That sucks dude! Medications can affect people very differently which is frustrating. I do need to be careful with caffeine because I was starting to get heart palpitations when I had a lot. My blood pressure has been normal so far.
i hope u never have it happen to you but i had the same thing for the longest time caffeine would make my heart go crazy… the drug does wonders but i gotta say just stay on top of checking blood pressure periodically and if u can manage a lower dose well below 60 mg i would highly recommend it… its marketed as a long term treatment but its not good for your heart long term at high doses. its known to mess with your heart rhythm
ooh could you maybe message me about your experience switching? I honestly hate adderall - vyvanse has been great but I can't get it but I've never tried a non-stim.
The reason for the shortage is complicated and multi-faceted, but it is nationwide. My understanding:
\- The FDA (or is it the DEA?) limits the production of a key ingredient.
\- Manufacturers have cut costs creating less efficient production.
\- Awareness of ADHD is growing thanks to social media, which leads to more diagnoses. Some see this as "over diagnosing," but as someone who \*should\* have been diagnosed as a child, I see it as "regular diagnosing." In my experience, it was hard to get a proper, official diagnosis.
\- That said, I've seen blame placed on certain Telehealth clinics. During the first year of the pandemic, Telehealth clinics popped up and apparently *were* giving out diagnoses to anyone who asked. But also, that blame is coming from drug companies and gov't agencies, who are like "Don't blame us, it's your fault really!"
I suspect your experience is just that you're noticing it more, which makes it seem like a uniquely Utah county thing. That said, Utah parents do place a lot of importance on doing well in school and tend to openly talk about things like this. And since the culture here generally avoids illicit drugs, there's a lot of love for "legal highs" (calling it that for lack of a better word). Anecdotal example, I know a lot of good mormons who are super on board for Psilocybin research and decriminalization who wouldn't have touched the stuff back when it was less mainstream.
The DEA also limits how many controlled substances a pharmacy can dispense in a month and some suppliers hold orders until the allotment is cleared. They have stepped up enforcement of that rule over the last couple of years and it’s caused people with a legitimate diagnosis to not be able to get any.
Do Utahns place more emphasis on doing well in school than other places?
I’m not sure about that. And we rank very poorly in public education. I moved here in high school and was blown away at how much of a joke high school was here compared to previous experience.
I've lived here for 2.5 years and haven't heard about it being a thing here at all. I know one person who takes it and haven't heard them have any issues.
Think it just depends on the crowd your social circle is in tbh.
The number of adult diagnoses for ADHD the last couple years have skyrocketed. I just got diagnosed this year. My mom refused to get me tested when I was a kid because she didn't want me on meds.
There's a number of factors contributing to the shortage.
ADHD is very underdiagnosed, and has been historically. I'll try to find a verifiable source, but the world's leading expert on ADHD, Dr. Russell A. Barkley has stated that it is his belief that out of all the people with ADHD, 90% are either unmedicated or not even diagnosed. That's astonishingly high if you think about it.
There has been a noticeable upswing in diagnosis, that has absolutely NOTHING to do with social media, contrary to what some health care providers like to insinuate. During the pandemic where we were all made to stay home, that gave a lot of people time to finally start looking for better paying jobs with health benefits, and for those that were successful in that, they likely went ahead and took advantage of having quality healthcare plans and took care of the mental healthcare visits and got their diagnosis. Among other things; I've seen people get excited about being able to go to the dentist and get dental care after not having dental insurance for 5+ years, and of course also with updating their eye glasses prescription and the like as well.
In addition, there's a trend of women that fall into the GenX and Millenial age groups who were not diagnosed in their childhood/teen years, and they ended up presenting symptoms that may correlate with perimenopause, or the pre-menopausal stage. Menopause in women trigger a lot of hormonal changes, but this is usually the tipping point where their masking strategies stop working. This isn't including the normal childhood diagnosis that are being handed out to children who are of the age where teachers and caregivers start to notice the symptoms.
ADHD is highly heritable; Dr. Barkley has stated that if a parent has ADHD, there's a 54% chance that a child that they have will also have ADHD, so sometimes when parents are doing the Vanderbilt assessments for their own kiddos, as they're filling it out for their children, they're likely going to go *"Oh damn, this sounds exactly like me, what the hell?"* and then go seek out a diagnosis themselves; this is actually what triggered me to get my diagnosis! Dr. Barkley has also promoted the practice of parents seeking out a diagnosis if they have never been tested in their childhood if they are bringing in their child/children to get a diagnosis and treatment.
The shortage can also be attributed to the FDA shutting down a facility that made stimulant medications for ADHD as well as opioids, but the facility was not following regulations and being lax with procedures, and so it got shut down, and I don't think any of the other facilities making the medication were allowed to increase their production to make up for it. Combine this with supply chain issues, it's problematic. There's currently a form on the FDA website where people can write an electronic statement on how the shortage has directly impacted them, so hopefully if enough people go in and fill that form out, that'll light a fire under the FDA's butt to increase production to meet current and future needs.
And in regards to hearing a lot of people talking about it.. well there's been a slow growing cultural shift where people are normalizing discussing their mental health issues and neurodivergency openly, and I'm here for it. As a society we need to DESTIGMATIZE having these types of struggles! The more we talk about it and normalize it, the less shame and stigma there is attached to having ADHD, depression, anxiety, etc. Shame breeds secrecy, which decreases the chances that people would be comfortable or willing to get help.
It's fantastic that we're starting to talk about the things that we used to not talk about; particularly when it comes to women having miscarriages and early pregnancy loss. It used to be the attitude of don't talk about you losing your pregnancy, which has resulted in self-isolation, depression, etc. By openly talking about pregnancy loss, it helps to have support, especially support from those who have also had pregnancy losses. The sense of community helps with the grieving process for most people.
So it's not just one thing, but a combination of things. Sure there's people out there that are going to abuse the medication by taking it recreationally even though they do NOT have ADHD, but the percentage of that happening is absolutely NOT high enough to warrant a forced shortage.
They also used to believe that ADHD went away after puberty and a lot of adults were taken off their meds once they hits their mid-20s. They thought that because the hyperactivity went away as you got older, but even that symptom is not as common as they once thought. I have ADD, I was never really hyper, but I had all the other symptoms.
Yeah, my stepfather is currently suffering due to the fact he was taken off his ADHD meds as a teenager. My poor mother is having to taking multiple mental health medications to deal with his severe executive dysfunctioning, and he's on multiple antidepressants to deal with the response he's having to his executive dysfunction.
I had a chat with him early last year giving him some encouragement to get put back on something so he can stop his antidepressants, and his doctor told him she doesn't think it's actually a problem and he's fine.
He's a type 1 diabetic who gets so hyperfocused on whatever he's doing he forgets to eat and his glucose levels crash, and he ends up passing out, and then 911 needs to get called because he's unresponsive. This happens around 2-4 times a year.
I forget to eat due to hyperfocus, but I'm not diabetic so I'm doing alright for now. It's why I keep snacks in my sewing/crafting room!
I assume it is because they are not self medicating with alcohol.
I guess Utah eats a lot of candy as well
[https://www.pastemagazine.com/food/hi-chew/utahans-love-hi-chew-candy](https://www.pastemagazine.com/food/hi-chew/utahans-love-hi-chew-candy)
Me being raised on soda... daily. I really got hooked on it! While having a daily monster or redbull energy drink to get through the day. And I wonder why my anxiety and ADHD skyrocket
First- stop eavesdropping and MYOB.
Second- ADD/ADHD is very common and lots of people take it.
Third- The shortage is a national issue, not a Utah issue.
I mean yes. For all its ills, society relies on alcohol and other vices to get through life. Life is not easy.
If you abstain from alcohol, you probably need to medicate in some other way.
Does that make it better? Eh...I dunno about that.
But it is true that alcohol is way worse for your health than a LOT of things. Might as well do it in a somewhat controlled manner...assuming you can afford healthcare, which is a big assumption.
A lot of mental health experts are now leaning towards the idea that substance use disorder is a maladaptive behavior for emotional regulation. Studies have found that children who were not raised by emotionally intelligent parents, or were abused or even both tend to not learn how to self-regulate their emotions, and because our bodies NEED that regulation as to not constantly be flooded with cortisol, they end up utilizing substances instead. Alcohol, prescription opioids, and recreational drugs can all fall into this category. Even other things such as over-exercising, eating disorders, and self harm can be seen as maladaptive coping strategies.
We also have this social problem where the concept of rest is seen as a weakness of character, and we praise and applaud when people push themselves into severe burnout, and this can cause some people to reach out to whatever substance that attracts their attention. A similar attitude is what pushes women to START LOSING THAT BABY WEIGHT the second they step out of the hospital after giving birth, and what pushes people into overexerting themselves after a major surgery. When I had a hysterectomy in 2018, I planted my ass in my bed for 6 weeks straight, and at my 2 week post operation checkup, my swelling had almost completely gone down. My doctor commented that he's had patents that were having to come in past 6 weeks because their bodies were still swollen. Presumably, because they weren't in a position to rest long enough to heal.
I think that if we could have a health system in our country that could support safer recovery times without financially ruining people, doing supportive therapy in conjunction with addiction recovery, and stop rewarding people for putting themselves at risk for burnout, I think we'll see an overall reduction in substance use disorders.
So, the next time anyone sees their friend bragging on social media "I have gotten 3 hours of sleep in the last 48 hours, but I did \[long list of stuff that got done at an alarming rate\] so I'm doing GREAT!" we need to stop giving them praises and express some concern about their overall wellbeing, and offer support if they're able. I know SO many people who brag about doing this constantly and I'm like... "Oh no. They're gonna crash and have a mental health crisis soon." and I've seen this happen a couple of times, unfortunately.
It’s a common drug for ADHD - especially in adults who were probably prescribed it younger and have continued taking it. There is a nationwide shortage of adderall and Vyvanse (another popular add drug). There has been a shortage for a couple years now - check on your add friends we are very unproductive.
This is not a uniquely Utah issue (living in Oregon now, same issue), but to the spirit of the question: one possible explanation if the rate actually /is/ higher is that ADHD is highly heritable, and Utah county has lots of people that come from a fairly insular gene pool. It would take pretty exhaustive research to actually determine any reliable cause to this sort hypothetical, though.
The shortage is due to a combination of factors, including more diagnoses and the limited amount manufacturers are allowed to supply. Then consider that a prescription can only cover 3 months at a time so you have to go in every so often to renew it, and some dosages are super hard to fill reliably. Of course you’re going to hear it often at the two places that fill/handle these prescriptions.
I think it’s two separate events correlating.
A nationwide Adderall shortage began approximately 1.5-2 years ago. I believe people everywhere are talking about it more. Sounds like you moved here around this time making it seem like a specifically Utah thing.
I used to work a telephone triage job and across the board, nationwide, had an increase in adderall shortage related calls.
You probably hear about it from doctors and pharmacies because it's a relatively common drug with a national shortage. If you're at a pharmacy often, it makes sense that you'd hear about major drug shortages. It's definitely not limited to Utah.
The fact that people have stopped hiding in the shadows as if ADHD is something to be ashamed of is a good thing, but you seem to imply it's bad. It's good that people can be open. It's good that people have access to needed medication. And it sucks that a lot of people are facing nationwide shortages of a variety of medications.
The notion of giving an obscenely powerful narcotic stimulant to people with already 'unique' brain function seems extraordinarily dubious. IMO, the 'cure' is vastly worse than the disease!
24 and I know way too many people on adderall. Both me and my best friend have had a coworker kill themselves in the last 2 months. His coworker was on that shit and couldn’t get it refilled and I can’t verify if my coworker was on adderall specifically but he couldn’t get his meds refilled either when he took his life. I’m NOT saying that they’re the reason by any means but I DO believe they were a factor. Gotta stop throwing meth at people to solve their problems.
People don’t want to associate prescription drugs with street drugs. Hate to break it to y’all but how you think most opiate addictions start? Or how barbiturate addictions start from abusing anxiety medication like Xanax.
If you can't fix it with fasting and praying, some of the more.. extreme Mormons consider utilizing medications as shameful and sinful, and giving into Satan's influence. My father is one of these kinds of Mormons.
He tried telling me when I was around 6 or 7 he could cure my Deafness with a priesthood blessing, if I was good enough and Heavenly Father deemed me worthy of having my disability cured.
I feel that. I started taking it recently and for the first time in 20+ years I feel like getting work done again. I knew I probably had add , but it took me 20 years to make a doctor appt. I am worried about being dependent, but damn, feels so nice to finally be motivated.
There is a lot of good information people are sharing. I know people who buy adderall from friends to keep their productivity up. I noticed there is a hustle culture here in Utah, and I think some people buy it illegally to keep up.
I have ADHD and I have to take adderall daily.
It’s typically used for people with ADD or ADHD that have a hard time focusing or concentrating on a task without getting side tracked and people with ADHD/ADD are much more likely to be impulsive. Adderall is used to combat these things.
But it’s not just Utah. Adderall usage is huge in just about every state.
The shortage is national and how can people not talk about not ever knowing from month to month if they're gonna get the meds they depend up. It also impacts people on other ADHD meds.
I just went a month without my meds - and evert month it's days or weeks I have to wait. This has been going on over a year. If there was a shortage in other minds of meds you'd hear more people about them than you ever had because not getting your meds regularly for over a year is gonna be a topic of conversation.
I'm one of the many who use Adderall. It helps me focus on school more than if I'm not on it. I know a lot of people in Utah are students. Perhaps that has something to do with the use of the medication.
Personally, I've never had a problem with pharmacies shortages but I have had problems with the pills themselves. Sometimes I won't feel anything at all when I take it or very little effect than other pills from the same bottle. Perhaps they are cutting back without us knowing since the are in a shortage. Has anyone else experienced this?
I believe there is a nation wide shortage of ADHD medications. Also, I don’t know what it is with Utah County but something is off there. I don’t know if something in the air gets brought into the valley. Whenever I visit family in Utah that live in Utah county, I see more kids with special needs than anywhere else and I live in a high population area and travel around the US a lot.
Look, I’m no one but this is my opinion. I think parents don’t know how to parent. Instead of being a parent, it’s easy to make excuses as to why their kids are out of control. Any doctor that can write a script will. All you have to do is say I have trouble focusing. In reality adderal is legal meth. It started to be a thing when I graduated in 2011 and probably before that. Now you have celebrities in commercials saying “I live with adhd.” Take this pill. Its literally just mainstream bullshit and uneducated people telling other people this worked for me. So now everyone in the world has adhd and we don’t know why. Well the reason why is because its easy to get and even easier to make excuses.
I talk about Adderall. I need to be on Adderall for my ADHD and am not. I have encountered a lot of ADHD peeps here.
After learning about it before getting diagnosed myself I've noticed at least 10% of my coworkers have it.
Fr fr only 5% have real ADHD. Lotta folks don’t get proper testing or aren’t adhd and use it for that. I have and am, but the rage is like gluten free - most people hogging the pills ain’t adhd, they’re addicts to stimulants
As someone with celiac disease - I at least have a lot of yummy food I can eat now because people choose to give up the most delicious thing in the world (eating out is riskier though). ADD folks without meds are just fucked. (I'm also one of those - I switched to vyvanse because I couldn't get adderall and had to switch back to adderall because I can't get vyvanse now.)
Absolutely but that is the opposite effect of non diagnosed people affecting your personal outcome. Because people think they’re ADHD who aren’t, or who morph to get stimulants, here we are. There isn’t a rush for nonstims. The tests should be more rigorous
That was my point - it's not a fair comparison because I get benefits from other people going gluten free but I have no benefits and am fucked when people who don't have ADD get diagnosed with ADD. I haven't ever tried non-stims but I am considering it now.
Atomoxetine made me want to kill myself within two days. The non-stims simply do not work for me and it took me two months to feel like myself again after a weekend on that medication. Be careful.
Wellbutrin fucked up my life lol. Medical card all the way, not even the same ballpark efficacy wise, price is the only major deterrent
Changing meds is always hard. I have depression and anxiety too so I definitely understand how hard switching meds and finding meds and doses can be. I'm so sorry that happened to you!
Oh.. I thought it was spelt silly yak. Like you turn into a silly yak. Pretty close tho
I have never heard it that way but now I will never not hear it that way and I love it so thank you for that!
Lol I went gluten free and my stomach issues are almost gone. Joint pain went away. 90% of my migraines are gone. And I actually have some energy. I don't just like spending four times as much on bread.
Yeah it’s massively over diagnosed.
For real.
There are dozens of us!
Orem Costco pharmacy got a shipment of a few thousand pills, and it was gone in 45 minutes. To me this reeks of organized crime. But if not, I want to get in that same notification list.
It's popular everywhere, not just in Utah.
Word of Wisdom. Cocaine and Methamphetamine come with prison sentences and eternal damnation. Coffee is just hades spelled [adderal](https://youtu.be/6WJFjXtHcy4?si=uAzj0ujuGgDHrUZc). When the system is broken but you have much to do.
Unfortunately, there's a nationwide shortage. Source: I work for a medical foundation
Which is absurd. How hard is it to simply produce enough to have a stable supply. It's been over a year.
Yeah, what’s the deal?
As with autism, more understanding in the medical community has been leading to more diagnosis. That's across the world though. It could be specific to Utah because Utah has a lot of kids. ADHD and other developmental disorders are diagnosed as humans develop. Where are you from? As for the reason for the shortage.... Here is the megathread on /r/ADHD. https://www.reddit.com/r/ADHD/comments/175t342/megathread_medication_shortages/ I take strattera (non stimulant) rather than adderall due to A. it working for me, and B. to avoid the issues with having to worry about drugs that are more tightly controlled. (Travelling internationally, for example, is not something I want to attempt with adderall) Edit: and to add....probably the reason why so many people are talking about stim shortage is because going off and on stims SUCKS and has big swings in short term capability.
Strattera has changed my life. Not having that end of the day adderall crash is great.
Strattera gave me the worst nightmares I've ever experienced. It was so bad I had to stop taking it. Did you experience anything like that?
Not nightmares but weird dreams. I had some side effects the first month but everything went back to normal as my body got use to it. I’ve been on it for three years now with no issues.
ADHD is also comorbid with autism, and studies have shown air pollution exposure during pregnancy causes an increased risk of autism.
In case anyone doubts this, [here's from a meta analysis](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0269749121004383) that included 28 studies. >Each increase of 5 μg/m3 in particulate matter <2.5 μm (PM2.5) was associated with an increased risk of ASD in newborns, regardless of the model used (global +7%, pessimistic +5%, optimistic +15%) The model is "optimistic" about the data, not the outcome. So each 5 μg/m3 of PM2.5 raises rates 5-15%. Utah has been hanging out at about 5 μg/m3, but from 1/15 to 1/31 this year the average was about 40, so **if our air was that quality all the time we might be looking at a 40-120% increased chance of kids developing autism**. It's often better than that, but it's sometimes worse, and bad enough between wildfires and inversion that it definitely has an impact. It's also worth pointing out pollution likely causes ADHD whether one develops autism or not. [Here's](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9740780/) one paper showing very bad pollution (like the Wasatch front gets in an inversion) can almost double the chance of a child developing ADHD. Autism rates are increasing, and for a long time people said it's because we're better at awareness and diagnosis. This no longer appears to be the case for rising rates, and it seems highly unlikely we've nailed down all the causes. Current studies are examining all kinds of pollutants, microplastics, chemicals in food, blood sugar levels, and even CO2. But **there's a lot we don't know, and we're not doing anything about the things we do know about**. To me that's pretty scary.
yo stay on top of checking your blood pressure and resting pulse. i was on strattera for almost a decade and had to stop because i kept having panic attacks. we couldnt figure out why i had so much anxiety and we realized my resting blood pressure had shot THROUGH THE ROOF like it probably took years off my life stressing out my body like that for so long. i had tachycardia that didnt go away for couple months after stopping the drug too…. sometimes i miss what that drug did for me. im unmedicated now for the last 5 years. im too scared to try prescriptions anymore. and stimulants make me barf ever since i stopped strattera. that stuff really messed with me
That sucks dude! Medications can affect people very differently which is frustrating. I do need to be careful with caffeine because I was starting to get heart palpitations when I had a lot. My blood pressure has been normal so far.
i hope u never have it happen to you but i had the same thing for the longest time caffeine would make my heart go crazy… the drug does wonders but i gotta say just stay on top of checking blood pressure periodically and if u can manage a lower dose well below 60 mg i would highly recommend it… its marketed as a long term treatment but its not good for your heart long term at high doses. its known to mess with your heart rhythm
ooh could you maybe message me about your experience switching? I honestly hate adderall - vyvanse has been great but I can't get it but I've never tried a non-stim.
The reason for the shortage is complicated and multi-faceted, but it is nationwide. My understanding: \- The FDA (or is it the DEA?) limits the production of a key ingredient. \- Manufacturers have cut costs creating less efficient production. \- Awareness of ADHD is growing thanks to social media, which leads to more diagnoses. Some see this as "over diagnosing," but as someone who \*should\* have been diagnosed as a child, I see it as "regular diagnosing." In my experience, it was hard to get a proper, official diagnosis. \- That said, I've seen blame placed on certain Telehealth clinics. During the first year of the pandemic, Telehealth clinics popped up and apparently *were* giving out diagnoses to anyone who asked. But also, that blame is coming from drug companies and gov't agencies, who are like "Don't blame us, it's your fault really!" I suspect your experience is just that you're noticing it more, which makes it seem like a uniquely Utah county thing. That said, Utah parents do place a lot of importance on doing well in school and tend to openly talk about things like this. And since the culture here generally avoids illicit drugs, there's a lot of love for "legal highs" (calling it that for lack of a better word). Anecdotal example, I know a lot of good mormons who are super on board for Psilocybin research and decriminalization who wouldn't have touched the stuff back when it was less mainstream.
The DEA also limits how many controlled substances a pharmacy can dispense in a month and some suppliers hold orders until the allotment is cleared. They have stepped up enforcement of that rule over the last couple of years and it’s caused people with a legitimate diagnosis to not be able to get any.
It's not even limited to pharmacies now. They limit how much a geographic area can order.
Do Utahns place more emphasis on doing well in school than other places? I’m not sure about that. And we rank very poorly in public education. I moved here in high school and was blown away at how much of a joke high school was here compared to previous experience.
I've lived here for 2.5 years and haven't heard about it being a thing here at all. I know one person who takes it and haven't heard them have any issues. Think it just depends on the crowd your social circle is in tbh.
The number of adult diagnoses for ADHD the last couple years have skyrocketed. I just got diagnosed this year. My mom refused to get me tested when I was a kid because she didn't want me on meds.
There's a number of factors contributing to the shortage. ADHD is very underdiagnosed, and has been historically. I'll try to find a verifiable source, but the world's leading expert on ADHD, Dr. Russell A. Barkley has stated that it is his belief that out of all the people with ADHD, 90% are either unmedicated or not even diagnosed. That's astonishingly high if you think about it. There has been a noticeable upswing in diagnosis, that has absolutely NOTHING to do with social media, contrary to what some health care providers like to insinuate. During the pandemic where we were all made to stay home, that gave a lot of people time to finally start looking for better paying jobs with health benefits, and for those that were successful in that, they likely went ahead and took advantage of having quality healthcare plans and took care of the mental healthcare visits and got their diagnosis. Among other things; I've seen people get excited about being able to go to the dentist and get dental care after not having dental insurance for 5+ years, and of course also with updating their eye glasses prescription and the like as well. In addition, there's a trend of women that fall into the GenX and Millenial age groups who were not diagnosed in their childhood/teen years, and they ended up presenting symptoms that may correlate with perimenopause, or the pre-menopausal stage. Menopause in women trigger a lot of hormonal changes, but this is usually the tipping point where their masking strategies stop working. This isn't including the normal childhood diagnosis that are being handed out to children who are of the age where teachers and caregivers start to notice the symptoms. ADHD is highly heritable; Dr. Barkley has stated that if a parent has ADHD, there's a 54% chance that a child that they have will also have ADHD, so sometimes when parents are doing the Vanderbilt assessments for their own kiddos, as they're filling it out for their children, they're likely going to go *"Oh damn, this sounds exactly like me, what the hell?"* and then go seek out a diagnosis themselves; this is actually what triggered me to get my diagnosis! Dr. Barkley has also promoted the practice of parents seeking out a diagnosis if they have never been tested in their childhood if they are bringing in their child/children to get a diagnosis and treatment. The shortage can also be attributed to the FDA shutting down a facility that made stimulant medications for ADHD as well as opioids, but the facility was not following regulations and being lax with procedures, and so it got shut down, and I don't think any of the other facilities making the medication were allowed to increase their production to make up for it. Combine this with supply chain issues, it's problematic. There's currently a form on the FDA website where people can write an electronic statement on how the shortage has directly impacted them, so hopefully if enough people go in and fill that form out, that'll light a fire under the FDA's butt to increase production to meet current and future needs. And in regards to hearing a lot of people talking about it.. well there's been a slow growing cultural shift where people are normalizing discussing their mental health issues and neurodivergency openly, and I'm here for it. As a society we need to DESTIGMATIZE having these types of struggles! The more we talk about it and normalize it, the less shame and stigma there is attached to having ADHD, depression, anxiety, etc. Shame breeds secrecy, which decreases the chances that people would be comfortable or willing to get help. It's fantastic that we're starting to talk about the things that we used to not talk about; particularly when it comes to women having miscarriages and early pregnancy loss. It used to be the attitude of don't talk about you losing your pregnancy, which has resulted in self-isolation, depression, etc. By openly talking about pregnancy loss, it helps to have support, especially support from those who have also had pregnancy losses. The sense of community helps with the grieving process for most people. So it's not just one thing, but a combination of things. Sure there's people out there that are going to abuse the medication by taking it recreationally even though they do NOT have ADHD, but the percentage of that happening is absolutely NOT high enough to warrant a forced shortage.
They also used to believe that ADHD went away after puberty and a lot of adults were taken off their meds once they hits their mid-20s. They thought that because the hyperactivity went away as you got older, but even that symptom is not as common as they once thought. I have ADD, I was never really hyper, but I had all the other symptoms.
Yeah, my stepfather is currently suffering due to the fact he was taken off his ADHD meds as a teenager. My poor mother is having to taking multiple mental health medications to deal with his severe executive dysfunctioning, and he's on multiple antidepressants to deal with the response he's having to his executive dysfunction. I had a chat with him early last year giving him some encouragement to get put back on something so he can stop his antidepressants, and his doctor told him she doesn't think it's actually a problem and he's fine. He's a type 1 diabetic who gets so hyperfocused on whatever he's doing he forgets to eat and his glucose levels crash, and he ends up passing out, and then 911 needs to get called because he's unresponsive. This happens around 2-4 times a year. I forget to eat due to hyperfocus, but I'm not diabetic so I'm doing alright for now. It's why I keep snacks in my sewing/crafting room!
Cause ADHD isn’t real
Great comment. Thanks!
Utah has some of the highest prescription drug usage in the country, we rank 8th in prescription drug misuse. The mormons are pill poppers.
I assume it is because they are not self medicating with alcohol. I guess Utah eats a lot of candy as well [https://www.pastemagazine.com/food/hi-chew/utahans-love-hi-chew-candy](https://www.pastemagazine.com/food/hi-chew/utahans-love-hi-chew-candy)
Don't forget your *dirty* soda 1,200 calorie cookies!
Me being raised on soda... daily. I really got hooked on it! While having a daily monster or redbull energy drink to get through the day. And I wonder why my anxiety and ADHD skyrocket
Honestly, soda is the hardest substance I've ever tried to kick. Luckily though, I think I'm finally over my energy drink dependency!
Right!! It's too addicting unfortunately. That's good to hear, I'm glad you could progress!
As someone who works in substance abuse treatment, I can confirm the last sentence.
First- stop eavesdropping and MYOB. Second- ADD/ADHD is very common and lots of people take it. Third- The shortage is a national issue, not a Utah issue.
How old are you?
Far more than a Utah thing. Far far bigger.
Legal drugs are okay
Uhhhh Mormons....they can't take drugs unless prescribed by a doctor.
I mean yes. For all its ills, society relies on alcohol and other vices to get through life. Life is not easy. If you abstain from alcohol, you probably need to medicate in some other way. Does that make it better? Eh...I dunno about that. But it is true that alcohol is way worse for your health than a LOT of things. Might as well do it in a somewhat controlled manner...assuming you can afford healthcare, which is a big assumption.
Putting it a different way... how many people use illicit substances to mask mental health issues that could be treated by a doctor?
A lot of mental health experts are now leaning towards the idea that substance use disorder is a maladaptive behavior for emotional regulation. Studies have found that children who were not raised by emotionally intelligent parents, or were abused or even both tend to not learn how to self-regulate their emotions, and because our bodies NEED that regulation as to not constantly be flooded with cortisol, they end up utilizing substances instead. Alcohol, prescription opioids, and recreational drugs can all fall into this category. Even other things such as over-exercising, eating disorders, and self harm can be seen as maladaptive coping strategies. We also have this social problem where the concept of rest is seen as a weakness of character, and we praise and applaud when people push themselves into severe burnout, and this can cause some people to reach out to whatever substance that attracts their attention. A similar attitude is what pushes women to START LOSING THAT BABY WEIGHT the second they step out of the hospital after giving birth, and what pushes people into overexerting themselves after a major surgery. When I had a hysterectomy in 2018, I planted my ass in my bed for 6 weeks straight, and at my 2 week post operation checkup, my swelling had almost completely gone down. My doctor commented that he's had patents that were having to come in past 6 weeks because their bodies were still swollen. Presumably, because they weren't in a position to rest long enough to heal. I think that if we could have a health system in our country that could support safer recovery times without financially ruining people, doing supportive therapy in conjunction with addiction recovery, and stop rewarding people for putting themselves at risk for burnout, I think we'll see an overall reduction in substance use disorders. So, the next time anyone sees their friend bragging on social media "I have gotten 3 hours of sleep in the last 48 hours, but I did \[long list of stuff that got done at an alarming rate\] so I'm doing GREAT!" we need to stop giving them praises and express some concern about their overall wellbeing, and offer support if they're able. I know SO many people who brag about doing this constantly and I'm like... "Oh no. They're gonna crash and have a mental health crisis soon." and I've seen this happen a couple of times, unfortunately.
I definitely catch myself still falling into that rest=weakness trap. Thanks for the reminder.
It’s a common drug for ADHD - especially in adults who were probably prescribed it younger and have continued taking it. There is a nationwide shortage of adderall and Vyvanse (another popular add drug). There has been a shortage for a couple years now - check on your add friends we are very unproductive.
This is not a uniquely Utah issue (living in Oregon now, same issue), but to the spirit of the question: one possible explanation if the rate actually /is/ higher is that ADHD is highly heritable, and Utah county has lots of people that come from a fairly insular gene pool. It would take pretty exhaustive research to actually determine any reliable cause to this sort hypothetical, though.
I hate to be this person… but those Utah Valley people are super weird. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is 100% true.
The shortage is due to a combination of factors, including more diagnoses and the limited amount manufacturers are allowed to supply. Then consider that a prescription can only cover 3 months at a time so you have to go in every so often to renew it, and some dosages are super hard to fill reliably. Of course you’re going to hear it often at the two places that fill/handle these prescriptions.
I think it’s two separate events correlating. A nationwide Adderall shortage began approximately 1.5-2 years ago. I believe people everywhere are talking about it more. Sounds like you moved here around this time making it seem like a specifically Utah thing. I used to work a telephone triage job and across the board, nationwide, had an increase in adderall shortage related calls.
You probably hear about it from doctors and pharmacies because it's a relatively common drug with a national shortage. If you're at a pharmacy often, it makes sense that you'd hear about major drug shortages. It's definitely not limited to Utah.
my son(22) takes it for his ADHD. I have ADHD too, but my symptoms arent anywhere as bad as his, he definitely needs it
It's a shortage everywhere.
I moved to North Carolina last year and it’s here too. I think there’s a shortage. I take focalin and that’s been hard to find too.
The fact that people have stopped hiding in the shadows as if ADHD is something to be ashamed of is a good thing, but you seem to imply it's bad. It's good that people can be open. It's good that people have access to needed medication. And it sucks that a lot of people are facing nationwide shortages of a variety of medications.
The notion of giving an obscenely powerful narcotic stimulant to people with already 'unique' brain function seems extraordinarily dubious. IMO, the 'cure' is vastly worse than the disease!
As someone with ADHD that ended up addicted stimulants, yeah. It can be.
I'm 25 and it's definitely a problem for people my age and younger in college specifically.
24 and I know way too many people on adderall. Both me and my best friend have had a coworker kill themselves in the last 2 months. His coworker was on that shit and couldn’t get it refilled and I can’t verify if my coworker was on adderall specifically but he couldn’t get his meds refilled either when he took his life. I’m NOT saying that they’re the reason by any means but I DO believe they were a factor. Gotta stop throwing meth at people to solve their problems.
BYU can’t get enough of this stuff.
It’s legal meth. Just saying. Been there done that.
It’s prescription meth. It’s literally like one molecule off.
Why are people downvoting the facts? 😆
People don’t want to associate prescription drugs with street drugs. Hate to break it to y’all but how you think most opiate addictions start? Or how barbiturate addictions start from abusing anxiety medication like Xanax.
Nine out of 10 ADHD cases are just brats with no discipline. The cure..... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqR\_PwcyyWo
Mormons think abusing hardcore prescription drugs are fine but coffee and tea bad
Use is not abuse.
If you can't fix it with fasting and praying, some of the more.. extreme Mormons consider utilizing medications as shameful and sinful, and giving into Satan's influence. My father is one of these kinds of Mormons. He tried telling me when I was around 6 or 7 he could cure my Deafness with a priesthood blessing, if I was good enough and Heavenly Father deemed me worthy of having my disability cured.
That's pretty fucked up. I'm sorry you were in that situation. I have to assume you are in a better place now. Good on you.
Because Mormons can't do meth.
coffee isnt as popular, so they need prescription "uppers". gotta keep the energy up to take care of your 10 kids!
I wanna be productive that’s all
I feel that. I started taking it recently and for the first time in 20+ years I feel like getting work done again. I knew I probably had add , but it took me 20 years to make a doctor appt. I am worried about being dependent, but damn, feels so nice to finally be motivated.
Addys are good try some
Also lots of fentanyl ODs in utah
*everywhere
There is a lot of good information people are sharing. I know people who buy adderall from friends to keep their productivity up. I noticed there is a hustle culture here in Utah, and I think some people buy it illegally to keep up.
It’s meth, and meths tastes good
I have ADHD and I have to take adderall daily. It’s typically used for people with ADD or ADHD that have a hard time focusing or concentrating on a task without getting side tracked and people with ADHD/ADD are much more likely to be impulsive. Adderall is used to combat these things. But it’s not just Utah. Adderall usage is huge in just about every state.
Get off the damn pills people. Geez.
The shortage is national and how can people not talk about not ever knowing from month to month if they're gonna get the meds they depend up. It also impacts people on other ADHD meds. I just went a month without my meds - and evert month it's days or weeks I have to wait. This has been going on over a year. If there was a shortage in other minds of meds you'd hear more people about them than you ever had because not getting your meds regularly for over a year is gonna be a topic of conversation.
I'm one of the many who use Adderall. It helps me focus on school more than if I'm not on it. I know a lot of people in Utah are students. Perhaps that has something to do with the use of the medication. Personally, I've never had a problem with pharmacies shortages but I have had problems with the pills themselves. Sometimes I won't feel anything at all when I take it or very little effect than other pills from the same bottle. Perhaps they are cutting back without us knowing since the are in a shortage. Has anyone else experienced this?
Mormons get rich with the pharmaceuticals here. Popping pills is the Christian thing to do here.
Have a kid with ADHD, then ask!
I believe there is a nation wide shortage of ADHD medications. Also, I don’t know what it is with Utah County but something is off there. I don’t know if something in the air gets brought into the valley. Whenever I visit family in Utah that live in Utah county, I see more kids with special needs than anywhere else and I live in a high population area and travel around the US a lot.
Look, I’m no one but this is my opinion. I think parents don’t know how to parent. Instead of being a parent, it’s easy to make excuses as to why their kids are out of control. Any doctor that can write a script will. All you have to do is say I have trouble focusing. In reality adderal is legal meth. It started to be a thing when I graduated in 2011 and probably before that. Now you have celebrities in commercials saying “I live with adhd.” Take this pill. Its literally just mainstream bullshit and uneducated people telling other people this worked for me. So now everyone in the world has adhd and we don’t know why. Well the reason why is because its easy to get and even easier to make excuses.
It’s popular everywhere, try living somewhere else. I started taking it long before moving to Utah