Hey I'm studying here for the year and I have attention disorder (ADD/ADHD) but there is nowhere to get adderall around here. I went to a doctor and he didn't even know what it was! I just switched doctors back home due to insurance and was supposed to see him before I left to get a prescription but our schedules didn't fit and he told me to just get it over here in Switzerland as there are plenty of good doctors here. My schoolwork has been suffering and I really need to get some help. Is there any way you guys know how I can get some adderall? I heard of an international pharmacy somewhere in Lausanne? How do I get a doctor to prescribe me some in the first place? And if so which doctor? Thanks!
A search of the forum brought up a couple of threads mentioning Adderall, seems it's not available here. Also seems that you will need to see a psychiatrist or a neurologist to get a prescription for something that may help. Ask the doc you saw to recommend someone.
I take a different drug for ADD/wakefullness issues called Provigil in the US. I came here with A LOT of it so I haven't had to get any from the doc yet but in CH it's called Modasomil. I don't know if that's any help ... My regular doc here said she'd prescribe it for me.
No ready-mixed Adderall (or similar product containing amphetamin sulphate) available in Switzerland. You'll have to get a prescription and then a pharmacist has to prepare the formula for you.
I suspect that the doctor you saw probably wanted to understand your symptoms and assess a suitable course of treatment. That is their function, at least in most of Europe. Going to one just saying 'please prescribe me drug X' is very unlikely to succeed. And the fact that your drug of choice isn't even available here is an indicator that it's not a normally prescribed treatment.
Try and work with your doctor to establish a good treatment regime that s/he will recommend and you may get better results.
There are many English speaking physicians in Switzerland, just find a surgery on the web and call the reception and ask them to recommend one for you. Adderall has been withdrawn in some countries so this could also contribute to availability issue. In many countries it would also be considered a controlled drug as it has a high risk of abuse in the wrong hands and so may require more stringent safeguards.
You are also using the US tradename, try using the name 'dexedrine'.
If all else fails you can also contact the manufacturer Shire who may be able to advise where the drug is available in Europe.
You have to understand that it is becoming increasingly trendy to get yourself on a mix of Modafinil, Ritalin and beta blockers among students here in Switzerland. I was diagnosed with ADD a few years ago but had to jump through a lot of hoops before it was agreed that this was my problem. All the attention deficit medication in this country is subject to the same law as class A drugs, pharmacists keep the stuff in a safe and you need a special prescription slip to obtain the medications. At least that's how it works in Canton Zurich.
So if you turn up at the doctor's office and go "you fool, you have no idea, just give me my Adderall", you will not get any and quite rightly so. This is not a language issue and I strongly suggest you immediately step away from being arrogant about language as it will smack you in the face every time - instead, work on improving your own language skills, you'll find people much more helpful.
Adderall and dexedrine are not the same. Close, but different. A quick read on both shows that Adderall is probably not as safe, with more side effects, but is a cash cow for the makers (and the docs who push it).
Excellent point. I was put on Concerta (a slow release variant of Ritalin) but had to switch to something else because Concerta is only covered if you were already diagnosed with ADD as a child. It's irrelevant that nobody managed to diagnose you despite you having it.
I didn't just go in and ask for Adderall. I explained all the symptoms and what my previous doctor told me to do and such and such. Language wasn't a barrier either as he spoke some english. As for insurance I paid for a group student insurance of some sort here so we're fully covered throughout the entire school year so I should be fine. I just need to find a good doctor who can prescribe if not refer me to a specialist so that he can prescribe me some adderall.
Our school sends us all to this one doctor who I'm guessing is contracted with us but he would much rather do his own things so it's no use going to him. I have severe joint damage from athletics and my orthopedic doctor back home told me to get an MRI and such and continue examinations while I am over here as it may be linked to a possible tumor in my spine but this doctor did not even bother to check anything and wrote me off some cream similar to bengay or icyhot which I already have. Not to mention my friends went in for a sinus infection and needed medicine and he would not even write off some cold medicine at the least. Both of us were in his office for approximately a minute each before we were essentially sent out. What a joke. By the way I don't mean to offend anyone here.
I think these two statements are quite telling. I'd hate to find a doctor who didn't want to 'do his own thing'. Nor one who would simply accede to a patient's request for a specific medication.
Try going back and explaining, slowly and deliberately, exactly what your problems are, and asking what he thinks is the best approach. It may be that you feel you understand your own condition, but if you can't get a doctor to understand, the answer most likely lies with yourself, not the doctor, so going elsewhere will probably get the same result.
First and foremost, you need to drop your demand for a specific, very strong and potentially dangerous medication. If you don't, you run a very real risk that any doctor is going to refuse you, thinking (and note that I'm not suggesting this is the case) that you simply want it for recreational use.
Sorry to appear so negative, but doctors here do generally work within a (potentially different from the US) ethical and moral framework which seems not to match your expectations.
Perhaps you'd be better trying to find a cheap flight to the US and get some there?
Excellent advice from Ace1. The Insurance will NOT cover medicines which are NOT on the approved list for CH btw.
As a matter of interest, where is 'back home'. Different countries have got very different standards re drug use, practice for the management of certain diseases or injuries, etc. And also re prescribing and other ethical issues. I must say I would be very concerned if a Doctor's prescribing of dangerous drugs (including antibiotics) at patient's request!
Just for those who think the OP may have acted inappropriately, it does happen here (as anywhere) that a doctor may not understand what you're asking for, and instead of politely asking you to explain slowly, will just shove you out of his/her office rather than admit a lack of understanding.
This happened to me when I first came, though it was the birth control pill I was after instead of adderall. I thought I was perfectly clear, but this doctor said something about my insurance being inadequate and rushed me out, without doing an examination or prescribing the much-wanted pill. I ended up getting an emergency one-month supply at the local apotheke and seeing another doctor. However, when I got the bill (175 CHF, thanks), I had my (Swiss) husband call and it turns out she had NO IDEA what I was asking for.
OP: When you meet new people, speak slowly! Turns out virtually nobody understood me for the first few weeks I was here (even at my English-speaking workplace), even though everyone spoke what I thought was passable English. They nodded, they smiled, and they never admitted it (until much later). I thought they were rude, and they were just embarrassed.
You can go to any apotheke, and ask them whether your doctor abroad can fax a prescription directly to them for you to collect. Make sure that what you need is available here, by the way. My mom did this when she was visiting for 4 weeks and ran out of her medication. We got a business card from the local apotheke and called her doctor, who faxed it over. She picked it up the next day. It wasn't adderall, but it was a psychiatric drug (I can't remember the name) and they were very helpful.
But the pill is not covered by insurance and I guess your request just didn't compute with what the doctor knew was common practice. Sorry to hear it was an unsuccessful visit.
Maybe I'm just far to used to taking meds but I know the generic name for every single medication I am on so that if I was stuck in a different country, I would still be able to get what I needed. On that note - the amount of times I've been in the lost luggage area to have some person in front of me practically apoplectic because they put all their medication in the suitcase and needed access to it RIGHT NOW really does make me wonder about how thick some people are. Vital stuff - hand luggage. Always.
ETA: Maybe you could try an international pharmacy? I know there is one in Zurich (Victoria, I think), they offer certain "foreign" medications, but you would still need a prescription.
Thanks. I have gotten over it (it was five years ago ) but I was totally convinced that she didn't want to examine me or was disgusted with me. Yeah, paranoid, I know. I was completely shocked to find out that she apparently didn't understand the contraceptive pill until I heard every other German-speaking doctor translate it as "the Anti-Baby Pill." And, yes, I should have known the generic name for Ortho-Tri-Cyclen, because she had no idea what that was either!
I am hoping this could help you to find a doctor here in Switzerland who would confirm your AD(H)D diagnosis (be it based on you current medical documentation and/or their direct appraisal) and issue a prescription for you:
It is my experience that no pharmacy (albeit international) will provide you with any of the ADD drugs (be in Concerta/Ritalin/Adderall) based on OTC request - you will have to have a prescription.
I was diagnosed with ADHD (Inattentive type) as an adult in 1995. I took Ritalin for several years and then went off of it briefly because I was rebelling against medications. When I tried going back on it again I absolutely hated what it did to me. So now my ADHD is fully untreated and I am a happier person for not relying on chemical treatments.
Caveat emptor: having an employer who refuses to acknowledge ADHD is a legitimate disability sucks. "stop fidgeting, sit up in your chair, pay attention, are you listening to me?!?!? (insert charlie brown's teacher's voice)*