Drug screening when on stimulants

[Nleor623]

When you do a urine drug screening, other than testing if you have other substances in your system, are they just testing if you have stimulants in your systems or not, or are they testing concentration to match your dosage/a way to know if you've been taking them consistently as opposed to saving one to take the day before/of the screening?

Explanation: mostly my old psych left, my med management went to someone else, who instead of having me do the screening when I come in to my next appointment (like my last person) randomly scheduled me to come in exclusively for this and I didn't know. They ignored me asking about doing testing closer to where I live (their facilities are 2 hours away) to say I could do walk in lab work at their main campus, and also ignored me saying that at this point I would be out of meds before I could do the test.

I have one dose saved (she emphasized the screening being about making sure I'm actually taking the meds) and can finally do the walk in, but 1. Not sure if theyre paying enough attention to see that this would be more suspicious at this point, or if they just want the test results on file, and 2. If the way the screening works would make it obvious I haven't had it for a few weeks before now anyway.

The new person has historically not been the most helpful and my messages to her are getting answered by other staff members, and I'm functioning terribly without meds. So I don't know whether to try and message again and explain, or just take the reserved pill, do the screening, and ask for a refill like usual, and explain if they say something.

[STEM_Dad]

That sounds like a situation that is altogether unhelpful for ADHD.

The reasons for drug testing are mainly to see if the patient is taking the medication as prescribed.

This article has a good writeup about drug testing for ADHD. It mentions a lot, including those there is no standard for this testing, so the frequency and reasoning varies greatly.

nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna76330

I was only on Adderall for 6 months, and I don't think that I was tested at all in that time (but I believe I was tested before starting on Adderall).

~~~~~

You're not alone with difficulty getting the ADHD treatment that you need. Here's a well known ADHD advocate and some of her experience.

youtu.be/aKUdadCsuRE?si=pwV...(Not working as expected?)

[Nleor623 in reply to STEM_Dad]

Yeah, my functioning has gone way down without it. Always feels like there's something. My old therapist (who works for the same overarching hospital but not the same clinic) was shocked that they drug tested. They got their adhd meds through the other big hospital in my state. I'd like to try and see someone through there, or ideally locally, but I'm concerned about losing my ability to even be prescribed it if I go to a different doctor. Very frustrating all around appreciate the response

[STEM_Dad in reply to Nleor623]

Any licensed doctor can prescribe ADHD meds for you. It's a matter of IF they will.

Some doctors have a predisposition about certain conditions, ADHD being one of them. I've heard of some people whose new doctor decided to reassess them, or referred them to a psychiatrist for a more thorough assessment, instead of accepting their existing diagnosis. Or, they might start changing the medication (like from stimulant to non-stimulant, or Adderall to Vyvanse).

However, most often, I believe that doctors accept the existing diagnosis and accept what medication has already been working for their patient. That's been my experience, so far.

(Somehow, the results of the EKG I had a few years ago didn't get carried forward, but I'm on my fourth doctor in four years, and they don't question my ADHD diagnosis and the fact that I respond best to atomoxetine (Strattera).)

[Mamamichl in reply to STEM_Dad]

My current pcp is willing to help with meds. My new psychiatrist was asking for blood type, iron levels, b levels, d levels, thyroid levels, an ekg, and many other things. I tried my best to get what she wanted, but it was a cluster of information. I’m seeing my pcp tomorrow to get some meds because first my psychiatrist argued with me about who does the prior authorization, but now insurance (Medicaid and my work one) are disagreeing whether to cover generic or name brand.

[Mamamichl]

I’m too new to med management to know the answer to this, but I am also curious. I do know adhd and the red tape we deal with when it comes to medication is just not adhd friendly.

[Phianoposis33]

sorry..all the years my son was on adderal, not once did they do blood work for checking to see if he was taking it. Sounds like a money grabber to me. Hence why you couldn't get it done at a lab closer to you and have them fax it.

[wtfadhd]

yikes!! your clinic is criminalizing adhd treatment😭. i moved from Colorado to NY right after weed was legalized in Colorado. when i got to a clinic in NY the dr explained to me that he was going to drug test me for weed before he was going to prescribe my addy that i had been on for years. i totally laughed at him bc that Colorado stigma is soooo outdated and fast forward, weed is legal in NY now too🤦🏻‍♀️. doctors can be such tool bag idiots.

ADHD is hard enough to live with without having to have our self esteem leveled by the medical field.

i private pay for my ADHD treatment bc i do my own extensive research and self education on how to manage my ADHD. i absolutely will not trust some stranger with a degree in the medical field who is bound n controlled by the insurance field.

not sure where u live n what your states rules are. as i said, i live in NY and i private pay a psychiatric NP who practices via zoom in both NY and California. its expensive and i have to budget for it, but im treated like a human.

best of luck, my heart goes out to you

[Nleor623]

Appreciate you all, I was worried about asking this, in case people were like "are you asking for help beating a drug test!??". I forget you guys definitely get it and that it's just about the infinite unnecessary barriers to living a functioning life. I also find it irritating to be tested for taking my meds regularly when there's already so many other reasons I either can't get them consistently--because that means I have to ration them!

It's really annoying how arbitrary it is. I know from the old psychiatrist that while the medical facility as a whole probably requires the testing, there aren't guidelines for how to respond to the testing--for instance, she was pretty anti weed, but wasn't going to stop meds over that, and agreed that even with harder drugs, cold stopping adhd treatment was probably not going to help if someone wanted to quit. I admitted beforehand that it would be positive for cannabinoids, but that honestly, being medicated makes me do them a lot less--its a matter of whether I do it regularly to cope (I cant do anything useful anyway, so I might as well do something that makes me less depressed and anxious about it), versus only occasionally at night to relax and sleep.

I wish I could do telehealth but my state won't allow stimulant prescriptions without being seen in person regularly.