My husband recently was diagnosed with ADHD at 59. He is now taking Ritalin. Through our health insurance, my husband worked with a psychiatrist who used the TOVA to decide which medication to use and to titrate the dose. We will soon be losing our health insurance and my husband will be relying on the VA, our only option due to pre-existing conditions. He has been seeing the VA psychiatrist every few months just to keep plugged in at the VA, but they do not write any prescriptions for him so far. But at the most recent visit to the VA, the psychiatrist refused to acknowledge that my husband has ADHD. Went on and on about his credentials and experience as a psychiatrist. Said he took an oath to "cause no harm" and that he would not write a prescription for Ritalin.
Is this a position held by the VA? Will the VA prescribe medication (Ritalin) for ADHD? Will requesting a change in doctor help?
My husband's meds are prescribed through the VA
Submitted by Aspen on
and we had no issues at all either getting a diagnosis or a prescription (for Ritalin), then after about a year when tweaking the doseage was not stopping his hard crashes around 3pm, there were no issues getting him switched to Adderall.
Frankly I was terrified when my husband became self-employed and I realized he was going to have to rely on the VA for insurance at least for a while, but our experience with the VA has been AWESOME. When he has had an issue, he usually is sent to the head of the department in a really good hospital to have it checked. He has had really good doctors and really good care. I guess that does depend soemwhat on where you are as I have certainly heard horror stories, but our experience has been great.
Great news!
Submitted by callmesusan on
Thank you Aspen for the information. I suggested to my husband that he call the mental health department and ask to be assigned a psychiatrist who knows about ADHD. That should do the trick.
I am glad to hear of your experience with the VA. We have been seeing some doctors at the university medical center in our area and they sing praises of the VA hospital, which is across the street from the uni med center. Your comments give me hope.
RE: My husband's meds are prescribed through the VA
Submitted by scorch on
How did you manage this?
I've been out of work for 3 years and so I rely on the VA for all my medical coverage. I recently went in and inquired about getting evaluated for ADD, among other issues, and was told by the psychiatrist that she could not do an evaluation unless she was able to interview people who knew me as a child. That is ridiculous! First off there weren't many people who knew me as a child, and the only one that I know for sure is still alive and where they are is my brother. He's of no use as a reference due to his own major mental health issues and that we haven't been on speaking terms for several years.
I'm going to have to "bite the bullet" and pay for a regular psych, but it's going to be extremely painful...
We didn't really manage anything
Submitted by Aspen on
My husband went looking online to research what was wrong with him after a year of regular arguments over what he wasn't following through on. He came to the ADD diagnosis which shocked us both (he is inattentive and our mental pictures of ADD involve hyperactive symptoms which he doesn't have at all). I think he spoke with his regular doctor at his yearly exam....but now that I write that it doesn't look right cause his yearly physical is in the spring and he was diagnosed in the fall. Anyway he called his doctor who entered a referral for a psychiatry consult, which I think took 2 months or so to get the appt.
The doctor met with us both. Asked what was going on and listened to us both. We also brought in some paperwork we'd filled out from ADD sites most especially the 70 questions involving ADD symptoms from Delivered from Distraction. After discussing my husband's history in depth, he diagnosed him as ADD primarily inattentive and wrote him a script for Ritalin.
2nd Opinion
Submitted by kallimae on
I'd see if you could talk to someone else at the VA regarding AD(H)D. Just like any other field, certain people think one thing and others think another. Some people adhere to the older school of thought that you cannot diagnose adults with ADHD, but most realize that you can diagnose adults as well through a historical interview and evaluations. I used to work in the MH dept of a local VA, and I know people who believed both. They were great drs but sometimes it's hard to just get someone to listen. I would inquire about a neuropsychology referral, that's who would most likely do the evaluation for ADHD.
sorry double post
Submitted by Aspen on