What Hoosiers can do as the Adderall shortage continues

It has been five months since the U.S Food and Drug Administration announced a national shortage of Adderall, a prescription drug used to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD. About 4 percent of adults in the U.S. have ADHD.

Dr. Aaron Whiteman, a psychiatrist with Community Fairbanks Behavioral Health in Indianapolis, said many of his patients have had difficulty obtaining their medication.

“To run out of their medication abruptly would result in an abrupt return of their symptoms,” Whiteman said. “Most deal with inattentiveness, and that can result in increased accidents. And certainly the more common associated symptoms of being more distractible, difficulty organizing tasks, completing tasks and just overall impairment in work and school and home.”

Whiteman said there are a few things patients can do if they can’t get their prescription filled.

“Talking to a pharmacist, talk with your provider and discuss what options are available," Whiteman said. Supply of the drug can change week-to-week, so he encourages people to not give up finding the medications they need.

Whiteman said some additional solutions include going to different pharmacies or talking to your provider about potential changes in doses or other medications.

Whiteman warned people should not stop taking their medication, because they could experience side effects, such as "symptoms returning abruptly, even the potential to experience a little physiologic withdrawal when stopping that medication abruptly."

He also said people should not buy prescriptions online or share medications with others.

The FDA says the Adderall shortage is due to manufacturing delays. Whiteman said that  recent increases in adults diagnosed with ADHD worsened the shortage. According to health data company Trilliant Health, Adderall prescriptions for adults rose 15.1 percent in 2020.

Contact WFYI health reporter Darian Benson at dbenson@wfyi.org. Follow on Twitter: @HelloImDarian