Getting a prescription is only half the battle. In the US, you can't have more than a month supply. Maybe you're lucky and your doctor realizes this so writes you a larger than necessary prescription, but for most vehicles (extended release) it's not an option. Many people horde a backup stash of pills.
This means you have to get your prescription filled within a small window at the end of your previous supply if you want to avoid running out. You also can't have a recurring prescription, but a rare doctor might renew a prescription over the phone. And even then, you have to deal with pharmacies running out last minute, travel impacting your refill schedule, and health insurance coverage for the otherwise ludicrously expensive medication.
A nightmare process that someone with ADHD cannot go through indeed.
> In the US, you can't have more than a month supply
I've met one doctor before who believed it. But after switching to a few other ones (not due to that, but due to circumstances like me moving states or, later on, my doctor doing the same), I dont think that's true.
Every single doctor I had since then was able to write prescriptions for 3 months supply (because they are required to evaluate the patient every 90 days before writing a refill prescription).
Schedule II allows for multiple prescriptions for up to a 90 day supply, but in practice this is 3 prescriptions each for 30 days, and attached to each prescription is a start date.
So you're allowed to have 90 days worth of prescription, but pharmacies aren't supposed to fill more than 30 days at a time. Ultimately this means 12 trips to the pharmacy a year, if you're lucky.
I've heard of that rule before (explained to me in the exact same way you explained by one of my previous doctors), and it definitely worked in a similar way for me in the past too. But for the past few years, my process has been much easier and simpler.
My insurance provider (Premera) has their own mail order pharmacy (called Express Scripts[0]; technically independent, but Premera officially partnered with them), so i dont have to go at all. My doctor writes a prescription, sends it directly to the insurance, opting for the mail pharmacy option checkbox, and I get my meds in the mailbox. They arrive all at once, with a single pill bottle containing 90 days worth of medication.
Just in case it varies by state, that's how it works for me in WA.
This means you have to get your prescription filled within a small window at the end of your previous supply if you want to avoid running out. You also can't have a recurring prescription, but a rare doctor might renew a prescription over the phone. And even then, you have to deal with pharmacies running out last minute, travel impacting your refill schedule, and health insurance coverage for the otherwise ludicrously expensive medication.
A nightmare process that someone with ADHD cannot go through indeed.