Getting a great doctor that prescribes ADHD medication for PTSD management (weird tittle I know)

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Hello mustachians,

I’ve noticed some ADHD/ritalin threads and really wanted your advice in an important issue.

I am 23 year old, non EU citizen, working in tech in Switzerland and unfortunately I have a very specific kind of PTSD diagnosed in my home country but without official documentation, just talk with the therapist.

As there is no scientific backed cure for it (besides MDMA therapy which is not YET legal) the only solutions to mask any symptoms it’s taking either anti anxiety medication or SSRI’s or anti psychotics.

As you can guess, all these solutions are complete crap, so I always avoided them. I tried very responsibly every substance (that could prevent trigger episodes, until a proper cure is not yet approved) and the only one that helps me without sacrificing almost nothing is ADHD medication (there is some investigation that dopaminergic effect of ADHD meds prevents the amygdala from misfiring, which i felt the effects before reading any correlation), which i would only take occasionally (like important presentation).

However, I went to a psychiatrist here in Switzerland, explained all of that, he agreed with the PTSD symptoms and diagnosis and offered me SSRI’s (which I dont want due to obvious reasons) and benzodiazipnes (which i dont want due to obvious reasons).

I asked for ADHD meds, stating that it was the only thing that helped and its side effects are incomparable with any SSRI or benzo. He blatantly refused with no explanation.

So my question: do you have any contact of an great psychiatrist in Zurich preferably, that really listens to the patient, and would be open to prescribe ADHD meds for a PTSD patient that simply does not want the complete crap that benzos and SSRI’s are?

Sorry for this weird case, but your help is invaluable.

For privacy reasons, you can DM me the name of the doctor, if you prefer.

And if anyone is in a similar situation, feel free to ping me.

Thank you all.

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Thank you for sharing your story. I don’t want to be rude, but why are you asking for a contact for a psychiatrist in a forum about financial independence/investing/personal finance?? That makes absolutely no sense to be honest.

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:point_up_2:

I’ll let @johnymacarroni answer but my guess is a web search landing on the “mailing ritalin” thread combined with a fair bit of desperation due to facing an unusual medical condition that elicits hard to deal with responses by most therapists.

That being said, I can’t help. I’d personally try several psychiatrists until I find one with whom I feel in a trusted relationship. That may take some time as I guess getting an appointment isn’t exactly immediate. Kindest thoughts to @johnymacarroni and take heart.

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You can try this forum/thread which will be more appropriate:

I have friends who get Ritalin/Adderall, but not sure I trust where they get it from.

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I usually read the forum and saw some ritalin threads. Furthermore, the community here is quite rational, logical and knowledgeable although more focused in personal finance, as you mentioned. However, these character traits applied for personal finances usually translate to the personal life as well (which includes awareness and care of their own mental health). So for me it was clear, that this was a community that could provide some value to my question.

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Thanks Phil! Will try, did not know this forum existed. You rock.

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Thank you Wolverine, you’ve nailed it and I appreciate it!

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Can’t comment much, on one hand I put my trust in the process, science, and qualifications of medical professionals, on the other I have heard of people falling through the cracks of borderline or unclear situations. Perhaps your best bet to stay within the regulatory and legal framework would be to look for a clinical trial? A doctor can’t legally prescribe something that’s not approved by Swissmedic for a specific indication, and insurance won’t cover it.

This came through my news updates, I didn’t go looking for it but since I am in the healthcare and pharma business I subscribe to several news outlets, things aren’t looking good for MDMA making it to people with PTSD. https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/one-two-punch-lykos-three-articles-mdma-treatment-retracted-due-unethical-conduct

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This might indeed delay it, even though the reason of retraction doesn’t seem to be directly related to the scientific findings.
Based on what I read there (can be biased as most of it is comments from the company), a correction might have indeed been enough.

Problem is, once an editor realizes misconduct in a paper, how can you really be sure that this “only” applies to unethical behavior, or whether there is more under the rug that would directly invalidate the conclusions of the study. As an editor/journal I would have lost the trust in the study as well.

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Good comments folks. Completely agree, it’s an unforeseen delay (anotha one) but completely unrelated with the patient outcomes and more on the study design/conduct. When I mentioned the YET in my previous comment, I was assuming a 5-10 year horizon, unfortunately.

I’ve tried clinical trials in Switzerland but due to being a non german native speaker I was refused (since the follow up questionaries are exclusively made in german) and I understand it, since a slight misinterpretation in the questions might introduce noise in the results, although I am quite sad that they did not conduct them in english as well.

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Did you get a letter from your last therapist? Medical specialists generally trust each other (though they might not necessarily agree).