Students and Medicine prescriptions

[Alvarius]

Hello!

I have recently been accepted to a master's degree program at the University of Tampere. I have been trying to get a straight answer about getting my prescription (adderall) while I am a student in Finland.

Has anyone had a situation similar to this? I will qualify for the student health insurance while I am studying for my degree, does that health insurance cover adderall prescriptions? The prescription can be exorbitantly expensive as some of you may well be aware.

Will I have any issues filling my prescription?

EDIT: The prescription is to treat chronic Attention deficiency that negatively affects all facets of life. Quite simply, my brain in no circumstance creates enough dopamine at any given time that would resemble a typical brain's output/re-uptake of dopamine in the neural pathways.

[Upphew]

Hello!

I have recently been accepted to a master's degree program at the University of Tampere. I have been trying to get a straight answer about getting my prescription (adderall) while I am a student in Finland.

Has anyone had a situation similar to this? I will qualify for the student health insurance while I am studying for my degree, does that health insurance cover adderall prescriptions? The prescription can be exorbitantly expensive as some of you may well be aware.

Will I have any issues filling my prescription?

Yup, you will have issues. You only talk about medicine and prescription, not what it is for. We use almost exclusively Ritalin for here. And for it you need a special permission from Fimea.

[Upphew]

It's a pain in the backside to get any kind of ADD / ADHD medication. If I remember correctly my daughter's neuropsychologist said an ordinary doctor cannot prescribe it in any circumstance. My guess is that you will need sessions with a psychiatrist here before a script can happen and that they still might say that an adult shouldn't be on it. I don't know where you are from, but I can say that Finland has a MUCH more conservative approach to handing out ANY kind of medication than is the case in the USA.

You ought to check with the customs service how much of the medication you can bring with you into Finland, and try to get as much of it as you can before travelling. If Adderall is not allowed, you might want to talk to your doctors about alternative medications such as Ritalin and whether they can be brought with you.

Adderall = amphetamine -> http://www.tulli.fi/en/persons/travel_r ... /index.jsp

edit. "Methylphenidate, the main ingredient in drugs sold by Novartis AG as Ritalin and Johnson & Johnson as Concerta, is the most commonly prescribed ADHD medicine in the region. Shire’s Adderall, Adderall XR and their generic equivalents -- not approved in Europe -- account for about 41 percent of U.S. prescriptions."
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/ ... a-persists

Bringing drugs that aren't even approved in EU might be very problematic.

[Alvarius]

Thank you all for the replies.

I was recently in Finland last summer for two weeks while I attended a music conference/ explored the country. During this time I brought more than two weeks worth of my medication (my doctor said to do so in case flights get canceled etc, purely precautionary). Anyways, I had absolutely no issue bringing in 30-40 pills through the airport and my time was very enjoyable.

As far as other alternatives, I am definitely open to those suggestions and have tried many. Indeed, I don't actually like being so dependent on a stimulant to go about my day-to-day but its the only thing that works thus far. In fact, all facets of my life have improved since I started the medication(health, social life, relationships, reading, and yes ability to study), I take it directly as prescribed etc etc. - I know that may not have too much impact on my ability to get it in Finland, but surely because it was not seized on arrival, it is at least okay with a prescription?

I had brought a doctor's note with me just in case but I was never questioned or asked to present it.

It was my understanding that Ritalin is actually a more intense and dangerous narcotic than amphetamines for ADHD treatment. As a kid, I used it for a few years and ceased treatment due to its ineffectiveness.

So no one at all has been able to receive adderall, or its generic equivalent in Finland?

[Alvarius]

Thank you VERY much! 100% the information I needed (and some I needed that I didn't know I needed)!


Thanks again!

[Alvarius]

Update:

Yes, indeed. After speaking to the senior pharmaceutical inspector at FIMEA, Adderall is considered a narcotic with special restrictions. She said that I would have to get my finnish doctor to find the best alternative( which will most likely end up being Ritalin) when I arrive.

However, there is another option. Since I have been prescribed to amphetamines for so long (5 years now), and I had to do extensive testing already to arrive at the point where adderall was the last resort, and was the only medication that worked. Because of this, if it turns out that adderall is in fact the only medication that works for me, I can have a compassionate use form filled out by the doctor that would allow me to use adderall/amphetamine salts specifically. This is a long process too, which may be too risky while trying to also do master's level studies, but the option is there.