ADHD Information

Photo of a doctor writing prescriptions.

Important notice

There is currently a national shortage of the medication Adderall.If you are taking this medication, please reach out to your pharmacy with at least 7 days left of your prescription so that you have time to call them to check if the prescription is in stock or to seek out alternative pharmacies if necessary. Also, please note that this shortage does not currently affect all formations of Adderall so this may or may not affect your prescription. If after you have contacted your pharmacy and you continue to need assistance or have questions, please reach out to your psychiatric provider via youror call CAPS at 303-292-2277 to be connected to the psychiatric team.


Treatment Services

CAPS offers treatment for students diagnosed with ADHD. CAPS does not offer formal testing/assessments for diagnosing ADHD, however, CAPS can provide referrals to providers in the community who are able to conduct this assessment.

Prescription of stimulant medication will only be initiated if the student meets one of the following criteria:

  • The student provides sufficient documentation of a prior comprehensive ADHD psychological testing battery conducted within the past three years, regardless of treatment or
  • The student was tested for ADHD anytime in the past and has a history of treatment with sufficient documentation (e.g., letter or records from the treating physician documenting diagnosis and treatment response).

We will not prescribe ADHD medications to students unable to provide this documentation.

Information for New Students

We have specific guidelines for prescribing medications for students with ADHD.

Transferring ADHD medications to Colorado

  • To minimize disruption of care, we encouragestudents to continue working with their current prescriber for their ongoing management of ADHD medication.
  • If you are transferring ADHD medications to Colorado, you may bring a signed paper prescription from your provider to the pharmacy, or your provider may E-scribe a prescription directly to the pharmacy.
  • Thepharmacy in Wardenburg Health Centerwill accept prescriptions from an out of state provider. They may send prescriptions to fill for up to 3 months in advance.

Call the pharmacy at 303-492-8553 for more information.


Initiating ADHD Treatment at CAPS

All CAPS services must be initiated through an initial screening. If you are seeking treatment for ADHD (including stimulant medication), please sign up for a screening appointment on the.

Please do not upload ADHD documentation to the patient portal before your initial screening appointment. CAPS staff will provide you with the necessary information regarding document review after your initial screening.

Get started

Review of ADHD Documentation

There is a $10 fee for reviewing ADHD documentation. This fee is covered by the Gold SHIP;however,coverage for incoming students does not begin until the start of the plan year on August 1. Please note that ADHD documentation received by CAPS will not be automatically reviewed. To have your records reviewedplease take the following steps:

  1. Sign in toand navigate to the CAPS portal.
  2. Click on Forms.
  3. Review and sign the .
  4. Schedule and attend a screening appointment at CAPS before sending or uploading any documentation. To do this, click on the "Schedule an Appointment" option from the menu.
  5. After completing your screening appointment, upload your documentation to. To do this, go click on the "Upload Documentation" option from the menu.
  6. Complete your consent form in. To do this, go to the "Forms" menu and click "CAPS ADHD Documentation and Review Policy."
  7. Call CAPS at 303-492-2277 to request an ADHD documentation review and confirm that CAPS has received your records.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

No.

Our current policy requires comprehensive psychological testing, even if you have had medication for several years from an outside provider.

We require documentation for safety.

Stimulant medication is highly valued and sold illegally as a study aid in many post-secondary academic institutions across the country. Our documentationpolicy aims to provide safeguards forstudents and campus by providing medication access to onlythose who demonstrate medical necessity though psychological testing. Our policy is similar to many other university health centers in the U.S.

Its complicated.

Yes, you can theoretically fill a stimulant medication prescription at a pharmacy in Vlogƽ, butmedical providers will not typically not prescribe ongoing stimulant medications across state lines.

This is because stimulant medications are classified as Schedule II substances by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA)and come with additional rules for prescribing. Controlled substances cannot be prescribed in Colorado unless your provider has a license to practice in Colorado. As a result, almost all out-of-state studentswho need ongoing stimulant medication choose to find a new prescriber within Colorado to continue their stimulant prescription.

No.

An ADHD screening questionnaire does not qualify. Students must have comprehensive psychological testing. This type of testing is typically administered by a psychologist, takes a few hours, contains multiple measuresand includes at least one measure of direct performance on a task of attention or memory.

The most common type of measure for ADHD is a called a Continuous Performance Test (CPT; e.g. the Integrated Visual and Auditory (IVA) CPT, Conners’ CPT, or the Test of Variables Attention (TOVA)). Other common measures are general intelligent quotient tests (e.g. The Weschler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)), or neuropsychological testing (e.g. Weschler Memory Scale (WMS)).

It's complicated.

CAPS providers can prescribe your non-stimulant medications if you do not meet the CAPS stimulant policy criteria. However, this is not preferred and generally avoided in order to provide you with the highest quality of care. If you have multiple medications (including a stimulant medication) and do not meet the criteria for the CAPS stimulant policy, it is best to receive comprehensive care for all of your medications from one psychiatric provider. Please see our thriving campus website for a list of community providers: https://colorado.thrivingcampus.com/

Many students choose to use community providers in Vlogƽ who tend to have fewer requirements when prescribing stimulant medication.

Please see our thriving campus website for a list of community providers: https://colorado.thrivingcampus.com/

We recommend starting early, well before you will need medication.

Please plan for a minimumof two weeks for your documentation to be reviewed once submitted. Once approved, you will be invited to schedule an initial appointment with psychiatry staff at CAPS.

Initial psychiatry appointments often fill quickly and availability can sometimes take several weeks on top of the time needed for documentation review.

We recommend arranging for medication several weeks before any refills are needed.

For in-state students that have an urgent need, please contact your local provider for a refill.

For out-of-state students,many are able to ask their out-of-state providers for a “bridge prescription.” Bridge prescriptions typically grant one last refill while care locally can be arranged. Please note that bridge prescriptions are entirely at the discretion of the provider.

Many students can often find psychiatry openings within a week or two, depending on the time in the semester: https://colorado.thrivingcampus.com/.

Community psychiatric providers tend to fill up when the semester is at its peak. As an alternative to psychiatric providers, some students also obtain prescriptions from local primary care practices in Vlogƽ.

There are multiple medications that can be used for ADHD, but broadly they are divided into stimulant and non-stimulant medication.

Stimulant medicationstend to the most robust effects on attention deficit and hyperactivity symptomsand can work quickly (some people find their symptoms improve at least somewhat after 1 or 2 doses). There are drawbacks to stimulants, however. First and foremost they are controlled substancesand have the potential to become addictive if taken in nonprescribed fashion. Common side effects include insomnia, decreased appetite and cardiac symptoms (rapid pulse, high blood pressure, palpitations and other arrhythmias, sudden cardiac death is an extremely rare but known possibility). Because of these potentially dangerous effects your psychiatric provider will check closely to verify that there is no personal or family history of early cardiac symptoms, and you may be requested to get an EKG or consult with cardiology before a stimulant is started.Your psychiatric provider will have a detailed discussion about benefits/risks/side effects before a prescription is sent.

Non-stimulant medications also have a role in treating ADHD, either in conjunction with stimulants or on their own. Unlike stimulants, they typically do not take effect immediately, rather they need to be taken consistently over multiple weeks before their effects become noticeable. These medicines are not considered controlled substances, and they are not thought to have addictive effect. Some non-stimulants do have side effects similar to stimulants (insomnia, decreased appetite, potential cardiac effects although not to the degree seen with stimulants). Non-stimulants come from multiple different classes of medication, so it isdifficult to provide a full accounting of side effects for all of them in an FAQ, but your psychiatric provider will provide this information at length if a medication is being considered.

In general, finding the right ADHD treatment is a very individualized process. Your provider will work with you to find the best agent for you and your situation.

Students are welcome to schedule a psychiatry appointment to consult with a provider on ADHD medication. Just know that doing so will not yield a prescription until the student has

1) successfully completed the ADHD documentation review process (minimum of 2 weeks for review once psychological testing documentation has been submitted) AND

2) the student has completed a full psychiatric intake session, which may be in addition to the consult.

Students should also know that this consult may consume one of the covered CAPS sessions provided to enrolled students.

Yes.

The Apothecary Pharmacy at Wardenburg can fill your prescription for ADHD medication.

No.

Providers at Wardenburg do not prescribe stimulant medication for ADHD.

Please schedule a schedule an appointment with a CAPS psychiatric provider or find a qualified primary care or psychiatric provider in the community

While individual needs can vary, students should plan to see a CAPS psychiatry provider every 3 months to obtain refills.

Initial intake sessions with a psychiatry providermust be done in person.

Subsequent visits can be doneremotely for refills.