Moving internationally for 18 Months, destination country has high ADHD stigma and getting medication is likely to be hard. Advice?
(TLDR: Moving overseas for 18months how to navigate or others experience. Either do runs back to Aus every few months for script refills or attempt to get a diagnosis there even is almost impossible?)
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Location: QLD
Hi All,
I am moving overseas for 18 months for work, however the host country has an high ADHD stigma nor is it that well known and getting medication in the country is likely to be hard or near impossible. Looking for similar experiences or any advice how to navigate this situation. I am thinking of either of these options.
Option 1: Going to my psych and GP requesting a Regulation 49 to get a 3 months supply of Ritalin, initially and then hoping they would be okay with me coming back every few months to do a script 3 month refill. Has anyone done this before and if so how did it go?
I have been going to my regular GP for years and think he will do if I explain the situation but there is a chance he might not. Flying back to Australia is under 8 hours one way, so its doable if a hassle to organise the paper work. I can legally take in a certain amount for personal use but will have to declare it and get approval from the host country government.
OR
Option 2: Attempt to get a diagnosis and medication in there, the country is located in South East Asia. Although doing research online there is no public information on the process and various sources say that there is low availability of stimulant medication. Also that being a foreigner it could be harder to get an diagnosis there.
Ideal scenario would be to fly over with an 3 months worth of medication and then attempt to get a local diagnosis to get medication there but I think I might be able to survive without medication if I really had to.
Any advice?