Some pharmacies, including national chains (Walgreens, CVS, etc.), will allow the prescriber to e-scribe in one state and then you pick it up in another. So that’s one option open to @milgymfam’s D but it will depend on the pharmacy and state law concerning controlled substances. The pharmacist can fill them in on that. We’ve been down this road ourselves - @milgymfam was smart to schedule an appt. with the local provider if her D is staying in town for the next several months. Even the prior provider near school would need to see her on occasion. Most docs will require an appt of some kind in order to write a prescription that’s standard practice. Our own experience has been that these need to be in-person and yes, they need to take baseline vitals, esp. if a controlled substance will be prescribed. Hopefully knowing she has an appt. and access to meds will help with the anxiety.
@JBStillFlying it was Walgreens that was the national chain we had no luck with. The other two were a local one here in VA and the base pharmacy. I think the biggest problem is that the doctors have told her that her choice was always to medicate the adhd or the anxiety, not both. She choose the adhd and it’s worked well because her anxiety was often about not being able to focus or get things done. This is a whole new world right now, unfortunately, and she will absolutely be a mess until the incubation period passes after her visit, she’s also worried she’ll ruin her sisters high school graduation (we are doing a symbolic one just the four of us at home) on Saturday due to her anxiety, but I’ve told her not to think about that at all if she can.
I was under the impression that the approach should be this: the doc sends the prescription to the pharmacy in state where the doc is located, state #1. Then the patient’s new pharmacy in state #2 contacts the original pharmacy in state #1 to transfer the prescription.
Alternatively, what I’d try, if you can find one, a local family practice/urgent care, one where you can establish a relationship for the summer but also get an appt, in person, relatively quickly. (No idea whether they can prescribe the controlled substance.)
(One of mine has a prescription for a non-controlled substance that addresses anxiety and attention together, but was originally marketed for sleep. Works ok I guess. The typical controlled substances for attention, while very effective for that, had bad side effects for anxiety, such a bummer.)
@evergreen5 our local urgent care places don’t help with anything they feel should be handled by a primary care doc. We’ve been down that road before. Her doctor on base can see her on Friday, so very quick turn around, really. Luckily her anxiety had gone way down after adhd treatment, at least before covid.
It does seem a bit strange that doctors told her that she had to choose only one disorder to medicate. Yes, a lot of families are nervous about medications and combining them, but many of those conditions are comorbid and require treatment for each problem. I guess if the anxiety is primarily about not being able to focus, I can see going with just the stimulant. However, a lot of people need both problems treated. Maybe working through the anxiety of going in for the appointment will have its benefits though.
@elena13 I hope so. Her anxiety isn’t untreated, it’s just unmedicated. She has had regular therapy for her anxiety for around three years now, and she’s continued that via telehealth.
I have one with anxiety and ADHD (spectrum issues) who is on both Lexipro and Concerta. Our state is really restrictive about controlled substances but we managed to get one of those meds prescribed in another state and then transferred here for pickup via Walgreens. I suspect it was the Lexipro.
Crowds and large groups are wonderful conduits for spreading Covid. But I wouldn’t worry about a 2-week quarantine after an in-person visit to a medical provider. Hopefully she can be assured that sensible social distancing measures will be observed during that visit. One drawback to all this self-isolation is that people’s perspectives are out of wack and they do things like putting off needed medical care. Covid isn’t Bubonic Plague and even if you were to inadvertently spread it (say, because you touched a plastic container that had the virus lying on it . . . ) the chances of that leading to someone’s actual death is pretty small, barring underlying co-morbidities or advanced age.
@Nhatrang Bowdoin doesn’t have summer classes. He’s out of luck! I talked to him a bit about taking a class on Coursera - something that would be good for his resume but isn’t available at the typical LAC but he recoiled and said he’s done with online. I’ll try again in a month when he’s bored. 
We got an e-mail from the Vassar president (my D17’s school) saying that they are working tirelessly to have in-person classes resume in the fall (maybe later than Sept.) and that they would update us by July 3rd. There was a lot of extra information in the e-mail, including that she was appointed today by Cuomo to the New York Forward Re-Opening Advisory Board which I thought was interesting and somewhat comforting. She is so sharp, a great leader and has an extensive background in public health. So, I’m pretty confident that she will help make good decisions for the students (and state), even if they are disappointing.
S19 finished 1 class yesterday (create, videotape, and submit a 10-minute proposal), has 4 finals starting today, then done. Feels pretty good about them all.
After internships were cancelled, he has signed up for 2 summer courses in his major - normally in-person, so not an option living at home, but since the college is online this summer it all works out. He is also studying to test out of two other courses. Getting these 4 out of the way will really help with his triple major plans, plus give him something to fill the time.
Ah, the set building project is done! I got her going with just making the materials list to start, and it always seems once you get a small piece of a project done, the whole thing feels more doable.
Finals on Wednesday and Friday next week so she has those days off work.
Bowdoin will decide by mid-June according to the town hall they had with the students last night. It wasn’t a very rosy town hall but realistic. I’m actually happy with that considering other schools say that they are OPEN for fall (!!) when how can they even know that? It’s wrong to announce that right now. Bowdoins’ task forces are still considering everything - online of course but then, if kids can safely be on campus, they are looking at all kinds of start date options (July, Oct, Jan). They said all NESCACs will not likely choose the same options. They are also considering the block system with just two classes at a time. Honestly, it sounded like they have a very long list of options and they are trying to be ready to choose the best option available.
They think mid-June is the latest they can wait and then they have to make a choice and move forward with that for planning purposes. They were asked if things could change if the virus situation changes and they said they will be as nimble as possible (like if they decide fall is online and then something happens to change that, they will try very hard to pivot and have kids on campus.) They were very clear, though, that this school year will likely be tumultuous. And, as much as kids are begging to come back and as much as they want them back, fall will not look the same as other falls on campus so the students need to be very realistic about this.
I feel awful for all of these administrators. This is so stressful. I believe they are working tirelessly and there are no good answers right now.
Bowdoin isn’t going to limit the number of kids who want to take a leave of absence and it sounds like they know it could be very high if class is online. They are going to give info around how to take a “Covid 19 leave of absence” in mid-May. Someone asked in the town hall if the school will make that kind of leave feel “punitive” in some way and they said absolutely not. They understand. But it will be difficult for them to figure out class distribution with housing and classes, etc., if large chunks of each grade don’t go to school in the fall. Some of the percentages we’ve seen for kids who would want to take a break are pretty staggering (50% in a school newspaper poll and 100% of S19’s friends he’s asked and that’s maybe 20 kids). What would Bowdoin do starting Fall 2021 when they have way more students than usual? And a decent number of kids graduate in January for three years straight? That’s not a thing there.
So the timeline now looks like this -
mid-May: get info on leave of absence protocol
mid-June: Bowdoin makes decision on a plan
late-Jun: housing lottery (seemed like kids will have to make leave decision by then)
July: class registration
I do wonder what happens if a student decides they want to take a leave but then things change and school is on campus. I don’t know what would happen then. They won’t have registered for class. I don’t know for sure but I have a feeling this is the sort of thing that would be in the Covid-19 leave of absence info they are sending out in May. I would think they could say that, if you choose leave of absence, it’s a final decision for fall. I don’t know that for sure but I don’t see how they could continue to be flexible.
S19 didn’t even want to watch the townhall. He said he had more pressing things to do like homework and he doesn’t need to know all of these tentative plans - that nothing matters until they make a decision. I get that. He’s worried but it’s out of his control.
^ Two of my kids attend schools that offered on-campus housing to those who couldn’t leave campus. I have not heard of any Covid cases among those students (edit to add, although undoubtedly some must have contracted the virus, as many others have). Do we actually know of a campus that has been impacted? Corona was in a lot of communities a lot earlier than we thought and is apparently a lot more widespread than originally thought. So how does shutting schools through the fall help contain the spread of Coronavirus in any meaningful way? The young simply haven’t been impacted by this virus. It’s the old and the sick who are impacted. While anyone with an underlying co-morbidity shouldn’t be on campus in the fall, that’s not the overwhelming majority of students.
So what does Bowdoin say is the reason for staying online?
Thanks for the update @homerdog
Bowdoin said they will make a decision in mid-June…many options are on the table, basically the same as all schools.
@JBStillFlying They haven’t decided to be online but can’t say back to campus yet. Of course they can’t. And no other school can either. Aren’t we all still under stay at home orders? How does any school know it will be possible in Aug for people to be moving between states? How does social distancing work on campuses…like, for real, not on paper? Where will the kids live? Eat? Go to class six feet apart?
@Mwfan1921 - that’s a timeline, not a reason. What did Bowdoin say would be the possible reason for staying online?
Here’s a reasonable statement. This time from Cornell.
- "Of course they can't?" Why not? How many college-aged have died from Covid-19?
- Some states are still under "stay at home" - some not. But a metro community isn't the same thing as a college campus, which overwhelmingly skews young. And an LAC doesn't have many older grad students so skews younger still.
Did no one ask Bowdoin their reasons?
The Cornell statement sounds a bit more focused on re-opening in the fall. It would be interesting to see how many in Ithaca have suffered from Covid. We know about NYC; however, again we are talking about a specific community that skews young. I’m not sure we all need to worry much about healthy college kids dying from Covid-19.
@JBStillFlying Um because they can’t keep kids safe on campus? Because the state of Maine maybe won’t be out of “stay at home” orders? Because social distancing isn’t really possible on any college campus and they are being realistic? There are tons of reasons why a college wouldn’t be comfortable going back. They are relying on the best scientific advice they can get and right now there’s not enough proof that going back will not end up in a spike of cases.
I’m not really understanding your question. If you think colleges will be ok in fall are you also planning on going to football games and the movies? Right now we have no therapeutics and no vaccine.