Restarting Adult ADHD Treatment in New Jersey

Many adults come back to ADHD care after a long gap. Some took medication as children and stopped as teenagers. Some were treated in college and let it lapse after a job change or an insurance change. Others are in the middle of a move to New Jersey and need a new prescriber before their supply runs out. Each situation starts the same way, with a current evaluation, but the practical steps differ. This page covers the New Jersey rules that shape those steps.

Why ADHD can return after years without treatment

The idea that most children outgrow ADHD does not hold up well in long-term research. In the Multimodal Treatment Study of ADHD (MTA), which followed 558 children into their mid-20s, about 30% had full remission at some point, but most of those saw symptoms return. Only 9.1% had sustained recovery, and 90% still had residual symptoms in young adulthood. NIMH notes that symptoms continue into adulthood for many people and may change with age: inattention often persists, while hyperactivity tends to decline.

So it is common to feel fine through a structured stretch of life and then struggle again when demands rise, such as a promotion, a new baby, graduate school or a longer commute. That pattern is worth discussing with a clinician. It is not proof of ADHD on its own, since sleep problems, anxiety, depression and stress can produce similar trouble, and a current evaluation looks at those too.

Why an old diagnosis is a starting point, not a prescription

A childhood diagnosis is valuable history. It shows that symptoms began early, which adult diagnosis requires. But New Jersey's rule for prescribing controlled dangerous substances, N.J.A.C. 13:35-7.6, asks the practitioner who starts a controlled medication to:

1. Take a thorough medical history, including any history of substance use.
2. Do an examination appropriate to your condition, including an evaluation of coexisting conditions such as anxiety and depression.
3. Make a reasonable effort to obtain and review your medical records.
4. Check relevant data in the New Jersey Prescription Monitoring Program.
5. Write a treatment plan.

The FDA also asks prescribers to assess the risk of misuse and addiction before prescribing stimulants and to monitor for it during treatment. Your body and your health may have changed since your last prescription, and a new prescriber has to look at you as you are now. Restarting may or may not include medication, and it may not be the same medication you took before. More on this is in diagnosed with ADHD as a child: restarting care.

Moving to New Jersey on ADHD medication

The safest plan is to book a New Jersey evaluation before your last supply from the old prescriber runs out, and to ask that prescriber for your records now. Under N.J.A.C. 13:35-6.5, New Jersey physicians must provide copies within 30 days of a request, and federal HIPAA rules set a similar 30-day timeline for other states' providers, with one possible 30-day extension. The guide to moving to New Jersey on ADHD medication covers the transition in more detail.

New Jersey's telehealth rule if you restart a stimulant

Under P.L.2026, c.40, effective July 8, 2026, an adult located in New Jersey who starts a Schedule II stimulant after a telehealth initial exam needs an in-person visit within 30 days. After that, the law requires a visit or real-time video contact every three months and an in-person visit at least once a year. The office will explain how visits are arranged for patients located in New Jersey. Federal DEA telemedicine flexibilities for controlled medications run through December 31, 2026, and the rules after that had not been published as of October 2026.

If you work in New York and take video visits from there, New York's rules apply to those visits instead. Dr. Shershow is licensed in both states.

What to gather before your first visit

• Your original diagnosis report or old psychiatric records, if you can get them.
• Names of medications you took, roughly when, what helped and what side effects you had.
• School records or report cards, especially from before age 12.
• A list of current medications, supplements and medical conditions, including heart or blood pressure history.
• Your new insurance card, if you changed plans with the move or a new job.
• A short note on what is hard right now, at work, at home and with sleep.

If old records are lost, the evaluation can still go ahead. Family members can often describe your childhood. See evaluation without childhood records.

If your medication is hard to find

The FDA's drug shortage database lists current shortages by drug name. If your usual pharmacy is out, ask whether it can order the medication, and ask your prescriber before switching to a different product. ADHD medication shortages in New Jersey has more.

How to start

Call Dr. Shershow's office or use the call-back form on this page, and say that you are restarting care after a gap or moving to New Jersey on medication. The office can answer questions about fees, insurance and scheduling, which are not listed here. The evaluation covers your current symptoms, history, health and other possible explanations, and ends with what it found and the treatment options that fit. Details are on the new patients page.