I have gone back and forth between the US and Germany for much of my life. I was originally diagnosed with ADHD in Germany, but the diagnosis was all - I was not offered any medication. I moved to the US shortly after, and found a psychiatrist here who agreed with the diagnosis and offered medication, which has been life-changing. However, she prescribed Adderall, which I have heard from German friends is much less common there overall.

I have two concerns, one short-term and one long-term. In the short term, I’m going to be spending a few weeks back in Germany this summer, attending a friend’s wedding and doing a bit of traveling to see some family, and am concerned about bringing my prescription with me. I’ve actually done this before, but my friends panicked a bit and said I was trafficking illegal drugs and lucky to not be caught. I ended up throwing out the small amount of pills I had left at the end because it made me nervous to go through the airport with them. Online sources differ as to whether this is allowed, so maybe my friends were just paranoid. I brought everything in the original bottle with the prescription. Does anyone know officially whether I have broken the rules and need to do this differently next time?

For the long term, I have considered moving back to Germany to study for a Master’s degree and eventually stay and work. (I did earn my bachelor’s in Germany, so I am not concerned about any degree compatibility here and I do understand the German higher education system obviously.) If I were to do this, would I be able to be medicated for ADHD? What treatments are most commonly prescribed? As I said, my original diagnosis was in Germany so that part is not an issue. None of my friends are doctors and none of them have personal experience being treated for ADHD, so I’m hoping I can get some different perspectives here besides the panic about drugs that I got from them.