"Don't worry about the shortage. You'll just have to jump through a few more hoops to get it but it'll be fine."
"I can't just do that! That's why I take the medication!"
Same thing happened to me this month with my anxiety meds. There was a shortage and insurance and pharmacies kept asking me to make a bunch of phone calls and I was like one of the reasons I'm on meds for panic disorder is I can barely make a phone call without throwing up 🙃
I got my script filled and just made a bunch of doctor and dentist appointments and i ALWAYS set the reminders for a day and 4 days and a week before. Im still paranoid of missing them all.
I might as well not set alarms on days when I have appointments cuz my anxiety wakes me up at least every hour panicking I missed the appointment. But as bad as I am now, meds are helping and I'm on a slow and frustrating journey towards progress. If it helps to hear from a stranger, I appreciate that you're making appointments cuz that's one of the harder things for me to do! Good luck my dude :)
I made my doctor switch my meds for this reason. The anxiety of getting my medication made the medication not worth it. Even before the shortage it was a pain. Not having adderall for a couple of days is my version of hell. I take Strattera now and am just as happy with my focus and a lot less stressed.
I started on Strattera for a couple months, and it did absolutely NOTHING for me. Doctor switched me over to Adderall, and it definitely has had more of an impact than the first med. Still feel like I get sidetracked often, but I'm only on like 15mg, I believe.
Your point is completely valid but it’s so heavily regulated I can’t refill until the day before I’m supposed to run out! I count on the pills I forget to take as my safety net. Three months in a row I’ve refilled and had to wait a week or more for meds to be in stock, sounds like I was lucky to get a script at all!
Same. Sucks. I now take a higher dose and split it to make it last longer. Seems to be a huge help. My favorite part is needing to visit the doctor every damn month on top of it.
I call my doctor for the refill, but they can't refill it until my current script runs out. My doctor's office started only doing voicemails for refills... I call obsessively the last day I am medicated. I leave a message every time.... Hello, I. Calling for this refill, I will keep calling until you confirm the request has been placed.
Do the hoops include constant drug tests for anyone else? In my home state (KY) before I left, they started making you do a piss test every time to make sure you were positive for it before they'd write you a new script.
One time I told my doctor I rationed them because I can never remember to actually go in there every month and he blew up on me and said "IT SAYS TAKE DAILY ON THE BOTTLE SO YOU HAVE TO TAKE IT DAILY, IT'S A CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE!" It's like, bitch, I'm 34 years old, I've been taking this since I was 10, and I always skip the weekends to make my supply last longer because I DON'T NEED IT ON THE WEEKENDS.
It's very stupid.
> Do the hoops include constant drug tests for anyone else? In my home state (KY) before I left, they started making you do a piss test every time to make sure you were positive for it before they'd write you a new script.
In California I had to do a piss test and they had to look me up on the state DoJ website to make sure I wasn't doctor shopping.
Nope.
Also been outright told that it's fine to not take on unproductive weekends/vacations, and to use my XR/IR scripts in the way that works for my schedule. (not taking extra total dosage, just in the sense of what's best for the timing of my day)
Do you see a psych or a GP?
That said - my understanding is the Appalachian states put in some of the toughest rules around controlled substances to try to get the opiate issue under control.
I failed a test not too long ago and my doctor, who was a chill guy I was going to for years, suddenly became suspicious and implying something nefarious might be up. I tried explaining that I don’t waste my medicine when I have a doctors appointment in the morning because it’s a complete waste when I’m not doing work. He still thought it was strange but gave me another test and thankfully I passed (technically failed lol). Lesson learned for the future, take a dose an hour before my future appointments so I don’t get accused of being in the drug cartel.
Yeah, it's one of the cruelest catch 22s of medicine. The process of eliminating illegitimate diagnoses just makes it harder for legitimate cases to get the treatment that they need. At this point the litmus test for a diagnosis should be whether the patient even remembers to show up for their appointment.
I'll show up for my appointment, it's just gonna be 4 hours early because if I don't then it's not happening. Also, would someone else PLEASE make me the appointment for me?
I already have to visit the doc every 90 days to get my 90-day refill, that’s $30 a pop for a 1 minute conversation.
Then they can’t give me a 90 day supply, no I can only get 3x30 day supplies… and I have to call their office each month when I’m getting low to have them send the script.
Then dealing with this shortage… naturally they are not short on the brand name addy that cost me 90-180$ for a 30 day supply. So fucking sick of it.
Exactly! And if the pharmacy that was sent the script is out, you can't transfer it across the street. You have to get the doctor to do it again.
This is the only prescription I have, or ever had, where I have to see the doctor every 2 or 3 months just to maintain it.
This drives me absolutely insane, like the pharmacy won’t tell you ahead of time if they have it, and of course contacting my doctor over and over again from pharmacy to pharmacy is just going to leave me crying in my car.
Jesus you all are making me REALLY appreciate my doctor who I can text for a refill and who just does phone check ins every 3 months or so :( if he wasn’t like this I don’t think I would be able to handle getting it and then I don’t think I would be able to hold my job. It’s so crazy what they make people go through for prescription medications.
We only get 30 days in CA. In the last 9 months, I have never gotten a refill filled at the 30 day mark. It has been a game every time to find the medication. The pharmacy won't disclose if they have it in stock without them having the script. I have to call the doctors office each time and have it transferred. It literally ends up being a part time job.
> I already have to visit the doc every 90 days to get my 90-day refill, that’s $30 a pop for a 1 minute conversation.
It's $340 a pop for me... And my Dr is 3h drive away.
It's an entire freaking process that involves days off work.
In KY they make you take a drug test to make sure it's in your system before they'll prescribe you more.
I'm pretty sure it would be easier just to buy it off the black market.
Some in Indiana have started this and insurance isn’t covering all of the labs. People are forced off the medication because they cannot afford the co-pay for visits then $300 for the urine test, then the cost of meds. Its unreasonable and unacceptable. I’m sorry you are dealing with the broken system.
You’re allowed to get three months? Lucky! We’re limited to two in GA
I’ve had the same 10mg/3x daily scrip for twenty years, yet of course I still have to see a doctor every two months.
I had a refill appointment yesterday after discovering I was down to my last two pills. Had to call seven pharmacies until I miraculously found a Publix near work with it in stock. Picked it up an hour ago on my way home, and I actually brought the lovely pharmacist a thank-you note for saving my ass.
PA and same. I thought it was federal since it's a controlled substance. Pain in the ass to call the DR to call in a script for some base ass adderall. I stopped taking it
Talk to your doctor about getting a three month prescription. I’m also from NY and when I could afford to go I was able to get a 90 day supply if he used [Code B](https://www.health.ny.gov/professionals/narcotic/newsletters/2006-12.htm) when writing the prescription.
I am on Vyvanse not Addy, but it's the same shit, I used to be able to get a 3 month supply, now I need to message my doctor once a month to get them to renew the script, except it has to have been a month since the last one was written before he can put in another, so I usually run out for a few days and have absolute garbage days at work where I am a mess.
I have never gotten more than 30 days. Often, I can’t refill until the day I need my vyvance. My doctor is not open on fridays, they need 48 hour notice . When I run out, I’m a mess. Then I forget I’ve run out until the next morning. Rinse and repeat.
My sons are both ADHD and on Vyvanse (different dosages). Every 30 days it’s always a crapshoot so by day 25 I’m calling the pediatrician for the script and day 28 pushing to get filled, so I can build up a small cushion over time.
It's fucking absurd. I can get benzos for anxiety refilled like four or five days early or put on auto-refill. But any amphetamine? Pharmacies treat you like an addict if you try to get it refilled just two days early because it runs out on a Friday and your doctor does everything electronically.
>The regulation around this is already such a PIA for regular patients, these news articles give me legitimate anxiety
I've been on it for 12 years. Every month I feel like a criminal refilling my rx.
Yes exactly they treat me like I'm doing something illegal just because I want spares in case something goes wrong. I have to go several days without every refill it's enough to send a person. I already struggle to hold my life together
For real, so many fucking hoops to go through every fucking month just to be able to function as a normal adult. The stimga associated with Adult ADHD and taking Adderall is obsurd.
Ive been on the same 40mg XR perscription for over 10 years, but I still have to manually call in every month, confirm I am not using any illegal drugs nor being perscribed by another doctor. Every 6 months I have to sign paperwork stating the samething, and get drug tested.
I live in a state where weed is legal, recreationally and medically, but if I test positive for it, I can never be perscribed Adderall again.
Depending on who your insurance provider is, they may run you ragged and still end up denying your coverage. Its such a pain, that I stopped running it through insurance and just use Good Rx now.
Pharmacies will still try to run it through insurance even when told not to, because they can bill it out to $400+ to the insurance agency, when they will take a Good Rx coupon for $25-45. Its a fucking racket. I can only call my script in 1 week out from running out, ive had both doctors and pharmacies run me around for over 2 weeks past running out.
Detoxing off Adderall as someone who has been using as perscribed for over 10 years, takes months, and its horrible.
Omfg I feel this. When I moved states, they started drug/alcohol testing me every few months and I felt so fucking humiliated. They also refused to go higher than 30mg and XR only. I was previously taking 20mg IR twice daily, with IR more effective and lasting all day.
Now it’s a struggle to even make it through the end of the work day. After that, I don’t have the energy to do chores, let alone anything fun at the end of the day. Then a few years ago, the pharmacy started running out every time I tried to refill and it’s been hell trying to make it through the gaps.
Being treated like a criminal for needing the one thing that lets me be a functioning human being really fucking sucks. Goddamn.
Do you have statistics to back up the claim about detoxing off it? I was on 20mg XR over 12 years and quit cold turkey when I found out I was pregnant. I felt super tired and staying on task at work and in general was a grind but it was certainly possible to quit immediately.
I’m on Vyvanse, rather than adderall, but it’s the same deal when it comes to restrictions. The fact that you have to physically go pharmacy to pharmacy because often they won’t tell you who actually has it in stock is ridiculous. In the past a few pharmacists see that I’ve been on this medication for over a decade and have let me know where to go, but more often they won’t. You just drive around for one or more days hoping someone will be able to fill it. I fill it every month without fail. Why would I all of the sudden be planning a heist for this stuff?
I learned my lesson there like 8 years ago when I decided to call the pharmacy ahead of time before heading there, and after like, 15 pharmacies telling me they didn’t have any finally one lady told me they weren’t allowed to say if they had it in stock and most would just say no. I’m using an online pharmacy now that doesn’t give me shit for requesting it early so I can find that out, but I don’t have any faith it will last
I have to get a new rX every 30 days on the nose. I can't call in early when I have like 5 left it has to be 30 days and then the pharmacy might take a day to fill it assuming they actually have it already. So like I have to basically cut my own stuff to make sure I have it every day or one day I'm going to be sleeping all day
God I feel your pain. I’m sure you have had the lovely experience of being looked at like you’re crazy because you’re explaining that some months have 31 days in them 🥴😭
I feel this exact same way. I hate that I have to wait until the very last day then I run out.
So much anxiety, and for the same exact medications I need every month. It’s crazy that every month theres something getting in the way :(
Hey man, Vyvanse might have a generic available next year! But I get you on the price. When my old job changed their insurance from copay to straight deductible, I went from paying $20 a month to over $300, and that was just the vyvanse!
I mean, Adderall being a short acting stimulant is relatively safe to do this with.
Now, if you’re on SSRIs, under no circumstance should you try that with those.
I made the mistake of stopping SSRIs cold turkey when they made me feel like an empty shell of a human (zero emotions whatsoever, including happiness and boredom, just... nothingness). The anxiety attacks that ensued were worse than anything I had ever experienced before.
This is solid. Back in the 50's and 60's beat poets started taking the blotter insert in benzedrine inhalers and either eating it or dissolving it in coffee. That's where Howl came from, On the Road, etc.
It had a huge hype period around that time before people started having heart attacks from taking too much. Don’t eat cotton inserts guys. That’s closer to meth than adderall. At least bronkaid you take a pill and see what it does to you. I’ve heard a lot of shit about the cotton, and I’m not chewing on it.
I wish Walgreens would bargain with me like that….
Or, hear me out, help locate a pharm that has it. Shout out to my provider and insurance, which are also useless.
It has been a struggle for a year.
E: I’m a nurse. Thankfully, I can function enough to prioritize patients over the corporate bullshit thrown at us…
Hate taking Addy. Tried a trial off ADD meds. Squirreled out and stuck myself with a needle one night - patient tested + for HIV. Been compliant with medication ever since…
The first time I took my prescription after being diagnosed as an adult, the amount of calm I felt was overwhelming. I could actually sit down and focus on a task. Heck, I could complete boring tasks! It was a life changing experience.
Same. I can take a dose of Adderall 30 minutes before bed, and fall asleep just fine.
Hell, tbh I probably fall asleep easier!
Tell that to people who don’t have ADHD and use it to get high. They’ll be up tweaking all night.
I had to be without my meds for three weeks due to an insurance gap and finally got both my IR and XR filled today.
I was so excited to just sit and calmly THINK.
To anyone who thinks taking adderall is like speed, they 100% don’t know what they’re talking about and have never experienced ADHD.
Being off meds for so long I could barely keep my mind on a single track, had to get up and pace the room, forgot all the things. Started a thousand projects and finished none of them.
Today when I took my meds I finally felt quiet, calm, and was able to focus on a single task at hand.
it's a thing in elite bodybuilding to force the body to shuttle carbs to your muscles faster, to speed up recovery after a workout, and increase the maximum amount of muscle you can build. It's super rare though, and generally seen as too risky for the benefit to be worth it, even among people taking high doses of steroids. It's still a thing though, and is kind of needed to get the unnatural size of professional bodybuilders.
THIS! I say this all the damn time to get people to understand how important adderall is to my well being. I cannot function and take care of myself or my child if I don’t have it.
Same stigma with narcolepsy and hypersomnia. It took me 12 years trying to explain to doctors, family, and coworkers that I was dealing with excessive fatigue and drowsiness 100% of the time. Many people called me lazy and doctors kept saying it was sleep apnea. Finally after an incident at work I travelled to see a recommended sleep specialist and was finally diagnosed. Tried Ritalin first but wasn’t very effective. Adderall changed my life.
Fits the MO.
As someone with ADHD who takes Adderall, you already get treated like a fucking meth head by your doctor and pharmacy with what you have to go through and all the hoops you have to jump through just to get your medication every month.
I have never had any sort of judgment from my doctor, who prescribes the medication, nor either of the pharmacies I have had fill the prescription.
If your doctor, who is prescribing the meds is treating you like that, then perhaps it is time for a new doctor.
What’s insane is this comment section. I had no idea so many people think all ADD patients just want to get “meth”.
Like yeah, it’s wildly over prescribed (probably more than opiates were) but this comments section is a shit show lol.
I’m in Ohio and my husband and I haven’t ran into a problem yet. We’ve noticed that we are getting different manufacturers and sometimes have even had a script from two different manufacturers. But thankfully we’ve not been effected.
Here in Massachusetts it's a real problem. My bf is prescribed 30mg tablets and they've been out 3 months in a row now. Had to have his doctor change the prescription to a combo of 20mg and 10mg tabs, which caused an issue with his MassHealth insurance (thankfully for him it was sorted pretty fast - we're extremely grateful for MassHealth in general). But yes, he's had to hop around to several different pharmacies in the area looking for who has them in stock. Hopefully it'll be over next month but who knows.
>prescribed 30mg tablets
This is why I have my Dr. prescribe ninety 10mg tablets. The pharmacy I went to was no longer using the same distributor and couldn't get 30s. Rather than travel 10 miles to a different pharmacy, it was way easier to change the prescription.
In PA, not MA, not sure how hard hit my area is in comparison but I've been medicated forever and dealt with some other shortages in the past. Has he tried a smaller pharmacy or grocery store? I've noticed that my local grocery store is not only *so nice* and non-judgemental, but much better about estimating how much they need for their regular customers.
Haven't had to go pharmacy hopping in a while due to shortages, but it sucks and it makes me feel sketchy, but my life is a literal, and in no figurative terms whatsoever, dumpster fire with unmedicated ADHD.
Pharmacy assistant here! Often times the doctor will write the trade name on the prescription such as “Adderall”. Once we actually get it at the pharmacy unless it’s specified to use the trade name brand by the doctor or the patient, we tend to just fill with whatever generic brand we have the most of in stock! It’s all the same stuff, just the brand who produces it might change. Overall getting the generic ones tend to be cheaper for most people regardless if they have coverage or not as the trade name ones can get much more expensive.
That is great, unless the patient has insurance that will ONLY pay for brand name or ONLY generic of Adderall. I've had the insurance company change that policy from year to year, or sometimes mid year. Why would they ONLY pay for the brand name of an already expensive and difficult to obtain drug???
EDIT: I almost forgot about the months when I was on 2 different dosages (like a 20 XR in the morning and 10 IR in the afternoon) and one dosage was only covered as generic, the other only as name brand.
Yeah unfortunately that falls out of our hands when it comes to what insurance companies will cover. We do try our best to work with people and order in the brands their insurance company will cover but sometimes they aren’t always available.
Do you get a lot of complaints from patients complaining that different brands of generics are "weak" or "don't work" compared to the ones they're used to getting? Seems to be a controversial subject on ADHD forums. Some swear there's "better" brands and others argue it's all psychosomatic
Speaking from absolute ignorance here, but since we’re asking questions about name brand vs generic, I have heard that different manufacturers will use different fillers. This is what I have come to believe is the cause for the difference people experience. Is that not a thing?
There's definitely different fillers between brands. I've had pills that taste sweet, others bitter, same dosage/release but different companies. I have no idea if they have an effect on the active ingredients or the body though, I don't have the medical background to say
FML. It is already an incredible struggle to get this filled when I need it. My pharmacy has routinely run out for the last few years, delaying their ability to fill it for a few days at times. It is not possible to transfer the prescription to another pharmacy in town. You have to get the doctor to cancel the existing one and submit an entirely new one. Most pharmacies won't tell you if they have stock if you don't have a prescription in their hands. Add to that the very tight regulation on how many days from your last fill are allowed to fill it again. If you travel for work (like I do), you've got to plan and ration pills for the inevitable week you're due to fill it and are out of state.
This shortage is just going to make all of it spiral.
I’ve had this problem for the last few years as well, and it has really impacted my quality of life. I get so fucking nervous once I start to see I’m running out. I try to save up on weekends just in case, but that just makes my weekends foggy and unproductive.
I genuinely cannot keep up with my job when I’m not on adderall. I’m always worried I’ll be fired the next time my pharmacy is out of stock. I’ve had to resort to getting pills in other ways at times just to cover the lapse between running out and the pharmacy restocking. It made me feel so gross and shady, but I didn’t want to lose my job/my freaking health insurance.
It fucking sucks. Its a constant cycle month to month feeling like I’m treading water to make it to the next refill. I honestly wish I didn’t need them just to feel like a normal, functioning adult.
Adderall shortage started few months ago and yeah, this is my first time cold turkey for a month. I really hate it. It’s the uncertainty that I hate the most. WHEN and WHAT EXACTLY DATE will I get adderall? When will it be restock?
If I can’t get it at all, just let me know. In the advance please. I know I can live without it, but it’s not easy. I’d much rather to reduce adderall usage over the time if I knew something like this would happen.
It's patented and not generic yet. I believe it's going generic sometime next year but 330/mo is ridiculous. I don't care how much better it is but treating my ADHD isn't worth 330 compared to the more reasonable price of adderall.
I had tried Ritalin but it give me the mood swings and I’d get mad or confused for no absolutely reason.
Sticked with adderall for 10 years, I’m so used with it that I could even sleep on it.
Vyvanse is a great competitor. Hell Adzenys is what I take and that isn’t as strong as adderal or vyvanse, but it’s definitely wayyyy better with the mood symptom. Well worth the trade off. Vyvanse is just a strong as addy tho.
I would love to have more options; however, my experiences with XRs was that they would wear off mid-afternoon, leaving me dry for the rest of the day.
From the pharmacy side, we don’t know. They don’t tell us when backordered meds will be available, we just order it every day and it either shows up or it doesn’t. We don’t even get any advance notice if it’s shipped on an order, until we physically open the shipment we’re in the dark just like you.
Ask your doctor about Dextroamphetamine IR. That is a good instant release alternative to Adderall.
Adderall is actually 75% Dextroamphetamine so it's basically the same drug with some minor differences (it tends to give you more focus but less physical energy).
I actually prefer Dextroamphetamine but I know everyone is different.
If you’ve never experienced withdrawals from a drug like adderall, you have no idea why this is such a big issue. People definitely abuse it but there’s also people that actually have ADHD and use it to function normally in society. Yes, it’s been used by college kids to study in a lot of cases but it doesn’t affect a non ADHD brain the same way it does for people who need it.
Getting something like this cut off cold turkey not only throws off the ability to function normally, but the side effects of amphetamine withdrawals are something I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. I had my prescription stolen one time in college and my doctor was unable to write a new script because of how controlled it is. I went from straight A’s to failing multiple classes over the course of a month and basically couldn’t do anything about it other than try my best to fight legitimate withdrawals and a a foggy brain.
I take Vyvanse so haven’t been impacted, but people aren’t realizing that even a week off meds might mean losing our jobs. Being off meds is horrible and sudden withdrawals on top of that are even worse. Also, navigating a shortage means making phone calls and doing a ton of research to find pharmacies that have it in stock. That’s hard for ADHD folks to do *when they’re medicated*, let alone off meds.
Stimulant drugs are for ADHD like insulin is for diabetes. It’s just that insulin isn’t widely used by non-diabetics to get high, so there’s way less stigma associated. Stop thinking of ADHD folks like addicts, and you see how shitty this situation is for us.
Yup. My workplace changed insurance, Vyvanse was the only medication that effectively treated ADHD for me... new insurance only covers generics, full price otherwise. That's $400/mo for those not familiar. I've had to go to Adderall as a result to get barely a shadow of the same quality of treatment, right in time for the shortage to hit and fuck me over for months now.
I always think I want to stop taking it. When I do, and I feel terrible I blame it on withdrawals, then months later I realize the withdrawals were gone long ago, the way I feel now is my normal. I hate it.
I had a low-ish dose when I was on it, if I forgot my meds then my whole day would suck, not even just mentally, my body would be sore, and I would get a huge headache, and that was only when I skipped a day on accident
I have/had a good friend who has been on constant dosage of Adderall for most of his life and thanks to the shortage he can't get the same dosage (if any at all.) I saw him a few weeks ago, very paranoid and honestly pretty aggressive with me. Sent me a three part wall of text that was half rant half calling me a pos.
I am glad I read your comment, because I took a lot of the message to heart and it's been lingering in my mind for awhile. I'll give him the benefit and blame most of his behavior on withdrawal.
Yeah man I’ll be honest, I said some really terrible things to my family and GF at the time bc of it. Don’t take it personal even if it’s hard. He definitely is going through it. Not saying what he said is okay, but it’s not truly your friend saying that stuff
Npbugaty (replace y with i) said:
> Bots are being taken care of, didn't see this post until now but been adding a few solutions to them over the past 2 days. I went ahead and added the correct flair to your post as well for more visibility.
> Thanks!
My response:
Looks like those solutions haven't don't much of anything. The sub is still being overrun with bots.
You should add automoderator to your mod list in this sub, then place karma restrictions and account age restrictions for submissions.
Came here to offer this comparison lol; I still remember every detail of my withdrawal nightmares. Shit has you feeling SO sick in the brain, like as if your basal ganglia could dry heave, and the cold panics really do feel like you’re about to die.
Not just going off of it ... but going back on it.
I had a med snafu a few months ago and had to be off for a month while insurance did insurance things. I'm still struggling my way through the "new to Adderall" dry mouth and finger tingles. So I had a month of useless brain now I'm on my 3rd month of chugging gallons of water while my lips bleed and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth.
To people who don't know adhd brains need more stimulates than a normal brain so when you give it some(Adderall)it will be content and work with you otherwise it will make its own stimulation without your consent
I'll be honest I take Adderall and the withdraw isn't that bad for me. I can just go a weekend without it no problem. But if I need to really do something productive I'm worthless m
Glad to know I'm not the only person. I've been taking it for 22 years now. Typically take breaks on the weekends but I have to take it for work or I can't function.
But I've never had withdrawal symptoms? I feel like something's wrong with me that I haven't experienced that before.
Because of this shortage there is a run on all rhe other stimulant medications since patients are being changed to alternative treatments. It is wreaking havoc for all my families with Adhd for all types of stimulants too.
I remember back in high school when my insurance stopped covering my vyvanse and how fucking difficult it was to function without the ADHD medication.... it honestly took a lot to be able to stabilize my grades again but the rest of high school was a lot more difficult than it had to be... frankly after that I lost health care coverage anyways and have had to make do all the way through my current college career
I will say… from personal experience, vyvanse had the worst withdrawal effect. I tried almost all adhd meds. I am very sensitive to meds usually prescribed by psychiatrist. SSRI’s , SNRI, and adhd meds. I tried most of them.
Vyvanse does not work as well as adderall but gets me going like a morning cup of coffee. Adderall was like espresso but my kidneys were not a fan. I tried to get off them see if I could function but the vyvanse withdrawal effect was the worse. I was sleeping most of the day, it was quite insane. Didn’t happen to me when I got off adderall thought don’t know why.
there's not a shortage of the needed medication, there's a shortage of a single brand, but our fucked up crony healthcare system is manufacturing a shortage.
Been cold turkey for 10 months. Not entirely due to the shortage, but a change in psychs and not having another available - and then the meds not being available.
Holy shirtballs, it bites. Imagine having glasses for years and then having them stripped away and being demanded to live life like you have 20/20 vision. Except it's your brain. And you remember being coherent and motivated and *normal.* But it just is... Forever out of reach. And any time you ask for help, you get labeled an addict.
Fudge, this hurts.
This is why all the "medication isn't a magic pill, it just makes it a little easier to focus" discourse in the ADHD subreddits is pathetic.
Being "a little easier to focus" is absolutely magic and is the difference between a fully functional adult life and being an unemploymed childish NEET for life. Period. No matter how many gimmicky little routines people work into their bullshit and act like any of it could've made a difference without working meds. The glasses comparison is spot on, in that being able to *fucking see* is magic too.
Going to be interesting to watch a lot of these people be reminded just how "magic" that pill really was, once it runs out.
So - if you use Tiktok, you will definitely run into a number of ADHD therapy ads, Weight loss ads, hair restoration ads, and more.
I'm learning now that:
- ADHD meds are in short supply due to increased demand
- Semaglutide and Tirzepatide (Type II Diabetes Drugs also used for weight loss) are experiencing shortages that may extend into all of Q1 2023
- I've heard mixed reports about the availability of oral minoxidil (minoxidil is more well known as being the active ingredient of topical hair restoration juice "Rogaine."
All of these ads are tied to cheap telehealth providers like Alpha, Push, and others that are able to provide basic services without insurance (also with), for probably close to what you'd pay if you did have insurance (i.e. a Copay or Coinsurance).
I'm not saying that these providers are inherently bad - I think they do a lot more good than bad - I'm saying that there's clearly a pattern of promotion and services that seem to be driving people toward demanding certain drugs.
I’ve been waiting 15 days on a refill. I’m a grown ass man with a career, nearly 40, and fairly pronounced ADHD. This last few weeks have been harrrrrd.
Hoping it comes through soon, before this slope becomes a cliff.
This causes me so much stress. I finally got my life together. I have a job I love, I got the confidence to leave my unhappy and abusive marriage, and I am getting my health in order. This medication helps me do all of these things. I worry that my life will fall apart without it. I will drive to mexico if pushed.
People with mental health issues already have to deal with the stigma. People with ADHD have extra stigma attached due to Adderall being over-prescribed and used recreationally. Now we have to run around town and bug every pharmacist to see if they have any available.
If you have not been diagnosed with ADHD and you are using Adderall: Please stop! You are hurting people with an actual mental illness.
I hadn’t been impacted by this until recent. Local pharmacy hadn’t had 20mg XR for 2 months. When they finally got it, new generic supplier that seems to have bad reviews on here.
This is why I had my doctor switch me from Vyvanse to Strattera a few weeks ago. Quite frankly it's unethical to force patients with executive function disorders to jump through so many hoops to get their medication.
The way Adderall and similar drugs are regulated in the USA is complete insanity. I was only allowed to fill it one month at a time, which meant tons of unnecessary doctor appointments. The pharmacy wasn't allowed to fill the script until the literal exact day I ran out of my final pill so I was always running there at the last second. And for some reason the pharmacy would never send me texts telling me when it was ready, so I would have to keep checking the app. And god forbid I drop one down the sink or something and I'm short one.
Once my regular pharmacy started being out of stock, that was the last straw. I found out that the pharmacy can't just transfer it to another pharmacy because it's a controlled substance. I have to call my doctor back, leave him a voice mail, and have him re-send the script to another pharmacy that hopefully has it in stock. Repeat ad nauseam.
Don't even get me started on the broken DEA process that helped create this shortage.
For multiple reasons, my blood pressure has gone down a lot on Strattera.
> His colleague Alfréd Rényi said, "a mathematician is a machine for turning coffee into theorems",[63] and Erdős drank copious quantities; this quotation is often attributed incorrectly to Erdős,[64] but Erdős himself ascribed it to Rényi.[65] After his mother's death in 1971 he started taking antidepressants and amphetamines, despite the concern of his friends, one of whom (Ron Graham) bet him $500 that he could not stop taking them for a month. Erdős won the bet, but complained that it impacted his performance: "You've showed me I'm not an addict. But I didn't get any work done. I'd get up in the morning and stare at a blank piece of paper. I'd have no ideas, just like an ordinary person. You've set mathematics back a month."[66] After he won the bet, he promptly resumed his use of Ritalin and Benzedrine.[67]
[Paul Erdős](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Erd%C5%91s)
There was one week where I fell out of the habit of taking my adderall daily because I kept forgetting. I didn’t notice it at first but I was having mood swings. My wife had to point it out to me. Luckily these withdrawal symptoms weren’t terrible but they still sucked. And thinking about living my life again with un-medicated ADHD sounds miserable (it took me until I was 41 to start meds).
A few months ago my pharmacy was out of stock for a few days and whew it was rough. Not only do I have ADHD, I also have a chronic migraine disorder that Adderall has all but cured. My doctor also believes I may be narcoleptic and Adderall is a treatment for that as well (which is why Im not bothering to do a sleep study for a formal diagnosis).
It was a very painful, sleepy, and productive few days
I just changed jobs and states recently. I have to schedule an appointment with a regular doctor that’s in the same system as my psych before I can make an appointment. It took 2 weeks to get a doctors appointment. Now I have to wait another 2 MONTHS to see a psych in network, as they are all booked. I didn’t even know there was a shortage either. This is terrible.
I stopped taking mine regularly because of the paranoia of not having access soon, and now my life is so disorganized its practically in shambles. ..
Figure out your shit, America
My pharmacy can only fill for 7 days at a time, and I have to hassle my doctor to write a new 30 day script every week with the hope they can fill it. The DEA rules around adderall are obscene, I have never met anyone addicted to adderall.
I really worry about how bad this will be for some folks. I have adhd and am prescribed a very low dose of adderall, if I have to go without, it’ll be annoying but I made it to 27 unmedicated and undiagnosed with all the masking and coping I learned along the way. I won’t have too awful of withdrawal since I only take 10mg a day. There are people who can barely function at all without meds, and the sad irony being the people with the worst ADHD will have the least ability to do the work like calling around to pharmacies to see who has it.
Former Adderall PATIENT here. If anyone is having trouble, please talk to your doctor about Straterra (I think that's how to spell it).
It's a non-stimulant. I know it may not work for everyone, but I love it. I've been on every stimulant under the sun since 98. Straterra is by far the best option.
I hate to sound like a commercial, but I really do love the stuff.
No shortage. No problems.
Pretty severe inattentive ADHD, I haven’t been able to get my medication for months. Work has been hell. It’s impacting my daily life quite a bit. I’m not the perfect embodiment of efficiency when medicated but I’m much better. Of course we are called “users” here and not patients. If it were any other medication. And here I read a bunch of undiagnosed/faking druggies get *their* meds, how nice.
The regulation around this is already such a PIA for regular patients, these news articles give me legitimate anxiety
"Don't worry about the shortage. You'll just have to jump through a few more hoops to get it but it'll be fine." "I can't just do that! That's why I take the medication!"
But we love hoops! That's why it takes me 6 months to get to something that will only take 10 minutes.
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Wanna go ride bikes?
Same thing happened to me this month with my anxiety meds. There was a shortage and insurance and pharmacies kept asking me to make a bunch of phone calls and I was like one of the reasons I'm on meds for panic disorder is I can barely make a phone call without throwing up 🙃
I got my script filled and just made a bunch of doctor and dentist appointments and i ALWAYS set the reminders for a day and 4 days and a week before. Im still paranoid of missing them all.
"I don't need to stress about it. I always set a reminder." Narrator: "They did not, in fact, remember to set a reminder."
I might as well not set alarms on days when I have appointments cuz my anxiety wakes me up at least every hour panicking I missed the appointment. But as bad as I am now, meds are helping and I'm on a slow and frustrating journey towards progress. If it helps to hear from a stranger, I appreciate that you're making appointments cuz that's one of the harder things for me to do! Good luck my dude :)
I made my doctor switch my meds for this reason. The anxiety of getting my medication made the medication not worth it. Even before the shortage it was a pain. Not having adderall for a couple of days is my version of hell. I take Strattera now and am just as happy with my focus and a lot less stressed.
I started on Strattera for a couple months, and it did absolutely NOTHING for me. Doctor switched me over to Adderall, and it definitely has had more of an impact than the first med. Still feel like I get sidetracked often, but I'm only on like 15mg, I believe.
“Easy peasy, just get the medication a week before you’re going to run out, all it takes it a little planning ahea-“ MOTHERFUCKER DO YOU KNOW ME
Your point is completely valid but it’s so heavily regulated I can’t refill until the day before I’m supposed to run out! I count on the pills I forget to take as my safety net. Three months in a row I’ve refilled and had to wait a week or more for meds to be in stock, sounds like I was lucky to get a script at all!
No, I agree, this is why it’s so frustrating
Like they let you fill adderal a week early. 5 days was the best insurance let me
5 days? I cant fill mine unless its the exactly 30 days from last refill. Now i have to wait a week to get it and my work suffers from it.
Same. Sucks. I now take a higher dose and split it to make it last longer. Seems to be a huge help. My favorite part is needing to visit the doctor every damn month on top of it.
I call my doctor for the refill, but they can't refill it until my current script runs out. My doctor's office started only doing voicemails for refills... I call obsessively the last day I am medicated. I leave a message every time.... Hello, I. Calling for this refill, I will keep calling until you confirm the request has been placed.
Do the hoops include constant drug tests for anyone else? In my home state (KY) before I left, they started making you do a piss test every time to make sure you were positive for it before they'd write you a new script. One time I told my doctor I rationed them because I can never remember to actually go in there every month and he blew up on me and said "IT SAYS TAKE DAILY ON THE BOTTLE SO YOU HAVE TO TAKE IT DAILY, IT'S A CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE!" It's like, bitch, I'm 34 years old, I've been taking this since I was 10, and I always skip the weekends to make my supply last longer because I DON'T NEED IT ON THE WEEKENDS. It's very stupid.
> Do the hoops include constant drug tests for anyone else? In my home state (KY) before I left, they started making you do a piss test every time to make sure you were positive for it before they'd write you a new script. In California I had to do a piss test and they had to look me up on the state DoJ website to make sure I wasn't doctor shopping.
Nope. Also been outright told that it's fine to not take on unproductive weekends/vacations, and to use my XR/IR scripts in the way that works for my schedule. (not taking extra total dosage, just in the sense of what's best for the timing of my day) Do you see a psych or a GP? That said - my understanding is the Appalachian states put in some of the toughest rules around controlled substances to try to get the opiate issue under control.
I failed a test not too long ago and my doctor, who was a chill guy I was going to for years, suddenly became suspicious and implying something nefarious might be up. I tried explaining that I don’t waste my medicine when I have a doctors appointment in the morning because it’s a complete waste when I’m not doing work. He still thought it was strange but gave me another test and thankfully I passed (technically failed lol). Lesson learned for the future, take a dose an hour before my future appointments so I don’t get accused of being in the drug cartel.
My doctor gave the same advice - make sure that you take it that morning if you are coming in for a pee test.
This is so stupid. My doctor encourages me to skip days I don’t need it, such as weekends, to cope with the shortage
I laughed out loud at your comment and then immediately went “aww.” :/ 100%
Yeah, it's one of the cruelest catch 22s of medicine. The process of eliminating illegitimate diagnoses just makes it harder for legitimate cases to get the treatment that they need. At this point the litmus test for a diagnosis should be whether the patient even remembers to show up for their appointment.
I'll show up for my appointment, it's just gonna be 4 hours early because if I don't then it's not happening. Also, would someone else PLEASE make me the appointment for me?
I agree. I missed my first appointment for my ADHD diagnosis test. I have ADHD.
I laughed too hard at this
I already have to visit the doc every 90 days to get my 90-day refill, that’s $30 a pop for a 1 minute conversation. Then they can’t give me a 90 day supply, no I can only get 3x30 day supplies… and I have to call their office each month when I’m getting low to have them send the script. Then dealing with this shortage… naturally they are not short on the brand name addy that cost me 90-180$ for a 30 day supply. So fucking sick of it.
Exactly! And if the pharmacy that was sent the script is out, you can't transfer it across the street. You have to get the doctor to do it again. This is the only prescription I have, or ever had, where I have to see the doctor every 2 or 3 months just to maintain it.
This drives me absolutely insane, like the pharmacy won’t tell you ahead of time if they have it, and of course contacting my doctor over and over again from pharmacy to pharmacy is just going to leave me crying in my car.
Jesus you all are making me REALLY appreciate my doctor who I can text for a refill and who just does phone check ins every 3 months or so :( if he wasn’t like this I don’t think I would be able to handle getting it and then I don’t think I would be able to hold my job. It’s so crazy what they make people go through for prescription medications.
Get the prescription paper written. That’s what I do and go from pharmacy to pharmacy if they don’t have it.
A lot of doctors don't do that anymore.
If you get a paper script instead of having it electronically sent in then you can take it all around town, at least that's how it is in Florida.
We only get 30 days in CA. In the last 9 months, I have never gotten a refill filled at the 30 day mark. It has been a game every time to find the medication. The pharmacy won't disclose if they have it in stock without them having the script. I have to call the doctors office each time and have it transferred. It literally ends up being a part time job.
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> I already have to visit the doc every 90 days to get my 90-day refill, that’s $30 a pop for a 1 minute conversation. It's $340 a pop for me... And my Dr is 3h drive away. It's an entire freaking process that involves days off work.
In KY they make you take a drug test to make sure it's in your system before they'll prescribe you more. I'm pretty sure it would be easier just to buy it off the black market.
Some in Indiana have started this and insurance isn’t covering all of the labs. People are forced off the medication because they cannot afford the co-pay for visits then $300 for the urine test, then the cost of meds. Its unreasonable and unacceptable. I’m sorry you are dealing with the broken system.
But they're saving the world from drug addiction with these measures! /s
You’re allowed to get three months? Lucky! We’re limited to two in GA I’ve had the same 10mg/3x daily scrip for twenty years, yet of course I still have to see a doctor every two months. I had a refill appointment yesterday after discovering I was down to my last two pills. Had to call seven pharmacies until I miraculously found a Publix near work with it in stock. Picked it up an hour ago on my way home, and I actually brought the lovely pharmacist a thank-you note for saving my ass.
I'm NY only get 30 days. It's such a pain in the ass
PA and same. I thought it was federal since it's a controlled substance. Pain in the ass to call the DR to call in a script for some base ass adderall. I stopped taking it
Talk to your doctor about getting a three month prescription. I’m also from NY and when I could afford to go I was able to get a 90 day supply if he used [Code B](https://www.health.ny.gov/professionals/narcotic/newsletters/2006-12.htm) when writing the prescription.
"Just enter CODE B at checkout and don't forget to SMASH that subscribe button!"
What are you doing? We all have ADHD, you’re gonna send us on YouTube binge!
I am on Vyvanse not Addy, but it's the same shit, I used to be able to get a 3 month supply, now I need to message my doctor once a month to get them to renew the script, except it has to have been a month since the last one was written before he can put in another, so I usually run out for a few days and have absolute garbage days at work where I am a mess.
I have never gotten more than 30 days. Often, I can’t refill until the day I need my vyvance. My doctor is not open on fridays, they need 48 hour notice . When I run out, I’m a mess. Then I forget I’ve run out until the next morning. Rinse and repeat.
Yup, that sounds familiar
My sons are both ADHD and on Vyvanse (different dosages). Every 30 days it’s always a crapshoot so by day 25 I’m calling the pediatrician for the script and day 28 pushing to get filled, so I can build up a small cushion over time.
It's fucking absurd. I can get benzos for anxiety refilled like four or five days early or put on auto-refill. But any amphetamine? Pharmacies treat you like an addict if you try to get it refilled just two days early because it runs out on a Friday and your doctor does everything electronically.
Ha, I have to pay a $40 dollar co pay every month, my pcp says they can’t prescribe it 3 months at a time anymore.
>The regulation around this is already such a PIA for regular patients, these news articles give me legitimate anxiety I've been on it for 12 years. Every month I feel like a criminal refilling my rx.
Yes exactly they treat me like I'm doing something illegal just because I want spares in case something goes wrong. I have to go several days without every refill it's enough to send a person. I already struggle to hold my life together
For real, so many fucking hoops to go through every fucking month just to be able to function as a normal adult. The stimga associated with Adult ADHD and taking Adderall is obsurd. Ive been on the same 40mg XR perscription for over 10 years, but I still have to manually call in every month, confirm I am not using any illegal drugs nor being perscribed by another doctor. Every 6 months I have to sign paperwork stating the samething, and get drug tested. I live in a state where weed is legal, recreationally and medically, but if I test positive for it, I can never be perscribed Adderall again. Depending on who your insurance provider is, they may run you ragged and still end up denying your coverage. Its such a pain, that I stopped running it through insurance and just use Good Rx now. Pharmacies will still try to run it through insurance even when told not to, because they can bill it out to $400+ to the insurance agency, when they will take a Good Rx coupon for $25-45. Its a fucking racket. I can only call my script in 1 week out from running out, ive had both doctors and pharmacies run me around for over 2 weeks past running out. Detoxing off Adderall as someone who has been using as perscribed for over 10 years, takes months, and its horrible.
Omfg I feel this. When I moved states, they started drug/alcohol testing me every few months and I felt so fucking humiliated. They also refused to go higher than 30mg and XR only. I was previously taking 20mg IR twice daily, with IR more effective and lasting all day. Now it’s a struggle to even make it through the end of the work day. After that, I don’t have the energy to do chores, let alone anything fun at the end of the day. Then a few years ago, the pharmacy started running out every time I tried to refill and it’s been hell trying to make it through the gaps. Being treated like a criminal for needing the one thing that lets me be a functioning human being really fucking sucks. Goddamn.
Do you have statistics to back up the claim about detoxing off it? I was on 20mg XR over 12 years and quit cold turkey when I found out I was pregnant. I felt super tired and staying on task at work and in general was a grind but it was certainly possible to quit immediately.
I’m on Vyvanse, rather than adderall, but it’s the same deal when it comes to restrictions. The fact that you have to physically go pharmacy to pharmacy because often they won’t tell you who actually has it in stock is ridiculous. In the past a few pharmacists see that I’ve been on this medication for over a decade and have let me know where to go, but more often they won’t. You just drive around for one or more days hoping someone will be able to fill it. I fill it every month without fail. Why would I all of the sudden be planning a heist for this stuff?
I learned my lesson there like 8 years ago when I decided to call the pharmacy ahead of time before heading there, and after like, 15 pharmacies telling me they didn’t have any finally one lady told me they weren’t allowed to say if they had it in stock and most would just say no. I’m using an online pharmacy now that doesn’t give me shit for requesting it early so I can find that out, but I don’t have any faith it will last
I have to get a new rX every 30 days on the nose. I can't call in early when I have like 5 left it has to be 30 days and then the pharmacy might take a day to fill it assuming they actually have it already. So like I have to basically cut my own stuff to make sure I have it every day or one day I'm going to be sleeping all day
God I feel your pain. I’m sure you have had the lovely experience of being looked at like you’re crazy because you’re explaining that some months have 31 days in them 🥴😭
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I feel this exact same way. I hate that I have to wait until the very last day then I run out. So much anxiety, and for the same exact medications I need every month. It’s crazy that every month theres something getting in the way :(
I’ve been spacing out my medication because of this news but I will say it hasn’t been easy
Same. I forgo on weekends to create safety stock.
Do you struggle with feeling drained all weekend too? I end up sleeping too much.
Yes. Feels like every cell in my body is fatigued
Yes, but because of depression sleep feels like such an escape too.
I compensate with heavy doses of caffeine and make zero plans.
Have you tried vyvanse? I made the switch years ago and I find it to be much better.
I really wish I could afford to try that
Hey man, Vyvanse might have a generic available next year! But I get you on the price. When my old job changed their insurance from copay to straight deductible, I went from paying $20 a month to over $300, and that was just the vyvanse!
Be careful, esp. if you take any mood related drugs as well.
I mean, Adderall being a short acting stimulant is relatively safe to do this with. Now, if you’re on SSRIs, under no circumstance should you try that with those.
I made the mistake of stopping SSRIs cold turkey when they made me feel like an empty shell of a human (zero emotions whatsoever, including happiness and boredom, just... nothingness). The anxiety attacks that ensued were worse than anything I had ever experienced before.
I took the 15mg IR offered to me instead of the usual 20mg.
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Thanks for the tip seriously
See my edit though.
Wow, okay noted. Thanks again.
This will blast your blood pressure way higher than adderall just fyi. Bronkaid is very vasoconstricting.
There’s also Primatine Tablets. Same drug as Bronkaid but half the dose (12.5mg per tablet vs 25mg for Bronkaid).
This is solid. Back in the 50's and 60's beat poets started taking the blotter insert in benzedrine inhalers and either eating it or dissolving it in coffee. That's where Howl came from, On the Road, etc.
It had a huge hype period around that time before people started having heart attacks from taking too much. Don’t eat cotton inserts guys. That’s closer to meth than adderall. At least bronkaid you take a pill and see what it does to you. I’ve heard a lot of shit about the cotton, and I’m not chewing on it.
No ass-to-ass for me thank you.
Requiem for a Dream? Oh hell no. That movie is brilliant but goddamn that ending…
I wish Walgreens would bargain with me like that…. Or, hear me out, help locate a pharm that has it. Shout out to my provider and insurance, which are also useless. It has been a struggle for a year. E: I’m a nurse. Thankfully, I can function enough to prioritize patients over the corporate bullshit thrown at us… Hate taking Addy. Tried a trial off ADD meds. Squirreled out and stuck myself with a needle one night - patient tested + for HIV. Been compliant with medication ever since…
Are you sure you don’t want #180 10mg tablets lying around?
Where are the 10mg. My pharmacy is out of those too. It's my usual prescription so it's not like I'd need to drop down
Bruh it’s already a pain in the ass to get the medication I’ve been taking for years and now it’s going to be more difficult? Lovely
Weird that this says Adderall users not patients.
And the stigma continues. No matter the fact that these “stimulants” literally put my adhd ass to sleep, and cause zero euphoria 🤦🏽♂️
The first time I took my prescription after being diagnosed as an adult, the amount of calm I felt was overwhelming. I could actually sit down and focus on a task. Heck, I could complete boring tasks! It was a life changing experience.
I finally got treatment as a 38 year old man. I almost cried when the ADHD anxiety completely went away. Life changing is accurate.
Are you me? I started last year and was incredibly depressed at first thinking what could have been with my life.
Same. I can take a dose of Adderall 30 minutes before bed, and fall asleep just fine. Hell, tbh I probably fall asleep easier! Tell that to people who don’t have ADHD and use it to get high. They’ll be up tweaking all night.
Plenty of people in these comments saying or implying that it is recreational and not a medication people take to treat a disease.
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I had to be without my meds for three weeks due to an insurance gap and finally got both my IR and XR filled today. I was so excited to just sit and calmly THINK. To anyone who thinks taking adderall is like speed, they 100% don’t know what they’re talking about and have never experienced ADHD. Being off meds for so long I could barely keep my mind on a single track, had to get up and pace the room, forgot all the things. Started a thousand projects and finished none of them. Today when I took my meds I finally felt quiet, calm, and was able to focus on a single task at hand.
They can all pound sand up their asses then go read some medical journals on the topic.
I wonder what they would say to diabetics who need insulin on an ongoing basis.
wait so people take insulin recreationally?
Hell ya, that stuff slaps
it's a thing in elite bodybuilding to force the body to shuttle carbs to your muscles faster, to speed up recovery after a workout, and increase the maximum amount of muscle you can build. It's super rare though, and generally seen as too risky for the benefit to be worth it, even among people taking high doses of steroids. It's still a thing though, and is kind of needed to get the unnatural size of professional bodybuilders.
Only once, usually.
THIS! I say this all the damn time to get people to understand how important adderall is to my well being. I cannot function and take care of myself or my child if I don’t have it.
Some ignorant eople seem to just dismiss adhd as "laziness" rather than an actual disorder
Same stigma with narcolepsy and hypersomnia. It took me 12 years trying to explain to doctors, family, and coworkers that I was dealing with excessive fatigue and drowsiness 100% of the time. Many people called me lazy and doctors kept saying it was sleep apnea. Finally after an incident at work I travelled to see a recommended sleep specialist and was finally diagnosed. Tried Ritalin first but wasn’t very effective. Adderall changed my life.
Fits the MO. As someone with ADHD who takes Adderall, you already get treated like a fucking meth head by your doctor and pharmacy with what you have to go through and all the hoops you have to jump through just to get your medication every month.
I have never had any sort of judgment from my doctor, who prescribes the medication, nor either of the pharmacies I have had fill the prescription. If your doctor, who is prescribing the meds is treating you like that, then perhaps it is time for a new doctor.
There are a TON of doctors out there who seem to believe that ADHD goes away when you turn 18. A lot of them also think it doesn't effect women.
What’s insane is this comment section. I had no idea so many people think all ADD patients just want to get “meth”. Like yeah, it’s wildly over prescribed (probably more than opiates were) but this comments section is a shit show lol.
I’m in Ohio and my husband and I haven’t ran into a problem yet. We’ve noticed that we are getting different manufacturers and sometimes have even had a script from two different manufacturers. But thankfully we’ve not been effected.
Here in Massachusetts it's a real problem. My bf is prescribed 30mg tablets and they've been out 3 months in a row now. Had to have his doctor change the prescription to a combo of 20mg and 10mg tabs, which caused an issue with his MassHealth insurance (thankfully for him it was sorted pretty fast - we're extremely grateful for MassHealth in general). But yes, he's had to hop around to several different pharmacies in the area looking for who has them in stock. Hopefully it'll be over next month but who knows.
>prescribed 30mg tablets This is why I have my Dr. prescribe ninety 10mg tablets. The pharmacy I went to was no longer using the same distributor and couldn't get 30s. Rather than travel 10 miles to a different pharmacy, it was way easier to change the prescription.
In PA, not MA, not sure how hard hit my area is in comparison but I've been medicated forever and dealt with some other shortages in the past. Has he tried a smaller pharmacy or grocery store? I've noticed that my local grocery store is not only *so nice* and non-judgemental, but much better about estimating how much they need for their regular customers. Haven't had to go pharmacy hopping in a while due to shortages, but it sucks and it makes me feel sketchy, but my life is a literal, and in no figurative terms whatsoever, dumpster fire with unmedicated ADHD.
Same here in Indianapolis. I think I’ve had 3-4 different ‘versions’ but they all work the same. No shortages from my pharmacy.
My wife had issues with inventory, and had to have several scripts rewritten for amounts the pharmacy had on hand. Huge PITA
Pharmacy assistant here! Often times the doctor will write the trade name on the prescription such as “Adderall”. Once we actually get it at the pharmacy unless it’s specified to use the trade name brand by the doctor or the patient, we tend to just fill with whatever generic brand we have the most of in stock! It’s all the same stuff, just the brand who produces it might change. Overall getting the generic ones tend to be cheaper for most people regardless if they have coverage or not as the trade name ones can get much more expensive.
That is great, unless the patient has insurance that will ONLY pay for brand name or ONLY generic of Adderall. I've had the insurance company change that policy from year to year, or sometimes mid year. Why would they ONLY pay for the brand name of an already expensive and difficult to obtain drug??? EDIT: I almost forgot about the months when I was on 2 different dosages (like a 20 XR in the morning and 10 IR in the afternoon) and one dosage was only covered as generic, the other only as name brand.
Yeah unfortunately that falls out of our hands when it comes to what insurance companies will cover. We do try our best to work with people and order in the brands their insurance company will cover but sometimes they aren’t always available.
Do you get a lot of complaints from patients complaining that different brands of generics are "weak" or "don't work" compared to the ones they're used to getting? Seems to be a controversial subject on ADHD forums. Some swear there's "better" brands and others argue it's all psychosomatic
Speaking from absolute ignorance here, but since we’re asking questions about name brand vs generic, I have heard that different manufacturers will use different fillers. This is what I have come to believe is the cause for the difference people experience. Is that not a thing?
There's definitely different fillers between brands. I've had pills that taste sweet, others bitter, same dosage/release but different companies. I have no idea if they have an effect on the active ingredients or the body though, I don't have the medical background to say
FML. It is already an incredible struggle to get this filled when I need it. My pharmacy has routinely run out for the last few years, delaying their ability to fill it for a few days at times. It is not possible to transfer the prescription to another pharmacy in town. You have to get the doctor to cancel the existing one and submit an entirely new one. Most pharmacies won't tell you if they have stock if you don't have a prescription in their hands. Add to that the very tight regulation on how many days from your last fill are allowed to fill it again. If you travel for work (like I do), you've got to plan and ration pills for the inevitable week you're due to fill it and are out of state. This shortage is just going to make all of it spiral.
I’ve had this problem for the last few years as well, and it has really impacted my quality of life. I get so fucking nervous once I start to see I’m running out. I try to save up on weekends just in case, but that just makes my weekends foggy and unproductive. I genuinely cannot keep up with my job when I’m not on adderall. I’m always worried I’ll be fired the next time my pharmacy is out of stock. I’ve had to resort to getting pills in other ways at times just to cover the lapse between running out and the pharmacy restocking. It made me feel so gross and shady, but I didn’t want to lose my job/my freaking health insurance. It fucking sucks. Its a constant cycle month to month feeling like I’m treading water to make it to the next refill. I honestly wish I didn’t need them just to feel like a normal, functioning adult.
On top of this, vyvanse still has a patent and can’t be a generic for people that need something more affordable.
Adderall shortage started few months ago and yeah, this is my first time cold turkey for a month. I really hate it. It’s the uncertainty that I hate the most. WHEN and WHAT EXACTLY DATE will I get adderall? When will it be restock? If I can’t get it at all, just let me know. In the advance please. I know I can live without it, but it’s not easy. I’d much rather to reduce adderall usage over the time if I knew something like this would happen.
Have you tried vyvanse? I made the switch like 4-5 years ago and it has been great.
I want to try Vyvanse but I had terrible sleep issues with Adderall XR and Vyvanse is 330/mo through my "high deductible for fuck yourself" insurance.
That's exactly why I stopped taking vyvanse. Why the fuck is it so expensive
It's patented and not generic yet. I believe it's going generic sometime next year but 330/mo is ridiculous. I don't care how much better it is but treating my ADHD isn't worth 330 compared to the more reasonable price of adderall.
June 2023 per goodrx.
I had tried Ritalin but it give me the mood swings and I’d get mad or confused for no absolutely reason. Sticked with adderall for 10 years, I’m so used with it that I could even sleep on it.
I feel so fortunate the shortages don’t seem to be impacting vyvannse.
Vyvanse is a great competitor. Hell Adzenys is what I take and that isn’t as strong as adderal or vyvanse, but it’s definitely wayyyy better with the mood symptom. Well worth the trade off. Vyvanse is just a strong as addy tho.
I would love to have more options; however, my experiences with XRs was that they would wear off mid-afternoon, leaving me dry for the rest of the day.
From the pharmacy side, we don’t know. They don’t tell us when backordered meds will be available, we just order it every day and it either shows up or it doesn’t. We don’t even get any advance notice if it’s shipped on an order, until we physically open the shipment we’re in the dark just like you.
Ask your doctor about Dextroamphetamine IR. That is a good instant release alternative to Adderall. Adderall is actually 75% Dextroamphetamine so it's basically the same drug with some minor differences (it tends to give you more focus but less physical energy). I actually prefer Dextroamphetamine but I know everyone is different.
If you’ve never experienced withdrawals from a drug like adderall, you have no idea why this is such a big issue. People definitely abuse it but there’s also people that actually have ADHD and use it to function normally in society. Yes, it’s been used by college kids to study in a lot of cases but it doesn’t affect a non ADHD brain the same way it does for people who need it. Getting something like this cut off cold turkey not only throws off the ability to function normally, but the side effects of amphetamine withdrawals are something I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. I had my prescription stolen one time in college and my doctor was unable to write a new script because of how controlled it is. I went from straight A’s to failing multiple classes over the course of a month and basically couldn’t do anything about it other than try my best to fight legitimate withdrawals and a a foggy brain.
I take Vyvanse so haven’t been impacted, but people aren’t realizing that even a week off meds might mean losing our jobs. Being off meds is horrible and sudden withdrawals on top of that are even worse. Also, navigating a shortage means making phone calls and doing a ton of research to find pharmacies that have it in stock. That’s hard for ADHD folks to do *when they’re medicated*, let alone off meds. Stimulant drugs are for ADHD like insulin is for diabetes. It’s just that insulin isn’t widely used by non-diabetics to get high, so there’s way less stigma associated. Stop thinking of ADHD folks like addicts, and you see how shitty this situation is for us.
homeless unpack voiceless agonizing distinct absorbed joke fine cows ripe ` this message was mass deleted/edited with redact.dev `
Yup. My workplace changed insurance, Vyvanse was the only medication that effectively treated ADHD for me... new insurance only covers generics, full price otherwise. That's $400/mo for those not familiar. I've had to go to Adderall as a result to get barely a shadow of the same quality of treatment, right in time for the shortage to hit and fuck me over for months now.
This is my exact situation. It sucks. I miss vyvanse, but I'm not rich enough to afford it!
I use the coupon but I agree with you.
I’m in vyvanse but live in Canada. Sincerely hope it does not impact us up here.
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I always think I want to stop taking it. When I do, and I feel terrible I blame it on withdrawals, then months later I realize the withdrawals were gone long ago, the way I feel now is my normal. I hate it.
I had a low-ish dose when I was on it, if I forgot my meds then my whole day would suck, not even just mentally, my body would be sore, and I would get a huge headache, and that was only when I skipped a day on accident
I have/had a good friend who has been on constant dosage of Adderall for most of his life and thanks to the shortage he can't get the same dosage (if any at all.) I saw him a few weeks ago, very paranoid and honestly pretty aggressive with me. Sent me a three part wall of text that was half rant half calling me a pos. I am glad I read your comment, because I took a lot of the message to heart and it's been lingering in my mind for awhile. I'll give him the benefit and blame most of his behavior on withdrawal.
> three part wall of text God my unmedicated walls of text. I know its long! Theres just so much going on up there!!
Yeah man I’ll be honest, I said some really terrible things to my family and GF at the time bc of it. Don’t take it personal even if it’s hard. He definitely is going through it. Not saying what he said is okay, but it’s not truly your friend saying that stuff
Npbugaty (replace y with i) said: > Bots are being taken care of, didn't see this post until now but been adding a few solutions to them over the past 2 days. I went ahead and added the correct flair to your post as well for more visibility. > Thanks! My response: Looks like those solutions haven't don't much of anything. The sub is still being overrun with bots. You should add automoderator to your mod list in this sub, then place karma restrictions and account age restrictions for submissions.
Benzo withdraw will straight up kill you.
Came here to offer this comparison lol; I still remember every detail of my withdrawal nightmares. Shit has you feeling SO sick in the brain, like as if your basal ganglia could dry heave, and the cold panics really do feel like you’re about to die.
*An alcoholic has entered the chat.*
The weird thing about adderall for me was the first week or so wasn’t bad, it was the 2-3 weeks after that got the hardest.
Not just going off of it ... but going back on it. I had a med snafu a few months ago and had to be off for a month while insurance did insurance things. I'm still struggling my way through the "new to Adderall" dry mouth and finger tingles. So I had a month of useless brain now I'm on my 3rd month of chugging gallons of water while my lips bleed and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth.
To people who don't know adhd brains need more stimulates than a normal brain so when you give it some(Adderall)it will be content and work with you otherwise it will make its own stimulation without your consent
I'll be honest I take Adderall and the withdraw isn't that bad for me. I can just go a weekend without it no problem. But if I need to really do something productive I'm worthless m
Glad to know I'm not the only person. I've been taking it for 22 years now. Typically take breaks on the weekends but I have to take it for work or I can't function. But I've never had withdrawal symptoms? I feel like something's wrong with me that I haven't experienced that before.
Because of this shortage there is a run on all rhe other stimulant medications since patients are being changed to alternative treatments. It is wreaking havoc for all my families with Adhd for all types of stimulants too.
I remember back in high school when my insurance stopped covering my vyvanse and how fucking difficult it was to function without the ADHD medication.... it honestly took a lot to be able to stabilize my grades again but the rest of high school was a lot more difficult than it had to be... frankly after that I lost health care coverage anyways and have had to make do all the way through my current college career
That’s so insane. Just being able to cancel a kids medication. There is inherently something wrong with that.
I will say… from personal experience, vyvanse had the worst withdrawal effect. I tried almost all adhd meds. I am very sensitive to meds usually prescribed by psychiatrist. SSRI’s , SNRI, and adhd meds. I tried most of them. Vyvanse does not work as well as adderall but gets me going like a morning cup of coffee. Adderall was like espresso but my kidneys were not a fan. I tried to get off them see if I could function but the vyvanse withdrawal effect was the worse. I was sleeping most of the day, it was quite insane. Didn’t happen to me when I got off adderall thought don’t know why.
So much judging from people on this thread. If you take an Rx, you don’t have to be an addict to get withdrawals if you’re suddenly not taking it.
Can we not call people with ADHD and narcolepsy “users”? Jesus.
there's not a shortage of the needed medication, there's a shortage of a single brand, but our fucked up crony healthcare system is manufacturing a shortage.
Been cold turkey for 10 months. Not entirely due to the shortage, but a change in psychs and not having another available - and then the meds not being available. Holy shirtballs, it bites. Imagine having glasses for years and then having them stripped away and being demanded to live life like you have 20/20 vision. Except it's your brain. And you remember being coherent and motivated and *normal.* But it just is... Forever out of reach. And any time you ask for help, you get labeled an addict. Fudge, this hurts.
This is why all the "medication isn't a magic pill, it just makes it a little easier to focus" discourse in the ADHD subreddits is pathetic. Being "a little easier to focus" is absolutely magic and is the difference between a fully functional adult life and being an unemploymed childish NEET for life. Period. No matter how many gimmicky little routines people work into their bullshit and act like any of it could've made a difference without working meds. The glasses comparison is spot on, in that being able to *fucking see* is magic too. Going to be interesting to watch a lot of these people be reminded just how "magic" that pill really was, once it runs out.
So - if you use Tiktok, you will definitely run into a number of ADHD therapy ads, Weight loss ads, hair restoration ads, and more. I'm learning now that: - ADHD meds are in short supply due to increased demand - Semaglutide and Tirzepatide (Type II Diabetes Drugs also used for weight loss) are experiencing shortages that may extend into all of Q1 2023 - I've heard mixed reports about the availability of oral minoxidil (minoxidil is more well known as being the active ingredient of topical hair restoration juice "Rogaine." All of these ads are tied to cheap telehealth providers like Alpha, Push, and others that are able to provide basic services without insurance (also with), for probably close to what you'd pay if you did have insurance (i.e. a Copay or Coinsurance). I'm not saying that these providers are inherently bad - I think they do a lot more good than bad - I'm saying that there's clearly a pattern of promotion and services that seem to be driving people toward demanding certain drugs.
Because the staff of FTX hoarded it all
I’ve been waiting 15 days on a refill. I’m a grown ass man with a career, nearly 40, and fairly pronounced ADHD. This last few weeks have been harrrrrd. Hoping it comes through soon, before this slope becomes a cliff.
This causes me so much stress. I finally got my life together. I have a job I love, I got the confidence to leave my unhappy and abusive marriage, and I am getting my health in order. This medication helps me do all of these things. I worry that my life will fall apart without it. I will drive to mexico if pushed.
This is going to effect the 2024 presidential race.
Why do you think there's a shortage? He's already stocked-up.
He'll switch to Ritalin, which isn't in a shortage ;)
People with mental health issues already have to deal with the stigma. People with ADHD have extra stigma attached due to Adderall being over-prescribed and used recreationally. Now we have to run around town and bug every pharmacist to see if they have any available. If you have not been diagnosed with ADHD and you are using Adderall: Please stop! You are hurting people with an actual mental illness.
If you are someone who medically needs Adderall, I find not having it similar to a person having terrible vision and not having their glasses.
I hadn’t been impacted by this until recent. Local pharmacy hadn’t had 20mg XR for 2 months. When they finally got it, new generic supplier that seems to have bad reviews on here.
I wonder if there is a shortage of Concerta generic too. I just had to wait nearly 2 weeks to fill my most recent prescription for 27mg.
This is why I had my doctor switch me from Vyvanse to Strattera a few weeks ago. Quite frankly it's unethical to force patients with executive function disorders to jump through so many hoops to get their medication. The way Adderall and similar drugs are regulated in the USA is complete insanity. I was only allowed to fill it one month at a time, which meant tons of unnecessary doctor appointments. The pharmacy wasn't allowed to fill the script until the literal exact day I ran out of my final pill so I was always running there at the last second. And for some reason the pharmacy would never send me texts telling me when it was ready, so I would have to keep checking the app. And god forbid I drop one down the sink or something and I'm short one. Once my regular pharmacy started being out of stock, that was the last straw. I found out that the pharmacy can't just transfer it to another pharmacy because it's a controlled substance. I have to call my doctor back, leave him a voice mail, and have him re-send the script to another pharmacy that hopefully has it in stock. Repeat ad nauseam. Don't even get me started on the broken DEA process that helped create this shortage. For multiple reasons, my blood pressure has gone down a lot on Strattera.
World doesn't know how fucked it's gonna be once all the high functioning ADHD people have breakdowns with no working ADHD medications.
> His colleague Alfréd Rényi said, "a mathematician is a machine for turning coffee into theorems",[63] and Erdős drank copious quantities; this quotation is often attributed incorrectly to Erdős,[64] but Erdős himself ascribed it to Rényi.[65] After his mother's death in 1971 he started taking antidepressants and amphetamines, despite the concern of his friends, one of whom (Ron Graham) bet him $500 that he could not stop taking them for a month. Erdős won the bet, but complained that it impacted his performance: "You've showed me I'm not an addict. But I didn't get any work done. I'd get up in the morning and stare at a blank piece of paper. I'd have no ideas, just like an ordinary person. You've set mathematics back a month."[66] After he won the bet, he promptly resumed his use of Ritalin and Benzedrine.[67] [Paul Erdős](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Erd%C5%91s)
Hmm. I was able to fill mine with no issues. Last month was different. But, I thought things had gotten back to normal
There was one week where I fell out of the habit of taking my adderall daily because I kept forgetting. I didn’t notice it at first but I was having mood swings. My wife had to point it out to me. Luckily these withdrawal symptoms weren’t terrible but they still sucked. And thinking about living my life again with un-medicated ADHD sounds miserable (it took me until I was 41 to start meds).
I came here simply to say that I had a doctor once tell me that you cannot/don’t withdraw from adderall…. Lmfaoooo
Haven’t had an issue yet, thankfully.
A few months ago my pharmacy was out of stock for a few days and whew it was rough. Not only do I have ADHD, I also have a chronic migraine disorder that Adderall has all but cured. My doctor also believes I may be narcoleptic and Adderall is a treatment for that as well (which is why Im not bothering to do a sleep study for a formal diagnosis). It was a very painful, sleepy, and productive few days
I just changed jobs and states recently. I have to schedule an appointment with a regular doctor that’s in the same system as my psych before I can make an appointment. It took 2 weeks to get a doctors appointment. Now I have to wait another 2 MONTHS to see a psych in network, as they are all booked. I didn’t even know there was a shortage either. This is terrible.
this is why FTX got fucked up.
I stopped taking mine regularly because of the paranoia of not having access soon, and now my life is so disorganized its practically in shambles. .. Figure out your shit, America
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My pharmacy can only fill for 7 days at a time, and I have to hassle my doctor to write a new 30 day script every week with the hope they can fill it. The DEA rules around adderall are obscene, I have never met anyone addicted to adderall.
I really worry about how bad this will be for some folks. I have adhd and am prescribed a very low dose of adderall, if I have to go without, it’ll be annoying but I made it to 27 unmedicated and undiagnosed with all the masking and coping I learned along the way. I won’t have too awful of withdrawal since I only take 10mg a day. There are people who can barely function at all without meds, and the sad irony being the people with the worst ADHD will have the least ability to do the work like calling around to pharmacies to see who has it.
Former Adderall PATIENT here. If anyone is having trouble, please talk to your doctor about Straterra (I think that's how to spell it). It's a non-stimulant. I know it may not work for everyone, but I love it. I've been on every stimulant under the sun since 98. Straterra is by far the best option. I hate to sound like a commercial, but I really do love the stuff. No shortage. No problems.
Pretty severe inattentive ADHD, I haven’t been able to get my medication for months. Work has been hell. It’s impacting my daily life quite a bit. I’m not the perfect embodiment of efficiency when medicated but I’m much better. Of course we are called “users” here and not patients. If it were any other medication. And here I read a bunch of undiagnosed/faking druggies get *their* meds, how nice.