Posted by evenintherain on January 6, 2012, at 21:51:04
I take adderall IR along with a small dose of wellbutrin to control my depression. I haven't been able to find any adderall IR at any pharmacies where I live (nyc) lately (it is all back-ordered for at least a month they say), and am about to go on a trip out of the country for 5 weeks. I really don't want to have to try out a new drug while I'm gone, but stopping completely seems like an even worse idea. My doctor said if I couldn't get any adderall to let him know and he'd figure out something else to prescribe (though I'm under the impression there is a shortage of most stimulant drugs now that people have had to switch from Adderall).
My question is, does anyone have a suggestion for which drug is best to substitute?
I am very wary about requesting anything specific lest I give my pdoc the impression that I am drug-seeking (I'm not, I don't get high off these drugs. It took a long time of trial and error before settling on this combo) but if he suggests ritalin, concerta or vyvanse rather than dexadrine/dextrostat I am thinking of questioning this. I am not sure if I would be right to do so, which is why I am asking on here. My bias may be unfounded because there is only one ingredient in dexadrine and I know what it is (d-amphetamine) and that I can tolerate it because it currently makes up 75% of my adderall pills.
I am not against Vyvanse, but it is non-generic (can't afford it) and only comes in extended release. I take IR rather than extended release adderall because extended release even in the smallest dose made me too tired to function (I know, I react really strangely to most of these drugs).
So I take 5mg of adderall IR 3 to 4 times a day currently until my last bottle runs out, which is soon.
I don't know much about concerta, ritalin, strattera, but am under the impression they are a different class of drugs. Please correct me if I'm wrong or you think they might be more helpful.
<rant>Just as an aside I'm sort of ticked about this shortage. It is unclear to me whether it came from the DEA quota or (a rumor I heard about) Shire creating the shortage on purpose to get people to switch to Vyvanse while it's still on patent, but the fact is i really don't want to have to mess with a system that has been working for me for about a year. I don't react to drugs like the average patient and it has taken many years to find a combo that, while imperfect, has done the job well enough for now. It's kind of irritating that this shortage could go on for so long (I think I first heard about problems in May?) without anyone taking it seriously/doing anything about it. I guess the implication is it's not a legitimate drug, but for those that feel otherwise these restrictions are a real bummer.</rant>
poster:evenintherain
thread:1006554
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20111226/msgs/1006554.html