How To Get Control Over Your Adderall Script

I have been taking adderall as an adult for almost a year now. The first 6 months I was on AuroLife's 20mg generic as filled by CVS. Then CVS dropped my insurance carrier, so I changed to WalMart pharmacy.

Walmart filled it with the same Aurolife 20mg for one month, then switched me to the pink for a month, then switched me to a white one, then was going to switch me again.

After spending several hours at several pharmacies, I have made the following conclusions:

1. Most do not allow you (THE PATIENT), to request a generic of your choosing. You get what you get, so you are at the mercy of their vendor and profit margin in regards to what goes in your body.

2. Most do not, or will not, fill with name brand Adderall. Even if they can, or will, you're looking at $300 - $500 per fill, or your insurance won't cover it.

3. The strategy of calling ahead and asking what brand generic they have was met with opposition from the pharmacies I called. Most could not tell me the manufacturer or imprint code on the pills they carried.

I was told by more than one pharmacy they were not allowed / willing to give that information out over the phone.

4. Self-Righteousness was prevalent with every pharmacist I interacted with, informing me that the genetics were required to have the same active ingredients. It was news to them that generics are allowed to vary the dosages by plus or minus 10%, which means you could experience a full 20% swing in dosage between fills. That is unlikely if you get the same generic every time, but is very likely to swing if your brand changes.

A change in generic means the following:

1. A swing in active ingredient dosage
2. It is made by another company
3. Another company means another facility.
4. Another facility means different management and staff.
5. Different management and staff means different culture, different attention to detail, different result.
6. Different FDA inspector. Different relationship between inspector and company.
7. Different ethics - is your medicine made by "Pharma-Bro" Martin Shkreli?? Who the f*** knows - not your pharmacy.

Walgreens, according to their staff, always has, and always will, fill Adderall with only one generic brand, for consistency. I have filled with them once - we will see...

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I agree with much of what you said, Jonathan, and I share in your frustration. This is particularly a problem with extended-release meds like Wellbutrin (bupropion), where the active ingredient is out of patent, but the coating is still proprietary. You end up with large variations between generics and the way they release throughout the day.

For instant-release drugs like Adderall, the differences should be far less, but it's still preferable to stick with the one generic. I have found my local Walgreens to be excellent at sourcing my requested generics. Where possible, I think it is a good idea to build up a relationship with your local pharmacist in order to make this possible.

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Awesome post !!! Spot on, you put into words what I could not have articulated as well as you. Thank You so much. I am actually going to take this to my psychologist ( of 8 years ) and read it to him. I hope this will help him better understand what I have been saying for over a year now..... only to get the same response...." Don't get caught up in all that generic vs. brand mentality, because your mind is a powerful thing. They are the same and I don't know why in the world you would experience a different mood change at certain times. My (his) only conclusion is that when you read about such things on the hundreds of forums out there, your brain can actually be influenced by that ". Although this is about the only forum I use when it comes to reading and communicating about medications.
Now.......don't get me wrong, I very much like my doctor, but so many of these prescribing doctors have never even taken these medications , let alone been treated like a drug seeking criminal for asking about something you are putting in your body so you can have a functional day... and yes...... you are most definetly left at their whim and mercy of ordering from whomever fits the budget that month. And, as you noted, don't "rock the boat" too much, because then they will just tell you they are out of stock at the time. Thanks again for a well written piece. I hope to hear from you to see if that is true from Walgreens.....

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I have had your issue. One of my medications is a generic that I have by trial and error and pure luck gotten a good generic. Note: Not all generics are the same. Please check with Walgreen as they have been very helpful in getting the generic I need.

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pharmacies always give the cheapest medications, its business to them. What you have to do is to get your doctor to state on your prescription exactly which and what drug you want but good luck with that as they have vested interests.

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I have taken both brand ADDERALL & GENERIC. I've used extended release & tablets. I don't have insurance, but RX savings cards are WONDERFUL. Script for my generic went from $155 to $56 (same co, same dose). I went from extended release capsules to tablets; cheaper. For me they actually work better. I'm able to time my dosage better. MANUFACTURER IS LISTED ON THE LABEL FOR THE MEDICINE. I've found AUROBINDO to be reliable. (I also asked my Dr to up my dosage a little) I'm lucky he agrees generic are generally not as strong.

WHAT I DO: ask pharmacist if they carry the manufacturer I want. If they don't I ask could he order it for me.

IF THEY WON'T: try another pharmacy. Because Adderall is a controlled substance,you won't get info over phone.

GO IN PERSON! You can hold an employee accountable to store manager for a bad customer service. Managers are terrified of bad PR. You might go over their head!

DON'T GET A BAD ATTITUDE. It won't help.

EVEN 1 STORE in a chain like CVS can be a bad apple. I was out of town for several months. Needed refills, 1 CVS gave me a hard time. Said I couldn't use my RX savings card; they didn't deal with it. There were a few other things, like attitude, too much trouble. 2nd CVS was like night & day! Profusely apologized for treatment from the other store. Asked which store, time, etc. Said they do accept a lot of RX savings cards & all employees know how. Even checked cost between capsules & tablets. By the way I was also out of state. I returned for my script the next day. Pharmacist let me know he had contacted a person over at the other CVS & were taking care of the problem.

YOU CAN GET reviews on manufacturer's of your meds here on Medschat. There are usually threads where people discuss what works there too.

MY GRANDFATHER ALWAYS SAID: WHERE THERE'S A WILL THERE'S A WAY! It just might take longer or require more work.

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Hi Jonathan, I definitely agree and feel your frustrations. I've been on generic Adderall 20 mgs for about 6 years. I've spent so much time going through the exact same thing your dealing with. The fact that the actual pharmacist is that uninformed on generics says a lot. Not only can generics, like you said, differ in dosage by 10%, every generic is made with different inactive ingredients. Some have more sugar or some have ingredients that have lactose in it etc. Those inactive ingredients affect all of us different. I can't stand when pharmacists lie and say every generic are the same. If they were all the same quality they would all cost the same. I prefer The Sandoz or Barr/Teva generics. They cost quite a bit more then say that awful pink Corepharma crap or those useless white Malinkroct ones. I paid $100 a month for the Teva prescription for about a year, then Costco changed manufacturers and of course, didn't bother to tell me. When I was about to pay, they told me the total was $16. I knew right away it had to be a change in generics. It was those horrible pink Corepharmas. She kept saying the same thing and not to worry. I should of refused them right away, but as anyone prescribed Adderall knows, it's a huge hassle finding a pharmacy that 1) will fill the script 2) One that carries a decent generic 3) One that is either affordable enough or that accepts your insurance. Regrettably, I took it home and an hour after my first dose, I felt incredibly ill. I had a pounding migraine, nauseous, red bumps all over my arms and neck, dizzy and basically like I was poisoned or something. I called Costco got the manager at the pharmacy and explained everything After a whole lot of insisting I finally got them to agree to take it back, I didn't even care about the $16 just give me my scrip back. If all the generics were the same, they would cost the same. Period. You get what you pay for. If the pharmacist is that clueless and thinks that he/she is ordering the same quality medicine for 75% cheaper then the other leading generic, then that pharmacist has no business in that profession. It's not complicated, its common sense.

You get what you pay for. I feel like I and countless others are the ones that have to physically pay for our pharmacists being cheap and lying to their patients. There's quality generics that work great and there's a lot of cheap poorly made generics. Don't let your pharmacy control what goes into your body. It's not worth it to have an adverse reaction like I did. If one pharmacy doesn't want to help you and insists they are all the same. Go to another one. Tell them you can't take a certain generic because you had a negative reaction to the one manufactured by that company. Once I told them that and I'm not just being picky about the generics, that I legitimately have a serious reaction to Corepharma, they started taking me seriously and were more willing to help order the Sandoz or Teva/Barr generics for me. Eventually, I was able to find a great independent family owned Pharmacy who made everything better. They are so sweet and ordered the brand of generic that I wanted all while treating me with respect and kindness. They even gave me a couple of doses to get me to the next day when my order would get there. My advice after navigating years of pharmacies and rude ignorant employees at the pharmacies, is to look up the local compounding pharmacies in your area, check the reviews and go in and talk to them. Explain to them your situation and whichever generic you don't like, tell them you can't have that generic due to an adverse reaction you had when you tried it. You need to find a permanent pharmacy that can order your monthly prescription from either of these manufacturers. A, B or C. I say it like that because there are shortages and at times the pharmacist might not be able to even order from multiple manufacturers. If you have a few on your file then it should be help. Hope this helps.

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Hi, a few tips that might be of interest: Find a generic you do like and have your Doctor write the prescription for that *specific* generic, only. No substitutes, etc. Most places do not have much control on which generics they can order vs. whatever is cheapest, they get. However, my Walgreens has been ordering my specific named generics as the prescription is written for a specific brand only. Be nice to the pharmacist, go during the day when it is slower so you have more time to chat about your needs. Peak hours are usually after work (5pm) + during the week and Saturdays are busy, so go very early when they first open. Try to stick with the same place and get to know their staff. Bouncing around to different places is not going to help you. Build a relationship with them by being courteous and polite and they are more likely to assist when possible. For example, my normal place was out of the Adderall, but looked into their system and advised which store had it in stock, called ahead for me, and I got it filled.

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If you could get your doctor to write a prior authorization for name brand adderall to your insurance company then you can get name brands with no problem...

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I had my Dr write script for real vicidin, beings it wasn't generic, I had to pay $85. Same with the time I requested real imitrex, I had to pay, even with Dr request. The insurance company will only pay for generic. I think we should get insurance companies out of the mix. Generic isn't the same. Oh, and now stores are giving us meds from India???!!! Two of my husband's are from there.

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To DSW,

I had to be tested at age 46 years old, had to take a Neuro-Psych exam, which took like 6 hours!! Come to find out, 46 years later, that was my age at the time of the test. I found out I had ADHD, ADD & Learning Disability.
No one ever caught it while I was in Grade school or even my pediatrician. I take 2 different Rc of generic of Adderall. One is for 20mg and other is 30 mg. I notice the difference between Pharmacies, giving either the peach pill or the pink pill. Me personally, I don't like the pink pill, it doesn't help me focus or concentrate and I hate the salty taste it leaves on my tongue. The peach, I get as 30 mg & it works!! If a person wants to get the same pill every month, they have to go to same pharmacy. I did my homework. So I get the pills I like & work best for me. Also I take 1 mg Xanax; Rite Aid changed it from the blue football shape to a blue round pill, which didn't have the same effect as the football shaped xanax. Again, did my research for that pill, which pharmacies sell that kind & found that CVS carries it & I can tell the difference between the two. Just saying...

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Re: Jessica (# 6)

Just tell them or have dr write on prescription "FDA approved Generic Preferred"...Teva is the only one.

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