Understanding Generic Adderall

I too have had horrible experiences with the generic versions of adderall..I am currently on Brand Adderall XR 30 MG..I've wracked my brain trying to understand how such drastically different results can be received if the medications "should" have the same active ingredient but "may have" different "inactive" ingredients. So, the only way that my ADHD brain lol could understand this is to compare it to one of my favorite recipes:Chicken cordon bleu... So I imagined the chicken as the "active ingredient" and begin to switch out the remaining ingredients in my head..as I imagined the switching out the breading used, then type of cheese used, maybe instead of "baking" you would fry it (for example)....when i was done analyzing... I was horrified.....even if you maintain the active ingredient... by switching around the recipe ingredients as a whole...YES you will come out with a completely different entree and completely different medication... Hope this didn't confuse anyone...(that's non- add or adhd) but I would love to hear anyone else's thoughts or opinions on this.

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Sounds like Adderall is another narcotic to be added to the long list of other generic narcotics that have been watered down(for the lack of a better term)to reduce abuse, but the people who actually need all these various narcotics to have some quality of life are just out of luck. Welcome to the failed war on drugs! You're another victim of a mountain of failed Odumbo policies! Don't worry though, if you complain then you must be a drug seeker!

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Yes, Obama and his cronies are secretly watering down adderall. Come on.

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It doesn't actually work like that, Shannon. No inactive ingredient (ie; excipients) that would alter the chemical composition of the medication in a harmful manner would ever be added to the product - brand name or generic. However, you are correct in that generic drugs can vary significantly from their brand name counterparts.

Numerous factors can influence the strength and effectiveness of generic medications, the two most important being the bioequivalency tolerance standards set forth by the FDA followed by the evaluations and enforcement of those same standards. For example, for a generic drug to be considered bioequivalent to its brand name counterpart, the maximum concentration of active ingredient in the blood must not fall more than 20% below or 25% above that of the brand name drug. Such an alarmingly broad definition represents a potential 45% range of deviation among medication labeled to the consumer as being the same. This would account for the common complaint that generics do not work as well as the brand name medications they are meant to replace.

As you alluded to in your recipe analogy, altering the mix of inactive ingredients can also have an impact on the body's ability to metabolize the medication's active ingredients. In regards to this issue, the American Heart Association recently noted:

“Some additives traditionally thought to be inert, such as alcohol sugars, cyclodextrans, and polysorbate-80, may alter a drug’s dissolution, thereby impacting its bioavailability.”

Another important factor lies in the FDA's inability to enforce its own standards. Although recent increases in funding should allow an expansion of evaluations and enforcement, spot checks and the threat of unannounced inspections were the main tool of FDA enforcement to date.

On the surface, consumers are led to believe that the main difference between brand name and generic medications is one of price. Delving deeper, one can find enormous discrepancies in the form of strength, quality of ingredients, and even in the manner in which the body metabolizes the medication.

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