People with ADHD claim Adderall is ‘different’ now
Regarding generic equivalents - let me give a little history lesson:<p>For Methylphenidate based medications, Ritalin, Ritalin LA, and Concerta all have the same active ingredient.  However patients were willing to pay extra for Concerta due to it having the OROS delivery system which delivers the medication over an unusually long period of time of 12 hours in a very steady way.<p>However in the US, the FDA allows medications which deliver within 80% to 125% of the same medication to qualify as a generic.  A bunch of generics for concerta which did NOT use the OROS delivery method but instead used cheaper inferior methods which did not deliver medication as steadily or for as long were released simply because they were within that 80% to 125% window.  In fact these generics were more similar to Ritalin LA than they were Concerta, so essentially the FDA allowed essentially a different drug to be substituted for Concerta when the ENTIRE POINT of Concerta for many patients was that it gave a longer lasting steadier dosage than Ritalin LA.  If a patient didn&#x27;t need this advantage, they could just take Ritalin LA instead.  This was used as a pretence to deny insurance coverage for Concerta because a generic existed and caused many insured patients to pay thousands of dollars out of pocket for the real deal which they never saw again.  These generics were scams which hurt patients quality of life and the medical system was complicit in hurting patients while financially benefiting these fraudsters since only having to pay for fake medicine instead of real medicine saved them money.  Nobody besides patients were punished.<p>This was well known and well documented within ADHD circles and after some years led to two generics being decertified.
<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;chadd.org&#x2F;attention-article&#x2F;exactly-like-brand&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;chadd.org&#x2F;attention-article&#x2F;exactly-like-brand&#x2F;</a>
<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.goodrx.com&#x2F;concerta&#x2F;certain-generics-are-no-longer-equivalent-to-brand-name-concerta" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.goodrx.com&#x2F;concerta&#x2F;certain-generics-are-no-long...</a><p>The problems with Concerta generics happened around the same time as the problems with Wellbutrin generics, problems which the FDA ALSO denied for years before backpedalling.  The whole &quot;generics are the same as the brand name&quot; dogma is not actually true for all medications, and it&#x27;s ADHD patients historically who were one of the groups of patients who found this out for themselves.<p>So if people suspect there is a problem with their Adderall generics, I am VERY inclined to believe them, because we know that patients using similar drugs have shown extreme sensitivity to differences in generic equivalents in the past, and we know the FDA has approved &quot;Generic equivalents&quot; that were anything but repeatedly in the past.<p>If you are getting ADHD medications, you can request your doctor write &quot;no substitutions&quot; and a specific brand on your prescription.  If you are having coverage denied for either the brand name or the generic medication of the brand name (the exact same medication but with a different name and lower price, rather than being an equivalent) you CAN often get your doctor to help you lobby your insurer to get a specific brand covered by claiming medical need.<p>&gt;This means that, theoretically, obtaining a generic form of Adderall from a different manufacturer could alter how you feel while on the medication. However, the differences between generics are so small that an overwhelming majority of patients wouldn’t feel any change from their previous medication. “It’s not supposed to have drastic differences,” Dr. Dube said.<p>What an absolutely fucking ignorant assertion given the history of ADHD patients being noted for their sensitivity to small differences between brand name medications and generic equivalents.  What data did he use to come to the conclusion the &quot;overwhelming majority&quot; wouldn&#x27;t feel any change and is he talking about the ADHD patient population or the general patient population?  If he means the former he&#x27;s wrong, if he means the latter he&#x27;s being obtuse and misleading.