Adderall Seems to be Better Than Vyvanse..............

I filled a prescription for Adderall, non XR form today, as I wanted to try something other than Vyvanse for ADD. I went to Target, it took about 20 minutes to fill the Rx. They charged me $15 for the generic, listed only as Amphetamine, produced by Teva Pharmaceuticals (I think they are a trusted maker of generic Rx), rather than Shire who makes the name brand Adderall, as well as Vyvanse. Is this the same as what's in the non XR brand name from Shire?

The adderall hasn't made me tired at all. I took it at about 3PM on a full stomach, upon returning home. (BTW, I did not take Vyvanse today!) I was hesitant to take it, because I had a pretty big and strong espresso at about 10AM, and a Dr. Pepper while waiting for the prescription to fill. I started to feel the effects by within about 30 minutes, and it reached a peak at about 1 hour. The only negative was probably feeling a little grumpy about 7hrs after taking it. So here was my initial impression of the two big drugs for ADD and ADHD.

Day 1: Adderall vs. Vyvanse:

Alertness: Adderall

Less Fidgity: Vyvanse

More Friendly: Adderall

Fatigue: Adderall

Reading: N/A

Mood Swing: Adderall

Focus on Detailed Task: Adderall

Less Easilly Frustrated: Adderall

Price with or without Prescription: Adderall

I'll have to see how it goes from here. Overall, there was much more of what I wanted, and less of what I don't want from Adderall. I have a sailing race tomorrow, so will probably skip a day. No point taking drugs to sail, especially such a new drug, and risk being stuck in the middle of the ocean if there's side effects. People also tend to buy rounds of beers after the races. From my experience of alcohol with Vyvanse, not really something I want to do again.

-ADD

Free Vyvanse / Appetite / Reading

I forgot to mention a while back that my initial prescription for Vyvanse was free. The psychiatrist who prescribed it, gave me a card that gives your first 30-day prescription for free. However, while filling this prescription I found out that my insurance doesn't cover the drug. I must have mis-read Anthem Blue Cross' prescription drug formulary, because I don't think they cover any name brand drugs. Knowing this, I decided to go with it anyway, as I'm planning on having a new job soon and hopefully better insurance which would cover brand name drugs. If not, my plan will at least cover generic Adderall, and maybe generic Adderall XR. That still won't help with the supposedely required once/month visit to keep the prescription. The first psych visit was $30, the next one is $70, and after that they are supposedly $170!

The "withdrawal" period last night was better than it has been before. I could tell when the drug was wearing off, but it didn't tire me out so much. It's probably because I have also been sleeping better.

A note on appetite: The first couple of days, my appetite didn't decrease at all. For the last 4 days or so, it's been down quite a bit. What I've been doing is just making sure that I eat a solid meal when I would normally be eat before starting Vyvanse. It's too soon to tell about weight loss.

Reading: I have been doing a good job with reading. It's not a miracle drug, that will make you read 10x faster or not become distracted by anything, but it definitely helps. It's great to be able to sit down and read for more than a half-hour at a time now!