#im only getting mine regularly because my ins requires brand

[smallswingshoes]

Your local pharmacy technician here who is also on adderall! Unfortunately the problem is that doctors seem to be overprescribing amphetamines across the country.

Each year, they increase production by a specific amount (like 10%, dunno if that's the exact number) and it's been able to keep up with demand. This last year, that hasn't been nearly enough and demand has vastly outstripped supply, so there's a major shortage.

Part of me wonders how much of this is more people getting diagnosed with autism and adhd now. I also wonder how much of this is similar to the ozempic shortage (i.e. ads and tiktoks reccing it for weight loss).

I think it's a little of both tbh, but I'm not sure. Right now I work at a pharmacy located in an upper middle class neighborhood, but 10 minutes away is the bougie neighborhood. I mean as in these people are rich enough to have their names on buildings rich. My pharmacist used to work at that location and the amount of rich assholes on way, way too much Adderall was stunning.

These folks would be on 2 capsules of Adderall XR 30 mg PLUS Adderall 20 mg tablets as needed a day. That's at least 80 mg of Adderall a day. If we were supposed to be on doses that high, the highest capsule wouldn't be 30 mg and the highest tablet wouldn't be 20 mg. These folks have had to also go on aripiprazole for medication-induced psychosis, not even joking. (I had the beginnings of that once when I was accidentally on too high of a dose, absolutely miserable. Do not recommend.)

So I know there are definitely rich people on way too much Adderall and their doctors are just letting them. But I'm not sure how much of that is impacting the shortage. Rich people have been getting medications they shouldn't be on before; is there really an uptick just because of social media like tiktok?

But is all of it really just that more people are getting diagnosed? Especially these days when, honestly, doctors should be starting people off on aripiprazole, guanfacine, or atomoxetine (non-controlled, non-amphetamines that can treat some of the same symptoms) instead and yet I rarely see new rxs coming in for those. Doctors keep starting people on amphetamines even with the shortage.

I don't know what the solution is, unfortunately.

If anyone suffering from the Adderall shortage hasn't tried aripiprazole, guanfacine, or atomoxetine, it might be worth discussing with your doctor or ask your pharmacist for advice. They each do something a little different, so you likely wouldn't need all of them.

If those aren't right, you might have to pay out of pocket for brand name Adderall, which is a little easier to get in stock than d-amphetamine salt combo right now. Same goes for Concerta vs methylphenidate. Vyvanse hasn't gone on a shortage yet, but it also tends to be the most expensive even WHEN covered by insurance.

Other than that, I presume we either have to wait for demand to go down, for production to be allowed to increase, and/or for the government to find out which doctors are overprescribing and crack down on it.

Just please, anyone reading this, don't yell at your pharmacy staff! The majority of this is outside of our control even without a shortage. (We can only order a certain amount at any given time and we never know if we're actually going to get it until it arrives. Yes this IS a nightmare.) We're doing our best with very few options to give, unfortunately.

Highlight of the week: My doctor agreeing that, hey, I should probably be on more than 15mg of Adderall, let's up that dosage babyyyyyy. Get more of that feel good dopamine.

Existential horror of the week: Realizing that going from a fairly uncommon dosage of Adderall to a significantly more common dosage of Adderall means that suddenly no pharmacy in town had my prescription of Adderall in stock.