Adderall Out of Stock??!
Medication
I live in Houston and I have been getting an adderall 30 prescription for over a year now. Im in nursing school and the only way I’m getting through it is with my adderall prescription. This is the first time my pharmacy hasn’t had dextroamphetamine in stock and telling me its on backprder. I’ve called 10 other pharmacies and they have all told me the same thing. Costco told me that they havent had a shipment in a month and that I’m going to have a hard time finding it in any pharmacy right now… what else can I do?? My daughter’s future is in my hands and this is the only way I can function. If anyone has any pharmacological advice or suggestions I would really appreciate it!
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I had this issue with 25mg a few months ago. I had to have my provider change my prescription to a different mg. Good luck in your search.
Yeah see if they can break down your prescription to a smaller mg and more pills
Check if they have other doses in stock. See if they haveIR or XR
I noticed that they usually don’t have the lower doses so I’d have my doctor write to take 1/2 of 30mg instead of ordering 15mg.
I had an issue with 25mg a while back. Had my dr switch to 30mg too high for me. Pharmacy said 15mg were also put of stock, I ended up having my dr put me on instant releases 3x a day until I could get my normal xrs again
Why is this happening again? It’s insane!
If you can afford it, see if they have thebrand name
Sometimes, insurance companies will pay for name brand, when the generic is OOS.
parents stop filling their kids’ prescriptions over the summer but then restart them once school begins. for some reason every year pharmacies are never prepared for this despite it being a consistent cycle. i get my meds through cigna express scripts and even they were briefly out of stock.
Currently not on it, but I would take weekends off and try to keep a back up stock, only for my prescription to be out of stock for half a month, forcing me to go cold turkey once the backup ran out.
So infuriating and really depressing to have to stress over whether you can take your medication or save it for a real emergency…. Yes. Medicine you are prescribed to take daily!
So I hate to break it to you, but for the last 20 years I’ve had to deal with this and it seems to have only gotten worse ever since the pandemic when drs were able to evaluate and prescribe, as a new patient, via telehealth or etc. There is generally a shortage yearly when kids go back to school as many of them may not medicate during summer break so ordering #s drop and then shoot back up AND on top of that last year or year prior, not entirely sure ADHD thing ya know, there was also a shortage due to how the pre-fix chemicals were distributed to manufacturers by the DEA causing a shortage and manufacturers were requesting more prefix chemicals with the DEA refusing due to their allotment sent out matching the quantity needed given forecasted production need.
It sucks horrendously and there’s not much you can do currently other than having the Dr change the medicine or continue calling, which sucks because many pharmacy’s won’t even tell you if they have it due to security and even if you may eventually find it in stock somewhere it being a CII if you’re not immediately able to contact the prescribing Dr and get him to literally send it over instantly, someone may beat you to the punch only to have them tell you it’s also out of stock there now.
Now let’s say you have been through a myriad of other medication options prior to this one and this is the only one that works for you such as myself and not having the medication is truly detrimental to your functioning. The wisdom I can share is you need to not only expect this, but plan for it. Any days you may not end up taking it or your full dose such as being sick and etc you need to bank it and fill your rx as usual not a day later. On top of this you need to find a pharmacy, generally a non corporate one such as Walmart etc although this isn’t hard and true, that does not fill outside patients scripts in lieu of a shortage and instead keeps that allotment for their patients, then move all of your rx to them devoting them as your pharmacy. This part is time consuming and best done in person and I hadn’t reached this until much later into my diagnosis. Best of luck
We have a spreadsheet with 15-20 pharmacies listed that I go down the list and call.CVS and Walgreens
I’ve also learned that some small pharmacies carry it, like Metscript.
Good luck!
in my experience, i’ve had more success having my doctor call the pharmacy and ask if there’s any in stock versus when i call. it seems like the pharmacies won’t give the Average Joe a straight answer but are more transparent with a prescriber. extremely frustrating but that’s the only way i’ve been able to get my rx filled - and i’ve been on Adderall for 5 years now
This is why I go to the same pharmacy every time. They were the same way at first, but after awhile if I called to ask about certain dosages in stock the person answering the phone will tell me they aren't allowed to say, but they'll see if the pharmacist will call back with the information. I always hear back and they know my name well enough now.
Some pharmacies won't tell the average Joe bc they're afraid of getting robbed. I find they are more inclined to tell me if they have one type one dosage in the amount I'm looking for vs a larger list. Sometimes if they don't have what Im looking for asking if they have something else my dr could prescribe vs do you have XYZ laundry list. The more questions asked over the phone tends to get them squirrelly
I've been able to get the Walgreens to tell me if any others have it, but that's also where I've been having it filled lately. So they may see my name pop up on caller ID and realize I'm not some addict searching for my next fix, although I sometimes feel like that when calling multiple pharmacies.
Yeah been on backorder for a month at my pharmacy.
Try a small family owned pharmacy if you can. Or smaller chains. I have never had an issue even when it was really bad (still can be.. clearly lol)
Also fyi most pharmacies are trained to always say no to stock questions bc of theft of controlled substances. If you simply asked tech “is this in stock” chances are every pharmacy will say no. Best to go in with a paper script (no electronic for a bit if your area has an issue) and see if they can fill it.
Good luck! Should be alternatives to work with for sure. XR is the worst with stock issues bc not many generics.
And keep up the good work with nursing school! You got this. We all had to get kinda creative when it was super bad like a year ago and ongoing. Shocked it’s your first encounter but def talk about alternatives and stress to your doctor the importance. Even if short term. Sucks we have to even deal with it. 🫣😭💜
Do they have other stimulants in stock? Your doctor could prescribe a substitute if they do.
Last time this happened to me, I had to swap to XR. It came back into stock shortly after and I was able to get my regular dose, so I swapped back to the IR dose and kept the XR for the next time it happened, which it did, but I was able to bridge it with the XR until it came in. I also try to not take it on weekends so I've always got a few extra, and recently went on vacation for a week where I didn't touch it at all, so I've got a bit reserved for the next time this happens. I feel your pain, it really sucks to have to ration our meds like this.
Yep my pharmacy has had it out of stock for weeks. I'm going to try transferring to a different pharmacy that's smaller. If that doesn't work I'm going to try switching back to methylphenidate to see if that's possible to get. What a freaking mess.
I just, within the last couple weeks, had an issue getting my 20 IR, so had my doctor change it to 30's instead. It was the biggest pain calling all the pharmacies around me for well over a week until I thought to get the different dosage.
I was able to get name brand Adderall filled during a shortage before, but not the generic. Can you try that?
I was able to do this just now. The pharmacy is out of stock of the generic Adderall XR 30mg - I called the insurance company, and they confirmed they would cover the name brand because of a Drug Shortage. I asked the pharmacy to process the prescription as the name brand, then called the insurance back to have them enter a "Drug Shortage override" on that prescription, then had the pharmacy "reprocess" the prescription to get accurate pricing - and it came through as only $30 for name brand Adderall XR 30mg! Turning lemons into lemonade
Medfinder.com they only charge you if they find your medication. I used to call around everywhere and always get the "not in stock" response. Somehow these guys can get more truthful answers. I use them right before my appointment so that I can be sure my Dr sends it to the right pharmacy. They are amazing.
look into adzenys or azstarys. branded meds with good savings cards. in stock. i own a psychiatric practice and we use these alot to help people affected by the shortage.
This happens pretty often because the DEA limits supply in the US. I will never go back on Vyvanse or Adderall because the withdrawals sucked when the pharmacy couldn't fill my prescriptions. Taking Strattera now and it's never been out of stock once.
It’s an intentional limit. The DEA limits capacity.
Assholes.
Strattera is great if that helps you but it is a non stimulant
HEB told me they didn't expect any more until November, not sure how accurate that is though. They were able to tell me an HEB that had it in stock though. That was 2 weeks ago so probably all gone now.
Try Vyvanse?
Vyvanse is the pro drug to dextroamphetamine.
Many ppl say it's smooth adderall.
Vyvanse is good for me.
Yeah I like vyvanse too but last time i ordered it was way too expensive. I paid like $110 for 10 pills.
I finally got my new Vyvanse script filled after it was out of stock for like a month. I've tried everything else with little success. My insurance won't cover Vyvanse until you've tried everything else, but finally it got approved. Today was my first day taking it. I feel....attentive. It's weird. I dig it.
Smooth Adderall is accurate.
Equally as bad in my city… what the fuck. I’m so screwed for work :(
Call your doctor’s office and explain the situation, they may be able to give you an alternative.
Sighh.... Is it the specific dosage? I remember one time my pharmacy was out of 15mg and they gave me an extra large prescription of 5MGs and another time they gave me two different brands.