Some of these "differences" can be life-threatening.
I'm on 30mg of generic dextroamphetamine sulfate XR per day. It evaporates my ADHD entirely, makes me feel much more comfortable and relaxed, and makes it easier to regulate emotions and stress. As a bonus it also helps me feel my emotions more readily, which I consider amazing.
But last time, the brand of generic that my pharmacy gave me was Actavis (owned by, guess who, Teva) instead of the Mallinckrodt that I got the first time.
When it first kicked in, I was in the middle of relaxing in bed and my heart just suddenly went completely insane out of nowhere. My heart rate was around 130bpm and I could not sleep at all anymore, even with generous amounts of melatonin 4+ hours before bed. My blood pressure was 180 over 130 for two days straight.
I eventually realized what the problem was and switched back to Mallinckrodt. My heart rate was soon okay and I could relax and sleep again, but it took around 4–5 days for my blood pressure to return to safe levels, probably because of all the bodily load that those Actavis capsules caused.
At my doctor's appointment yesterday, I had my doctor explicitly forbid Actavis and then put "brand medically necessary" on my latest prescription three times, once in handwriting, requiring Mallinckrodt specifically. Hopefully I will not get the wrong meds again.
AFAICT, the main reason it was so dangerous is probably because I am taking 30mg daily. But either my ADHD is really that bad or I started off with a very high tolerance, because my tolerance was discovered from having to take 20mg of adderall IR for it to do anything at all. And that just so happened to be terrible badness, so I switched to pure dextroamphetamine which seems to work wonderfully.
But only this very specific capsule from this very specific brand. The others might literally cause me a heart attack.
I am on a similar script, and I think the half life on these pills is way longer than commonly advertised. The primary effects last 4-6 hours, sure, but the actual half life is more like 12 hours. I will absolutely not be sleeping within 4 hours of taking 15mg of dexamphetamine. Wikipedia also seems to confirm this (duration of effect vs. elimination half-life) [0].
The implication of that is that if you take the same amount every day you can build up a wall of toxicity. I recommend skipping your dose on the weekend, or cutting it significantly and only taking it in the morning. I find this helps me keep the effects feeling more even over time.
Also, maybe I should start drinking a glass of orange juice a few hours before bed to try to accelerate the excretion.
> I am on a similar script, and I think the half life on these pills is way longer than commonly advertised.
My capsules are advertised as 24-hour; they are specifically extended-release. For me that's a good thing; it keeps me functional until I need to take the next day's dose. Won't be able to take it on time if I can't get out of bed due to ADHD, after all.
They do require a bit more preparation to take, though (stuffing myself with as much food as possible).
> The implication of that is that if you take the same amount every day you can build up a wall of toxicity.
Not exactly a wall of toxicity—dextroamphetamine isn't toxic in the same ways meth is—but the medication from the previous day can indeed stay in the body for a while longer than advertised. From what I've been told, as long as you take doses significantly less frequently than the half-life, it eventually reaches an equilibrium and doesn't just build forever.
> I recommend skipping your dose on the weekend, or cutting it significantly and only taking it in the morning. I find this helps me keep the effects feeling more even over time.
I already take the entire day's dose in the morning, anyway. Usually 8am every day, but sometimes a few hours earlier.
I don't like to skip days because basically my entire issue with ADHD was spontaneously losing the ability to function. Stopping stimulants causes me to sleep 15 hours in a row. I wish I was joking; I basically go into hibernation for a day. I'd be sacrificing my weekend for no real benefit except getting high on Monday I guess.
> Also, maybe I should start drinking a glass of orange juice a few hours before bed to try to accelerate the excretion.
Citric acid only neutralizes the capsule itself, not the drug once it's in your body. If you need help sleeping just take around 5mg melatonin four hours before bed. After a week or so of this you should start to get tired and sleep naturally every night, even on stimulants, as long as you keep taking the melatonin.
Ths basically works by correcting your circadian rhythm.
I haven't needed this because I can sleep manually, as long as I'm not having a heart attack. But I should probably do it anyway because circadian rhythm is important for more things than just sleep.
I'm on 30mg of generic dextroamphetamine sulfate XR per day. It evaporates my ADHD entirely, makes me feel much more comfortable and relaxed, and makes it easier to regulate emotions and stress. As a bonus it also helps me feel my emotions more readily, which I consider amazing.
But last time, the brand of generic that my pharmacy gave me was Actavis (owned by, guess who, Teva) instead of the Mallinckrodt that I got the first time.
When it first kicked in, I was in the middle of relaxing in bed and my heart just suddenly went completely insane out of nowhere. My heart rate was around 130bpm and I could not sleep at all anymore, even with generous amounts of melatonin 4+ hours before bed. My blood pressure was 180 over 130 for two days straight.
I eventually realized what the problem was and switched back to Mallinckrodt. My heart rate was soon okay and I could relax and sleep again, but it took around 4–5 days for my blood pressure to return to safe levels, probably because of all the bodily load that those Actavis capsules caused.
At my doctor's appointment yesterday, I had my doctor explicitly forbid Actavis and then put "brand medically necessary" on my latest prescription three times, once in handwriting, requiring Mallinckrodt specifically. Hopefully I will not get the wrong meds again.
AFAICT, the main reason it was so dangerous is probably because I am taking 30mg daily. But either my ADHD is really that bad or I started off with a very high tolerance, because my tolerance was discovered from having to take 20mg of adderall IR for it to do anything at all. And that just so happened to be terrible badness, so I switched to pure dextroamphetamine which seems to work wonderfully.
But only this very specific capsule from this very specific brand. The others might literally cause me a heart attack.