Generic Adderall Turned Ineffective? | ADHD Information

Being that this is my first post around here, I didn't want to get off on the wrong foot so hopefully this is the right place to make this thread (and hopefully it's ok for me to have made this thread at all!).

I graduated college last fall, and I'm currently studying for the GRE exam for grad school admission. While in college, I began to suspect that with some of my concentration and attention span issues, I might have some form of ADD, but as I was living about 6 hours away from my family in a small town without a car (so I rarely went home except for getting a ride over major holiday breaks), I didn't really bring it up to my family or get it medically addressed. A couple friends of mine had been diagnosed with ADD earlier in their lives, and offered me some Adderall to try (highly illegal, yes I know), and I found that it worked great- I felt like I could actually be entirely productive, get my work done as needed, and really helped me feel "normal" when it came to taking care of my school business, as opposed to when I had struggled before by spacing out, focusing on smaller issues, and not getting things done like I needed to. I only ended up taking it from my friends a few times, for major deadlines or exams, as I didn't want to get hooked on anything and I decided to talk to a doctor on my own to seriously try and address my issue for my own future benefit.

A few months ago, I did finally see a doctor about it, and after trying Concerta and Vyvanse (neither of which did anything for me) she prescribed me Adderall. I'm currently taking Adderall IR, but my first prescription that I filled honestly didn't feel like it worked nearly the same as how I remembered in college. It was the generic form Barr brand, which gave me some negative side effects that I didn't appreciate too much, on top of not helping with my concentration issues in any way.

The Adderall I sometimes took in college was 20 or 30 mg, pink (almost a bright pink), circular, and had a "+" on one side, dividing the pill into four quarters (I usually only took one half of a pill at a time, as that was all I needed to get the desired effects for a few hours of work). I realized that this was the "Corepharma" brand of generic Adderall, so on my last prescription, I took it to a pharmacy near me that had Corepharma instead of Barr, and had it filled there.

Over the past few days, I've been taking the Corepharma 30 mg as prescribed, but it's not doing anything. No effects at all, good or bad. Doesn't calm me and help me focus on my work, but it also doesn't make me feel tense or stressed or give me any other side effects. Basically the same as if I had eaten a Skittel or M&M candy.

Has my tolerance gone up for these kinds of medications, to where 30 mg of Corepharma Adderall doesn't work for me anymore? Have they changed the way they manufactured the tablets?

I'm at a loss for how a medicine that helped with my issues, as recently as a year ago, doesn't help me at all now. I just want this straightened out so I can continue studying and get it resolved before my exam in a couple of weeks.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Was the medication you took in college the name brand Adderall or generic?  You may need to try the name brand to see how it works.  Also, it could be that the dose is just too low for you. And yes I think the body adjusts and the dose needs to go up sometimes.[QUOTE=Logan'sMom]Was the medication you took in college the name brand Adderall or generic?  You may need to try the name brand to see how it works.  Also, it could be that the dose is just too low for you. And yes I think the body adjusts and the dose needs to go up sometimes.[/QUOTE]


I always knew what taking exactly half at a time would be, because I could split the tablet right along the little "+" design on the back.

And the Corepharma generic tablets are usually sold at Walgreens pharmacies, which is where my friends usually picked up their medicines, because a Walgreens was just right across the street.

Brand is so expensive, I don't know how badly I want to go down that route.

I get the idea of the body adjusting, but I've only been taking 30 mg about 5 times a week (sometimes 45 mg if I'm studying or working late- an extra half of a tablet) for about 5 weeks now. 

Everyone's bodies, and their tolerance level/reactions to things, are slightly different, but would my tolerance really be that high, to where after 5 weeks I need to take 45 to 60 mg of a medication for it work the same as it did when I just took 15 mg of it? 

To me, that just seems like a scary rat race where I'd have to keep upping my dosage just to maintain the medicine as being effective (which isn't a road I want to go down).  Which again, doesn't make all that much sense to me considering I used to take such a small dose and it worked perfectly fine, almost too well at times.

Thank you for the response though, I really do appreciate any answers or insight on this.

Luvmykids0240350.8294444444I'm really not sure about the dosage on Adderall so I don't know if 45 mg is a lot or not?? But 5 weeks can be enough time for the body to adjust.  I would definitely call the doc and discuss it.  Also, do you feel any effect at all from the dose you're on?  I was just thinking that maybe you're metabolizing it really fast.  When my son tried Adderall he went through a 6 hour pill in about 3 hrs!  Sorry I'm not much help!  Hopefully your doc will have the answers for you!