Here is a very good link http://www.addadhdblog.com/generic-adderall-xr-new-formulations/#549e6

My husband takes Adderall XL.  (we’re both ADHD—I take Vyvanse).  I’ve followed the rumors/controversies surrounding the generics not being “equal” for a long time because I’m a physician assistant by training but a SAHM of two teenagers with ADHD by choice. 

By the time I became aware of the issue with the generics, it was already looking like there were more than enough patient reports to conclude that switching to generic might not be a good idea—and best to try and stick with the Brand name as much as possible.  And like all medical consumers, I crossed my fingers and hoped our insurance would not drop the brand name off its formulary.  I didn’t bother to inform my husband about this new info (it tends to confuse him and not even help matters because he’ll only remember that I told him “something about the generic—so was I supposed to ask for it if they have it or avoid it”) because I figured it would lead to him calling me every time he picked up his RX to check and make sure he did the right thing.  I figured it would be better for me to just cross that bridge when/if we came to it—LOL.

I was astounded when he dropped off a prescription and Walgreens automatically substituted the generic form since his doctor had indicated they could by signing the “generic substitution” line, but when they went to finalize the transaction (ring up the total and bill insurance) they found that United Healthcare would charge us $50 for the generic and $0 for Brand name.

Scratching their heads (I assume) they called the number “on file” to reach “the patient” because they had a little bit of a problem now—they had no brand name in stock & it would take 3-5 days to order it, so they wanted to know if the “patient” wanted to pay the $50 or wait or take the RX somewhere else to have it filled.  Luckily they reached me at home, not the patient who was out of town in a day long meeting where the only way to get ahold of him was via text.

I told him to call me ASAP because text would be too confusing & I had a question he needed to answer before the RX could be filled.  He called a few hours later and I filled him in on the details fearful that we’d get stuck with 30 days of generic due to it being late afternoon and not enough time to find a Walgreens that had Brand name in stock, me drive to Walgreens to physically take the RX somewhere else due to the fact that so often RXs get dropped off the day before he runs out of meds.  Generic was better than nothing, but maybe not…

I was relieved to hear that he’d dropped off the RX early this month, still had 5 or 6 or 7 pills left.  So I called Walgreens to authorize them to order the Brand name because we could wait 3-5 days.

Well, it took Walgreens 5-7 days to get the brand name in stock and by that time they unfortunately had an out of date prescription which meant my husband would need to drive 30 minutes each way to his doctor’s office to pick up a new RX, and it was Friday late morning & his doctor closed at noon on Fridays.

Very long story, but ironic too.  I was amazed to find out that our insurance company was the only one looking out for the patient’s best interest (well, besides me, that is) by refusing to cover a generic that was supposedly a true generic equivalent based on the FDA guidelines which rarely allow for there to be a “significant difference” between generic and brand name.  His MD was fine with the generics and so was walgreens.  His MD had never discussed it with him; I wondered if she was even aware this controversy existed. 

So, there’s my long-winded two cents,

I’ve taken adderallfor a few years now, and I donkt have insurance, so it’s alway a generic. I switched for one month to the generic for Ritalin once wen every pharmacy in town had no adderall in any dose-(I’m not kiddinig,it’s easier to find illeagaledrugs where I live-it’s rediculous!) Anywy, the point I’m trying to make is if the $5.00 Rx is a diiferentdrug all together, then forget it. Because I REALLYwanted the $20 ritalin generic to work for me. But it just didn’t. So at the end of that month I finally had to get my doctor to write me another Rx (AGAIN)for adderal.And get this, the only had 20mg pills @ pharmacy & I get a 30mg pill. So, for that month I had to buy 90 of the 20’s instead of 30 of the 30’s. This meant I had to pay almost a hundreddollars for my Rx that month instead of the usual 60-ish.
So believe me wen I say I was REALLYhoping I could switch meds, but it just didn’t work no where near as good as adderall! Be glad you have insurance because I also pay $90 a visit every other month to see the doctor in additionto what ever Rx’s I have to fill wen I leave. If you get adderallfor $5.00 DO IT! But it’s another drug like ritalin, then fork over the $50. Because it’s just not the same! Or maybe let him try it for a month and if your lucky… Just be sure you know exactly what you’re getting.

Good luck w/that! Getting adderallis harder then narcoticpain killer’s anymore! (@least where I live) I am NOT a drug addict-not even close. But the state of Florida is trying to make anyone who uses any kind of narcoticfor any reason - treated like some kind would-be criminal.It’s getting really old! So I wish you luck!

Here is a government site that gives all of the information for brand name and generic medications that are made of combinations of the different dextroamphetamine and amphetamine salts.

http://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/search.cfm?startswith=dextroamphetamine&x=0&y=0

This site is a great resource to get tons of detailed information about the different medications.

I took generic Adderall immediate release for a long time and that worked well but I had to take an afternoon dose and I had a hard time remembering to take it.  So I asked for generic Adderall XR and found that with my insurance I also had to pay a $50 copay each month.  I found that generic Dexedrine ER was covered under my insurance for $7 and it was extended release so I could just take it in the morning only.  Dexdrine contains one of the four salts that are in Adderall.  This medication works very well for me.  One thing though, I found that for me the right dose of the generic Dexedrine ER is about half as much as Adderall XR.  So I was taking 30mg Adderall XR and I took 15mg of generic Dexedrine ER for a while and now I am taking 10mg.

The generic that I take is DEXTROAMPHETAMINE SULFATE capsule, extended release from Barr Laboratories Inc.  This generic has been very consistent as far as the dose strength and I have been very happy with how well it controls my symptoms.  I like being able to just take one pill in the morning and have it last all day long.  I also love the 7$ per month copay.

This medication also works great for two of my children (10, 17) that have ADHD.

I know that the exact generic for Adderall XR that is made by Barr is DEXTROAMPHETAMINE SACCHARATE, AMPHETAMINE ASPARTATE, DEXTROAMPHETAMINE SULFATE, AND AMPHETAMINE SULFATE capsule, extended release
[Barr Laboratories Inc.]  Compare the two links to see the contents of both.

http://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/lookup.cfm?setid=a200fc5e-faab-4471-af77-64da407fa131#section-13
http://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/lookup.cfm?setid=aff45863-ffe1-4d4f-8acf-c7081512a6c0#section-18

If your insurance will cover this one for $5 then I would give it a try because it is the same formulation and not just an equivalent generic.

Good luck trying to balance getting medication that works well and insurance copays that also work well.

While this may not directly answer your question, i’ve been on both the brand name XR and generic instant release, the generic XR wasnt available at the time.  I was on 30mg of XR 2x a day for approx 3 years.  And i eventually found that i wasnt responding to each individual dose at all. As a result my symptoms were highly erratic and i had wasnt able to keep “control” of myself.  I found a new doc that worked with me and switched to 15mg 4x a day of the generic instant release, and i feel so much more consistent through out the day. For me it ended up working out much better, but i have long days and have been on adderall for 10 years so my experience would be different than your sons.

I’ve read about how they say generics are the same biologically but the inactive’s can cause a different result.  Try getting generic for 2 or 3 weeks to see how your child tolerates it.

Good luck, its hard enough to cope it sucks that the insurance stuff makes it more difficult.