Hey all! I was just wondering if anyone has divided their ADD meds to use throughout the day... particularly Adderall XR.

For example, I have quite a few 20mg capsules of Adderall XR left over from my old prescription. My latest prescription is for 15mg XR twice per day. I was wondering if anyone has some advice on dividing up the XR capsules. I was thinking I could empty out three 20mg capsules (60mg total) and then divide it into four equal parts for 15mg each.

I know that there is a chance that more of the long-lasting beads will end up in one pile and more of the instant beads in another pile... I was just wondering if anyone had done this with success. Can you buy empty capsules for this?

Thanks! :)

it's quite challenging, but i have divided 20mg ritalin LA capsules into 10mg. the little half-capsules tend to launch themselves out of my fingers when i'm trying to compare levels in each half. beads then go flying in every direction. it's heartbreaking, because each 20mg capsule costs me $2.50! it's definitely a good idea to do this over a big bowl, so you can scoop up the beads if they try to get away. you can find empty gel capsules in some GNC stores. i notice not all GNCs carry them though.

I have devided some 30mg XR's and made them into about 10mg to each 10mg capsule giving me roughly 20mg of XR. You could always make a mental note to where the 15mg XR capsule's fill line is and pour the 20's into a empty shell and attempt to get them close.
For the worry about the beads not mixing properly, don't worry about it, the medicine is pre-mixed before it is put into the capsules and the odds of getting a larger percentage of one to the other is very low. Think of it as flipping a coin 200 times, you will roughly get 100 heads and 100 tails give or take a few, or just take the 20mg it is only 2.5mg X 2 more. But good luck and if you do alter the amount of beads, don't worry about it anything would be negligable. If you want to be certain though you could always seperate the long-release and IR beads and add together in known quatities. The last one may take some time though;)

I have marked four empty 30 mg shells (5, 10, 15, 20) with a pen. They are used to take less medication when I so wish. I try to "shake" the beads as I add them from a 30 mg capsule. I just empty one of the shells into my mouth and follow them with a glass of water.

Snappy- that sounds like a great idea. Currently my script is for 15mg Adderall XR twice per day. Well my drug coverage wants me to get 90 days supply through mail order pharmacy. Here is the price breakdown for the SAME total amount of adderall:
180 capsules 15mg XR = over $100
90 capsules 30 mg XR = $60
I can save money by getting the 30mg capsules and then dividing them to take what I want. I frequently only take about 15mg per day so this would last me a LONG time while saving me money.