Ok well here is the problem: I have been taking adderall/adderall XR for just over a year and once I got to 40 mg a day everything has been working just great. The issue is that I had Medicaid paying for my adderall but since I turned 21 they will no longer cover me. I am in college so I am lucky to be on my parents insurance but it does not cover learning disability medication so that does not help. I just footed $200 dollars of the $275 total (my parents were nice enough to help out) for the XR, for one month! When I started out on adderall IR it never worked so that is not an option. I'm pretty sure my doctor would be just fine with switching but first I need some questions answered, please lol.
Here are my questions:

1. How much Dexedrine would be equivalent to Adderall XR 40 mg?
2. Could some one give me a cost range with out insurance?
3. How many times a day would I have to take it?
4. Any one have any problems switching? (I don't want to mess things up because Adderall XR is working so well but I cannot afford it ...)

Thanks

P.S. Any comments are welcome!

Question 1. It is hard to say about how much Dexedrine would be equivelant due to the fact that they really are not the same drug. It's possible that you may find that there is no amount of Dexedrine that would ever do what you would expect based on your experience with Adderall. You will not know the answer to this question until you try it.

Question 2. I have been paying out of pocket for these drugs since 1992. I have found that big chain pharmacies like CVS, Right Aid, or Walgreens charge rediculously higher amounts for these drugs than pharmacies like Wal-Mart, K-Mart, or Krogers. I strongly suggest that you (or anyone reading this) call around to the different pharmacies in your area and find out what they charge for the same drug. I have found that this happens in every town in America, and that each pharmacy can charge what ever their market can bear. Most people with insurance could care less due to the fact that all they pay is a co-pay, but the truth is these pharmacies should not be allowed to get away with this, and I believe that there should be some kind of price controls in place. They are taking advantage of the elderly, and those of us who have no insurance, and it has been this way for years. I remember after the terrorist attacks on 9/11 when some gas stations started charging a dollar more a gallon than other stations that the local attorney generals got all huffy and said they would not allow this to happen. How irronic that this same thing happens at pharmacies across the nation everyday, and nothing is done about it. I was getting 400 generic dextroamphetamine pills from Kroger for about $120, and the price quoted to me by The Medicine Shop for the exact same generic drug was $480. Unfortunately, there are no laws to prevent this, and the public remains in the dark for the most part. I tell everyone I know about this, and I find that most people do not believe me about how extensive this problem actually is. In addition I would like to tell you about a great thing that the pharmacist at my local K-Mart was able to sign me up for and it is called "AGELITY DISCOUNT DRUG PLAN." I am not sure how it works, and I had to sign nothing at all, but since I had no insurance I qualified for it. The AGELITY thing took a $120 a month prescription and lowered the price to about $60. I was shocked, and pleasantly surprised. It does not apply to all drugs, but it did for the Dexedrine. Hope you are able to find out more about that discount drug plan.

Question 3. That would depend on how you react to it, and whether or not you were on a time released version or an immediate release version.

Question 4. I did not have any problems switching, but it is important to note that we all respond to these things differently, and you will not know for sure until you try it.

I am curious if you ever tried any of the generic versions of Adderall? Some of the generic versions are far superior to other generic versions, and I have found that to be true with all the generic products for all of these stimulant drugs. It has also been my experience that not all generics are carried by all pharmacies, and in order to try them out you will have to ask them to special order the generic version you are wanting. This is not always allowed due to how profitable some of the cheaper generics are. For instance, I was getting the generic dextroamphetamine made by Mallinckrodt from K-Mart up until a couple of months ago. Then the pharmacist there notified me that he was instructed by the corporate office that he could no longer order it for me. I was crushed, and found that nobody else in town would order it either. Turns out the Mallinckrodt is just not nearly as profitable as the Barr generic that they all like to carry. I found the Mallinckrodt to be equal to the brand name Dexedrine.

I have used the Ranbaxy generic form of Adderall and it worked just fine for me and the price was much cheaper than Shire Adderall.