hey everyone, it's been a while (i forgot i had even registered for an account, ha)

anyway, right now i'm taking 15 mg of Barr extended release dexedrine in the am, and up to three barr 5 mg instants throughout the day, as needed. i am having trouble sleeping but it appears to be unrelated to any current medications, so i will leave questions regarding sleep for a message board dealing with that.

my doctor had advised heavily against buying Mallinkrodt extended release, citing that their release mechanism isn't smooth and that he has had several patients complain of a sudden "shot" of d-amphetamine to the brain, causing their focus to spin out of control, and, in one extreme case, a girl to floor it in her car and slam into a tree. per that advice, i have been getting barr everything. i have been doing some reading on this board and everyone seems to have pretty bad opinions of barr, at least when it comes to instant release. the barr sustained release seems fine, although i made the mistake (for almost a year) of not taking the SR every day, because it was over-stimulating and completely killed my appetite. a few pharmacists recommended that i "stick it out" while my body adjusts, since i don't have the 5 mg SR's to taper up, and low and behold, the appetite problem was gone within a week. i thought that maybe the sleep issue was related to the dexedrine so i went off of it and am having to do the "stick it out" thing again (i feel overly stimulated, my thoughts race, and there's euphoria as well. this goes away and focus is achieved after about 4 days) anyway, i was wondering what you all think about what i should do about picking a generic. the barr extended release, once my body is acclimated to it, seems to work well, although it could be better, i suppose. the therapeutic effects wear off well before the unpleasant side effects, which sucks but i always thought it was the nature of the beast. the barr generic instants could be WAY better, in my opinion. from what i've read, my options are brand name, dextrostat, mall, and barr. i have a long and interesting history with ADHD, and have been on everything there is except focalin and cylert. dexedrine works best. anything less potent isn't effective, and desoxyn had me tweaking off and crashing 3 hours later off of just 5 mg. i barely notice the 5 mg instants of barr dexedrine, even with no tolorance, and even feel sleepy when i take them. i'm thinking the binders used in those kind of suck, much like greenstone generic xanax sucks compared to purepac, simply because of the binders. sorry for the long read, but i would really appreciate as much input as possible, as i have my monthly appointment with my psychiatrist tomorrow. thanks in advance everyone.

Welcome to the forums abettersolution.

Well the brand name Dexedrine is no longer an option from what I have heard. GSK has decided to no longer manufacture it any more for some reason.

There is quite a difference between the Barr 5mg IR tablet compared to the Mallinckrodt 5mg IR tablet. The Mallinckrodt 5mg IR has always been better for me than even the brand name. Mallinckrodt's tablets are smaller than any of the others, and they also have no dye in them like the others.

Focalin is certainlly something you should consider talking to your Dr about. My Dr suggested it several years ago, but I blew off his suggestion due to the fact that I was content with Dexedrine. I finally tried out one of those free one month trial coupons from the Focalin website last summer, and I was shocked out how well it worked. I was expecting a typical methylphenidate response based on years of taking different version of methylphenidate. Even though I knew that Focalin was dexmethylphenidate, I really did not think it would be that much different. I was very wrong.

Focalin felt like a completely different animal all together, and it had hardly any negative side effects at all for me. The only reason I did not continue with the Focalin is due to not having any insurance, and the stuff is pretty pricey compared to the Mallinckrodt dextroamphetamine which works well enough. It would be hard for me to say which one is better between the two at this point due to me only having had one month on the Focalin, but one of these days I will give it a more in depth trial.

Food for thought.

If there's only the "Barr brand" I have my doctor increase it 20 mg to match any other brand. I take the tablets only though and the Barr brand Spansules were terrible. I had the 10 mg tabs last month and it had to be upped but works fine at a higher dose for me.

besides Mall and Barr, there are no other options (generically speaking). dextrostat doesn't come in an extended release formulation. my doctor and other patients have talked about how unreliable the Mall SR spanules are and that the problem is their release mechanism. they don't release very smoothly, and they can cause too much or too little d-amphetamine release, back and forth like that all day. i have experienced this often with Mall spansules. what kind of spansule works best for you? i take the 15 mg SR, btw.

besides Mall and Barr, there are no other options (generically speaking).Actually there is another generic avilable here in the US. It's manufactured by a pharmaceutical company called "Ethex."

http://www.ethex.com/pages/images/58177031204_a.gif

http://www.ethex.com/pages/prod_page.asp?PRID=58177031204

I have never taken this generic, but I have always been curious about it. I hope that nobody takes this post as an endorsement of the Ethex dextroamphetamine. I am just posting this for educational purposes only since most people are not familiar with it as an option.

sorry, i should have been more clear. i was talking about generic extended release spansules. tablets are no problem.

I now take dex (after methyphenidate and combined amphetamine salts) and it is usually from Barr; once I got a hold of the Ethex generic and honestly could not tell the difference, but have been unable to get Mallincroft (the holy grail).

In the last couple of months, pharmacies have made two mistakes:

1. Gave me adderal ir instead od dextroamphetamine (I was glad and kept quiet; I was able to confirm the harshness - for me - and that reassured me that dex ir generic is great for ME.

2. The second mistake was when I was given Barr dex spansules; once again, I kept quiet because I had never tried it. The release mechanism is unpredictable; now I confirmed that having control through ir is a goog thing - I don't forget to take them because my mind and body remind me.

As far as methylphenidate is concerned; I tried them all (time release), but I still get a little edgy - not as much as with adderall. The smoothest add med I've tried is dextroamphetamine.

I still would like to try deogyn (methamphetamine), as I tend to be on the anxious side - something that stimulants have overwhemengly decreased.

Should I bother? My doc only wants to hear the bottom line - no explanations. He asks me what I need - what works for ME - and does not let me justify or apologize for doing so. He's treated me for around 15 years and diagnosed add only 1.5 years ago (although I told him I had it eight yrars before).

He says I will NOT become addicted; I must confess that he gets this amused look when I tell him how relaxing dex is - more than klonazepam!

Given my history, will dexogyn make me even more relaxed?

I'm back on the forum (I had forgotten; too busy) and had not visited since December.

Thanks folks.

Given my history, will desoxyn make me even more relaxed?
Hey SnappyCloud, and welcome back to the forum. Great to see you posting again.

That's a great question you asked, but unfortunately I would have to be a psychic to be able to answer that. I can only tell you how Desoxyn effected me.

That being said, Desoxyn made me very relaxed, and was as smooth as they come. It's very expensive at $2.00 a pill, especially for somebody like me who would need 12 pills a day. However, for some people it seems to fill a void that no other stimulant is capable of filling.

For me, the dextroamphetamine is sufficient. One day when I do not have to sit through lectures (that I will be tested on), I would like to get back on the Desoxyn due to the relaxed peaceful feeling it provided me.

As far as the Dex is concerned, I would suggest that you consider trying out the Mallinckrodt version before moving on to the Desoxyn. I find the Mallinckrodt to be a different animal than the Barr product. I have found that two of the 5mg IR Mallinckrodt tablets are better than one of their 10mg IR tablets. Hope this helps.

glaxosmithkline still makes the Dexedrine Spansules

despite the fact that my thread totally just got hijacked, the question still stands: who makes the best extended release spansules? the three options available are barr, mall, and glaxo. dextrostat is not made in extended release formulation, and i find their IR's to be sub-par compared to barr. next month i suppose i will try ethex or have some mall IR's ordered.