Anyone know?? Is it really believed medically that stimulants are somehow different in their effects on adults than for children?

Adderall XR is approved for adult ADHD and there is a 16 hour Adderall coming out just for adults, I beleive Focalin XR (dexmethylphenidate a.k.a. extra strength Ritalin) is another stimulant approved for the treatment of Adult ADHD. Prior to the "Adderall Boom", I, even being treated with dexedrine for so long, couldn't find a doctor who was willing to prescribe stimulants at all.

gah, my post was really impulsive. Sorry. :-p I thought i had read somewhere that strattera was the only med approved for adult adhd. I still wonder though why adderall instant release, daytrana, dexedrine, dexedrine spansules, and desoxyn arent approved. You'd think the drug companies would want to get approved for adult adhd in order to take advantage of the now "booming market".

They are approved within the US( at least it looks that way). Maybe this differs from state to state though. I just got adderall (regular generic) after trying ritalin for 2 weeks. ( Im 28)

The largest market is kids for adhd meds. After a company spends lots of money for those clinical trials and gets approval, docs can prescribe it for adults (off label) even though it was not yet tested or approved on adults. Then most of the companies have done or are doing additional clincial trials for approval for adults and/or preschoolers and other disorders. They first go for the largest market to get incoming funds to support trials (very expesive) for other indications and populations. It is just a busines strategy.

It's because 80 percent of the stim market is taken up by kids taking Ritalin/Adderall. Adult ADD/ADHD is a recent trend (trend speaking) in medicine.

Dexedrine, Ritalin, Methamphetamine (Desoxyn) were extensively advertised to the medical community in the 1950's, indicated for weight loss, depression, alcoholism, chronic fatigue, but due to the 1965 drug abuse control act, were listed as 'dangerous drugs' and controls were tightened.

Hyperkinesia in kids was noted to respond to amphetamine as early as 1937, not long after Benzedrine was introduced in tab form, however Ritalin became the 'drug du jour' in the 1970's for it's treatment, while prescriptions for ADD/HD exploded in the 1990's.