Whats the difference beween these meds anyhow? I was on Ritalin and I had an allergic reaction and all my skin turned red and purple, and my joints hurt really bad. But adderall works wonders - arent they both CNS? Whats the difference?

Good question. Well for starters, Ritalin's active ingredient is methylphenidate, and Adderall's active ingredient is amphetamine. Both methylphenidate and amphetamine are racemic mixtures of their respective molecules. For example, methylphenidate is composed of both dexmethylphenidate & levomethylphenidate, and amphetamine is composed of dextroamphetamine & levoamphetamine along with some amphetamine salts.

The dexmethylphenidate is now available in the new drug called Focalin. Dextroamphetamine has been available for many years, and initialy it was marketed under the brand name Dexedrine.

For most people, both Focalin and Dexedrine work much differently from the racemic mixtures from which they came.