Actavis Adderall XR Experiences Thread

[Smash58]

Hello, I joined the forum just to reply to this thread. I hope that someone can help me or my experience can help another.

I recently refilled my 30 mg adderall xr perscription and began taking it right away. After 4i days of taking it i felt there was something wrong. Each day the drug did not feel as effective to the point that i started to doubt i recieved the correct dosage. After inspecting the bottle and doing research i learned that these were the new Activas capsules (orange on orange with r 6031 imprint).

As i stated my experience with this new brand has been very negative. It feels mostly ineffective to the point where it feels like i am taking 15 or 20 mg vs 30mg. I am not sure what do about this situation and i fear my only solution is to tough it out for 23 more days.

[buffpnoy]

Hello all! I just took my first dose of Actavis 30mg XR about three hours ago and wow I love it! It's so much smoother than the brand name and the other generics I've tried. It's soooo smooth and no racing heart, anxiety, no voice change. it's just consistent energy and focus. I've tried a bunch of other ADD stim drugs and so far this is the best in my experience. I will update if something changes :-) but so far it's a keeper!

[Klutie]

Just finishing up my first month in the actavis 10 mg. Biggest noticeable side effect is that I keep waking up in the middle of the night and can't go back to sleep. I've had no sleeping issues with any other XR. It's like it shuts off at 3 am and the ADD random worry generator kicks in with a vengeance. I'm thinking of dosing just to get back to sleep! Anyone else having this issue?

[la_bmw13]

I was recently prescribed to Adderall XR (20mg) and I got Actavis from my pharmacy. I have only been on it for 6 days however it seems like each day the results are different; Im not sure if this is due to it being a new medication for me or not.

Originally Posted by Klutie

Just finishing up my first month in the actavis 10 mg. Biggest noticeable side effect is that I keep waking up in the middle of the night and can't go back to sleep. I've had no sleeping issues with any other XR. It's like it shuts off at 3 am and the ADD random worry generator kicks in with a vengeance. I'm thinking of dosing just to get back to sleep! Anyone else having this issue?

Nights 4 & 5 I woke up after only sleeping for a short period of time.
On the 4th night I went to bed at midnight and woke up at 4am and could not go back to sleep. On night 5 I went to bed (after being up since 4am) around 11:30pm and then woke up at 2:30am! I did end up falling back asleep and woke up at 6:30am. I wasn't sure if this is a side effect of all brands of adderall or just Actavis.

To address what I mean by different results:
Day 1: Felt very 'amped' and felt as if energy came in waves
Day 2: Could not feel the effects all day and did not feel as if it was working
Day 3: Most effective by far, accomplished tasks for a solid 7+ hours
Day 4: It took 2 hours before I felt any effects, once kicked in I was able to work the entire day
Day 5: Woke up at 4am (after 4hrs of sleep), took at ~10:30am, seemed effective and was able to complete work throughout the day
Day 6: Woke up at 2:30am then went back asleep and woke up again 6:30am, took around 9:30am. Did seem slightly effective but I still struggled throughout the day and towards the end of the day (around 6) it had completely worn off

** I tried to keep my diet relatively consistent all 6 days (no caffeine or anything with high acidity)

[aydeaytchd]

I just received my first month of Actavis ER 20mg (blue capsule) today from rite aid. I've always gotten Teva XR 20mg for the past 4 years with an occasional brand name batch when the pharmacy is out of stock. I had to go to a Rite Aid out of town because my usual pharmacy was out of stock. When I got home and took my pills out of the bag and saw bright blue capsules instead of orange, I panicked! I thought the pharmacy or my doctor had made a mistake since I had never seen or even heard of this brand. I immediately hopped on the computer to use a pill identifier and research the new brand.

It is only my first day on the Actavis but I can notice a difference.

1.)I take my regular XR 20mg capsules by dumping the capsule into my mouth and swallowing the beads with water because I have trouble swallowing pills. Actavis ER 20mg tastes different and better than Teva XR 20mg. Actavis has a mild, saline/chlorine-ish kind of taste. Teva has a stronger, bitter taste that's different and lingers in your mouth. After 4 years of Teva, Actavis was a pleasant surprise.

2.) Actavis started working quicker, 5-10 min vs. Teva which takes about 30-45 mins.

3.)Most importantly, I noticed a difference in concentration. When I studied this evening I seemed to have more interest than usual and felt that I absorbed more. Teva has a sawtooth effect on my train of thought. I can concentrate on an assignment, but I'll go through spurts of decreased focus. My level of focus is erratic when taking the Teva brand compared to the constant homeostatic level achieved with Actavis.

I also notice a difference between the brand name Adderall and Teva when I do happen to get the brand name. The brand name Adderall gives me an amped up feeling and exaggerates the way I normally feel from Teva, like it's more potent. My body is reacting each time there is a switch from my Teva regime, but there is a significant difference in the way brand name Adderall affects me and how Actavis affects me when the switch from Teva occurs. Adderall amplifies the erratic effects Teva normally has on me, and Actavis paves out the effects, making them more comfortable.

[Christina519]

Hi I just wanted to help anyone in my area out. I found Wegmen's carried the Actavis brand. I have Cigna and that's the only generic form they will cover!!

[bunn1ee]

my pharmacy just switched to actavis and i've been taking teva generic for the past 2 years give or take a few months.

i noticed a difference about a couple days after i started taking it. for me the teva generics work better (possibly higher bioavailability?) in the sense that it's stronger but it's not a significant difference like how it is for some with brand and generic.

the most noticeable difference for me though are the headaches. i get them right when it kicks in and it gradually just gets worse until the headache will reach a peak but the peak doesn't wear off until the medication wears off, which makes my headaches last until 8 or 9. they're not SUPER horrible headaches, but enough to make sitting in a class room uncomfortable.

i couldn't figure out why i started getting headaches all of a sudden and then i realized that i was taking a different generic. i know, how did i not notice that the color of the pill is different? well, i'm not the attention to detail type when it comes to the color of my pills or what the mfr. is on the pill bottle. i'm taking 60mg xr (2 30 mg xr daily) and the actavis pill is orange similar to teva's generic but it's two sides of orange instead of teva's one side orange, one side clear.

that being said, i can honestly say that it's not a placebo effect.

[bunn1ee]

Originally Posted by Smash58

Hello, I joined the forum just to reply to this thread. I hope that someone can help me or my experience can help another.

I recently refilled my 30 mg adderall xr perscription and began taking it right away. After 4i days of taking it i felt there was something wrong. Each day the drug did not feel as effective to the point that i started to doubt i recieved the correct dosage. After inspecting the bottle and doing research i learned that these were the new Activas capsules (orange on orange with r 6031 imprint).

As i stated my experience with this new brand has been very negative. It feels mostly ineffective to the point where it feels like i am taking 15 or 20 mg vs 30mg. I am not sure what do about this situation and i fear my only solution is to tough it out for 23 more days.

i am having the same problem. the dose isn't as effective and on top of that i'm getting headaches. i wish my pharmacy carried brand again...

[oneup]

I like the actavis better so far. It feels stronger, more similar to adderall ir or at least how I remember it but longer duration (~6hours?).

I was taking teva manufactured generic xr before (checked after my previous post) which seemed weaker overall, also I would get headaches from it.

The teva did seem to continue working for a longer time though and fade gradually in the evening, whereas with actavis, for me, I can definitely tell when its stopped working, based on my attention span. But still I like the actavis better.

[Theras]

I've been on Actavis for almost a week now and so far I don't like them anywhere near as much as the Teva? (all orange 20mg?) ones I was taking before.

They don't feel like they're working as well. I take one 40mg dose in the morning and with the Actavis, I seem to get roughly the same benefit as I do from taking 20mg of the Teva ones.

Granted, I've only been taking them for a few days so there may be outside factors influencing how I feel but I can't think of anything that would have a significant effect. I've also woken up early (about an hour) two times now. This might be due to going to bed earlier (don't think I am but maybe by 30 min or so?) or something else that I'm not noticing like dogs barking or something.

I'll try to give an update after another week or two..but so far I'm not a fan.

[cillianred]

Yeah this version is kinda all over the place. Really great some days, really awful on other days. The problem is the awful days are really bad, e.g. no reduction in hyperactivity, stress-induced hyper focus all the while solving some huge problem but making several mistakes in the process. Like an ADHD that only shows up at the worst possible moment.

There are times when I've crushed it at work, then there are times when I've made some really dumb mistakes. It's a crapshoot, worse than the usual XR crapshoot. I may just lower my dose to 1 XR/day instead of two and see if things balance out.

[cillianred]

Yeah, I'm done. This version has been terrible for me. Never again.

In terms of affected neurotransmitters, it's all NE and no DA. Or at least it seems that way. It's original smoothness is gone, I cannot concentrate to save my life on this XR version, so no more.

The worst part: My instincts have been way, way off. I can't trust my thoughts or ideas on this version. In short, my ADHD is not improving. In fact, it's gotten worse.

I called my doctor and asked for a "brand-only" prescription, will get his answer tomorrow. Thank God I have enough IR tabs to get through the day without XR. I'm happy for those of you who've gotten this to work.

But whatever their costs, I will always choose Shire, Teva/Barr when it comes to Adderall and Adderall XR and nothing else. Lesson learned, again.

[Theras]

It's been a week since my last post and I wanted to give an update.

My experiences have not changed. I feel that the Actavis pills are nowhere near as effective as the ones that I had been taking before. It feels like I'm taking 20mg instead of 40mg.

I have not experienced any sleep issues since my last post either. I think the two issues I had previously were caused by something not related to the medicine like barking dogs.

[CJC1531]

I noticed the Actavis being less effective as well. Once I went back to the old kind, I felt much better.

[oneup]

For me some days it seems a little stronger than Teva, other days a little weaker. Other than maybe this variance on average it is maybe equal (two weeks so far). The taste is much worse though, much more like artificial sweetner whereas the Teva was tasted sweet but without the bitter aftertaste the actavis has.

Overall though both (XR versions) have been a let down compared to Adderall IR, at least from what I remember back in 2010...neither has worked as well for concentration. Oh well.