Adderall IR shortage, Adderall XR annoyances, Vyvanse panic, and please help?

[Anonymous]

Hiya everyone,

I’m 25 and I waited until I had struggled through high school and college to seek out ADD testing. When I finally sought it out as I started grad school, I was diagnosed (tada) and I’ve been on Adderall XR 20mg with up to 40mg of the Adderall IR 10mg tabs (split in half and taken throughout the day) as boosters for the last year and a half. When the shortage hit Massachusetts a month ago I was switched to Vyvanse and a 5mg capsule that I can’t recall the name of. Frustratingly, about three days after the switch I started experiencing panic episodes often enough that I thought I was losing my mind.

I feel like I can attribute a certain amount of those emotions to a withdrawal from the Adderall IR, but I managed to find some XR (by driving up to New Hampshire) to replace the Vyvanse, so I was no longer panicking but was still having pretty intense anxiety.

When I was diagnosed with ADD I had been dealing with depression and anxiety my entire adult life, and finally, after a year and a half of juggling medications to try to find a good combination, I was starting to actually remember things, be a relaxed and fun person, and (low and behold) enjoy life.

My personal and professional life has suffered greatly because of my anxiety and inability to focus, but I really thought that I was making progress, just as the medication shortage hit. To make matters worse, I am back on my mother’s health insurance, which doesn’t help much as she lives in a different state and I can’t actually get anything but emergency coverage here, and so my psychopharmacologist visits are $150 a pop, but since my prescriber is also at a loss of what to do about everyone suddenly having to change medications, yesterday she added Prozac into the mix. So, not only can I no longer think straight, but all I want to do is crawl into bed.

With the adderall XR at $160, the last time I was able to get adderall IR at $45 and each visit to see her a whopping $150, I am flat broke. And, I still can’t think straight, so I have no idea what I need to do to get myself out of this disaster. This is where I need help!!

I am sure this is a common post, and a rambling one at that (I’m sorry!!) but I am truly concerned that the person I was finally starting to feel comfortable being (not panic-stricken, not a space cadet, not a spaz, calm and social and happy, yada-yada) is now just a memory. I’ve been watching everything I’ve built over the last year dissolve away over the course of mere weeks, all because I am on different medication, and that is absolutely terrifying.

SO! Here’s the important part of all this nonsense: I am usually good at finding information. For the last month I have tried to research as much as I can but I am back to not being able to read more than half a sentence before I get distracted. I want any input (links to other relevant posts would be much appreciated) that will help me out of this. Even if it is just to ways of coping, because I am truly struggling.

Also, I would love to know if anyone in Boston has any doctor recommendations since if I am going to be paying out of pocket anyway then I would like to get the best help possible.

(Wow, I hope this makes any sense!!)

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