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Author: Admin | 2025-04-28
Key TakeawaysRecently, more people are claiming that their ADHD medications have stopped working.The ongoing Adderall shortage has likely disrupted some patients’ regular prescriptions.Experts say your healthcare provider might be able to switch your medications, and it’s important to keep track of how you’re responding to a new drug. Some video creators on TikTok claim that their usual ADHD medications have stopped working, or that they’ve been given placebos or fake pills. “Lately my ADHD medication has not been working for me,” TikToker @abbey.n.darby told her followers. “It takes me hours to fall asleep because my mind is racing through all the things I didn’t finish that day.” Adderall, a first-choice medication used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity, has been in short supply since October 2022. The shortage has left some people struggling to get their refills, and healthcare providers are prescribing alternative medications that match their patients’ needs. This disruption to regular prescriptions may have contributed to increasing reports of ADHD medications failing to work properly. “I’ve had people go for days to weeks without being able to find a pharmacy that can fill their prescription,” said Adelaide Robb, MD, division chief of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Children’s National Hospital. Due to the Adderall shortage, healthcare providers have been switching patients to alternative medications such as Vyvanse and Concerta—which are now also in short supply reportedly. Robb said doctors have been consulting with one another on how to best proceed for their patients while following up with the FDA on how much longer this shortage will persist. How Has the Adderall Shortage Affected Patients? The general solution among providers, according to Robb, is to switch patients from Adderall to Vyvanse because both medications are in the same drug family—amphetamine. Concerta is more of a last resort, because it’s a different class of medication and not every patient responds to it. But these changes in medication can take some time to adjust to. Some patients said they ration their medications because they’re not sure when they’ll get a refill, while others doubled their dosage at home to maximize the drug’s effectiveness. “Don’t double up or change your dose on your own, because then your physician doesn’t know when you’re having trouble with your medication,” Robb said. Some providers may also switch their patients to generic ADHD medications, or go from generics to brand-name drugs if the previous is no longer working, she explained. A generic drug must have the same active ingredients as the brand-name drug and it has to meet the same quality and safety standards, but it can have some minor differences in absorption rate and inactive ingredients, according to Jacob Brown, PharmD, MS, an assistant professor in
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