AUSTIN, Texas — After weeks of individuals being frustrated and struggling to get their Adderall prescriptions filled, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration confirmed there's a nationwide shortage of the drug.
Many pharmacies throughout Central Texas, along with the residents and patients who take Adderall for ADHD, are feeling the effects. KVUE spoke with one Austin woman, Jessica, about how she's dealing with the shortage.
Jessica said she's prescribed to take 40 mg of Adderall daily, but due to the shortage, it has been hard to get the full dose. This has led to her rationing the medication, and some days she only takes half the dose she needs.
Jessica said when she's working, she tries to take at least 30 milligrams.
"The work that I'm hired to do [is] very competitive," Jessica added. "It's a fast-moving company. I just want to make sure that I'm staying on top of the medication and that I'm able to get it to maintain my function."
A few years ago, Jessica stopped taking her medication because she was pregnant and explained how her work performance faltered without taking Adderall.
"My performance greatly struggled to the point of, if I were probably not pregnant, I don't know if I would have kept my job just because my performance was that I struggled that much without my medication," she added.
She's worried to reach the point where she no longer has any more medication to take. However, next week, she'll be meeting with her doctor to look at other options.
Rannon Ching, Tarrytown Pharmacy pharmacist-in-charge, said there are a couple of things people can do if not able to find the drug they need.
"You could always switch to a different type of medication that's available, use a different strength to get up to the strength that you would like," he added.
Ching said generic Adderall, like 10 and 20 milligrams, is the hardest to find. However, he said anything under five milligrams is easier to get your hands on. Ching suggests meeting with your doctor to reevaluate the prescription.
"Let's say if you're looking for 10 milligrams strength, the five milligram might be available," he said. "You could switch your prescription or have your doctor switch your prescription to two tablets of the five milligram to get up to your actual dose."
For those taking higher doses, this might be more difficult because some people would need to take eight tablets to meet their dose.
Medications like Vyvanse could be a good substitute for those currently taking Adderall. But it's not the solution for everyone, because each person reacts differently to different drugs.
"It kind of is like an art and a science to getting the right dose for folks," Ching added.
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