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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 4 of 4. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Festus on June 21, 2002, at 18:58:09
Howdy Ya,ll !!!
I went from Ritalin to Adderrall cause they came out with a "much cheaper" generic.NOT !!!!
The cost was over $100.00 for 90 of the 10 mg. pills.The Druggist said that I should ask my Doc to put me on 10 mg. Dextrostat.It is $50.00 for 90.I never took Dex before.Can anyone give me some feedback?Is it worth it?
Thanks, Festus
Posted by Seamus2 on June 21, 2002, at 20:56:23
In reply to ADDERRALL vs. DEXTROSTAT Is it worth the cost?, posted by Festus on June 21, 2002, at 18:58:09
I just got a quote for 41.99 for 40 x 10 mg Dextrostat (brand name).
How much was the Ritalin costing you? Was it generic or name-brand?
I can't compare the effects of Dex, Adderall and Ritalin because I've yet to try them.
Seamus
Posted by 3 Beer Effect on June 23, 2002, at 2:50:43
In reply to ADDERRALL vs. DEXTROSTAT Is it worth the cost?, posted by Festus on June 21, 2002, at 18:58:09
I take Dextrostat 20 mg 2x per day & for me it has turned out to be the best medicine for ADD, better than Ritalin or Adderall. As a total surprise, it has also turned out to be a great medicine for social phobia, especially if taken with the benzodiazepine Klonopin. It also works as an anti-depressant (it has been called the "basic antidepressant") but it only lifts the spirits (but markedly so!) for the 5 hours following each dose.
The difference b/t Dextrostat & Adderall is that Dextrostat lasts for about 5 hours after you take it (& takes about 53 minutes to work). It is more like Ritalin in that you can feel it when it starts working & when it wears off (rebound), while with Adderall you can't even tell if its started working yet half the time.
If you can't get up for work or school some days, all you have to do is just put a glass of water by your bed, set your alarm an hour early, take your Dextrostat when the alarm goes off & about 50-something minutes later you will feel refreshed, optimistic & ready to start the day.
Adderall does last about one hour longer---
But I have found a way around that. If you take one Dextrostat pill & then one hour later take another one, instead of taking them both at once , then the Dextrostat lasts just as long or longer than the Adderall but you get more work done. Dextrostat just seems to be a better ADD medicine than Adderall with less anxiety.Unlike Adderall though, but like Ritalin, Dextrostat/Dexedrine will not provide coverage for the entire school day without a mid-day dose, so it might not be a good medicine for school-age ADD kids who are embarrassed about going to the nurse to take their meds.
On a different subject, Dextrostat/Dexedrine are more selective for dopamine than Adderall. Adderall is a 3:1 mixture of the (good) d-isomer of amphetamine & the l-(crappy) isomer of amphetamine. The d-isomer of amphetamine is 3-4 times stronger than the l-isomer in eliciting CNS stimulatory effects, while the l-isomer is more potent with norepinephrine & its related side effects such as raising blood pressure, heart rate, anxiety, nervousness etc. This originally was good since Adderall used to be the old discontinued amphetamine diet pill called Obetrol, but is bad for treating ADD.
I really think Dexedrine/Dextrostat is a superior medicine to Adderall, but since Dexedrine/Dextrostat is such an old drug, it doesn't have patent protection, & so there is no money in it for the drug companies. (Interestingly enough, Dextrostat is made by Shire pharmaceuticals, the people who make Adderall). Dexedrine is a good medicine, possibly slightly better than Dextrostat, but unfortunately since it is only available in 5 mg tablets it is too much of a pain to deal with- For example I would need 240 tablets/month even though I am at the recommended max dose of 40 mg/day. I think if a doctor ordered 240 pills of Dexedrine, which is a schedule II medication & being the pharmaceutical version of "speed" it has various endearing "street" nicknames (such as christmas trees, dexies, wake ups etc), some drone at the DEA would put a red flag on the doctor who ordered that. So most people except those on very low doses have to take Dextrostat 10 mg tablets (Dextroamphetamine, the generic by BARR labs is supposed to be very lousy & is best avoided, just like the Ritalin generics such as methylphenidate which are junk. Also Dextrostat is only a few cents more per pill than generic BARR dextroamphetamine.)
The difference between Ritalin & Dextrostat is mainly in the area of anxiety. Ritalin seems to cause much social inhibition & anxiety (much more so than either Adderall or Dextrostat). The only slight advantage it has over Dextrostat is that in the immediate release & especially the new refined "Focalin" version it probably is a bit better at giving you more 'mental stimulation/focus'. But that seems to be true only for the name brand Ritalin & Focalin. The Ritalin generics are notorious for their ineffectiveness/variablility, & I looked at the blood level charts for them- generic forms of Ritalin peak too fast & then quit a half an hour before name brand Ritalin.
3 Beers............
Posted by utopizen on September 11, 2002, at 21:46:08
In reply to Dextrostat 10 mg tablets vs. Adderall vs. Ritalin, posted by 3 Beer Effect on June 23, 2002, at 2:50:43
3Beers,
Stims tend to make me talk- I've tried Adderall and Ritalin- but in an anxious way. I'm surprised you noticed such a difference on Dextrostat... has there been any clinical validation of this? Did it markedly reduce your stim-induced anxiety?
thanks!
This is the end of the thread.
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