ADHD DFW peeps: do you have a pharmacy that is NOT out of generic Adderall?
Posted by WeRoastURoastWithUs@reddit | Dallas | View on Reddit | 92 comments
This might get removed, apologies in advance, but I am lowkey freaking out and am hoping those of you in the area also impacted might have recommendations. I have called six pharmacies in my area (Frisco) and none of them have generic Adderall - and I'm worried this is possibly a DFW wide shortage????
Do any of y'all have a pharmacy where you were able to get this prescription filled within the last week? I will be out by Wednesday so I'll keep calling around, but if any of y'all have knowledge that would be so so helpful.
Jamieknight@reddit
I use the paid service FindNeedle ($1 per call to pharmacy) . I can't speak to how private they keep your data and whatnot, but it has saved me from the headache of making those calls myself
FindNeedleCo@reddit
Thanks for the recommendation! (we do have a privacy policy)
FindNeedleCo@reddit
Have you been able to fill it yet? If you are comfortable sharing your dose, I can check to see if I have found it in Dallas area recently.
jeremysbrain@reddit
I switched from Adderall to a different amphetamine based ADHD medication that works just as well and have no problem getting it prescribed.
So maybe tell your doctor you are having trouble filling Adderall and if you can get on a different med or substitute that is easier to come by.
WeRoastURoastWithUs@reddit (OP)
What's the name of yours?
jeremysbrain@reddit
Now if I told you that, everyone will be switching their prescriptions and then I wouldn't be able to get mine. lol
WeRoastURoastWithUs@reddit (OP)
HA fair enough
cookiez333@reddit
It’s nation wide. Im from az and I have not been able to get a fill for 3 weeks now. The media is very hush hush about it, I think they are censoring the issue.
WeRoastURoastWithUs@reddit (OP)
Nope. We are not being conspiratorial here. Here is the FDA posting about it all the way back in August 2023. Here's WebMD posting about it in June 2024. Here's a magazine posting about ADHD specific news posting about it. """""The media""""" kind of has bigger fish to fry by covering the election for the past month and onward. But outlets targeted towards medicine and mental health have absolutely been covering this. It is not a conspiracy just because the algorithm hasn't shown it to you.
Someone else in the comments provided more detailed information on why this issue is happening if you scroll around in here, it was very informative.
Own-Ad-381@reddit
I go to a mom and pop pharmacy in north fort worth and they haven't been out yet when I go to pick up. Had to get away from CVS because they were constantly out.
Jmc_da_boss@reddit
I can't even get my prescription renewed, I've had it for years and my Dr had me redo someone iPad test and apparently my score wasn't bad enough to keep the rx 🥲
Really struggling right now without it.
HovercraftDull3148@reddit
Find a different doctor that listens to you and takes an interest in your health. If you're telling him, these are my symptoms and this how it is impacting my daily life; and he is like well you don't qualify based on this iPad test, it’s time to move on.
Jmc_da_boss@reddit
Ya I'm looking for a new doc, my previous doctor basically said there's nothing he can do the state has tied his hands and will come after him idk
Real_Distribution91@reddit
Royse City CVS. Denton supplies the colleges, I have kids up there please don’t use their supply. My youngest had to raw dog a whole semester last year. It cost her health wise. I understand the problem. Royse City is about the same distance from Dallas. If your insurance has mail order meds it is worth it to sign up.
Joy_1990_@reddit
I haven’t had issues at Tom Thumb for at least the last 9+ months.
Joy_1990_@reddit
Also CVS garland, middle of nowhere. I used them until I moved to Oaklawn.
gonzfather@reddit
You may have better luck at smaller local independent pharmacies than the big box nationwide stores.
WeRoastURoastWithUs@reddit (OP)
That's a great idea!
Playful-Business7457@reddit
Do not use Princeton Pharmacy. They won't run your insurance and act like your medicine wasn't covered. They get more money that way.
Happened twice before I called my insurance to see why I wasn't paying $5/bottle but instead ponying up $90. Figured out they got less total if insurance ran vs self pay. They check with your insurance and then cancel the request and run it without.
greyghost5000@reddit
Yeah when I lived closer to downtown I used Uptown Pharmacy and they were amazing. They even managed to get a specific brand (teva). Granted, this was probably around the beginning of the shortage but when I had trouble filling script from CVS and Walgreens multiple times after moving further north, my psych made the same recommendation on finding another local independent pharmacy.
sosurreptitious@reddit
Absolutely this! I started going to an independent pharmacy in Arlington because of the shortage but I've stayed for all of the additional customer service benefits and treatment I've received.
NoCatharsis@reddit
This is what I have been doing for years. I have never NOT gotten a refill on time through a small pharmacy. I have had to switch from one to another, but usually one of them has it. Have not filled at a big box in maybe 3 years.
Playful-Business7457@reddit
Try Sam's Club. That's where we get ours
Kooky-Celebration-22@reddit
Have you tried a different stimulant? Beyond the Adderall shortage, then you’re dealing with the manufacturers being different and some not even being effective. I hope you find what you’re looking for!
Cinamunch@reddit
HEB should have e availability.
strawberryjacuzzis@reddit
Tom Thumb has been pretty reliable for me during the shortage the past few years. Always had trouble with cvs and Walgreens etc. I’m not in Frisco though, I go to ones in Preston Hollow/Highland Park areas.
Also you may already do this, but when calling around, it may be worth it to ask if they have any dosages at all in stock because your doctor may be able to write a different dosage/amount e.g. you usually take 10mg twice a day and they are out of 10mg but still have 20mg in stock, your doctor can send in a script for 30 20mg pills instead of the usual 60 10mg and you can just split it in half and take it that way. This depends on how understanding/quick your doctor is and if insurance will cover it though. Sometimes they only allow a certain number of pills even if it ends up being the same dose which makes no sense to me.
bassjammer1@reddit
The tom thumb i go to has always had stock... Interestingly enough when I asked them if they had stock before moving my prescription they asked me if I had a local doctor. They said they won't take prescriptions from out of state/online/app based prescribers or whatever it was. I havent had any issues filling for 3 months now after switching from Walgreens-runnig all over the place every month.
tbear87@reddit
HEB Plano always does
bennydigital@reddit
The Kroger on DNT in Plano is always in stock. If out, go to Costco.
Surfnazi77@reddit
My cvs I’m colleyville and Bedford has my 30mg
amhsmh@reddit
Pharmacist here. It has been a massive headache for us too. Almost every other call has been a stock check for a stimulant or Mounjaro/Zepbound. Depending on the chain, we can only order so much each month. I worked in a high volume store and we received 2K-3K tablets of each adderall strength once a week - it was allocated to patients in less than 48 hours almost every week
sanderwolf@reddit
Try out this app. It makes all those calls for you: https://findneedle.co
spookaddress@reddit
We have had luck with a small pharmacy. It's owned by the pharmacist and is independent.
What I was told was that the chain pharmacies want more profit per script and the insurance companies are not raising their reimbursement rates.
There is no shortage it's just that the largest pharmacies are not ordering as much as needed to push those scripts to somewhere else.
My pharmacy has not missed a single dosage in the last 6 to 8 months since I found them.
TLDR: Go to an independently owned-pharmacy and get your meds.
0-Rain-Shine@reddit
Unfortunately, speaking as a pharmacy tech, keep ordering from them as much as you can, because they will likely be the first one to be shut down by the DEA. It is not about profit, pharmacies love to fill more meds. We just don't want to fill more controlled substances than non controlled substances, because that is how pharmacies get deemed pill mills. I have personally been with a reestablished pharmacy in DFW after that has occurred and seen another independent in DFW go through it.
MSHinerb@reddit
I’m not sure if they have it available or not, have you tried Cubans cost plus drugs or whatever it’s called?
Stabmaster@reddit
This has been an ongoing issue for more than a year. CVS told me to call around to all the other locations to find it, they didn't trust their computer inventory. Good luck my friend
WeRoastURoastWithUs@reddit (OP)
CVS is actually the one pharmacy I didn't call because two years ago during this shortage multiple locations refused to even tell me if they stocked the drug...??? In addition to multiple times not informing me/my doctor when they don't have something in stock or if a prescription is late. I assume something to do with not wanting people to come like steal it or something? But I've heard anecdotal tales of others having issues with them so I just avoid that company entirely if possible.
MSHinerb@reddit
CVS is the worst.
Clown45@reddit
I get notes about this in patient-wide emails from my psychiatrist - it's a nationwide market supply issue that's been lurching for over a year. Here's a sample from his email below:
We’re in the midst of a completely avoidable manufactured crisis resulting in major disruptions to people getting their stimulants (Adderall, Ritalin, etc).
First, let’s get the blame out of the way: it’s the government’s fault. The DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency) watches stimulant prescriptions like a hawk. Every physician in America has to buy a special license (and pay $900 every two years) to keep this license for the pleasure of writing for stimulants. Additionally, pretty much every state tracks us when we do (www.txpmp.org)/1/01000185ad826d0b-632d0f79-d98e-4461-9cce-31035b60e2d6-000000/nv48nYoV0c-4UaxMh9rx4C_mkrY=304). The docs at [redacted] then pay the electronic medical record additional money to process these prescriptions and the law requires us to use time-sucking two party authentication for every prescription we send (it’s an app that takes 2-5 seconds off our life for every script we send…and those scripts are authenticated individually; no bulk batching.)
To put it mildly, the government tracks every single stimulant pill we send. They know EXACTLY how many are in circulation. With supply chain, staffing, and online prescribers putting a strain on the system over the last 2 years, the government has watched this cluster build and then break the stimulant pipeline. It’s yet another reason why I hate our healthcare system.
Glad I'm not on it because that sounds like hell amigo
0-Rain-Shine@reddit
This answer is very accurate! As a pharmacy technician (not saying which pharmacy I'm at), the adderall "shortage" is a slight misnomer, there are many contributing factors, because technically manufacturers would love to make as many pills as possible since this makes them more money. But they are strains in the system preventing this. Most notably, I noticed a change when the DEA put an allotment on how much pharmacies can order from vendors, which they get from manufacturers. Pharmacies place orders, but the vendor will cut some of the quantities from their order if they reach a certain limit. Everyone in the system is strained by the DEA, because no one wants to be a target or a "red flag." Manufacturers, vendors, and pharmacies all have limits to how much they can dispense.
With that understanding, here is the other caveat. I have worked at two very different pharmacies in the DFW area (not saying which), and the policy at both places was to put a limit on new adderall patients. If someone calls and asks if we have adderall in stock, whether we had it or not, the answer to anyone who does not regularly fill with us, but "shops around," was that we have a limited supply on reserve for the patients we currently have and do not have enough supply to fill your prescription. Or, someone who is lazy, will just say we are out (even though technically we had some). The goal of every pharmacy is to not be seen as a red flag by the DEA, this means our dispensing history has to keep a certain percentage of controlled substances to all prescriptions really low.
WeRoastURoastWithUs@reddit (OP)
Wow this is actually super insightful and helpful! I am also on the hunt for a new psychiatrist (mine of 5+ years is retiring this month), and yours sounds like they have a great sense of humor and is very transparent. If they're taking new patients and you're comfortable with this, feel free to shoot me their website because I wanna be their patient lol
Clown45@reddit
findmindful.com - if you're ok with driving to Fort Worth or Southlake! Not sure what their availability is on new patients though sorry.
Academic_Af@reddit
Walgreens Rockwall
Dizzy-Bat4776@reddit
Kroger in north dallas off marsh i believe. They had it when everyone i called in richardson was out of stock.
Impossible_Age_9490@reddit
I've been out since January, I'm always tired and want to go to sleep when things get stressful, I don't want to waste anymore of my life like this, I'm tired
Which_Vehicle677@reddit
Seems like I’m not the only one who’s struggling 😭
siejonesrun@reddit
(Knocking on wood) my company offers mailed prescriptions and I've had luck since switching to that with getting my scripts on time. It did take a week or so for my first shipment to come in, but I was able to get a 3 month supply. I use focalin, not adderall, but it is still a schedule II substance.
WeRoastURoastWithUs@reddit (OP)
Oh whoa, is this a company exclusive thing or is this like a website I can look into?
siejonesrun@reddit
It is through my company health/pharmacy plan.
danger_bears@reddit
I've had to call around for the last two years every 30 days. Walgreens told me early on I wouldn't be able to find it. Luckily, Kroger has come through every time. And even though they don't take my insurance, they apply a discount card and it makes the cost reasonable.
belugabluez@reddit
I’m not sure if yours will do the same but the times that my home pharmacy was out, I was able to call my dr office and they actually would call around for me and find a place that had it in stock
Majsharan@reddit
This started years ago they started throttling add medication to pharmacies that had “too many” prescriptions which turns out was almost all urban ones
ViscountDeVesci@reddit
The further north you drive, the more stock they will have. Nice suburbs like Frisco and Allen have many locations fully stocked. Dallas will not. I pick up my daughter’s Focalin in Frisco for this reason. It’s a monthly trip.
WeRoastURoastWithUs@reddit (OP)
I live in Frisco, all 6 of the pharmacies I called are here 😭 But I have been told Focalin's stock tends to be better so I may look into that!
ViscountDeVesci@reddit
I had a pharmacist say they were similarly difficult to find.
timidusuer@reddit
Costco
lilolivegarden@reddit
Seconding Costco. Literally never had a shortage issue with them. You also don’t need a membership to use their pharmacy!
txnewsprincess@reddit
We've had (as you have) better luck with the smaller grocery store pharmacies when our usual CVS doesn't have it. My son's on generic Focalin, and sometimes when there is an Adderall shortage doctors will prescribe it or other ADHD meds instead, which means they also end up being in short supply.
FWIW, I know several people who asked their doctor to switch them to Focalin instead. We've only had really sporadic issues getting it. We're also a little bit better off because he takes Concerta generally- the focalin is a rescue dose for later in the evening if he has homework.
okthen84@reddit
smaller pharmacies usually work better...preferably ones where there isn't a lot of school aged children in the immediate vicinity.
FreeElon@reddit
These adderall shortages only happen because people have to stockpile it while they can. I have quite a bit saved up for when these shortages happen. Why can’t they just create MORE?
WeRoastURoastWithUs@reddit (OP)
My question is why can't prescribers suggest literally anything else and make Adderall the LAST option?? Like I've been taking this for 14 years and have tried other meds, so why tf can't newly diagnosed patients be directed to try literally any of the other dozen meds on the market first.
rwdfan@reddit
Call your closest baylor scott and white pharmacy. You'll probably be pleasantly surprised.
bunby_heli@reddit
There are DEA imposed limitations on the amount that can be produced IIRC. This is likely the effect of telemedicine making it easy to get.
SimpleVegetable5715@reddit
Exactly, this has been going on for over two years! There were more people diagnosed during the pandemic and the accessibility telehealth created. That contributed to the shortage, but they can't just ramp up production?
theillusionofdepth_@reddit
It could depend on what mg you get- 30mg is never in stock, but 20s usually are
AproposOfDiddly@reddit
Also looking - my usual spots have been out for a week and I’ve been out for days. It’s getting scary for sure. I am from Irving but work in N Dallas. I keep hoping the Walmart near my work gets it in, as it was supposed to be in the last two day’s shipments.
SJC9027@reddit
Sam’s, you don’t need a membership
WeRoastURoastWithUs@reddit (OP)
Oh noted!
PettyCrocker21999@reddit
Walgreens
SumoRoboto@reddit
The main hurdle is that the medication is a controlled substance. Even if you find a pharmacy that has supply, you’ll need to talk to your doctor and cancel your current prescription. This usually takes two days, and the pharmacy has to wait until the cancellation is done before giving you a new prescription. In that time, the new pharmacy might run out of stock. The best thing to do is call your pharmacy every couple of days first thing in the morning and see if they have any in stock.
WeRoastURoastWithUs@reddit (OP)
Oh believe me, I know, this has been the biggest issue with this med for like the last four fucking years. It's unbelievably frustrating, and then insurance still refuses to cover the non-generic, so I'm just completely fucked.
Good idea about calling ASAP in the morning, I'll keep that in mind for tomorrow if my luck keeps being shit today...
nihouma@reddit
Isn't it fun having to jump through all those hoops without the medication that gives you the ability to have the executive functioning to jump through all the hoops? I had a similar issue just getting my insurance to approve my atomoxetine a few weeks ago which isn't even a controlled substance
WeRoastURoastWithUs@reddit (OP)
I KNOW 😭
bigdeallikewhoaNOT@reddit
So my local CVS that never runs out was out last week..but they called Friday and said the Rx was ready. I will say i was a little frustrated because I went in to pick up another rx on Tuesday and inquired as to when It would be ready and they said you should try to find it somewhere else. I was l like but you are getting it so I can just wait? Eventually it will come in? They pretty much acted like it was a huge problem and I needed to move rx. I decided to wait and low and behold Friday it was ready. I am glad I didn't call my doctor to move the rx. Else I'd likely still be waiting.
WeRoastURoastWithUs@reddit (OP)
I have had multiple problems with CVS over the years and now avoid them like the plague, idk why that brand specifically has such shitty communication and transparency issues.
bigdeallikewhoaNOT@reddit
Honestly, this particular CVS has been the best, most reliable pharmacy... this is the only time I've ever had any issue and it wasn't even really an issue more just weird. I will say I don't like that you can no longer call and speak to someone. You now have to leave a message.
V-Tonic@reddit
Who is your health insurance through? United Healthcare allows for 90 day prescriptions to be sent through the mail if your doctor will write a script for it. You just have to call them and ask
WeRoastURoastWithUs@reddit (OP)
Not United but no harm in calling mine (HealthSelect Texas), thanks for the rec!
Blackchaos93@reddit
ITT is a lot of good advice about your current medication but worth mentioning I specifically changed from 30mg to 40mg for better availability. Might be worth mentioning to your provider as well
bopoforlyfe@reddit
Not adderall, but we have had good luck getting adhd meds from cvs Caremark. We have filled 4x with them for methylphenidate cd for 3 month supplies with no delays. Prior to switching to them, I was calling multiple pharmacies each month looking for the medication in two different strengths. Often I could find one strength at one pharmacy and the other strength at a different pharmacy.
Shabazz-Jenkins@reddit
Walmart pharmacy near me is the only one that has consistently it in stock.
jeremysbrain@reddit
When it come to allocating shipments to pharmacies, that Walmart probably has the pull to make themselves a priority, because they always seem to have it when CVS and Walgreens don't.
WeRoastURoastWithUs@reddit (OP)
Called my local Walmart and they unfortunately didn't have it but I'll keep calling Walmarts, thank you!
Strange-Ad9462@reddit
Have you tried looking at different dosages? My psych was writing me a 60x 20mg script for a while instead of my usual 30x 40mg. Because my pharmacy could stock the 20mg's easier than the 40mg's.
It's double the cost but sometimes that's better than nothing.
WeRoastURoastWithUs@reddit (OP)
That might be worth looking into, however for me, that would then end up being 80× 20mg/month
Drowning1989@reddit
For anyone else, my husband has had good luck getting it at walgreens
ApprehensiveAnswer5@reddit
I was also going to say Kroger, but I’m in Dallas proper. You may have to drive some for a better supply.
My kid takes a different med that also had shortages at one point, and we went all the way to Waxahachie for it 😬
WeRoastURoastWithUs@reddit (OP)
Oh my gosh! Good on you for doing that, this med is just for me and I'm already debating whether or not I'm willing to drive like an hour to find it....
bassqueen604@reddit
I use CVS down the road from Glade Park in Euless. They are pretty slow but I’ve never had a problem getting both of my ER and instant scripts filled . Good luck! I
WeRoastURoastWithUs@reddit (OP)
Thank you!
alwaysinthebuff@reddit
I’ve had good luck with Kroger pharmacy
WeRoastURoastWithUs@reddit (OP)
Kroger closest to me didn't have it but will keep looking into them too, thank you!