I don’t have health insurance at the moment, I have ADD, I take Adderall XR or regular Adderall (generic) every day.
I’m giong to need a refill for the first time since I lost my insurance, and the prices at regular drug stores are completely insane and impossible…as much as health insurance itself costs.
So… what’s the recommendation for the absolute rock bottom price on legitimate adderall purchased witha legitimate controlled-substance prescription?
Thanks!
I used to be prescribed adderall. Most places cost about the same, but Consumer Reports found that Costco consistently had the lowest priced prescription drugs.
Look into generic Adderall–They’re called “something or other salts.” Not much less expensive than regular, but every little bit helps. Unfortunately, the supplier for my pharmacy never has any on hand. But it might be worth a try.
In the meantime, I’ll try Costco as well. Thanks for the tip.
Adderall (amphetamine salts) is a schedule II drug in the united states. Because of this, the state you are in makes a big difference on what your options are to get it filled. You most likely won’t be able to get it filled across state lines, be in online or not. Because of this, your main options will be what ever retail pharmacies are in your area.
About the only thing I can recommend is to call your local pharmacies to get a price to fill it. I doubt they’ll tell you if they have it in stock or not over the phone, but they should be able to give you a price.
Oh, and for your information, immediate release and the XR formulations are both generic now, so make sure they give you the generic price.
Many places such as Target and Walmart have a lot of generics at $10 for a 3 month supply.
This is not going to be one of those $10/3mo Rxs. But I second the rec to go to Costco- you don’t even have to be a member to use their pharmacy. You could go to the manufacturer’s website and see if they have a patient assistance program- they will often give you free meds through the mail or coupons for free Rxs.
Definitely call around in addition to calling Costco. Try grocery store pharmacies and mom & pop’s, too. Prescription drugs are priced competitively, so it may be worth it to call more than one location of a chain. In Chicago, the cheapest I found was a very small mom & pop. Here in Omaha, the cheapest is the regional grocery chain. Target and Walgreens were both very expensive relatively.
That’s IF they can even get the generic! This may be specific to my particular pharmacy’s distributor but this is what my pharmacist tells me: Because it’s a schedule II, they have to mail in a paper order for it. She can call ahead to see if it’s in stock, but by the time the paper order goes in, it’s usually out of stock. They don’t retain the order for the next time it comes in, and they don’t notify her if it’s out of stock. It just doesn’t show up. She’s ordered it multiple times to no avail. She’s quite frustrated with this ridiculous situation, as am I. Why they don’t keep more in stock, she doesn’t know.
I hate to get the prescription filled elsewhere, but I think I’ll have to. My insurance pays 50%, and that stuff’s expensive!
I just looked on drugstore.com. Their prices looked pretty good. There are special ordering procedures for schedule II drugs, but it looks like ordering interstate is no problem.
After reviewing the prices, I’m going to speak to my doctor about going on the non-XR version. It is much much less expensive.
I use it too. Based on my experience, if you’re old enough to be posting here you’re better off with the generic anyway. The XR version is documented to be less effective in adults, but works great for kids. And the fact that they can take one dose in the morning and be done for the day is a bonus.
On a more “generic” basis, are there any websites for price comparing prescription drugs??? Our current insurance has us pay the full price of the drug, but it counts against our deductible, instead of paying a co-pay… so finding the cheapest price is now useful.
Pharmacies vary as to whether they stock CII substances. The big chains like Rite-Aid and CVS may need as much as a week’s lead time to process an order. In my region, Sav-On was once a big chain but is now reduced to a few outlets inside Albertson’s grocery markets, but surprisingly they seem to be very good with this type of thing. Small pharmacies in medical buildings tend to work closely with the doctors in the building, and they too can be a good source, depending on the types of doctors and practices there. The drawback of these places is that they tend to be more expensive.
This is from my perspective as a patient, not from any inside or professional knowledge.
I’m currently doing the prescription shuffle after losing my insurance, too. For the most part, I’ve found that Costco far beats the retail chains. However, one of my scripts (prior to losing my insurance) was for Concerta, which is bascially extended release Ritalin and it does not come generic. My doc switched me to generic immediate release ritalin instead, and I found that Target actually beat Costco’s price by half.
Yeah, it is a total pain in the ass to have to do the calling and then go from one pharmacy to the other just to save a few bucks, but right now those few extra bucks make a world of difference to me. If it’s worth it to you, make the calls and spend an afternoon going from one pharmacy to the next.
It fucking sucks, but there you go.
Yep, calling around can really pay off. For instance, since Lamisil (antifungal) went generic, most insurances stopped paying for it. You can buy a month’s supply for ~$150 at most pharmacies, or you can pay $4 a month for it at Walmart or Fry’s Food & Drug. Of course, nobody’s going to tell you that, it’s one of those things you probably wouldn’t even know if you didn’t find it out for yourself.
IME with controlled substances this can be problematic, particularly if you’re calling around to pharmacies where they don’t know you. I was told that they don’t always tell a stranger if they have a CII substance in stock, out of concerns for security. Once or twice I’ve asked a pharmacist or technician who knows me to call another pharmacy and ask for me. With the call coming from a professional colleague, the other store is more willing to disclose their inventory of a scheduled drug. Moreover, your usual pharmacist hopefully doesn’t want to make you wait for a medication you need now, while they get it in stock, so they’re usually willing to help you out with this. At least, IME.
I will tell you I will NEVER tell someone what CII’s I have in stock over the phone, however, that shouldn’t be an issue in calling around for prices. They should be able to give you the price over the phone with no problems… However, you’ll probably only know if they have it in stock when you bring your script in to be filled.
There are a couple things you can do to find fill and save money on filling adderall prescriptions with or without insurance. With the shortage right now everyone is doing the pharmacy shuffle trying to get it filled. You can go to the fda website and get the manufacturers numbers and they willl tell you the closest plece to fill it. http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/DrugShortages/ucm050792.htm And to save money with or without insurance you can get drug discount cards online or usually at your dr office. You can obtain multiple cards and the pharmacy will tell you which one will save you the most. Dont throw out the other ones because they might save you more the next month. Heres one website to get a discount card http://www.medsavercard.com/adderall-discount-coupon/ Hope this helps all you adderall feins out there!
My son took CII drugs for his ADD, and filling those prescriptions was the BIGGEST PITA. Because of the CII category, many, if not all pharmacies will not give out the information over the phone. Your regular pharmacy MAY be able to order the drug, but the triplicate copy Rx form issued by the DEA has an expiration date, which is almost guaranteed to fall long before the drug will arrive.
We had to go through that EVERY SINGLE STINKIN’ MONTH, because you don’t get REFILLS on CII drugs.
The doctor was finally balking, because we were eating up his prescription blanks. He only got a certain amount every month from DEA. Our insurance had a mail order pharmacy, and that was the solution for us: get a three-month supply by mail, using one prescription blank.
That worked okay, until the mail order pharmacy shorted us. I was FURIOUS. When I contacted the pharmacy and complained, I was told, “The only recourse you have is to send us a new prescriiption and we fill it.”
You can bet your boots I counted each damned pill we got from the mail order pharmacy from then on!
My warning to you would be: whether you get it filled locally or via mail order pharmacy, count the pills when you get home!
~VOW
Normally pharmacychecker.com has good info, but they don’t list adderall. I don’t know if it is because they aren’t listing scheduled drugs or what. They have Xanax and phentermine listed, so I don’t know. They don’t list ritalin either, maybe they got rid of all their stimulants, that doesn’t explain why phentermine is still on there though.
I’ve used pharmacychecker in the past and sometimes drugs cost 4x more from one pharmacy to the next. But there is no rhyme or reason to it. One drug I needed was 4x cheaper at Costco than it was at another pharmacy, but a second drug I needed was about 4x more expensive at costco compared to the other pharmacies. However overall costco seemed to have the best deals.
If you buy the regular adderall, can you get 2x your daily dose, buy scored pills and take half a pill a day? That is a good way to save money, but you’d need to get your Dr to change your Rx. However when I have had expensive meds that has helped me save a good deal of money.
Also one of those prescription discount cards may help.
HI- new here saw this post when I was searching for Adderall cost. Looking for ways to cut the cost. One of the things I have read on another board, was that a local Goodwill handed out Discount Prescription Cards.
I am going to call Cosco. I had read a person in LA had to pay a $50.00 membership to use the pharmacy. I know this is an older post, so maybe things have changed.
Sometimes you can get under a program for drugs with the maker. Shire doesn’t offerer one for Adderall. But they do for other drugs. Of course like everything you have to be in the guidelines. You might want to check on coupons and even samples from your doctor. Also, there is Patients for Prescrptions. Here is a link if anyone would like to check out more information. They explain it well here.http://www.pharmacydrugguide.com/Add...tance_Programs
Just tossing additional ideas out there, maybe they can help someone out.