The nationwide Adderall shortage is nearing its fifth month, leaving people who take the medication and its variants scrambling to fill their prescriptions. This has trickled down to Arkansas State University, where students have been affected by the shortage. 

On Oct. 12, 2022, the Food and Drug Administration officially announced a shortage of Adderall, citing increased demand and manufacturing delays. Adderall is a stimulant used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). 

“One of the reasons behind the shortage is the increased number of people being diagnosed with ADHD that has happened just during the pandemic and hereafter,” said Dr. Shane Speights, dean of NYITCOM at A-State. “The reason why we’re seeing a shortage is for those two main reasons: they are the uptick in the number of diagnoses and prescriptions.”

Speights added that Adderall is an amphetamine, which is a Schedule II drug. Drugs in this category have a high potential for abuse, so they are controlled substances. 

Since Adderall and its variants, such as Ritalin, Strattera and Vyvanse, are controlled substances, this means their production is regulated by the federal government. 

“These pill manufacturers and these drug manufacturers, they’re under federal constraints. They can’t just ramp up production,” Speights said.

If students can get their prescriptions filled, they have had to ration their medications or only take their pills on certain days.

Laura Carter, a senior multimedia journalism major from Hot Springs who takes Concerta, had heard hints of the shortage. Her cousin is a pharmacist and she warned Carter about the shortage.

“I started trying to alter what I was taking and prepare my body for (the shortage) because I know a certain shift like that really, for me, is bad.”

Carter said she would get prescriptions that were only half filled and that the pharmacy would “give me what they had.” 

“I’d be like, ‘I can take this much when I have this much schoolwork to do,’ so then I had to start positioning my schoolwork onto the days that I knew I could separate my medicine out on how long it would last and at what point in the day I could take it to get the most stretch out of my focus,” Carter said.

Blake Walker, associate director for Access and Accommodation Services, said he has been working with a student who has had to ration his medications when his prescriptions start to run low.

“He has gone up to two and a half weeks without medication at times,” Walker said. “He is only taking it Monday through Friday because those are the days he’s in class.”

Speights said if students were to try and ration their medications, they won’t see the full effects a normal dosage provides.

“If you can’t get your medicine and that’s what you’re doing, I think that’s appropriate. With a smaller dose, you’re just not going to see the full effect if you were taking your regularly prescribed amount,” Speights said.

Other students have had to switch medications entirely. Mary Mashburn, first-year psychology major from Crossett, Arkansas, previously took Adderall XR, which is the extended release version of the drug, meaning the active ingredients are released over a longer period of time as opposed to the standard version. She has been switched to the generic version of Adderall XR.

“I’ve already noticed a difference, because people say they’re the same. They’re not the same. The brand name works 100 times better for me,” Mashburn said. 

Mashburn said the reason for the switch was due to how “extremely hard” it was to get her prescription filled. 

Speights said if a student switches medications, they won’t see much difference in how the drug itself works, but they may have to try and find the best dosage.

“They may wear off quicker. Sometimes there’s a little bit of difference, because the milligrams and the dosage are not the same from one drug to the next. So sometimes we have to play with those dosages to try to get the right amount for the student to get the same effect,” Speights said. 

If students can get their prescription filled, the cost of the medicine is still a concern. Jacie Davis, a graduate student studying social work from Calico Rock, Arkansas, who takes Vyvanse, paid $308 with a coupon. She had gone without her medication for a month.

“I went ahead and paid for it just for the month because if I can get through the next month or two months until I graduate, I’ll be fine and then I can maybe try and find an alternative.”

With the shortage, Walker said Access and Accommodation Services has had to “reevaluate the accommodations” they provide.  

“ADHD/ADD presents 1,000 different ways in 1,000 different people,” Walker said. “It depends on how it presents and what your specific struggles are. We just take it case by case. Sometimes that’s just us having conversations with faculty members.”

Specific accommodations for students struggling with the shortage can include making PowerPoints and other lecture materials available to the student, flexibility with deadlines or breaking up assignments into smaller chunks. 

When students can’t get their medications, they have resorted to other methods of managing their ADHD symptoms. 

Davis has tried ashwagandha root, but said the “effects are not the same, especially on the brain.”

“That’s the only hard part about it is there’s nothing that you can really replace (your medication) with, except for there are things that you can do to cope,” Davis said. “I go to therapy. I do the little things like tips and tricks that I find on TikTok.”

Carter said she tries to fidget whenever she can’t get her prescription. 

“I will shake and I will twitch until I hurt,” Carter said. “I always have something in my hands whenever I feel like I have to freak out a little. I always have a sensory thing for me to manage.”

Mashburn said she tries to keep lots of lists to “help with the forgetfulness.”

There is still no sign of relief from the shortage.

“When people talk about this, I want them to understand that (the shortage) really does impact the functioning of people who have ADHD,” Davis said. “When utilized properly, (medication) can be very beneficial and to take that away or to decrease the manufacturing of it is very detrimental to people who have ADHD.”

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