I’ve been taking dexmethyl extended release for a bit with no problems. Works great. We decided to tray a higher dose. To do so, we needed pills with smaller doses rather than one huge one. That caused me to change pharmacies due to availability. Same medication, different pharmacy.
1st day
- Same dose as before, just in several smaller dosed pills.
- A bit tired in the afternoon. I stay in my room. I get take out.
2nd day
- 10 mg more than regular
- I drive out to town. On the way back, I feel like I couldn’t care about anything. I had to repeat to myself in my head what I wanted to say for like a min before saying it. I stop at Costco and everyone felt like floating entities in a universe-sea that I was swim-walking through. It was like I was playing a very realistic 1st-person Grand Theft Auto, except I’m not a psychopathic car thief and serial killer; instead, I ate a slice of pizza and got some Ensures. Coming back home, I stop to get a coffee to help with the drive home. I was alert and aware, just distracted. I stay in my room the rest of the day. Don’t feel like cooking, so I get take out.
3rd day
- 10 mg more than regular
- I don’t do anything productive. I tried to watch TV around noon, but couldn’t pay attention. I remember thinking, “That guy is saying something. I wonder if it’s important.” I am freezing all day. I take 2-3 hot showers just to warm up. I came to ask a question on Lemmy and completely forgot what it was. I ended up playing Age of Empires 2 for like 6 hours and lost all but one match. The one I didn’t lose was cause my team won it. I literally only contributed 2 trebuchets.
4th day (today)
- 20 mg more than regular
- 45 mins after taking, I am straight up hallucinating. The walls start becoming even more 3d (lol); there are layers now. The patterns I just saw somewhere else in the room are transposed on top of what I am currently looking at. The colors fluctuate in intensity from colorful to black & white. Everything feels far away. My senses don’t feel connected. Visuals and audio were two separate worlds independent of each other. I could hear silence. Silence has a sound, y’all! Doing something like showering seemed like a mission, so I didn’t do it. I am freezing cold, wearing an undershirt, a long-sleeve shirt, two hoodies, long johns, sweat pants, and socks…all indoors and it’s like 65°F in here.
- Luckily, I was scheduled to meet with the doctor. He took notes, and asked if the bottle lists the manufacturer. I looked at the bottle twice as best as I could and respond that it doesn’t. He asks me to show him the bottle and he spots it in a second. He said it’s likely the generic manufacturer. He told me to keep track of generics that I have adverse events with and to notify the pharmacy so they don’t give it to me again. I’m going back to the previous dose, pharmacy, and manufacturer.
Edit: I’m gonna have to make edits as I notice typos
Relevant video: https://youtu.be/VDqsHl3lBlA
In the US at least, generic medicines have to have the same active drug in them, but the other ingredients can be different
Also TIL (from the WebMD article I linked) they’re allowed up to a 15% difference in how the body absorbs them
I’ve known a couple of people who had really bad reactions to Wellbutrin after brand switches. Both of them found it necessary to get a medical necessity exemption so they could get branded prescriptions. There’s more variability in a lot of these drugs across mfgr’s than people are aware of and you should talk to your Dr about switching to another brand or manufacturer if you’re having an adverse reaction.
Take a look at this. It was something a friend showed me when I said she was probably just imagining that the brand name medication worked better for her than the generic.
That was an interesting and concerning read! I’m gonna have to look up some documentaries now.
NOT ALL GENERICS ARE THE SAME! I’ve been screaming this for years, and people have brushed me off.
I’ve been on meds for 10+ years, and I’ve been through lots of generics.
There was a generic from a manufacturer called “Sunrise” that basically did nothing!!
Lots of them stop me from dreaming.
One caused my skin to turn pink/red until it wore off.
The latest one causes me to have dreams I cannot force myself awake from (none of the dreams have been unpleasant so far, thankfully… but I’m a lucid dreamer, so it’s concerning to me)
I was on a generic depression/ADHD drug for a very short time, and it gave me actul waking nightmares.
I took name-brand at the beginning, but switched pretty quickly to generic, so I don’t have much experience to compare with it, unfortunately. But, rest assured: not all generics are the same!!!
What is your standard dose?
And out of curiosity are you American?
For some reason Americans seem to be way more adverse to having generic versions of medications, I don’t know if it’s to do with how the FDA does things, or to do with the amount of medication advertising there, but in the UK no-one typically cares if a medication is generic as long as delivery mechanism and dose are the same.
So I’ll almost certainly get a different brand of sertraline each month, and a different brand of dexamphetamine. The only medication which is brand name that I get is Elvanse, but even then that’s produced by different manufacturers but branded all the same, just under licence from the patent owner.
Tbh the hypothermia sounds like vasoconstriction and/or possibly low blood sugar.
The vasoconstriction can be caused by the higher dose, especially if you consume caffeine.
I had to quit coffee for 8 months due to the horrible vasoconstriction/chills I’d get with it, after those 8 months I eventually started drinking tea, without getting chills anywhere near as much, now when I do it’s an indicator that I need food, especially if my hands have a slight jitter.
In all honestly higher doses of methylphenidate can leave you feeling somewhat depersonalised/disassociated, even changes in dose-timings can cause it, taking more smaller doses can also change the methylphenidate/blood concentration which you may be subconsciously picking up on…
Other things that can throw blood concentrations off: Grapefruit (fruit or juice) Vitamin C Excessive coffee/soft drinks
What is your standard dose?
I rather not say, but it’s in the middle of the range.
And out of curiosity are you American?
Why, yes 😎
For some reason Americans seem to be way more adverse to having generic versions of medications, I don’t know if it’s to do with how the FDA does things, or to do with the amount of medication advertising there, but in the UK no-one typically cares if a medication is generic as long as delivery mechanism and dose are the same.
I have always been the same as Brits with that. To me, there was absolutely no difference except for that sense of pleasure that some people get when they pay more for something. Whenever I was offered brand or generic, I would go generic based on principle. I never even thought to consider a manufacturer. This was the first time I’ve ever even been told by a medical professional that the generic manufacturer mattered at all. I seriously thought it was all the same thing except for the brand.
Tbh the hypothermia sounds like vasoconstriction and/or possibly low blood sugar.
Possibly. I was feeling so out of it, that I didn’t even want to eat. I forced myself to have a few snacks because I knew I needed them, but I was likely malnourished.
The vasoconstriction can be caused by the higher dose, especially if you consume caffeine.
I doubt it. I wasn’t consuming any coffee until I thought I needed it. I even started the first day on the same exact dose, and it did not feel the same as the previous script. I think this one with the adverse effects was not properly manufactured. Rather than provide me with dexmethyl, they inadvertently gave me some poison.
taking more smaller doses can also change the methylphenidate/blood concentration which you may be subconsciously picking up on…
Only two things changed. One was going from one pill to several pills equaling the same dose at the same time. The other was the manufacturer. Imagine you were taking a 800mg ibuprofen pill from Company A in the morning, then switched to 4 x 200mg pills from Company B.
Other things that can throw blood concentrations off: Grapefruit (fruit or juice) Vitamin C Excessive coffee/soft drinks
I didn’t have any of those. Aside from that one coffee two days ago, all I had was water throughout the day or Ensures in the morning.
I appreciate the concern and guidance!
