half empty vyvanse capsules?

[carriec174]

Hi all, today I obtained a new script for 20mg of Vyvanse (a switch from Adderall XR). I got it filled at CVS, and having read accounts of tampering, I checked out the capsules and noticed their contents are low, and significantly varied. Most of the capsules are only HALF full, and none of them are entirely full. I'll also note that I picked the script up myself, and kept them in a secure place until I opened them. I assumed they wouldn't be vacuum packed but the amount free space looks strikingly redundant. I tried calling both the pharmacy and Shire, only to get the runaround. CVS said that the pills are delivered pre-assembled, and Shire gave a lecture about "natural settling" and FDA enforced measurement uniformity. My instincts tell me that somebody opened the capsules, took half of the drugs out, and will dispense or use them at their hearts dictates--scot-free. Because who's to say I didn't alter them myself? After all, it's a "controlled substance" user's word against a drug company and or giant pharmacy chain. Anyone take these? Is it normal for the caps to be half full? I hope I'm wrong on this one.

[otisbird]

i've had the same experience this week. very disturbing.  but yes- quite the conundrum when you consider it's our word against big pharma. i think i'm just going to bring it up with my doctor and see what she says.

[otisbird]

i've had the same experience this week. very disturbing.  but yes- quite the conundrum when you consider it's our word against big pharma. i think i'm just going to bring it up with my doctor and see what she says.

[broseph120]

It probably has to do with settling, I noticed this too so I decided to weigh some capsules out. I have a very accurate scale, to the milligram, and the weights were pretty consistent even though some capsules appeared half full. A 50mg vyvanse weighs about 175mg including the capsule and there was little variance (+/-5mg) in any capsule, even comparing one that appeared completely full to one that appeared half full.  I also tried weighing just the powder of a full and half full capsule, they both weighed about 125mg. The half full one did have more "chunks" of powder though, a significant amount was compressed into a cylinder shape which is probably part of the reason why it appeared to have less powder. So it seems like the batch may impact how dense the powder is, but the weight seems consistent, which is probably the important part. But if you're getting completely empty capsules that is obviously something to be concerned about

[MOMofADHD]

two months ago I had my sister pick up my daughters Rx for me and noticed that all but 10 pills were half empty; however, because it was so late in the month I decided I would wait and just keep an eye on them. The next month I picked them up and they were all full, so then I started thinking my own sister tampered with them. I picked up this months Rx last night and I noticed once again they were half full so I went back to the pharmacy to bring to his attention. He never noticed it before but in front of me he opened a brand new bottle by the manufacturer that had never been opened and they were all half full. He suggested I call the company directly and he asked that I get back to him about the outcome because he too was curious as to why this is happening. I haven't called the company yet but definitely plan to today. I am glad that its not the pharmacy or pharmacist and to know I am not the only one noticing it.

[oreganosis222]

From what I know, and from experience, the capsule is not supposed to be completely full, but not half full. If you take the two sides of the capsule, the inner part(usually the white, longer piece) should be full where if you flash a light through it you can't see the light. The shorter, outer side(usually the colored piece) should have a little "bubble", an empty space where the inner part ends and the end that rounds off, that allows the capsule to be closed when being put together. An easy way to tell if your pill isn't full(and to lower your liability of tampering by opening it) is to take a small flash light and put it against the capsule with the colored, outer shell upwards, you can see the contents, you can also lightly squeeze and role in your fingers the capsule to make any powder stuck to the sides fall off. This has recently happened to me, I got a prescription for 40mg and they worked as well as 15-20mg pills so I had to take two for them to work so I flashed a light through to see that most of the capsules were barely half full, I called my pharmacy and told them, they thought I meant the little bubble on the end, so they told me there is nothing wrong. So either something happened to my pills(tampering or manufacturing defect) or that I suddenly needed 80mg overnight.

[aph0ticzone]

I'm looking into the same issue. Numerous clues over the last year have led me to wonder if 1 particular pharmacist is taking medication out of my pills.  I didn't really think it was possible, so when the medication worked some days and not others I didn't think too much about it. But I got a large prescription filled (90 tablets) and this particular pharmacist took the prescription apart twice and reshelved it. The pharmacy claimed it was their error, but seriously, who does this twice? She took it apart on day 31 of a 30 day prescription claiming it was too early to fill. I ended up getting it on day 32. The levels of medication in each pill differ significantly. Taking it apart twice would have given the pharmacist the opportunity to take a fair amount out, i.e. up to 3x90, or 270 pills worth.

I was informed that there is no generic form of Vyvanse available.  Also, I take the 60 mg. This is a weight measure and the pill should weigh 60mg plus the weight of the capsule. So weighing an empty capsule should allow you to get the total weight of a full pill. Some of mine are full right to the top, which I would expect with that dose. My son is also on ADD medication, adderall in his case, and his look low as well. No chance of abuse in his case, as he doesn't even want to take any on weekends, and often doesn't.

I think I can provide the weight of 50 mg pills for alwaysalice22, as I have some old ones around. But as I said, weight is weight. It should be 50mg + the weight of the gelatin capsule. Thats why pills of higher mg weight can get so large. I'll do some weighing when I locate my scale and report results back. None of us should have to suffer because of a pharmacist who's an addict.