How Much Amphetamine Do Adderall XR Products Contain?

Hello and thank you for writing us!

I am more than happy to answer your question regarding Adderall XR (Dextroamphetamine and Amphetamine).

How Much Amphetamine Is In Adderall XR?

I can understand the confusion regarding how much active drug is actually in Adderall XR capsules since it has a 'dual-release mechanism'.

Rest assured, whatever strength the Adderall XR product in question is, that is how much amphetamine that product contains in total (e.g. Adderall XR 30mg contains 30mg total of amphetamines, NOT 60mg).

Adderall XR products actually contain four different types of amphetamine drugs:

• Dextroamphetamine Saccharate
• Amphetamine Aspartate
• Dextroamphetamine Sulfate
• Amphetamine Sulfate

Below is a chart detailing how much of each type amphetamine is in each Adderall XR product:

Answering your question regarding Adderall XR 30mg specifically, you can see from the chart above that it contains 30mg total of amphetamines.

Adderall XR Release-Mechanism

Adderall XR and related generics have a dual-release mechanism (i.e. the capsules release drug in two phases).

The prescribing information for Adderall XR touches on this:

The ADDERALL XR capsule contains two types of drug-containing beads designed to give a double-pulsed delivery of amphetamines, which prolongs the release of amphetamine from ADDERALL XR compared to the conventional ADDERALL (immediate-release) tablet formulation

During the first phase of release, part of the total dosage is released immediately, to produce quick-acting effects. The second part of the release mechanism releases the drug slowly over time, which is why a once-daily dose of Adderall XR generally lasts over 12 hours.

Adderall XR products were specifically formulated to mimic the amphetamine concentrations of the immediate-release formulation of the drug given twice daily.

For example, Adderall XR 20mg produces similar plasma concentrations of amphetamines compared to taking Adderall (immediate-release) 10mg twice daily. Again, the prescribing information talks about this:

A single dose of ADDERALL XR 20 mg capsules provided comparable plasma concentration profiles of both d-amphetamine and l-amphetamine to ADDERALL (immediate-release) 10 mg twice daily administered 4 hours apart.

The following graph illustrates this:

You can see above that one dose of Adderall XR 20mg produces fairly similar concentrations to Adderall 10mg (immediate-release) taken twice daily (4 hours apart).

Final Words

I hope this answer clears things up for you.

As mentioned, I imagine the confusion around Adderall XR 30mg (and whether or not it contains 30mg or 60mg of amphetamines) is due to the fact the capsules contain a dual-release mechanism.

Just remember the given strength of the product is the correct indication of how much total amphetamine it contains (e.g. Adderall XR 30mg contains 30mg total of amphetamines).