Does adderall & Ritalin show up as the same drug on a urine test from your employer ?
Question posted by angelafaye on 12 Oct 2011
Last updated on 11 October 2020 by Philgeorgesr
5 Answers
No
Yes
No.
No. Ritalin, made by Novartis, is Methylphenidate. Adderall, by Shire Pharm., is a amphetamine combo. Ritalin is totally different. Molecularly it is more similar to Cocaine. Adderall is much different and IMO more effective. Be advised tho- they both are C-II stimulant drugs that affect ur CNS & PNS. There should absolutely be NO confusion when screening. Best wishes, Nootropic CX-717.
Think it depends on the type of test. A basic screen will look for amphetamines in general. A more advanced assay will be able to distinguish between the two.
Ritalin is Methylphenidate which is not an amphetamine of any kind where as Adderall is Amphetamine and will show on a drug screen testing for Amphetamine. If you ever have any questions regarding a medications make-up just look it up using the A to Z tool and get its generic name (active ingredient/make-up)... usually listed right after its common name. That will tell you what will show up in your urine. Since drug tests can range, from the simple 5-panel all the way up to very detailed and expensive screens that most employers would probably never use, anything you take can be identified if they're looking for it.
But to answer your question specifically... No. They are two different substances and therefore, Adderall will show up as the Amphetamine and Ritalin won't.
No offense, but it drives me crazy when I see this same question being answered incorrectly all the time and unfortunetly, I bet a lot of people fail drug screens depending on that info. Sorry ChicagoIrish... the type of test has nothing to do with it. I see where you could think it would if Ritalin were an Amphetamine and needed to be broken down to distiguish its chemical make-up.
An example is the acid reflux medication Zantac will show on some very sensitive tests as an amphetamine. The reason for this is because a form of amphetamine is added to speed up the breakdown of the medication in your system so it works faster. However, this form of amphetamine is different in that its not going to act as a stimulant that way we typically think of an amphetamine but its close enough in its chemical compound to make the tests show positive. When I've seen this happen, a simple request to have the lab do a further breakdown of the urine sample (and the employee had to pay a small fee for the additional lab cost) cleared the matter right up.
Adderall and Ritalin DO in fact show up DIFFERENTLY on a urinalysis drug screen. I KNOW this because I used to get drug tested (12 panel drug screen) every month. One time, I ran out of my Ritalin so I bought Adderall. Two days later, I went in for my drug test (thinking they're both "amphetamines" or "uppers" so there's nothing to worry about) and sure enough, MY DOCTOR CONFRONTED ME ABOUT THE FACT THAT I HAD BOTH RITALIN AND ADDERALL in my system!!! So YES, Ritalin & Adderall DO SHOW UP DIFFERENTLY, NO MATTER WHICH TYPE OF DRUG TEST YOU ARE GETTING!! DO NOT LISTEN TO PEOPLE WHO SAY THEY SHOW UP THE SAME... THEY DO NOT SHOW UP THE SAME!! AND I AM 100% POSITIVE BECAUSE IT HAPPENED TO ME.
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adderall, ritalin, urine test, urine
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