Lisdexamphetamine (Elvanse/Vyvanse) has become pretty common because it's considered less abusable than most other stims. Can't bypass the time release because it's a prodrug. Does nothing if you snort it. But it takes 1-2 hours to kick in and either doesn't last long enough or you redose and it lasts so long you can't sleep at least in my experience. No middle ground. So I got put on regular dex to control how much is in my system. Much better.
Methylphenidate is a fucking nightmare. Got taken off it literally the same week I had it prescribed. Horrible horrible drug.
Dexamphetamine is really not so hard to get if you go through a private doctor. They will happily offer it to you. Easier to get scripted than benzos by a long shot.
Xanax 0.25mg and 0.5mg are available via private prescription but blacklisted on the NHS. No higher doses are available. That's why all the bars are fake presses. They don't actually exist in the UK.
I got the same dose of DHC as you, it seems like if you are being moved from tramadol they just stick you on the max dose by default. It'll be because according to NICE tramadol is stronger, so as far as they're concerned you're being "downgraded" so you need a higher dose to make up for it. Can't complain...
