So today I took my 3rd dose of Adderall XR (30mg). The energy productiveness I felt this morning was great. When the second part of the dose released 4 hours later it was too strong for me. When the meds are wearing offf (4 hrs. later) my head feels heavy, in a fog, but I can still feel some addrenaline through my body. *I would like to note that before taking meds I did not experience this heaviness and fogginess to the degree I am feeling now. Motivation and productiveness takes a huge nose dive. I am also experiencing insomnia well after the crashing occurs. I definately need to add another dose around 4pm. But I am scared because of the insomnia thing. Insomnia wasn't an issue until I started taking meds this week.

If I added another dose, I don't think I need as much as I would during the day. I'm seeing my dr. next week and I want to talk to him about tweaking my meds as well as possibly adding an SSRI for depression and anxiety. My dr. isn't really an ADD specialists however I trust him and he is very open to me trying different meds till I get better. I would like to come into my appt and be as fully prepared with questions and suggestions. I would love to have some imput on combo suggestions from ppl on how they would adjust my meds and what I can do to combat the crash effects and insomnia. I would also like to mention that I have 2 young kids so I do need something from 6am-9pm. I really need to have energy.. should I expect Adderall to provide energy or should I be looking to something else for that? Because then maybe I should lower my dose and use something to supplement for energy.

Some of my own thoughts about dosage suggestions are:

*using regular Adderall
15 mgs at 6am
10 mgs at 11am -12pm
10 mgs at 3pm


15 mgs at 6am (reg. Adderall)
20 mgs at 11am -12pm (Adderall XR)

I would welcome suggestions, advice, comments. Thanks.

it strikes me that you feel like the later release of the adderrall is too strong. so, if i'm understanding, what you're saying is, the initial 15 does well.....but when the next 15 comes into play you feel sort of overloaded. hmmmm. that never happened to me, but you probably already know how individualistic this stuff is.

the thing is, if you've only been taking it 3 days, you likely haven't adjusted to it yet. many times the initial crashing and foggy effects go away. but in terms of needing longer coverage, i can tell you that for me, if i only took a morning dose i would be useless later. i have kids too, so i understand exactly what you're talkiing about. plus, my job is one in which i do a lot of my work at night, when it's quiet, and i need to be able to concentrate on what i'm doing then, too. people will say that add xr should last 12 hours but that is simply not the case for everyone. xr is good for @ 6 hours for me....

a lot of folks like the regular adderall because it gives them more control in terms of when they have peak flow in their bodies. but it doesn't last as long, obviously. i like the xr because it's really smooth for me, never even caused the crashing thing that so many people experience, and the way i'm taking it allows me to be most productive.

i take it twice a day. the only thing i wonder in your case is if you already feel overmedicated on the first xr, taking another one may make it worse. but again, a lot of the initial negative stuff disappears with time. it's a patience thing....

i wouldn't see anything wrong with using the xr version and supplementing with irs. a lot of folks do that. i've thought about it, but just haven't needed to. i would evaluate how you do until your doc visit, and then if you find you're doing well on the morning xr, i would probably keep that where it is and use the irs later in the day. they are shorter acting and would maybe help with the insomnia.

good luck.

You might consider adding Strattera, when Strattera first came out, it was recommended to have a stimulant added to smooth out the drop off effects of stimulants. Im on both and I still have a slight drop after 9 hours on Adderral, but the Strattera helps.

skagitgrl-

You sound like your body responds exactly like mine does. First of all, I don't think you should be looking to Adderall for "energy". That really isn't it's purpose. According to my Dr., ideally you don't want to physically feel it's effects at all. If you take a 30mg and than get all jacked up soon after, you're probably taking too high a dosage. Also, after only 3 days, you're body is new to it and is probably reacting more intensely.

When I began taking Adderall, I started off at 30mg and had the exact same problems you did. It would really aggrivate my anxiety. I would have a horrible crash after 8 hours. I couldn't sleep at night if I took it past 10am. The Doc than lowered my dose to 20mg and thats treating me much better. If you absolutely have to take a second dose during the day, I'd take a 4 hour dose at no later than 2:30. This might seem early, but this seems to be the magic cutoff time for people who have trouble sleeping with the Adderall.

Anyways, be careful about combating your crash stage with a second dose of Adderall. Thats how people begin to become Adderall junkies who feel they can't function without it. Again, don't look to your Adderall for "energy". It is to help you focus. Try exercising for energy. It works for me, and also does wonders for anxiety and depression. Not to mention it releases chemicals that improve concentration.

I recently stoppped taking strattera. JUst a heads up wtach out for side effects. It did help me but after a while the help of strattera seemed to diminsh (like month into it) also rmember starttera will take a few weeks to build up in your system. It is not like the stimulant based drugs. For insomnia I have tried Trazadone which helps to knowck you out (fuzzy sleepy feeling) but then I was upset that I needed something to sleep. You start getting thoughts like what are these frugs doing to me. so forth

It's kind of odd that your doctor didn't start you slowly on the Adderall by basically giving you a theraputic dose from the get go. While frustrating sometimes, this start slow approach does allow for some time to get used to the drug so these problems early on don't happen with the same intensity. I would probably recommend trying a regular release version of Adderall untill you get the timing and dosage right - this will make the insomnia easier to manage, and allow you to take a smaller dose in the PM, which some people prefer (I take a larger initial dose and slightly smaller doses later in the day). The XR is great for "fire and forget" mode - especially if you often forget to take meds at the right time - but the release varies in time and intensity and it's difficult to take a second dose (and still sleep) unless you have a really really long day!
In the end, I'll bet your side effects will get better quickly and you'll sort out the time release problems in short order!