Today at a dr's appointment I was informed that adderall xr is supposed to last for 24 hours. I thought that it was supposed to last for a max of 12 hours. I'm lucky if it lasts for 8. I work a 3-11 shift and need it to work the whole 8 hours so I take it an hour or so before my shift starts. She seems to think that if I take it in the morning, the "peak effects" will kick in by 6pm. I think otherwise. Does anyone know how long this stuff really does last for???? Any suggestions on how to go about this? Possibly when the best time to take it would be? Anything???
Thanks!

For me it peaks at 3-4 hours after taking it. No WAY would it last 24 hours for me. I've always heard 12 hours too, but I think that's ridiculous. I get all my symptoms back full force within 6 hours of taking it. What dose are you taking? You might talk to doc about taking some Adderall that isn't the XR kind later in the day for more relief.

~Susan

Yeah, that's what I thought. I did ask her about taking the regular version and she kind of blew it off and said to take it earlier and see what happens... Next time I see her I'll try again. She doesn't seem to know a whole lot about adderall, once again, she brought out the humongous Physicians Desk Reference, like the first time I asked her about trying it. I'm only taking 15mgs. She is very hesitent on going to 20mgs ( and she won't go over 20). Maybe reg adderall "as needed" might work?
Thanks for the reply!

The effective time given for most time release medications is an optimistic guess, in my opinion. The time you get will depend on your own metabolism and such. I prefer to use regular release medication - it lets me take it when I need it. Peak for both regualr release and XR will be about 2 hours after you take it - the XR then releases another dose around 4 hours after you initally took it, but it does it more slowly since the little beads don't dissolve at the same time.
It sure doesn't sound like your doctor knows anything about Adderall and consequently, she's probably not going to have a lot of experience with ADHD either! It's a good thing for a doctor to be cautious, but absolute limits - like "won't go over 20mg" - is another sign that she doesn't have any experience with the drug or the condition. Who did your diagnosis of ADHD? Did they recommend a course of treatment? The expert who did my diagnosis wrote a detailed letter to my GP and I know that helped allay any fears he had about prescribing what I asked for.

lotsofconfusion, I had to go through lots of docs that were uneducated about adult AD/HD or just didn't believe in it before I got one that I'm trying now that is willing to (and able to) prescribe meds for it. You might have to try different docs too, if this one doesn't get her act together and work on getting you better.

I get about the same amount of time from plain old generic version of Adderall that you do from XR. I only need to take it twice a day. People vary, I guess, or maybe XR is no good.

Im pretty sure thats incorrect, at least in the sense that the drug is active in your system. Its more like 10-12 hours. If it was any more, Id never sleep. I take 10mg XR in the am, and 5 mg immediate release at 4pm. Along with Strattera, this combo has been perfect for me.

Thanks for all of your comments and suggestions! I get the feeling that she doesn't understand much about ADHD either... I am definitely living up to my "name" now! Would a psychiatrist be better, since they can write the perscriptions? Gregster, a psychologist did my evaluation and also wrote out a detailed report that I gave to the dr. She is a child psycologist who also evaluates adults and is very familiar with adhd... she had suggested the different kinds of meds that she thought would be best. Unfortunately she cant write the scripts for them.
Thanks again!!

A psychiatrist would be better, as long as they have experience with ADHD patients. The benefit would come from the fact that they would be more familiar with the drugs and probably less cautious about prescribing them. Not that caution is a bad thing in a doctor, but I think your doctor is over-cautious. Once you find the right medication and the right dosage, you should be able to convince your GP to continue without having to see the pdoc for new prescriptions. Did your doctor take the psychologist's report into consideration with regards to the medication? Was there any mention of dosage in the report? The doctor may be downplaying the psychologists recommendations since she is not a "doctor"???

Today at a dr's appointment I was informed that adderall xr is supposed to last for 24 hours. I thought that it was supposed to last for a max of 12 hours. I'm lucky if it lasts for 8.I'm taking a light SSRI (liquid Prozac), a light benzodiazepine (Tranxene), and will start with 5mg Adderall tomorrow. He wants to start me light because I had some anxiety issues that are recently going away. I'll let you know how long it seems to affect me. I've never taken any legal stimulants before and it's been years since I took any illegal ones...

Unfortunately she cant write the scripts for them.Translation: New Doctor

Gregster,
My current dr did read and considerd the report with the first medication, Effexor. That stuff had horrible side effects! I hated it and told her what the psychologist had recommended, (Adderall, Concerta, and Ritalin). The psych. didn't mention any dosages though. You did bring up some good points however and clarified what the psychiatrist does... I think that I'm going to try to find one very soon! This is just ridiculous!

DRM,
I had originally started on adderall xr 5mgs as well. It didn't do anything for me though... I'm now on 15 and see some improvement but think it could be better. And, it was the psychologist that couldn't write the prescriptions, although I think you're right about the "new doctor"! Let me know how the adderall works for you!