I have been taking generic Adderall 20mg IR TID for about 3 months. Before that it was Ritalin 20mg IR TID for about 4 months or so. I have always been at these dosages, no up no down and no messing around.

I started noticing that the Adderall didn't seem to be working as well as it did before, or at least I thought this to be the case. When I started taking Adderall (and Ritalin for that matter), I could tell when it started working, about 30min to an hour after I took my dose. But about a month ago, this went away.

I decided to see if this was tolerence, or just the elimination of side effects over time by taking a holiday from my medication. Beginning of July I stopped taking my Adderall.

Attention span went from good to little to none in a few days. I had trouble sleeping for about the first 4-5 days, and I ate everything I saw. However, appart from sleep problems and my eating insanity, I didn't feel any of the typical withdrawl symptoms. Granted this could be because I've only been on Adderall for about 3 months and not 3 years, but nonetheless I fould it encouraging that I could quit this stuff cold turkey if need be. I also found it encouraging that the difference in my attention was so night and day. This told me without a doubt that the medicine was working just fine without me noticing it kicking in. My wife even commented, "When is your orange pill day again?"

Back on my medication today. I can feel it kicking in again and my attention is back where I want it to be. I am curious to see if I get some of the side effects I had when I first started taking Adderall now because of my body having to adapt again. I'll keep you posted on that.

I guess the pro's of my holiday are more trivial at this point. I now know that I can drop amphetamines cold turkey for two weeks and not have cravings or anything. If I would have had cravings, I could've taken some. I had a half month sitting on my dresser during this. Big pro in knowing that the medicine is working a small miracle. I wasn't kidding about the night and day thing. Another pro is remembering how bad I used to be because of my ADD and remembering where I've been and where I am now. Sometimes even with my meds I can't concentrate as much as I would like, and I think that medicine isn't doing it's job. It's good to know that this isn't the medicine not working, it's called being human.

Glad to hear your holiday went well, Obiwan!

I take lots of drug holidays - I only take Adderall on the weekends if I must pay attention (which has been most weekends lately so I can study productively) and any time I go on vacation.
I've been on Adderall IR for 6+ years now and have never experienced a withdrawl from it.
I'm not sure it's possible for withdrawl because it's in your system such a short time. Is it?

It's kind of fun realizing how well you're doing on meds, huh?!

It is great to know the meds are working. I've read posts about meds not working anymore after a few months and always thought this to be odd. After three months on Adderall, I didn't feel the ramp up with my doses like I did at first, but I still had the focus. I can see where a person could mistake not noticing the dose kicking in as the drug not working anymore or a tolerance. Perhaps this is the case with some and a dosing increase is needed, but I think a person should ask themselves is they still have the focus from the drug or not. If so, then not feeling the dose kicking in is a sign that a persons body is getting use to the medication.

When I took my first dose after my holiday I felt it kick in, more than I ever did before. I think this is due to the fact that when I switched from Ritalin to Adderall I didn't have a time period without a stimulant medication. I was used to stimulants when I started taking Adderall and therefore the feeling of my dose kicking in wasn't so pronounced. Thinking back, I had a very pronounced kicking in feeling with Ritalin when I first started taking it around the first of the year. This was probably due to the fact that I had never taken any stimulant medication (besides caffeine in drinks) before and the Ritalin kicking in really stood out. Today, after being off Adderall for about 2 weeks, the kicking in really stood out, probably about the same as the Ritalin did when I first started taking it. Do you get this effect after holidays?

I remember that the kicking in effects of Ritalin lasted about 1-2weeks and got to be quite annoying. I am wondering if this similar and quite pronounced side effect will continue with each dose for an equally long time.

Personally, the drug holiday was great for the reasons I listed in my first post. I know that I can quit this stuff cold turkey when/if I need to. I learned by not taking Adderall that the Adderall is working wonderful for my focus even if I don't notice the dose taking effect. Not taking my meds for a couple weeks forced me to remember that I have ADD, and Adderall doesn't fix my focus completely, but close enough that I'm greatful.

However, I don't think that I will take another drug holiday unless my focus is slipping and I really suspect tolerance. I don't like that fact that my body has to start new with it's adaptation process. I don't like the kicking in feeling, and I don't like that fact that I'm still awake right now with no sleep in sight. Before the holiday I had all the positives of Adderall (although the holiday made me aware of this) because my body had adapted.

I've never taken a long med holiday, I think the longest has been a week. But, I've noticed a bit when Adderall kicks infor the first time after the various week holidays I've taken. But, I've never really noticed it from taking weekends off.

It's always nice to hear that someone else is doing well with Adderall.

Take care, Obiwan!

This past spring break I took a semi-holiday. I was vacationing in the mountains, and I usually only took one dose of Adderall per day, or one and a half, instead of my usual two, as I didn't need to be organized or focused for much more than just keeping the kitchen clean.

There were no real negative effects of the holiday itself, but when I returned to school and resumed my normal twice-daily dosage, the effects of the second dose of the day were more than my body had become used to over the previous week. While it wasn't overly disorienting or overwhelming, it was a bit surprising when I found myself feeling unexpectedly strong effects during class. When taking a holiday, take care when resuming your normal dosage regimen. I personally try not to take holidays for this reason, but I'm on a fairly low dose, and everyone is different.