Currently I'm only taking 10 mgs of Adderall a day, as needed, for my ADD. I've explained to my doctor that I don't want to become dependant on it and that I only want to use it for studying and other similar tasks. But I've found that it really does help me in all areas of life - even just chatting with friends. It's wonderful to be able to pay attention.

So I was thinking about asking my doctor to prescribe me one 20 mg pill a day instead of one 10 mg pill a day. My insurance only covers 30 pills a month, so I'm thinking I could split the pill and take half in the morning, and the other half later on. Is this something that doctors are allowed to do? I'm afraid to ask her about it.

Also, I don't want to end up like a lot of people who take about 100 mgs a day. How many mgs are all of you taking? Is 20 mgs still considered a low dose?

I'm a little wary about asking my doctor to up my dosage, because she really doesn't like prescribing drugs like Adderall. It is very helpful for me, though, and with school starting I think I'm going to need the extra 10 mgs.

I started 20 mg of adderall XR today and that is my starting dose but everybody reacts differntly to medication.Your best bet is to talk with your doctor!!!Good luck!!!

1) If you want one pill that lasts all day then try the XR. I take it at around 7:00 AM and I'm good for the day.

2) If it works, and makes several important areas of your life better why would you *not* take it every day. That's silly.

3) If you're worried about dependance; don't! It just doesn't work that way.

Hello. Definitely ask your doctor. It is very common to take more than one dose a day. I am currently taking 15mg of Adderall IR twice a day. Though. I don't take it on the weekends. I use it so I can be productive for my job. If I didnt use it for work I would never get finished:rolleyes:

Good luck.

Think of it this way ....

Did you ever take anything else to compensate for your ADHD symptoms?

If so, then your body was telling you something was not functioning correctly. People use other means to ease the ADHD symptoms when they are undiagnosed.

If Adderall wasn't considered a Schedule II (controlled substance), then people would not be so freaked out becoming addicted.

Our bodies need that increase in dopamine. Long term studies have shown that adults that have been on simulants since childhood have not become addicted. It's the people that don't need the stimulant that get addicted, because of that "euphoric" feeling they experience.

Talk with your doctor and be honest. Another option is Strattera, but that's another story.

Thanx for the advice, guys!

I really don't want to be on the XR because I like being flexible with it, you know... some days I may only want to be on it for a few hours. And sometimes I have to take it kind of late in the day, too.

But I really want to know if it's okay to ask my doctor to prescribe me a 20 mg pill even though I only take 10 mgs at a time. Can she do that, or would she have to prescribe me 60 10 mg pills?

It's ok to ask your doctor to up your dosage of adderall to 20 mg a day. All you need to do is explain that you would like to take 10mg in the morning and 10mg in the afternoon. You can buy a pill slicer at most stores to cut them in half :).
When you first go on meds it's normal to adjust the dosage from time to time. Example: I started at 20 mg in the morning and 10 mg in the afternoon. On heavy think days I'll take 20 mg in the afternoon.
I am not on the XR because I only need the adderall to last until about 4 in the afternoon. Like you I need to be able to be flexible with my dosage.
Good luck and let us know what the doc says.

If you go back to 7/4/05 in this (Adderall) section, I posted a summary of 3 research studies, covering 13 years, in which you'll see that the use of stimulants (not just Adderall but stimulants in general) does NOT increase the potential for Substance Use Disorder(SUD).

Hi there bananafish!

It should be NO PROBLEM for your doctor to prescribe it however you want the prescription. Explain to her how you want to take the prescription: 10 mg at a time. She'll write it something like: 20mg/day, 1/2 tablet in the morning and 1/2 tablet afternoon... Then just have a pill-splitter handy.

My first psychiatrist (before I moved) had me on 20mg Adderall XR in the mornings and 20mg Adderall IR in the afternoons. Anyway I soon found that taking 20mg of Adderall IR was "hitting" me too hard so I split them and took only 1/2 pill (10 mg) at a time. Then my new psychiatrist just followed up with that and gave a full prescription for 10 mg tablets. Either way it was the same thing.

Anyway, back to the doctor situation: I have a similar thing with having a "special" prescription... My insurance plan likes for me to use the mail-order pharmacy instead of using the local retail pharmacy. It is also much less expensive for me. In order to do this, I must have 90-day supply or 90 pill prescriptions instead of the normal 30 pill prescriptions. I felt sure the psychiatrists would not feel comfortable writing a prescription for such a large quantity of Adderall, with it being a controlled substance, but neither one ever had a problem with it.

Good luck and if you need any more help just let us know!

20 mg/day is still a pretty low dose.

My doctor is very cool about adjusting the prescription to my needs. My normal dose is 30 mg and at first she wrote me a script for 10 mg and another for 20 mg, but when I saw her again and said that since my insurance co-pay was a flat $15 per prescription it was a lot cheaper for me to just cut the bigger pills, she was totally fine with writing a script for 20 mg pills that I could cut as needed.

I think your idea is a very good one. Adderall wears off completely for me in 9 hours so I'd be a mess most days with only one dose (I had rebound from hell until I added Concerta, which smooths that out a lot). If you have a 20 mg pill cut in half, you can take half in the morning and then take the other half in the afternoon if you need it, or skip it if you don't. But in general, two doses a day is totally normal.

What everybody else says rings true to me. You will not get addicted to 20 mg of Adderall, unless you start injecting, snorting, or smoking it. Then, you will quickly find that 20 mg is "not enough." In truth, you won't get addicted to any dosage prescribed by a responsible MD, as long as you take the pills as prescribed (meaning, not as above.)

I can't go one day without adderall, Yup I'm dependant, & I'm sure everybody is. I got a doctor's note to my job saying I can't perform on the job without this medication.

T-Bass

It's not that I think I'm going to start abusing Adderall, or that I'll become psychologically addicted to it. I'm just worried about physical dependence, which I hear is mild, but still uncomfortable in long-term users.

But anyway, thank you all for the input. My regular doctor is on pregnancy leave, so I saw a different doctor today and he had no problem prescribing me an extra 10 mgs.

Thinking about it I wonder: why NOT bewcome dependant? Seriously- if makes your life better in dozens of ways, why NOT take it every day forever? A diabetic would never worry about becoming dependant on insulin. His only worry would be not having it some day. That's how I feel about Adderall and I don't think that's a bad thing.

I somewhat disagree with cactus. Yes, you should take it everyday if that is how you and your doctor discuss it... but if you are truly worried about becoming dependent or addicted, you shouldn't take it everyday. I am worried about dependence and addiction even though my psychiatrist assures me that I will not become addicted. I only take the medicine if I need it. I'll take my Adderall XR at the start of my day and if I'm done with school in the early afternoon and only going to relax for the rest of the day, I will skip my second dose. No need for extra drugs circulating in my bloodstream. Likewise, if I'm just relaxing or doing things around the house, I'll completely skip my Adderall for the day. Sometimes I'll go all weekend without taking it. I've also noticed that if I DON'T take it everyday, the days that I *do* take it, I feel the effects a little more. Hope that makes sense! :D

All in all, it is up to you (and your doctor of course). Just discuss everything with your doctor and hopefully you'll have a great experience like I did! Making you feel totally involved in your treatment (check out my other posts).

I agree with cactus.Ive thought the same thing.