I am very curious as to how long after you started taking your medication (i.e. adderall) to know that this was what you had been missing your whole life? That this was what you needed to complete who you were?

I take Adderall XR, and I know most people say instantly, but at first I felt very weird on my medication. I def had concerns. I knew it was helping me with my work, but I felt like my personality was actually out of control right after I started taking it. It took me prob about three weeks to adjust to the meds and realize that just because I responded differently to certain things because of the medicine didn't mean that it was a bad thing.

I think it took me longer phsychologically to adjust than physically (the initial euphoria helped with that:))

Anyone else have comments about this?

hey shellie,

i have noticed from some of your other posts that we probably have shared some of the same initial side effects.:)

a little breakdown on my situation...i started taking adderall xr 10mg and felt ok for the first couple of weeks...then i started to feel very weird physically and like you said, like my personality was changing by the minute! I felt physically out of whack, bloated, tired yet anxious, ravenous, thirsty although i was drinking about a gallon of water each day...anyways, just as the foul physical effects were starting to level my doc upped my dosage to 20mg xr...back to the drawing board. First week was great, second week and this week were both terrible...actually though today was quite good, until one little thing happened and it set me off and brought me way back down. Crying spells have been more frequent and relentless...however one little compliment from a co-worker lifted my spirits instantly...:confused:

Im really not sure how to handle this med. I feel that the more i dwell on it the more anxious i get and the worse i end up feeling...

even though i think im feeling worse, my doc says that the fact that i am actually sleeping better is a good physical sign that someting is working (as i am on wellbutrin for depression as well). I had not had a solid night sleep without sleep aid for at least 2 years, and now since ive started the wellbutrin xl/adderall xr i am falling asleep and sleeping through the night.

so i dont know how long its going to take to feel like this is the right thing for me, i would be interested in hearing other people's responses...its been about 6 weeks since ive started the adderall and overall yes i feel much more focused and attentive, but there are times when i feel even less attentive than before starting, and more depressed than ever, though im hearing that the depression could be due to other past factors surfacing now, and just a part of the meds helping me heal???...but i guess one bad week is worth going through in order to have 3 good ones, as opposed to the reverse...

btw shellie, have you ever increased your doseage? i noticed from another post that you said 2-3 weeks before that awful foggy/irritable feeling wore off, and like i said thats what i felt at first and just as i felt a little better the doc increased my dose and now im back to that awful feeling again. im hoping that its just due to the increase and that it will wear off like it was starting to before.

I know the med is good for me, just because I feel like it has really helped me at work and at home as far as cleaning and organizing and getting things done. But yes, my doc also upped me about a month ago from 20xr to 30xr and i felt the same thing again. This week, I am just now feeling more like myself again AND noticing the meds still working. So this is a good sign.

Good to know you have been through the same thing...thanks for posting!

I was expecting to feel this amazing shift, like a switch being flipped, within a few days. It took about a month on the Adderall for me, though, and it was very subtle: no big WOW effect.