Ok, I've been taking Adderall 20mg XR for a little over month now. I went through the euphoric phaze - which lasted 3-5 days - of the medicine when I first started it. As much as I liked the euphoric feeling (after months of not feeling well, it was welcome relief), I knew it wouldn't last as my body adjusted to the medication. But now I'm wondering if it's working.

I'm at about week 5-6 and some of the things Adderall seemed to correct early on I no longer feel. I feel tired, and a bit sluggish again - altough not as bad before beginning the meds. I feel like it's hard for me to have a conversation and finding the words that I want to say. It's quite hard to explain. I feel a slight sorta headache (without much pain if that makes sense) feeling, and my mind draws blank. It's as if my brain has some pressure applied, but not enough to hurt. My neck also has a weird sensation while driving. It's as if I need to crack it, or rest it against the head-rest. It just feels weird. I am also getting the procrastination type feelings again. It's as if I just want to sit still and drift off into something that will occupy my time.

So my questions are...

1) Is this normal? I decided not to increase yet.
2) Are there different phazes of the medication?
3) Will/can things get better in a week or month?
4) I know the Euphoric feeling wasn't ideal, but will I be somewhere inbetween that and what I am feeling now? Or is what I'm feeling now the best that it will get without trying to increase?

Thanks for your help and compassion!

Sounds like your dose may be too high and that your blood pressure may be up. The same thing happens to me, loss of words I want to say and the feeling of pressure inside the body. That would probably indicate your blood pressure is being raised by the drug. You may want to get that checked out.

I was going to say the same as the above^ but I wasn't sure enough about it to post it at the time. It sounds like your dose is too high and/or you have started to become toxic (not the same as OD, it is a large level of the drug building up in your body through chronic moderate-high doses). I immediately thought of this because you sound just like me when I was taking/take a larger than prescribed dose (Rx'd 60mg/d, Becomes maybe 80-90mg) over some time (about 3 weeks to a month for me).

I suggest lowering your dosage and maybe talking with doc about tapering off/short med holiday so you dont develop severe anxiety like I did. You don't want to stay toxic too long or you may develop new and/or harsher side effects. I refrain from touching long-term damage as i've seen compelling arguements saying it both does and does not cause long term effects. However, in the event that it does harm you somehow in the long term, I can assure you that being toxic with adderall for some time will play a big role. (Not to worry, not nearly long enough for you).

:eyebrow:

Thanks! I'm glad that I asked here before doing anything. Because as much as I hate to admit it my two ideas were...

1.) To take an extra 20mg in the day to see how I feel. (Obviously not a good idea - especially if I already have too much. I have the XR so there is no way to safely split it up. Thanks to your comments I won't even consider it.)

2) Talk to my Docotor about increaseing the medication. (I automatically assumed that the drop in "feeling good" was directly related to not having enough of the medication.)

I will shedule an appointment this week, and have my blood pressure and blood-work re-evaluated. I don't need referrals for these types of test, but I will contact my doctor first. Is there any particular part of bloodwork that I can have looked at to see if toxicity is the cause?


==== Some History If your interested ====
Thanks for your generous informative posts. I think this is how I messed up my treatment about a year or 2 ago. I began to feel like this, and so I hoarded my meds. In other wordws I would skip a few days, just so that I can take 2x's to 3x' the dose on an intense day. Eventually I wound up feeling worse than without Adderall which led me to ween off the medication and stop altogether. The "toxicity" effect (if that's what I experienced cleared up), but I was right back where I started - being untreated for my ADD sympotoms for a year and a half.

It took a toll on my relationships, my personal sense of mental well being and physical health. Additionally it effected my career. I should have been in line for a promotion, but I just teetered off on my responsibilities. In some sense I am "lucky" I work for a job that is more understanding than most jobs out there. I work for a school in a Civil Service Position capacity (backed by an association/"union": - so I can't really just be fired, and it's rare that one is rewarded for going above and beyond the job scope. Most people do the minimum required and collect a check. I have never been like that.

I think a lot of us with ADD are perfectionist and "interna"l over-achievers, but this can be a curse. I have a hard time completing gran ideas, and my fear of starting projects because I constanlty backtrack to make everything perfect. I tend to get everywhere and nowhere at the same time. It's hard to explain to Administrators why I have a 20 page checklist with not one area 100% complete.

A few months ago an Administrative position (promotion) opportunity came up. Although I have a storng worth ethic, my project management reports didn't speak of a person who is dedicated to their job.