I just want to report my own personal failure with Adderal XR. I cannot drink anything other than water, and I cannot eat anything while the medication is in my system or the effects of the med become useless, and I become tired to the point that I can scarcely open my eyes. It has taken me almost 2 hours at times to even begin to feel positive effects upon my symptomatology. I absolutely do not get any more than 6-7 hours decent effects. This medication just does not suit me or my lifestyle at present.

I do have to say that the rebound edges are much smoother than I have experienced on IR Ritalin, which I had previously been using as a booster to my Concerta. I am thinking to ask for Dexadrine to supplement Concerta at my next appointment in the hopes that the edges will be less sharp and allow me to escape the hypomania that Ritalin was triggering.

And I fully intend to ask for my 81mgs Concerta back!

Y'all wish me luck please? I see Doc W in 2 days, on Thursday :)

Is your Adderall XR dosage smaller than your Concerta dosage?

I take adderall ir, and adderall xr didn't do sh*t for me.

Yes but the doses are roughly equivalent...81mgs Concerta to 60mgs Adderall XR. Its strange that I find Concerta to work better as far as taking off in the AM, since I am only getting 1/3 of my total dose as opposed to 1/2.

I guess I am just a good example of the "what works great for some people sucks for others" caveat, huh?

wow. I was gonna ask earlier but why did you switch from your concerta to adderall xr? Were you taking 60mg of XR at once or 30mg in the morning and 30 later on?
Amen to your comment about how these thing effect people differently.
Concerta was a disaster for me. Worked great for a few hours then nearly put me to sleep.
I'm trying Focalin XR courtesy of the free coupon on their website. Way better than Concerta without the side-effects. Not sure if I like it better than Adderall XR or not but it's free.

J

60mgs Adderal XR all at once; it takes that much to bring me to clarity. I did not think I could stand the edges on the Ritalin I was using at night to supplement the Concerta, and increasing Concerta does not get me any better longer-lasting results. So we decided to see what the amphetamine class might do for me.

I do not regret it because I know now that the D-amphetamine will be a smoother ride if I switch my supplemental meds over to Dex. It was a worthy experiment, but now really...enough is enough and gimme back my Concerta!

I get no side effects from Concerta. Interesting how we have such varying results from person to person isn't it?

Heya Crazy, been a long time! Concerta wasn't working long enough for me, and Ritalin seemed to work better for me at a lesser dosage, but the SR didn't work long enough, so I'm now on Ritalin LA, I had to get special permission from my insurance. I don't know how poor regular Ritalin made you feel, but I just thought I would mention a different option.

Thanks Chloe but no, I really dislike the 50/50 mechanism and I have already tried Metadate CD, which is not so different from Ritalin LA, and positively loathed it.

Concerta was fine, really, as long as I supplement it in the evening when it wears off. :)

Fascinating results to say the least. Once your back on Concerta you might want to experiment (with doc's approval of course) with adding in Focalin or Focalin XR.

There is a huge difference between Focalin XR and Concerta (at least for me). Probably along the same lines as the amphatmine camp compares Dexedrine with Adderall.

My primary care doc actually decided to punt and finally admitted he really doesn't know how to properly dose and treat ADD too well. My visit to my neurologist is later this week so I'll try my options with him.

J

Thanks! That's always a back-burner option after we see what my PITA RX plan has to say about it :rolleyes: those pencil-pushing jerks! LOL...at least I know they will pay for Concerta plus supplemental IR meds.

This stuff really can drive you crazy. For me, Adderall actually made me depressed, Focalin did nothing at all, and my Doc's "what the heck" last shot with an amph. class, Dextrostat, was like a miracle. It even ended a 20-year insomnia streak which nothing prior even made a dent in. Try explaining to people you take a dose of "speed" that would keep most people up all night, and 20 minutes later you're relaxed and asleep. The only other things I learned that may helpful are, as stated in a prior post, with this class of med, diet is huge. If I take my morning med with coffee, or anything acidic, for example, it's like I never even took it. I've also found extreme stress both lowers the effectiveness and duration of the therapeutic value. I also prefer not to take the XR version; for some reason they never work as well for me.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>

That's what I am shooting for DJ...Taking the Dex after I eat supper and hopefully that gets me through all the bathing and bedtime rituals I go through with the kids. That is just no time of day for me to be unmedicated!

Crazy,

Same here, I just stopped taking the 20mg XR.
I had a very disappointing visit with my doc yesterday. I explained that I get sleep attacks in the afternoon when it wears off and it only lasts about 4-5 hours for me. The doc did not make any changes in meds or even offer to do so.
I have already scheduled an appt. with a new doc next week and we'll see how that goes.
Keep us posted.
S

You keep me posted too! Same Crazy Thread, Same Crazy Channel :D

My doc is a total peach :) basically I do my own extensive research with a little help (or a LOT of help) from an excellent friend of mine--you know who you are ;) and I present him with my info. If my info is good, we follow that path and if my info could be better? We go that way. Its a very 50/50 thing with me and Doc W. I wish everybody had such an understanding doctor; good luck and best wishes that you find yours! Maybe you can give Concerta a try and it will work for you, too, hopefully.

I know too well about those sleep attacks. I feel like I could just fall asleep in my soupbowl! This is so not-cool with an active toddler and hyper child in the house!

why did you change CF, I know you did well with the ritalin LA

Because Concerta was only lasting me right up until the part of the day when I had to cook and get my children ready for bed :( I burnt myself several times due to my severe distraction during rebound. My doc added Ritalin (IR) and that gave me such such sharp rebounds that it would send me hypomanic despite my mood stabilizer. Taking more Concerta than my 81mgs does not help me any more than the 81mgs...I have reached my saturation point with that particular medication. We tried Adderall just to see if that medication would provide a smoother rebound edge, and it does.

That is why I am hoping that a Concerta/Dex combo will work for me. You are one of the people I got the idea from with your Ritalin/Dex combo :) I plan to ask for my old Concerta 81mgs back and use the Dex for my evening booster doses, hoping to avoid the Ritalin jagged edge that was provoking my hypomania.

Wish me luck? One more day...One more day...One more day...One more day...One more day...One more day...:cool:

how on earth do you sleep?

how on earth do you sleep?What's that supposed to mean? I sleep better medicated than unmedicated and I would not be at my current dose if it was not what I needed. I have been taking stimulants for 8 months; I think I would have noticed if I were high by now.

i didnt say anything like that. i was just wondering how you sleep if you take ritalin at night. sorry if it came out wrong. i am having TERRIBLE insomnia (with or without meds).

Oh well, I actually sleep better if I am medicated! Otherwise I suffer terribly from "flying mind" and other inattentive goodies (Hey! What an interesting thought! And look! Another interesting thought...) :D I would never get any inner peace from my own mind if I did NOT take meds at night.

I have been sleeping bloody awful since I began Adderall...one more day...one more day...one more day...one more day...one more day...one more day...:cool:

Because Concerta was only lasting me right up until the part of the day when I had to cook and get my children ready for bed :( I burnt myself several times due to my severe distraction during rebound. My doc added Ritalin (IR) and that gave me such such sharp rebounds that it would send me hypomanic despite my mood stabilizer. Taking more Concerta than my 81mgs does not help me any more than the 81mgs...I have reached my saturation point with that particular medication. We tried Adderall just to see if that medication would provide a smoother rebound edge, and it does.

That is why I am hoping that a Concerta/Dex combo will work for me. You are one of the people I got the idea from with your Ritalin/Dex combo :) I plan to ask for my old Concerta 81mgs back and use the Dex for my evening booster doses, hoping to avoid the Ritalin jagged edge that was provoking my hypomania.

Wish me luck? One more day...One more day...One more day...One more day...One more day...One more day...:cool:so if you took this dosage for 10 years, would that do anything bad to your body? or your face? or skin? or anything like that? i'm trying to understand if its possible to be on the drug for 10 - 20 years and still be fine

so if you took this dosage for 10 years, would that do anything bad to your body? or your face? or skin? or anything like that? i'm trying to understand if its possible to be on the drug for 10 - 20 years and still be fineNode? I am not personally concerned about those issues :) I just want to live out what is left of my life in the best possible manner as far as functioning goes. For example, I am heavily tattooed, obviously I care little about how my skin ages. And no, I don't have Hepatitis either!

I plan to take this dose as long as it provides me relief. As far as my children go that remains to be seen. Do you want to ak me about my bipolar meds too?

Node? I am not personally concerned about those issues :) I just want to live out what is left of my life in the best possible manner as far as functioning goes. For example, I am heavily tattooed, obviously I care little about how my skin ages. And no, I don't have Hepatitis either!

I plan to take this dose as long as it provides me relief. As far as my children go that remains to be seen. Do you want to ak me about my bipolar meds too?

No I was just wondering (before i even read this thread) what the long term affects of add meds were. So judging by the posts that i've read from you, I figured you might be someone who plans on taking them for a long time (which isnt a bad thing), and you strike me as someone who knows more about this and has been on the drugs longer than me obviously (i havent even started, im about to)

so i was just wondering what do you think about long long term affects of it. i mean, my impression is, you could take add drugs as directed for 20 years, and be fine. like i wont degrade my body?? by doing that.. maybe its just an irrational fear. i just thought by taking an amphetamine (if thats what one takes, not you necessarily) for like 20 years, i wonder what that'd do to a persons body (if anything bad).. i mean if you can still be healthy and look healthy and still take an add drug for 20 years, then great. thats what i want to be and do

but sometimes i read about people talking about what a nightmare it was and how their skin changed or some weird stuff or how they have wrinkles and all kinds of stuff from amphetamine use. but they might have possibly been abusers and not people who take as directed. i think thats what it was

wasnt trying to offend or annoy you

No offense taken :) I am of the opinion that you mentioned, yes. I expect to continue taking my meds for my entire lifetime (may I live long and prosper V ) ;) especially my bipolar meds. Maybe I will slack off on stimulants as I age, because it may become appropriate at some point for Nana to just be kind of spacy and to drool in her dessert cup :D.

So that will hopefully add up to a long period of time. Naturally I keep my eyes peeled for any reseach that may indicate there are long-term effects to stimulant use (and by that I mean proper scientific studies).

You sure seem determined to find these answers and that's an admirable trait Node :) I once knew a Node in astrology chat, you remind me of him too! If you do find any evidence proving long-term ill effects I would certainly give it a read-over.

good luck :-)

it sound slike a brill idea to me :-)

Node? I am not personally concerned about those issues :) I just want to live out what is left of my life in the best possible manner as far as functioning goes. For example, I am heavily tattooed, obviously I care little about how my skin ages. And no, I don't have Hepatitis either!

I plan to take this dose as long as it provides me relief. As far as my children go that remains to be seen. Do you want to ak me about my bipolar meds too?

LOL..CF...you are a tad snappy today...you need SLEEP girl :eek: :D :eek:

(don't snap at me! LOL )

LOL..CF...you are a tad snappy today...you need SLEEP girl :eek: :D :eek:

(don't snap at me! LOL )Yes I need sleep...and Concerta!

16 more hours...16 more hours...16 more hours...16 more hours...16 more hours...16 more hours...:cool:

good luck :-)

it sound slike a brill idea to me :-)Shanks! Not long now....

Yes I need sleep...and Concerta!

16 more hours...16 more hours...16 more hours...16 more hours...16 more hours...16 more hours...:cool:what's the time there? I am guessing tea time, 5pm ish? :faint:

Shanks! Not long now....LOL, I saw that post, and replied, then as usual went back and read the other posts..LOL..that's why I posted one after the other :D I jumped in before I had read them all...big mouth me :D

Its 9 PM here, my appt. is at 1 PM tomorrow IF the freezing rain we are anticipating does not freeze everything up and shut everything down! :eek:

It better not! :faint:

Its 9 PM here, my appt. is at 1 PM tomorrow IF the freezing rain we are anticipating does not freeze everything up and shut everything down! :eek:

It better not! :faint:
sheez..we haven't seen a good downpour for so long..we have nearly forgotten what RAIN even is:(

Well its very hot here as a rule. I have recently been outside in bare feet and a Tshirt :D but we do get some torrential downpours. The people here do not do cold weather well, nor can they drive in ice and snow. It is a good thing I was raised up North because I know I can drive in ice and snow...but then I have to worry that everybody else will hit me driving like a fool :eek:.

My toddler is racing around here wide open :rolleyes: and I had planned to go to bed early and get a jump on bringing tomorrow here quicker. Little brat! LOL.

Steviefranchise,

Crazy hit the nail on the head. The only type of doc that really works is one that is open and listens to us. It took me three tries to find one like this. If you're on this board, you obviously take an active interest in addressing your particular issues. The key is presenting the doc with a rational, reasonable, fact based explanation of your thinking. For me, during my initial visits, that involved writing a list of things and bringing it with me. For some reason, if I didn't my mind would jump all over the place and I could never make my point. I have no idea why that happened...it was like I had a bad case of ADD or something!

LOL @ DJ *snort* Bad case of ADHD, funny thing is it seems like I have one too :eek: Imagine that!

An hour and a half until I see Doc W...2 1/2 hours until I get to go to the pharmacy...An hour and a half until I see Doc W...2 1/2 hours until I get to go to the pharmacy...An hour and a half until I see Doc W...2 1/2 hours until I get to go to the pharmacy...An hour and a half until I see Doc W...2 1/2 hours until I get to go to the pharmacy...An hour and a half until I see Doc W...2 1/2 hours until I get to go to the pharmacy...An hour and a half until I see Doc W...2 1/2 hours until I get to go to the pharmacy...:faint:

Metadate CD

OH no it did not do any thing good for you if I remember right.

Ritalin gave me heard aches when the effects started and rebound when the effects ended. Long acting medications don't seem to wrok well for me, so I will stick to my Adderall regular release.

You can have the concerta. . . .

Then we will both be happy

Happy hunting CF!

WELL I DID IT!! I got my Concerta 81 mgs with booster Dex for the evenings **doin' the happy dance** :D

OH no it did not do any thing good for you if I remember right.

Ritalin gave me heard aches when the effects started and rebound when the effects ended. Long acting medications don't seem to wrok well for me, so I will stick to my Adderall regular release.

You can have the concerta. . . .

Then we will both be happy

Happy hunting CF!You remember quite correctly! Metadate CD was a real horror show for me :eek: and if I never thanked you for being there for me during a truly horrible time?

Thanks! :)

I have to say that dex is the least triggerish for my bipolarity which is there due to my reaction to antidepressants whether i like to admit it or not but as far as the slammed out rebound effect which sends people flying (i am one of the hyper times 2 people when the meds wear off) and all of the rest of them sent me into a rage literally.

I have to say that dex is the least triggerish for my bipolarity which is there due to my reaction to antidepressants whether i like to admit it or not but as far as the slammed out rebound effect which sends people flying (i am one of the hyper times 2 people when the meds wear off) and all of the rest of them sent me into a rage literally.That's a very suuportive statement to say to me Matt, it gives me hope and reinforces my (perceived) intelligent choice of meds. I am sorry its so hard on you though :(.

So far so good not jagged rebound edge last night! :D and no mania.

with lamictal life goes a lot easier for me. A drug that really helps my depression without the "On the third day" manifestations of Paranoia or Grandeur that the SSRI's provide for me but yeah I was in a war zone on all other stims come rebound time and dex seems to be the best choice to help that. Being the atypical bipolar that I am I guess the fact that it doesn't come natural except for my good ol' mixed state depressions makes me jealous I guess.

I LOVE Lamictal! After all the problems I have had with side effects :rolleyes: I was so certain I would get 'THE RASH' but I don't get side effects at all, not even drowsiness. I wonder...would an increse in Lamictal help you avoid stim-induced mania? Or maybe adding an atypical antipsychotic? I take .5 Abilify 3 times a day and that has REALLY helped keep me from hitting the ceiling. Just tossing out ideas here, my 2C ya know what I mean?

Dexedrine rebound seems to be nonexistent after it levelled out and I get extremely restless due to the antipsychotic meds I have tried them all and the slightest bit of them give me the "akathesia" which takes the restlessness to the edge. I'm "feeling great" due to the lift in the mood and the lower level of dexedrine which may need to go back to 60 mg by adding a low long acting dose or two to even out the bounce in the step deal because knowing how I am I'll suggest trials of Cymbalta or Lexapro to get the manic high which I need to avoid. It tends to hit the fine line of hypomania with ritalin and Adderall at the time of rebound. But Im with you the CF when it comes to disasters with side effects on meds.

Can you go into the doctors office and just ask him/her to prescribe two meds at once that you think might work or do you have to start out on one and then add somewhere down the line? I've never heard of a doctor adding on another medication as well. My doctor usually just advised taking more or trying different times of the day, or going off altoghether and trying something new.

Is this something that I can suggest at the get go? It seems from what I am reading here many people are on two meds at the same time or one to compliment the other. Is this something that most doctors are willing to do?

Well Swede, from what I am have read many of us are very unhappy that even the long-acting meds do not last long enough for our daily lives. Some of us are pure-droolers off meds (like me, I have burnt myself several times while cooking during LA medication rebound). In that situation docs usually RX some IR meds to "boost" us through the rest of the day, and some people stagger doses of LA meds to get all-day relief. Its all in what works for you!

I had tried adding IR Ritalin as a booster to my Concerta because both are methylphenidate, so I was not actually adding another meds you see? Just a different form. But like Mspen, the rebound edges on Ritalin are just too sharp and shocking and for a bipolar that situation is likely to trigger mania or hypomania, like it did for me. This is why I gave Adderall a try: D-amphetamine, an ingredient in Adderall, has a half-life of 6 hours, the half-life of Ritalin is only 4 hours, hence the "sharper edges" are evident from Ritalin and less profound from D-amphetamine. I did discover from my trial of Adderall XR that my rebound experience was greatly lessened and not provoking mania...however I dislike the mechanism of Adderall, etc. (read former posts in this thread) and I decided to ask my doctor for pure IR D-amphetamine (Dex) to boost my evenings and save me from my inattentive self :D.

Now I have a very good doc who has ADHD himself and I simply explained about the half-life issue and since I have always been scrupulously honest with him, he agreed to the Dex/Concerta combo without a blink.

Day 2 did not go as well for me because my baby decided to wake at 4AM :faint: and I was exhausted...not a good way to test a new med! I will report back this evening after trying the Dex once more though. I am hopeful about this, because Dex does provide less shock to trigger manias in several of the people here and I hope to be among them very soon :).

ETA: I have been trying meds for ADHD and bipolar for 8 months and know quite a bit about what works for me and does not work for me now.

I have been on medications for my whole life and the reason I take the two that I do is because I have a long history with both of them by themselves for treating the issues I have. I have been on the cocktails from hell literally one was in my teenage years Lithium 1800 mg, Prozac 80 mg and Ritalin 160 mg I have been difficult to treat mostly due to my lack of addressing PTSD issues which I am a bit hyperfocused on now so I have been lucky being an ex recipient of the "Thorazine Shuffle" and two years ago I though I was damned to "permanent hypomania" due to the hyperactive aspect of my illness (there tends to be a fine line) and was hopeless and suicidal on a medley of medications and ready for electroconvulsive therapy but my previous doctor said with the extensive ADHD history that I should add a stimulant and that is what helped me. But my case is more severe due to PTSD and I have improved immensely due to addressing that

I too have done The Shuffle several times and even gone so far as to have a brief period of extrapyramidals :eek: when I was deemed psychotic (I was dissociative--and some docs never get to see a dissociative like me). I had been taking very low doses of 25 mgs Mellaril, like I now take low doses of Abilify (unavailable back when I was taking Mellaril), and some jerk unskilled with dissociation decided Mellaril == psychotic disorder and upped me to 300 mgs :faint:...I also did the Shuffle while testing my saturation point for Risperdal, long before we realized it was going to make me lactate (no fellas, that was NOT pretty!) and have so much edema.

I am glad not to Shuffle and even more glad that my extrapyramidals were not permenant, but I will always have to treat carefully regarding the antipsychotic class meds because of that past history...I'd like to track down that old doc who upped me to 300 and punch him right in the nose to this day :mad:.

I totally feel that part of my issues were lithium toxicity 3 times and a kidney stone, Mellaril and Risperdal tend to cause a male side effect almost up there with lactating but more of a lack thereof when it came to actual let's just call it being able to reproduce instead of just feeling like it. My mother being a combo of an adult child of an alcoholic as well as a psychiatrist impaired her ability as a parent and I never had the choice to want another med it was always considered noncompliance. Even as an adult I went through the mill just to be sure. I often was medicated for bad behavior. I still have a hard time not getting hyperaroused over my doc suggesting certain meds As far as swede63 is concerned trial and error seems to help and not all meds help with all symptoms.

Thanks CF I haved learned a lot from your posts (even though I have to read them and most other people posts quite a few times to "get it" :o :D I'm going to study this a bit more so I can be prepared for my appointment. I'm going to have a complete neuro/psych evaluation soon to test for ADD. With this information I can "arm myself" so to speak so that I can get the best care.
I guess it's all a matter of time and trial
Keep us posted and good luck:)

Thanks Swede and you are very welcome. :)

I just want to report my own personal failure with Adderal XR. I cannot drink anything other than water, and I cannot eat anything while the medication is in my system or the effects of the med become useless, and I become tired to the point that I can scarcely open my eyes. It has taken me almost 2 hours at times to even begin to feel positive effects upon my symptomatology. I absolutely do not get any more than 6-7 hours decent effects. This medication just does not suit me or my lifestyle at present.

I do have to say that the rebound edges are much smoother than I have experienced on IR Ritalin, which I had previously been using as a booster to my Concerta. I am thinking to ask for Dexadrine to supplement Concerta at my next appointment in the hopes that the edges will be less sharp and allow me to escape the hypomania that Ritalin was triggering.

And I fully intend to ask for my 81mgs Concerta back!

Y'all wish me luck please? I see Doc W in 2 days, on Thursday :)

damn, this sounds eerily like me. Although ive only been on adderall for about a month now and im still in teh experimental dosage stage. This worries me:(

I hate ritalin, and the adderall doesnt look like its working. damn damn damn

I hate having add, the only benefit is the high intelligence.

Well there is always Concerta and if not then Dex :).