I know this is a question i should ask my doctor and im going to. He also said i can experiment with the IR tabs to see which combo works for me, but i dont want to approach dangerous levels of the drug(what are the upper limits of dosage?)

Let me give you a little background: diagnosed with add at 10yrs old took ritalin until mid high school when i stopped taking it because it made me jittery. So bascially no medication between mid highschool and my senior year of college(~5-6years). Then i learned about adderall a couple months ago, i read that it was the add wonder drug. The worst part is that my dad has been taking it for his add and i never knew!! Anyhoo, i went to my doctor a few months ago to give adderall a try. So i tried the adderall instant release 10mg tabs, i took 2 a day, didnt really feel any different, then i took 2 in the morning and 1 in the afternoon, not much of a difference. So i thought i would try adderall xr, i took 30mg adderall xr, didnt really feel anything. So today i experimented and took 60mg of adderall xr!! AND AGAIN, NO EFFECT!!! What gives!!?? I hate the way ritalin makes me feel, it doesnt help my concentration(10mg) and it makes me jittery and nervous. So now i try adderall, the supposed add wonder drug and nothing, the only difference i feel is an increased ability to pick out the intstruments in music anda more pronounced pulse(pulse is around 75 relaxed, could also be due to the 5 or 6 diet cokes i have a day LOL ,i dont really exercise). Also i suck at making paragraphs, sorry! LOL!

so in conclusion, how can i determine what dosage is right for me? What am i supposed to feel? How do i know if i am taking too much, i.e. what are the symptoms? What are the symptoms of too little a dose? Even on 30 and 60mg i still day dream and react to random sounds/noises.


thanks to all that can help.

it should also be noted that i dont feel hyper or sped up on 60mg xr. Just same ole same ole.

Taking tooo much gives me a head ache. I don't feel my medications at all I know they are working because I could read most of what you wrote in one sitting. I still had to choose to sit and read but I was able to read the entire thing by choice.

When my medications wear off I become spacey I do a lot of wandering but not much doing. If you take the medications with citric acid (orange juice and stuff) it will decrease the absorption of the medications and they will not work.

XR = extended release meaning the medication will release over an extended period of time. I can not take extended any thing for some reason I do not absorb it very well, so I am on regular release Adderall.

i feel ya on the reading thing, its so hard for me to read through articles here. I think im going to to take 40mg IR this morning and see what happens

edit: ive read mixed things about whether body weight matters or not, but im about 6' 210#

on more question, what is considered a tic? I just took my 40mg about ~30-40mins ago and im bouncing my leg up and down(i also do this off medication) unconciously but i dont feel hyper. is that a tic?

welp, few hours later after the 40mg IR tabs. Not much of a difference, it did cause a high heart rate and it made me want to space out even more. I dont have a headache from it. I wasnt hyper or anything, pretty much the same except for a tad more spaced out-ness. I wonder if this is too much or too little. After this wears off, im going to lower my does extreme, like to ~5mg and see what that does.

am i taking too much if i get spaced out even more than i normally am?

also, pre-adderall i only wanted a cigarette occasionally, now that im on adderall i bought a pack of cigarettes and went through a pack in 2 days, i have done this 2 times since my high dosage test with adderall.

I know they are working because I could read most of what you wrote in one sitting. I still had to choose to sit and read but I was able to read the entire thing by choice.

When my medications wear off I become spacey I do a lot of wandering but not much doing..
Yeah that's how I know my meds are working too! :p :D

When its the right med and dose, my attention is pretty focused, I can read without getting tired/spacey/struggling. Also I don't feel lazy or "dopey".

ehh, the more and more i read and research, i dont think adderall is for me... I think i need a dopamine producer, and not a dopamine reuptake blocker.

He's asking for a 'dopamine producer' -- does this make any sense? Is there even such thing? I'm not a doctor but I always thought everyone had enough dopamine in their body, it's just, the reason we are add/adhd is because the dopamine isn't sufficient in a certain region of our brain and adderall will extract out what we already have and force it into the right areas

and so I thought that if adderall doesn't work, it's just simply because everyone's body chemistry is different and that's why.... not becuase your brain doesn't have dopamine to begin with

??????? maybe im wrong

I've never read anything anywhere about people not having dopamine to begin with and that's why they are add....

I understood it like we all have it, its just not in the right place (enough of it), so we are add because of that and the drug will increase the concentration of dopamine IN THE FRONTAL LOBE REGION either by adderall (reversing) or blocking (ritalin)

He's asking for a 'dopamine producer' -- does this make any sense? Is there even such thing? I'm not a doctor but I always thought everyone had enough dopamine in their body, it's just, the reason we are add/adhd is because the dopamine isn't sufficient in a certain region of our brain and adderall will extract out what we already have and force it into the right areas

and so I thought that if adderall doesn't work, it's just simply because everyone's body chemistry is different and that's why.... not becuase your brain doesn't have dopamine to begin with

??????? maybe im wrong

I've never read anything anywhere about people not having dopamine to begin with and that's why they are add....

I understood it like we all have it, its just not in the right place (enough of it), so we are add because of that and the drug will increase the concentration of dopamine IN THE FRONTAL LOBE REGION either by adderall (reversing) or blocking (ritalin)
dunno if its true or not, its just a mildly-educated theory i have.

I think you should ask your doctor, call in, etc. Or get a new doctor. Start seeing a psychologist. But IMO I never once considered add to be 'no dopamine'. You have all kinds of drugs to try if adderall doesn't work. strattera, focalin, dexedrine.

adderall is 4 amphetamine salts mixed

so if u havent tried dexedrine or something thats just 1 amphetamine salt not 4

Amphetamines

Amphetamines are drugs used to combat fatigue. Like cocaine, amphetamines increase the concentration of dopamine in the synaptic gap, but by a different mechanism. Amphetamines are similar in structure to dopamine, and so can enter the terminal button of the presynaptic neuron via its dopamine transporters as well as by diffusing through the neural membrane directly. As the animation to the right shows, once inside the presynaptic neuron, amphetamines force the dopamine molecules out of their storage vesicles and expel them into the synaptic gap by making the dopamine transporters work in reverse.

Amphetamines also seem to act by several other mechanisms. For example, they seem to reduce the reuptake of dopamine and, in high concentrations, to inhibit monoamine oxydase A (MAO-A).

Amphetamines may also excite dopaminergic neurons via glutamate neurons. Amphetamines would thus remove an inhibiting effect due to metabotropic glutamate receptors. By thus releasing this natural brake, amphetamines would make the dopaminergic neurons more readily excitable.

http://thebrain.mcgill.ca/flash/i/i_03/i_03_m/i_03_m_par/i_03_m_par_amphetamine.html

So--adderall is more like a dopamine pump that helps to force the dopamine out of its locked state and then slows down its reuptake - whereas ritalin only inhibits reuptake. You won't find a much more effective prescription for increasing the amount of usuable dopamine in your brain.

Please someone correct me if I've got this wrong.

Lunar...

If you're MORE spacey then you've taken TOO much!

You really should clarify w/ your doc.

I think you should ask your doctor, call in, etc. Or get a new doctor. Start seeing a psychologist. But IMO I never once considered add to be 'no dopamine'. You have all kinds of drugs to try if adderall doesn't work. strattera, focalin, dexedrine.

adderall is 4 amphetamine salts mixed

so if u havent tried dexedrine or something thats just 1 amphetamine salt not 4 I am seeing a psychologist and i plan on bringing up a list of points and seeing what his thoughts on them are. Ive only seen him twice.

You're not comprehending what i'm saying. Ok, lets say a "normal" person produces 10mg of dopamine an hour(total made up figure) and a certain "type" of ADD'er produces 8mg/hr. What i am trying to convey is that maybe i am only producing 4mg of dopamine per hour(again, total made up number for sake of clarification), which is why im looking for a dopamine "booster" instead of just a simple reuptake blocker/reverser.

The reason i am making such a big deal out of this, with theories and lists and whatnot is i want to make an educated choice as to what meds i want to start with. If the first batch of meds i choose works great, than my research and hard work paid off. If not then i need to reevaluate my attatck strategy. I do not want to just blindly pick medication and if it doesnt work go on to the next, etc... I'd rather be informed and make educated decisions in the hopes that it might only take ~3 months to find the correct combo rather than ~8 months to find one that works without making educated decisions.(numbers made up)

Amphetamines

Amphetamines are drugs used to combat fatigue. Like cocaine, amphetamines increase the concentration of dopamine in the synaptic gap, but by a different mechanism. Amphetamines are similar in structure to dopamine, and so can enter the terminal button of the presynaptic neuron via its dopamine transporters as well as by diffusing through the neural membrane directly. As the animation to the right shows, once inside the presynaptic neuron, amphetamines force the dopamine molecules out of their storage vesicles and expel them into the synaptic gap by making the dopamine transporters work in reverse.

Amphetamines also seem to act by several other mechanisms. For example, they seem to reduce the reuptake of dopamine and, in high concentrations, to inhibit monoamine oxydase A (MAO-A).

Amphetamines may also excite dopaminergic neurons via glutamate neurons. Amphetamines would thus remove an inhibiting effect due to metabotropic glutamate receptors. By thus releasing this natural brake, amphetamines would make the dopaminergic neurons more readily excitable.

http://thebrain.mcgill.ca/flash/i/i_03/i_03_m/i_03_m_par/i_03_m_par_amphetamine.html

So--adderall is more like a dopamine pump that helps to force the dopamine out of its locked state and then slows down its reuptake - whereas ritalin only inhibits reuptake. You won't find a much more effective prescription for increasing the amount of usuable dopamine in your brain.

Please someone correct me if I've got this wrong.

Lunar...
Thanks for the info Lunar. I have bolded the key words in your reply for my comparison.

Is there a medication that will cause a production of more dopamine instead of just pumping it out from an already present source(Adderall) or blocking/reversing its reuptake(Adderall). Does that make sense? Is this type of medication even plausible?

I would discuss these theories with your doctor, if you already have one picked out, but chances are the doctor is going to want to add his expertise to your theories. There are methods for determining what dose of any medication to take...you take enough ADHD meds to gain clarity without becoming manic or having extreme side effects and that's where you stop.

Really, this stuff is up to the doctor dude. Your doctor may be anti-stimulant, and prefer not to RX them at all. Or he may adhere to a certain round of medications in the search for the right one. HE MAY NOT GIVE YOU A CHOICE NO MATTER HOW MUCH RESEARCH YOU DO. Its a good idea to be an intelligent consumer, always, but I have seen many a psychiatrist in my day and most of them preferred that I allowed THEM to be the doctor. They have those little things called "degrees" for a reason after all.