I'm only on day three. My doctor prescribed me 20 mg XR, and it starts to fade between 10 and 11 hours. Those hours over the last three days have been remarkable, heavenly. Days one and two when it wore off, I was a little tired, but I stayed in a great mood from having such focused, productive time and clear thoughts. Today as it started to wear off, I started to feel down. My thoughts became chaotic again, I started having trouble finishing sentences (mind moves so much faster than mouth, as you know) and my motivation to do ANYTHING disappeared. I finally figured out why this was making me so sad. After all, it was just going back to "normal", right? Well, it's like those movies where a blind person has some kind of miracle operation that restores his sight, but in the end it doesn't take, and he starts going blind again. That's how I'm feeling, and I wish that the medication lasted longer. I don't see the doctor again for 3 1/2 weeks - will I start to get used to the fade and tolerate it better? Is it just because the clarity and focus I've experienced with Adderal is all shiny and new that I feel so sad when it cuts out? I hope some of you who've used it for a while can let me know if this is normal and, I hope, temporary.

Welcome Faylen.


I have been on Adderall XR for over a year or so now. I am not new to meds, but I was off of them for a long time. By the time I came back to them, they had the long acting!

It's normal in the beginning to start you off low. Everyone is different, and for some 20mg may be all they need. That is the point of leaving you on for the first month to see. Then they ususally move you up gradually. I started on 20mg, went to 30mg and topped out at 40mg. Which worked well. It lasted longer than the other 2. I typically took it on the way out the door about 7am, and it lasted until about the time I got home 6pm. The problem was that I still had to be home with the kids...make dinner, get them and me organized for the next day..and do HOMEWORK>.aargh.. After the Adderall wore off..I was not interested in doing much but vegging out! LOL

So I talked to my doctor, and he suggested taking a 20mg normal time, then another 20mg about 11am or so, then it lasted into the evening leaving about 9-10 pm...the only issue I had then was by the time it wore off , the perverbial rebound hit, and I couldn't sleep. So for awhile I had to take something to help me sleep. I choose a herbal remedy versus pharmacutical. I asked him of course befor taking that too.

I did that on heavy work and home days. Heavy homework days esp,cleaning days, or the dreaded errands after work days. The rest of the time, I just took my regular one dose per day.

It's different for all of us. Some can do fine on small doses, some need to split, and some need short acting in between? I would keep a log of how you are feeling over the next 3 weeks so you are prepared to tell him what's been going on. Just make sure you take it with you! LOL...
This will help him make a better judgmnt where you are losing it and where you need it more?

Hope that helps. Hang in there, being new to meds can be frustrating sometimes. It takes most of us so long to finally get dx and get meds..we just want everything fixed NOW! But finding the perfect "mix" for us to function is not always easy and it's not always "quickly". You just have to do the very thing that is hardest for us as ADDer's ...BE PATIENT! :faint:

In the long run you will be happier, taking the time to find what works for you best. You have been ADD your whole life, you can't "fix" it, for lack of a better word, in one day, one week, or sometimes months.

Let us know how you are doing....:)

my experience was more like a war zone, I nicknamed it "Adderall Rage", it was nasty for me. I like the 30 mg tablets 2 of them in the morning and one twice a day dose. 120 mg per day is rough though. Zombie dose.

Mspen ...sorry to hear you had a bad experience. As many of us have had.
I hope you are doing better now?
You can't give up. Quality of life is very important, to me.

I have been on and off many things since I was originally dx in 1994.
It has not been easy, but I am happy to report it was all worth it now that I have found balance. My hope is always for people to "stick" it out and find the same thing, so they can get on with their lives. ;)

It's funny - I guess I was calmer because I knew it was coming today. It probably also helped that I was out of the house just doing some shopping with hubby and the kids (more browsing than shopping). I'm going to try to keep a diary of the effects, partly for myself, partly for the skeptical psychiatrist. I read a book today for almost an hour and didn't have to re-read a single page - that's miraculous, IMO.

Well that's good news then. Especially if you were out shopping. Man that will really send me for a loop. And yep reading wihtout re-reading was one of my first clues meds were working! :)


Sometimes it gets better after the initial "physical" side effects subside...after in the beginning our bodies react like most peoples do ....but we get used to it, and often don't even notice wheather we took it or not...but everyone else does! :faint: