Hi, I'm 30 and recently started ADD medication. Doctor first put me on Adderall and was doing 40 mg a day. I like it, I think it's helping me, though maybe not as much as I was expecting, but definitely an improvement. I asked the doc to give me a focalin prespriction to try it out before I decide I want to stick to amphetamine. I'm taking 10 mg twice a day for a total of 20 mg. Is this a high dose? Should I try and take 5 mg twice a day instead of 10? I feel really weird when I take my pill in the morning. I'm spaced out, heart beating fast, feel as if in a daze... I mean I know that not eveyone with ADD will benefit from methylphenidate, but are the negative effects supposed to be this bad? Should I just stick to amphetamine since it's working?

Hi aydeedee, and welcome to the forums.

Sounds to me that you should ask your Dr about this in order to be safe & sure.

My Dr never took any issue at all concerning me reducing my dose for something like that, but it's always best to call your Dr or pharmacist to get some solid answers. ;)

Keep us posted on how it all unfolds for you.

Well I'm in the process of moving to another state and I won't be seeing this doctor any more. I'm just curious as to what it feels like when a specific medication isn't working for you. I only took Focalin sunday and monday, and it did the same thing to me. Today I'm back on amphetamine and I feel great. Looks like I'm sticking to this.

My 8 year old son takes 20mg xr plus 2.5mg tablets morning and night. Age does not have anything to do with the dosage. Your body will tell you how much you need if you listen to it. 2 days is not enough time to give the meds a chance for your body to adjust. With my son if his meds are too high too serious and possibly more OCD. If it is too low his hypereactive and fidgity. Getting the diagnosage is the easy part the fine tuing the meds is the hard part.