j.e.
08-18-07, 02:03 AM
Hey everyone. I'm new here-- was diagnosed with ADHD years ago, but didn't start trying to treat it until now. (This forum is amazing, I really wish I'd found it back then; for years I bought into all that crap about ADD being "fake," and couldn't figure out why my life always seemed to be falling apart compared to my friends' daily existences.) Anyway, this may be a little long, but please, please, please bear with me. I could really use some advice on these medications...
So, I tried Concerta first, up to 54mg, and while it made my daily life better, I still had trouble focusing on work, so I switched over to Adderall. I've tried different preparations, mostly of XR. But at one point my doc prescribed 15mg of the regular Adderall (which the pharmacy filled with the generic mixed amphetamine salts; don't know if that matters). For about 3 to 4 hours after taking that, I felt great: not manic or hyper, but like I finally had my sh*t together. But it always wore off suddenly, always within 4 hours, at which point I was drop-kicked back my original, uncaffeinated self. (Which is to say, basically unable to function. I was a hard-core caffeine junkie from about age 12 on, and I've only been able to kick the habit once I started these medications.)
Because the regular Adderall was useless outside of those 3-4 hrs, my doc went back to prescribing the XR. But the 20 mg XR felt weak by comparison. So now I'm supposed to be taking two of the 15mg XR pills, two times a day. The thing is, I could swear I'm getting some of the jittery effects and hyperfocus now, which I hadn't been experiencing before. There have been a few nights where I wound up staying awake until like 5 a.m., at least twice because I got caught up doing things that were by no means crucial, I just got really into them and didn't feel like sleeping. And while I can focus, sort of, it's not necessarily a good focus: I'll feel either jittery and kinda on-edge-- so my focus will be jarred by the edginess/mild anxiety-- or hyperfocused, or unable to shift between things, or something... but at any rate it doesn't feel quite 'normal', I don't know how else to put it.
It's only been about two weeks on this last dose. I had also been trying Lexapro out for about a week and a half, and I went off it right before I moved up to my current dose of the XR, so I'm not sure if there were any effects from that that were playing a part. Should I give it more time? Since I went straight from 20mg XR (tho often with a 15mg regular "boost" to be able to really get work done), to 30mg XR 2x/day, I'm wondering if it would be worth trying out something like 25mg XR? Or maybe I should just reconcile myself to taking the 15mg regular preparation every 3 1/2 hours, I don't know. Ack!
Has anyone out there actually found that the regular Adderall (specifically, the generic mixed amph. salts) actually works better for them, somehow, than the XR preparation? Or have I just not found the right XR dose? I would so appreciate any thoughts you guys would care to offer... Anyone?
(p.s. I wondered if I should factor citric acid consumption into the picture, but my doc says I shouldn't worry because if it does affect Adderall, it's minimal, and would only slow it down a bit. Has anyone had any obvious effects/experiences re: citric acid, in terms of noticing a difference one way or the other? I read a list of citric acid-containing foods somewhere that included fruits, some vegetables, whole grains, yogurt, and flavored beverages, in addition to OJ, and that seemed freaking ridiculous to me-- if all those things really interfered with Adderall, it seems like it would barely work for anybody. Anyway, do any of you guys have reason to believe that citric acid can be a *significant* factor?)
So, I tried Concerta first, up to 54mg, and while it made my daily life better, I still had trouble focusing on work, so I switched over to Adderall. I've tried different preparations, mostly of XR. But at one point my doc prescribed 15mg of the regular Adderall (which the pharmacy filled with the generic mixed amphetamine salts; don't know if that matters). For about 3 to 4 hours after taking that, I felt great: not manic or hyper, but like I finally had my sh*t together. But it always wore off suddenly, always within 4 hours, at which point I was drop-kicked back my original, uncaffeinated self. (Which is to say, basically unable to function. I was a hard-core caffeine junkie from about age 12 on, and I've only been able to kick the habit once I started these medications.)
Because the regular Adderall was useless outside of those 3-4 hrs, my doc went back to prescribing the XR. But the 20 mg XR felt weak by comparison. So now I'm supposed to be taking two of the 15mg XR pills, two times a day. The thing is, I could swear I'm getting some of the jittery effects and hyperfocus now, which I hadn't been experiencing before. There have been a few nights where I wound up staying awake until like 5 a.m., at least twice because I got caught up doing things that were by no means crucial, I just got really into them and didn't feel like sleeping. And while I can focus, sort of, it's not necessarily a good focus: I'll feel either jittery and kinda on-edge-- so my focus will be jarred by the edginess/mild anxiety-- or hyperfocused, or unable to shift between things, or something... but at any rate it doesn't feel quite 'normal', I don't know how else to put it.
It's only been about two weeks on this last dose. I had also been trying Lexapro out for about a week and a half, and I went off it right before I moved up to my current dose of the XR, so I'm not sure if there were any effects from that that were playing a part. Should I give it more time? Since I went straight from 20mg XR (tho often with a 15mg regular "boost" to be able to really get work done), to 30mg XR 2x/day, I'm wondering if it would be worth trying out something like 25mg XR? Or maybe I should just reconcile myself to taking the 15mg regular preparation every 3 1/2 hours, I don't know. Ack!
Has anyone out there actually found that the regular Adderall (specifically, the generic mixed amph. salts) actually works better for them, somehow, than the XR preparation? Or have I just not found the right XR dose? I would so appreciate any thoughts you guys would care to offer... Anyone?
(p.s. I wondered if I should factor citric acid consumption into the picture, but my doc says I shouldn't worry because if it does affect Adderall, it's minimal, and would only slow it down a bit. Has anyone had any obvious effects/experiences re: citric acid, in terms of noticing a difference one way or the other? I read a list of citric acid-containing foods somewhere that included fruits, some vegetables, whole grains, yogurt, and flavored beverages, in addition to OJ, and that seemed freaking ridiculous to me-- if all those things really interfered with Adderall, it seems like it would barely work for anybody. Anyway, do any of you guys have reason to believe that citric acid can be a *significant* factor?)