Hey all,

Been a while since I checked in, mainly because Adderral has really helped me get my life on track. This month will be my third month on Adderall, and in that time I've learned a good bit.

First was that month one was interesting, to say the least. Some issues with sleep, a little weight loss...at times I questioned if I wanted to be on the medication or not. But I discussed various issues with my doc, and decided to stick it out, for a bit.

Well, month two into now month three has been great. Obviously, my body has built a tolerance to the medication, yet in a good way. No more sleep issues, back on track with my eating, exercise...and my work/school has been going well.

There is a negative side, of course. I've attempted a few "holidays" and I realize just how much my body has become used to the medication. The day, then second day, after not taking a dose, I have little energy, motivation, etc. I had no desire to go beyond three days, because I just slept. But that's par for the course. I accept the medication has improved my life, and understand that, if I for some reason want to stop in the future, it'll be rough for a while, but not the end of the world.

So, here's my main question. At present, I'm taking 60mg IR (generic) a day, divided as such:

Morning (usually 7 - 8am): 22.5 mg.
Noon - 1pm: 22.5 mg
Evening (if needed -- usually is): 15mg (or less, depending on what I need to accomplish).

Every now and then I'll take a smaller dosage, but I usually keep to that schedule. And, as I said...no more side effects. Pretty much all positive. However.

As can be expected, my morning and noon dosages just don't seem to be cutting it any more. I long ago lost that "first-time Adderall" boost in motivation, but no issue. I'm just myself, getting stuff done. But now I notice my morning dose tapers off an hour, an hour and a half before I should be taking my next dose. Same with the afternoon. Ditto evening...I crash well before I'm ready for bed.

Not a hard crash like the "holidays", just lethargic and no other options besides watching TV or going to bed (hard on a full time grad student, worker, and writer).

I take my medication at least an hour before eating, or two hours after eating. I avoid foods/drinks w/ citric acid and Vitamin C, at least in the day. I have tried supplementing with magnesium, and that actually did help, a little, beyond psychosomatic. But I don't want to rely on a supplement.

So the medication does indeed work, but has been leaving me hanging. I'd hate to switch to another medication, because Adderall works well, when it's working.

Now I understand how tolerance works...however, is it feasible to discuss another (small) increase in dosage with my doctor? I realize 60mg is the FDA recommended max, but have done some research. Seems a lot of it is based on body weight (I'm a 24 yr old male, 5'8", ~150 lbs). I'm perfectly comfortable trying a 30mg morning dose, then perhaps adding a 30mg afternoon dose, if needed. And I was also curious as to why they make 30mg pills, other than to save folks some money.

I'll discuss this with my doc, but wanted some input from here. Anyone have a similar experience? Would, perhaps, a small bump be the help I need? Or am I facing a typical dilemma--the medication will work, but my body will just get used to every next dose...

I have been on reg adderall for a long time (say since 1999, on and off---mostly on though). I am prescribed 80 mg a day at the moment. I started of on 10 twice daily then went up to 40 mg daily (20 in the AM and 20 in early afternoon). I stayed on the 40 for a long time because I was seeing a family practice doc for the rx. He did not feel comfortable bumping it up any higher. So I took matters into my own hands and found a psychiatrist. He upped me to 60 at my first appointment. I have been seeing him since 2004. We raised it again to 80 mg daily and that is working fine at the moment. Don't know if any of this helped or not.

Yeah, I keep saying "doc" but mean psychiatrist. I'm getting in touch with her today.

Is your current level helping? What's your dosing schedule like? From my experience, Adderall's effectiveness seems to be very dose dependant (i.e. 7.5mg works for like a half hour, 15mg just about the same time, while 22.5 works for two to three. I wonder if 30mg at one time wouldn't increase the "power" just the length.) I just wonder if I'll find a dose that will help for years, instead of a month or two...

Yeah, I keep saying "doc" but mean psychiatrist. I'm getting in touch with her today.

Is your current level helping? What's your dosing schedule like? From my experience, Adderall's effectiveness seems to be very dose dependant (i.e. 7.5mg works for like a half hour, 15mg just about the same time, while 22.5 works for two to three. I wonder if 30mg at one time wouldn't increase the "power" just the length.) I just wonder if I'll find a dose that will help for years, instead of a month or two...
Howdy! Miss Madness here......

My psychiartrist switched me from Ritalin (70 mg) to Adderall IR (40 MG).

He wanted me to take 20 mg of IR in the morning and 20 mg of IR at lunch. For the first few weeks I was experiencing all kinds of rebound and side effects. So I asked my sister (who is a pharmacist) about splitting up the doses. (I didn't call my pysch because he was out for a week) She said it would be okay to split up the tablet. So I tried 10 mg IR in morning, 20 mg IR at lunch and 10 mg IR in afternoon. It worked much better. So next visit with my psychiartrist, I inquired about making that my new system. He said it was fine...and that I could also do 10 mg IR x 4. So depending on my schedule....shorter days I do 10/20/10. And on longer days I do 10/10/10/10. I have noticed that the Adderall is MUCH MORE EFFECTIVE and less side EFFECTS when I split up my dosage verses larger doses at once. I might try something like that before increasing your dose!! Hope this helps some.

Howdy! Miss Madness here......

My psychiartrist switched me from Ritalin (70 mg) to Adderall IR (40 MG).

He wanted me to take 20 mg of IR in the morning and 20 mg of IR at lunch. For the first few weeks I was experiencing all kinds of rebound and side effects. So I asked my sister (who is a pharmacist) about splitting up the doses. (I didn't call my pysch because he was out for a week) She said it would be okay to split up the tablet. So I tried 10 mg IR in morning, 20 mg IR at lunch and 10 mg IR in afternoon. It worked much better. So next visit with my psychiartrist, I inquired about making that my new system. He said it was fine...and that I could also do 10 mg IR x 4. So depending on my schedule....shorter days I do 10/20/10. And on longer days I do 10/10/10/10. I have noticed that the Adderall is MUCH MORE EFFECTIVE and less side EFFECTS when I split up my dosage verses larger doses at once. I might try something like that before increasing your dose!! Hope this helps some.I thought about that, and have actually tried splitting up my doses in various ways, like you suggest. However, anything 15mg and under has almost no effect. Or, essentially, a 15mg (or less) morning dose provides enough medication to combat the extreme fatigue and complete loss of motivation that comes from being 12 or more hours out from a dose, but I am back to my old, ADD-riddled self for the rest of the day. 22.5mg at one time does indeed focus me, but doesn't seem to last long.

However, everyone's chemisty is different :) That's great such a schedule and doseage works for you...I just basically wanted to see how many people go beyond the 60mg mark, and to what effect ;)

How long have you been on the medication? What sort of side effects do you get at higher doses? Even at 22.5mg, I get no side effects, other than when the meds start to wear off...which really isn't a side effect.

Where are you getting these weird doses from ...22.5 mg????! I take 40 in the morning and 20 at noon and 20 at like 3 or 4.

1 15mg pill and 1/2 15mg pill = 22.5 mg. So 4 x 15mg pills throughout the day, for 60mg total :)

I've contacted my doc, so I'll see what she has to say.

I was on 20mg twice a day- am and early afternoon. My belief was each pill would last 6 hrs. Next appointment with dr. I said the 20mg works well, but only lasts 4 hrs, so I went to three times a day. After approx. six months and a change in work schedule- starting earlier, as well as noticing that I was getting closer to three hours of effectiveness from each pill, my doctor added a fourth 10mg booster. This is working pretty well for me. I like to get twelve hours of med coverage, and at first when I brought it up with my doctor I wasn't sure what to expect. I'm just grateful that he listens to my concerns and really is knowledgable about these meds (b/c there are clearly a lot of doctors that are not). The bottomline is you have to be your own advocate for your care. If a person is taking a medication that works great for four hours, but they are only allowed a minimal dose each day, than the full benefit of treatment is being withheld.

The bottomline is you have to be your own advocate for your care. If a person is taking a medication that works great for four hours, but they are only allowed a minimal dose each day, than the full benefit of treatment is being withheld.Nice way of putting it. Luckily, my psychiatrist seems to have this belief, as well. She does listen, and had upped my dosages twice now. She just likes me to monitor my blood pressure (which I do), pretty much daily. High BP runs in my family, and I have slightly elevated BP (~125/85 to 90)...but my BP stays consistent whether or not I take the Adderall.

I suppose my main point was...in everyone's experience...DO you find a level that ends up working for extended periods of time? Like I said, only coming up on three months...and the Adderall works fine, but I keep needing to raise the dosage.

Or is that how this medication functions? Perhaps it may only take another 10 or 20 mg throughout the day, and that will keep me on track?