Ok so I went to the new psychiatrist, he asked me to try Vyvanse at 50 and 100mg I did, found it nice, etc, but I want to stay on Adderall XR for school. Anyway I was on 25mg XR + 10mg IR as needed for studying before I went to see him. So I called him up and he wrote out a perscription for 30 30mg Adderall XR (a 5mg increase). I've been on 30's before and they really weren't helping much and I can say they still aren't lol. My scheduled appointment is november 14th (in 12 days) but I am having trouble still with school work and being able to get stuff done during the day. Now that I have a doctor who is actually willing to work with me instead of saying "oh this is what we can do for you that's all," I'm tempted to call him and ask about either upping my dosage or adding another XR for the afternoon (he and I discussed this possibility last visit but i'm a bit confused why he didn't consider it when writing the perscription, he also knew I had been on 30s before the 25s).... the reason I was bumped down to 25 in the first place is my old doctor said he wouldn't perscribe higher than 30mg XR/day and said he could give me an IR booster but would have to knock me down 5mg (???). Anyway should I call and inquire about either a higher dosage or maybe being able to add a second dose for the afternoon (since this doctor prefers to use only XR and not the IR), or should I just stick out and wait for my appointment, or what? I'm not sure what he could do to help before my next appointment but I'm sure he'd think of something if he was to do anything. Any advice?

This all sounds really complicated. Call your Doctor. That's what they're there for.

er, but it is Friday PM. *smirk*

leave a voicemail?

call him, no harm can be done by it. I'm figuring out my dosage of vyvanse right now.

I was on 60 mgs a day, but it wasn't working long enough so i would take another 30 in the afternoon.
I saw the doc and he told me to keep doing this until i ran out of 30s and now he's putting me on 70s. i told him i know i wasn't supposed to deviate from suggested meds, but i had school work to do and that was priority over a pill or two.


he was completely unperturbed by it and it didn't change a thing. the only problem now is that uni docs can't perscribe controlled substances twice without a drug tet, and the drug test is still pending. pain in the ***.

Well i'm fine for the weekend of course. But I have alot of test coming up (my school seems to pile on all the exams that each count for about 30% of your final average when it's close to final's time). Yeah sorry it sounds really complicated but I was rushing while typing. I can pretty much focus fine it's just when I sit down to do homework I can't concentrate on it. I get distracted. But even during boring lectures I can focus enough to atleast take notes. Tried the isolation technique, doesn't do jack because my mind will wander. I'm probably just overshooting this whole thing and should wait, I just feel like I'm constantly turning in stuff at the last minute and having to pull all nighters to be prepared for test, and I'm not your typical party-aholic college student, study all the time. I also have trouble waking up every morning if that matters (even when I haven't pulled all nighters for days).

well if your psychiatrist is anything like mine...changing an appointment is basically impossible. I would definately call them though...the worst thing he can say is no pr no, I want you to wait until I can see you again and then we might discuss it further.

As far as your trouble waking up in the morning...I never want to get up either. It's like once I'm down...I'm down...After talking to a couple of friends on the same meds as me (vyvanse) it's kinda common, but I've also noticed if I make it a point to go to bed early and actually get a full 8 hours of sleep I feel worse...I've found the right combo of sleep...5-6.5 hours a night and I'm good to go..still don't want to get up, but at least I don't feel like crap the whole day.


Sorry I kind of got off on a tangent lol I've been really talkative the past week.

I don't have anything to add. I just wanted to say that I looked at your profile and saw that you hopefully want to major in Pharmacy! Me too! That's so cool to know someone else interest in that field. How far are you in school? I've only taken most of the general education requirements, as I was going to school for computer engineering at a university, and now I'm going for an Associate's in Applied Science at a community college. After that, I plan to transfer to a university (Wayne State University in Michigan) to complete the rest of the schooling. I've taken one chemistry class at the university, and I took it online. Never again! That class was rough, definitely need the added class instruction. Anywho, I don't know all that much about the whole process of becoming a pharmacist; you probably know more than I do. Anyway, curious to hear what classes you've taken and what you know that you have to take. :D

I'm almost completely through my Pre-Pharmacy Portion. After completing it I'm gonna try to transfer to UGA and get a Bachelor's of Science in Chemistry then go on to finish the last 4 years of Pharmacy but I'm not sure where yet since my grades aren't exactally predicting I'll be able to get into UGA.

I would just ride the doctor's leg until he helps you, your dose isn't high enough to where it should seem suspicious. If you were on 150 mg per day and calling him to up it then there would be issues, but you are doing the right thing.

Good grief yes! That's scarcely a dose that's going to get him investigated and if it is not helping? It may actually be making things worse for you.

Hey Mspen...ya ever wonder how many of these docs would crap twice and DIE if they saw our dex doses? Have they never heard of "off-label" dosing? Sheesh, have they never heard of "start low-end high"?

I am NOT cranky! I am justified! :cool: Tylerlee, go get 'em!

Yay he's on vacation till the day before my appointment! So much for that idea :P fook this is gonna be a long week and half.

Good grief yes! That's scarcely a dose that's going to get him investigated and if it is not helping? It may actually be making things worse for you.

Hey Mspen...ya ever wonder how many of these docs would crap twice and DIE if they saw our dex doses? Have they never heard of "off-label" dosing? Sheesh, have they never heard of "start low-end high"?

I am NOT cranky! I am justified! :cool: Tylerlee, go get 'em!


my new doctor almost lost it when she saw that dose, she observed me take a dose and we had an hour appointment so she could see that I wasn't a speed freak. I was kind of embarrassed but like she said "It's my license"

Tylerlee,
just wondering, have you tried ritalin? I'm just nervous b/c I'm switching from adderall to ritalin next week. Also, I hope you've tried studying in noisy places like coffee houses (since you mentioned the isolation thing). And a suggestion for the pharmacy college is Drake University in Des Moines Iowa. Although the town is not so pretty, the school is really great; I just transferred to Drake Law School and the administration and disability services are really accommodating. I dont think entering grades are required to be significant either.

Yeah I've tried ritalin, unfortunately with methylphenindate I have extreme social phobia and it causes psychotic like thoughts (although not really actions), as well as severe headache and depression symptoms in me. Amphetamines work well it's just my dosage is off but like I said I've been taking them for 7 years now (I took ritalin for about 9). It might work for you it might not I don't know, It's just horrible for me lol.

I can pretty much focus fine it's just when I sit down to do homework I can't concentrate on it. I get distracted. But even during boring lectures I can focus enough to atleast take notes.

Hmmmmm you may have given your self a clue here - please notice the underlined You are not just listening but you are also writing. I take 80mg to 100mg of Adderall but I can tell you that even at that amount of medication I would be unable to write some of my post if I did not have also have secondary sensory stimuli - right now it is Safri Duo via head phones.

Different tempos of music work best for different task- Safri Duo is excellent for this post but it would not do for business paper work or emotional e-mail exchanges. I wear head phones to block out my husbands TV in the back ground, my husband talking on the phone to his half deaf brother the dog licking her buttocks, the cats fighting over the last piece of left over chicken bones ect. . . .

It is explained briefly here.

“Fidget to Focus”
By Roland Rotz PhD and Sarah D. Wright W.S.,A.C.T.

Page 38-39




When we fidget in order to focus, the fidgeting results in the short-term modulation of our deregulated neurological system . This is, at least, What we think is going on knowing what we do Is about neurology. The deregulation happens when there is not enough stimulation for the feed back loops in our brains to sustain adequate biochemical activity. When we are underarounsed the sense we are predominantly using is operating ineffectively in that moment . For instance of our minds are not able to sustain focus during a lecture, happens because our auditory processing is failing to keep us sufficiently stimulated, despite the level of importance of the event. In simpler terms the activity may be interesting just not interesting enough to keep our attention.


In simplest terms an effective fidget is a secondary sensory-motor activity we engage in to support the first.
***End Quote

Hope this helps

That's interesting, i recently noticed that i can listen a lot better in class when i draw. I used to to just try to sit still and listen when i was having trouble but that never helped. Now i draw and listen to every word. I still can't take notes cause while i'm writing i've missed the next thing. whatever, i don't have many notes to take anyhow.

The book “Fidget to Focus”
By Roland Rotz PhD and Sarah D. Wright W.S.,A.C.T. may be of interest to you as it explain this in better detail. The book is as easy read and at 152 pages front to back it is bite sized for the average ADDer attention span.


“Fidget to Focus”
by Roland Rotz, Ph.D Sarah D. Wright, M.S., A.C.T.

page20-21


From a neurologist’s point of view, underaraousal is generally considered to be an under representation of critical neurotransmitters that facilitate the transfer of electrical impulses, which in turn represents a thought or action.. There continues to be a great deal of questions about how this process really works. However by watching and learning, we are beginning to understand one very important of the process: underarousal seeks arousal.

There is a homeostasis, a tendency to maintain internal equilibrium, in our neurobiological system that attempts to compensate when we are under aroused. We use our own built in sensory mechanisms to increase neural stimulation, which from an Add perspective, allows us to improve focus. In essence, our distractibility is really attractability to interesting things around us. Our restlessness is not just an expression to trying to “get out the fidgets” in order to become calm. It is rather an attempt to self-arousal to become focused


page 27

Procrastination adds interesting twist to this dilemma of boredom versus interest. Putting off a large project until the last minute can cause any one a high level of anxiety and even panic. For many of us with ADD, the state of mind that occurs at midnight when a project is due at 8:00am in the morning becomes the perfect state of being. As the deadline approaches the adrenaline combines with caffeine (and perhaps endotphins) to produce just the right amount of stimulant for us to complete the project. . . . .

Page 28
Seeking interesting and stimulating events crosses into every aspect of our lives. What is boring is watching a single television show . What is interesting is channel surfing while watching three shows simultaneously (and quite successfully). What is boring is sitting down to have a long conversation What is interesting is talking and walking along a beach
***End Quote

Contained with in the book are work sheet and interactive material to help people figure out which fidget strategies work best for them. As a chronic fidgeter I found it to be a very helpful little book well worth the $14.95 I paid for it.