Hello everyone

I've just been diagnosed with Adult ADD at age 29. To try and avoid stims, my doc first tried Wellbutrin then Strattera...neither helped. I'm starting to have problems in my job (technical field) that required talks from management. Problem is, I can't have ADD and still do my job so I can't tell anyone what's really going on.

After becoming desperate, I finally agreed to let my doc prescribe Adderall. The first day was wonderful...I thought there was actually hope for me.

Day 2, it seemed like nothing happened! I took my 20 mg XR pill and never felt anything all day. I took the weekend off but will resume my dose tomorrow (Monday). Can anyone explain what happened? Why would the meds work so great for me one day but not at all the next? Is this common?

I had the same question when I first started the medicine. It is common to be able to "feel" the adderall working the first day or two, then the euphoric and hyper-alertness feelings will go away, but it is still working. I have seen it compared to wearing a new perfume - you eventually stop smelling it on yourself, but it is still there (and you don't need to keep adding more, haha). Try to evaluate its effectiveness by your ability to concentrate, complete tasks, etc. Good luck!

maybe you just didn't feel the physical side effects and it still helped, or maybe you should titrate up with the dose and you need a higher one.

Hi Kat,

It's not a great idea to judge medication, especially psychiatric drugs, within the first couple of days. Adderall in particular can be a strange animal at first. Your body needs time to adjust to a drastic change, and the way the drug affects you will change with long-term use. I would hold off on any judgements for the time-being.

There are however some things that can influence how Adderall affects you daily. I've been on Adderall for a while now (I stopped keeping count after a year), and I've found that my body is much more sensitive to nutrition when I'm taking it. I used to be able to eat whatever I wanted whenever I wanted (steak at midnight and again for breakfast? no problem), but now I find there are physicial as well as psychological consequences for those little indiscretions.

The two most prominent influences on the drug's effects, for me, have been lactose and caffeine, both of which I've had to give up (for the most part) since being put on Adderall. Specifically, liquid milk makes me very tired and sick (even just a little in coffee), and I had an especially bad experience when I tried a protein shake made of concentrated whey protein -- I became deathly ill for two days ("deathly" is no exaggeration). Strangely enough, cheese and other non-liquid dairy products in moderation don't seem to affect me much. As for the caffeine, when I have caffinated coffee or tea in the morning with my dose of Adderall, the effects of the drug get ugly. I become very agitated and restless. I can hyper-focus, but to an unhealthy extent, and as the day wears on I get compulsive, and my mind becomes burnt-out and useless. I'm also a smoker, and caffeine + Adderall makes me smoke nearly triple the amount I normally do. Some caffinated soda later in the day doesn't seem to do me any harm though.

So, you may want to keep a mental note, or even a witten journal, of what you do differently from day to day in terms of nutrition, and what effects you've observed. If you have a particularly bad day, try making a change the next day to see if that helps -- and likewise, if you have a particularly good day, try repeating the same thing and see if you have another good day. Hopefully you'll get to a point where you have a pretty good idea of how to get the most positive effect from the Adderall.

I agree very much with the previous post.

Your diet can be a very significant factor in determing how these medications work for you on any given day.

For example, did you down your medication on day two with a glass or orange juice or grapefruit juice? Foods that contain high acid levels can significantly reduce the effects of most stimulant medications, especially amphetamine.

Other foods like certain cheeses, or food ingredients like baking soda, or caffeine, or antacids like Tums or Rolaids, can actually potentiate the effect of these medications.

Please read as much as you can about what can, and what can't effect the medications that you take before assuming the worst, and always feel free to contact your pharmacist or Dr. if you feel that the information you are finding does not explain what you are experiencing.

Please keep us posted on how everything unfolds on that end.

What you ate that day could be a huge factor. Anything acidic will hurt absorption rates. Also If you didnt sleep much that first night, you probably wont feel as good that second day anyways. When I cant sleep one night and take my adderall the next day it doesnt override how crappy I feel. Sometimes it makes me feel more crappy.

i noticed the meds not working really if i took them with orange juice...


then i came here and found out it's because vitamin c slows absorbtion