Just thought I'd throw this out there to see if anyone else was going thru this. I have been on addy's for about 5 months. I am in my early 30's and my work life over the last 3 years has gone to pits. Before adderall I was always able to "get by" or do just enough to satisfy my boss and customers. But the day to day operations, especially the orginization tasks and especially the "return phone calls" tasks were piling up and driving me nuts. I would put them off sometimes for weeks. I always knew I was ADD i just didnt want to go thru the hastle of being tested etc.... However I got to the point where I knew if i didnt do something I would lose my job or I would never advance in my company. So after being put on adderall I immediately noticed a big difference. Able to focus, more energy..da da da.. However pretty soon I noticed that I was spending my day more concerned with the "feeling" my adderall was giving me than I was letting it work for me. In other words I would wait around untill I thought I could feel that euphoria or energy perk and sometimes it never came.. Thus I would increase my dosage and run out of meds early. Which makes it worse. So I'm wondering if anyone else is or has gone thru this. I have always had trouble overdoing meds. I guess thats part of my add (self medicating). I always want to feel the effects. Gets me into trouble a lot. So I am currently taking the prescribed amount and letting my body get adjusted back to the lower dose and then I can go from there. Any thoughts.

I impatiently wait for the dexedrine to kick in like that.

I have found it very beneficial to switch medications from time to time (with my Dr's approval). Sometimes twice a year, and sometimes I will go a couple of years without changing at all. In the end I tend to always go back to Dexedrine, but what works best for one person does not always work best for another.

My Dr. and I have tried all of the prescription stimulants available (except Vyvance & Daytrana), and it's been my experience that sometimes taking a combination of two stimulants has been very effective too.

For example, I found that taking Dexedrine with a small amount of Ritalin or Focalin (preferably Focalin), or taking Desoxyn with a small amount of Ritalin or Focalin (preferably Focalin) allowed me to take a lower over all dose of medication and yet achieved the desired effect.

The methylphenidate (Ritalin) and the dexmethylphenidate (Focalin) both are believed to have the action of acting as dopamine reuptake inhibitors. By doing this they allow the active dopamine to saturate the synaptic cleft between your neurons (where the receptors sit waiting for the active dopamine) for longer than normal periods of time.

On the other side of the coin, the dextroamphetamine (Dexedrine), and the dextromethamphetamine (Desoxyn) are believed to act more as dopamine agonist. By doing this they cause more dopamine to become active and thus released into the synaptic clefts.

The idea was that by taking a dopamine agonist along with a dopamine reuptake inhibitor, I would possibly be able to achieve the effect I needed with a lower overall dose of medication. Well, it worked. My Dr. was very pleased, as was I.

Unfortunately the cost of both Desoxyn & Focalin prevented me from staying on the combination since I have no insurance that covers my medications while I am currently a student. Even though the Ritalin was affordable, the presence of the levomethylphenidate isomer in the methylphenidate caused me too many unwanted PNS (peripheral nervous system) side effects, so I decided that it was just not therapeutic enough for me.

Anyhoot, I hope that you are able to find a solution that works for you, and I hope that you have a Dr. who is willing to help you find that solution. Please keep us posted on how things unfold for you.

Addywhack,

When reading your post it seems I was reading about myself. I have the same problem you have. We should just take the ADD medication and try to deal with our daily activities instead of focusing on how it makes us feel. It's difficult but I'm trying to do it. In the long run I'm sure it would be worth it.

Good luck!

Brigette

Yes I too for years, would switch between Adderall and Dexedrine -about every year or so.

You may benefit from my post here, but I think you already recognize most of what is said:

http://www.addforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=46025

One of my ADD characteristics, is self medicating as I have mentioned before. I have always seemed to overdue it when it comes to medications. I have battled an addiction to pain meds since my 2nd yr of college. I was prescribed Hydrocodone for incoming wisdom teeth while in college and I couldnt get the teeth removed untill summer so I had to continue pain meds, off and on for a few months. I really liked that talkative buzz that I got. I was hooked pretty quick. However the times that I couldnt get any pills were the worst days of my life. Withdrawals were unbelievable. I will be sympathetic forever for opiate abusers. I think alot of my problem with the Adderall is that in the beginning, Adderall not only gave me concentration and energy but it gave just a smidget of the euphoria I had grown to love with opiates. I feel like my expectations (now) with adderall are to give me that same opiate rush and its just not going to happen. I have to let it go and let the adderall work and quit worrying about " if IM going to feel it" . I "finally" think I have come to terms with that realization these last few weeks. But only after running out of my adderall for the 3rd straight month. Not having adderall once you see the change it brings you, makes you appreciate it.

The fact that you don't feel the kick of Adderall doesn't mean it's not working on your ADD. Taking a medication for "the euphoria" or "rush" of it, is not the right way to treat things. I think you know that.
Instead I would look at and compare your productivity and ability to focus better, to the times when you weren't taking the medication and see if there's a difference and if that difference is good enough to continue the medication.
This is one of the drugs out there, prone to abuse by many people who take it for all the wrong reasons and therefore people who need it for the right reasons usually pay the price, since more and more doctors don't want to prescribe it.
I know quite a few people who asked but weren't prescribed this medication by their doctors. It's one of the most popular meds out there right now and lots of people pretend to have ADD to have it prescribed.
People with addiction problems really need to stay off some meds, like this one.
Otherwise people like us, who really need it, suffer the consequences.
I fear that because of all the abuse out there for the med, it might be pulled off the market soon. Like in Canada.
All it takes is one or two addict types OD'ing on it, because they want to feel "the rush and the euphoria" and then it's all over.

Addywhack,
Have you considered Vyvanse? I have find it much smoother than many of the other long acting meds. It's once daily (usually) and doesn't have much of a "kick" (which can be nice I know) but works on the ADD symptoms very well.
Of course it will be different for everyone. See what you doc thinks

I don't take adderall, but I do know what your talking about. It happened to me on Saturday...took my meds...waited 2 hours...NOTHING...must take more. I ended up being awake for 36 hours straight before ever deciding to go to bed. I've decided if it's not working...it's just a bad day...everyone has em once in a while...right lol

You should not be on stimulants of any sort. You obviously have an addictive personality and this will not go away with the use of adderall it will only make it worse, especially given what you have told us. The goal is not to make yourslef "feel good" but to be able to concentrate. Some people have problems concentrating due to second order affects i.e. due to other addictions or an overstimulated environment. example: people that are fighting in iraq come back here and find themselves extremely board, lacking excitement. Someone used to chemical alterations will have the same problem -you feel that something is lacking and seek to rectify the problem. I warn you what you think you are getting out of adderall use (or any ADD med that is a stimulant) will turn into a very serious problem for you personally down the road and will end in almost certain moral breakdown. The longer you wait to address this issue the worse off you will be. Ask yourself if you want to put your job, family, or both at risk in say 10 years. If your answer is no, then I am not kidding, you need to seriosly consider getting some level of help.

I am in my 30's and started taking add medication for about two years. I wish when I was younger they had diagnosed me as I had very little motivation or attention span for most things.
I started on Ritalin and I thought it was great as it was the first time I felt like I was accomplishing things. It was like putting glasses on and seeing the world for the first time. Well, I decided to try Aderall, and that NOT wise. It has helped,and I can undertand concepts way better than ritalin ,and I am more interested in reading and organzing, paperwork , things I never had motivation to do , but I am consumed with it. Should I stay on XR or go back to IR, IR I was too hperfocused, ritalin the come down was bad ,and it also made me nauesous. W/O the add meds ,I am mot motivated to do much of anything .and I do have add .but it was added as a depressant because I was clinically depressed and nothing was helping.
Now the quandry I am in is that I am having adrenal fatigue, partly from the aderall ,and I am so exhasuted I can hardly do much of anything . I want to change the med , but I know ritalin is not for me now that I have had aderall. The Vyanesse? I thought that was a form of ritaln, although I see alot post and say it is good.
I am taking minerals to help the adrenal fatigue and getting my thyroid checked as add medication is known after awhile to through ones thyroid off.
Stacy

I have been on Adderall for over a decade - and I have quit feeling the medications years ago - I can't tell when it starts to work and unfortunately I usually do not know when it begins to wear off - although others around me notice immediately - some thing about that trail of disaster that begin to follow me every where mean while no work gets accomplished -

Feelings are not the way to go - and if you are looking for a feeling then I will agree with starry

This is one of the drugs out there, prone to abuse by many people who take it for all the wrong reasons and therefore people who need it for the right reasons usually pay the price, since more and more doctors don't want to prescribe it

she also tells you how to know when it is working


Instead I would look at and compare your productivity and ability to focus better, to the times when you weren't taking the medication and see if there's a difference and if that difference is good enough to continue the medication.


I use the analogy of the bearded man a lot to explain this

Say a man who has had a bread for twenty years decides to shave it - he is going to feel the difference in his face. . . because his face is used to having hair on it, he is going to feel the tingling of his skin ect. .. say he decides he like this skin tingling so he begins to shave every day but as his skin gets used to being bare it tingles less and less after a time it quits tingling at all because the skin has adjusted to being without hair. Now the man no longer feels any thing when he shaves does this mean his razor quit working? The same logic applies to the effects of ADD medications - you take them long enough your body will get used to the chemical changes in the brain so you will no longer feel them - this doesn't mean they quit working any more than the man's razor did - you just became used to the chemical changes.

Take it, realize that you took it and that it's going to work, and go on with the day.

When I was first diagnosed with ADD, I was started off on ritalin. I was on it for about a month, and really just didn't feel like it was doing anything for me. It made me feel spent for no reason. So when I switched to adderall, I was initially worried that it would be the same. I would think about whether it's working or not, or if its working "good" enough. But it wasn't long until I realized it was working quite well, so I stopped worrying about it and it was just another part of my daily routine. I don't usually think about it during the day. The mind is really powerful, to the point of placebo affects, and analyzing your medications too much might actually make them less effective.

You need to find the dose that help you be the most focused/functional/productive and stick with that. The buzz doesn't mean it's working... you working means it's working. The buzz is *supposed* to go away. Heck, I stopped taking Adderall because it didn't. Lol.

I don't "feel" the dexedrine I take but I darn sure noticed the difference it makes when I didn't take is Friday! :P

It's not about the "feel" of the medication (well, unless it makes you feel bad, of course), it's about how much it improves your ADHD symptoms.

If you can't keep yourself from chasing the Adderall "high", you probably need to change medications. If you can't just take the dose that works and move on without taking more until you feel it, you really need to step away from the Adderall and start exploring other options. Seriously.

Have you talked to your doc about this?