I have seen that some people on this list state that since Adderall is 75% dextroamphetamine, that some doctors prescribe 10 mg dex to 15mg. Then I read on another post that "leading psychiatrists at Harvard... and the ADHD books" recommend prescribing 1:1 (In "Adderall XR to Dexedrine Spansules")

I am taking the IR form not the XR/Spansules and feel my Dexedrine dosage isn't working as well as the Adderall. I have looked on the internet for any information about equivalent dosages from reputable sources and am coming up empty. Can you help?

Here is why I think my dosage isn't working as well:
For a week now, I have been taking one Adderall 20mg in the morning and Dexedrine 10mg once or twice a day in the afternoons. (I had been taking Adderall 20mg mornings and 15 afternoons. Though I was prescribed 20 mg in the afternoons, I was having such issues with sleep, that I cut myself back in the afternoons-- and let my doctor know, of course. He prescribed the Dexedrine based on the 15 mg I was actually taking I think)

I believe I am finding myself more prone to the flaky ADD behaviors. I accidently burnt my hands four times yesterday and losing my nouns again and seem to be forgetting things again. I don't think the symptoms are as bad as they were premedication, but I am pretty sure they are worse than on the Adderall.

But I love how I am not only sleeping much better, but can even take Dexedrin as late as 5:30 and still sleep. OOOOOOOHhhh glorious sleep:)

Also, I think I might be feeling more relaxed on the Dexedrine--- more like old self. The jury is still out because it is a holiday week and I have been keeping that in consideration when considering my stress.

So, focus is down, sleep is up. I would like to ask my doctor to increase the afternoon dose, but want to make sure that 1:1 is a commonly suggested equivelence first.

I'm in a similar situation. I was taking Adderall XR 30 mg in the AM. I switched to Dexedrine, because I felt way too moody on the Adderall. Frankly that was my only complaint. No trouble with sleeping. When I took Adderall IR I took 20mg in the AM and 10 or 20 mg around 2pm.

With Dexedrine, I don't feel it's handling the ADD symptoms as well as the Adderall, but my mood is much more balanced and not up and down. I did notice the other night I didn't take the afternoon dose, (forgot in the midst of all the holiday hoopla), and was deliriously tired that evening. Now that could be because of the missed dose or the holiday hoopla.

When I asked my doctor what dose to take the Dex when I switched from the Adderall XR, she shrugged and said "you'll have to play with it to find out."

So, I started taking 15 mg in the AM and 15 mg in the PM, Figuring that to be similar to the 30mg Adderall XR.

Today I'm moving up to 20mg AM and PM to see if it helps the ADD symptoms any better. This is my second month on dexedrine and if I still don't see a change, I think I'm going back to the Adderall XR.

My husband has even commented that I'm not as focused and on top of things as I was with the Adderall. I'm waiting it out a bit longer just to see if the holidays are contributing to the difference.

Kind of a yes/no answer. Yes the comparison is a 1:1 since they are both *mostly* the same amphetamine product.
With Adderall you are getting slightly less d-amphetamine in exchange for l-amphetamine (which is the portion that gives you more of the 'kick-in-the-butt' effect but also causes more side effects.

J

Although the ratio on paper is 3:4, I believe that it really varies from person to person, depending on brain chemistry. I take IR forms of both Adderall and Dexedrine on a daily basis, and there's a big difference in dosages for me..
15 - 22.5mg Adderall, and only 5 - 7.5mg Dexedrine at a time. That's only about a 1:3 or 1:2 ratio. You've just gotta experiment and find what works best for you.
Most doctor's are weird about writing scripts for Dextroamphetamine, so have your case prepared when you do talk him/her.

When I took Adderall, I took 5mg 1-4x daily (depending on what I was doing and how long I needed it to work. I didn't take it every day though.
I've been titrating up on dex. Started at 5 3x daily and I'm currently at 10mg 2x and 7.5 1x. I'll probably be upping that again sometime next week.

I could only take 5mg of Adderall at once because the l-amphetamine jacked me up too much and made me feel horrible. But it didn't last long for me so sometimes I'd take 5mg every 2-3hrs. Or second dose 2-3hrs after first and third 3-4hrs after second. Basically whenever the headache kicked in. :P

I can get anywhere from 3 to 6 hrs out of dex. Generally right at 4 though. And unlike Adderall, my first dose seems to last longer than my subsequent doses later in the day.

I'm really curious about combining Adderall and dex. I wonder if that would allow me to start off with the extra oomph and focus of Adderall and ease off in the smooth dex way later without the nasty Adderall side effects. Hmm...
I really liked what Adderall did for my focus, concentration, and productivity. Dex definitely doesn't help quite as much. But at this point, it's a trade off I'm willing to make. I really disliked the headaches, jumpiness, and late day mood swings I got from Adderall. Dex is much nicer to me. But I'm definitely still more scattered on it. At least I feel more like me and less like I'm on something. I'd love to find a happy medium between the two though.

I really disliked the headaches, jumpiness, and late day mood swings I got from Adderall. Dex is much nicer to me. But I'm definitely still more scattered on it. At least I feel more like me and less like I'm on something. I'd love to find a happy medium between the two though.[/quote]



I am actually on both at the same time, Adderall XR + 5mg Boosters of Dex for the very same reasons to smoothen it out and to mellow out the side effects of each, I know it's not the cheapest thing and I am lucky my psychiatrist is fine with it has anyone else tried this?