hey guys,

I would love any feedback you guys can offer. I am currently on Adderall XR- once a day 20mg in morning.

I am scheduled to see the shrink tomorrow, and as of three or four days ago, I was going to tell him, "the Adderall XR isn't doing much. Let's try something else."

But in the past few days, I have noticed that while I am not all that intense, I seem to be getting a lot of work related stuff done, stuff that i usually procrastinate ... I finished an extremely tedious task yesterday, one I have been putting off for six to eight weeks.

What's funny is that I feel relaxed, not as I "unusually relaxed" .... but the adderall xr doesn't make me "feel focused" at all ... and my brain isn't as quiet as it was when I initially went to a higher dosage of Wellbutrin.

But I am getting work done without "forcing" myself to do it. I am a teacher and the end of the year is usually exhausting for me. But I'm just smoothly completing tasks right now. I do not feel hyperfocused ... what I feel is that the background static is so reduced that my focus can be heard better. It's like my focus doesn't have to fight through all this other stuff in the brain ....

Anyway, I would love help in thinking about this. Has anyone else had this feeling with a stimulant? .... If anything, I feel very very laid back. And yet I'm noticing that i'm working! So I might stay on this awhile longer.

Thanks ahead of time.

Sounds like you're about where I am right now.

Feeling relaxed. I used to have a chronic tension headache on my temple and the base of my skull, along with (right) chest tension that I've had since junior year of high school. Adderall made it go away, which was REALLY nice (and somewhat strange because I had become so accustomed to the pain.)

Getting things done. I still have to pull myself to do things, but I was so unbelievably surprised that I actually GOT to the things I needed to do, and then I actually dragged myself through it. Although it still requires me to psych myself up to do it, there is actual follow through.

My focus is still terrible unless I'm really really interested in whatever it is that I'm supposed to be focusing my attention on.

I think this is supposed to be the homeostatic point with you and your medication. This is essentially the purpose of medication: to HELP you start/complete the things you WANT to do and so forth and so on.

Kudos for toughing it out even though you thought it might not be the right medication for you. Sometimes people give up too soon. I almost did a few times. Thankfully I was too "lazy" to do anything about it. :P

Thanks for the response Mochi.

Great insight ... yeah, I can see I'm definitely going to have to push myself if I stay with adderall and this dose. In all honesty, I was looking for more of a kick. Something that would help me really get organized. But ... this might be it ... I'll talk to doc tomorrow. thanks again ....

Interesting, I haven't (until you weighed in) heard many stories of Adderall having this effect on people. But you calm a busy/static-filled mind and wow, it's quite interesting.

I tried Adderall XR for a week and started to freak out as I thought I had blurred vision. So my psychiatrist switched to Concerta. Neither helped with my inattentiveness. I did notice that both slowed my mind down throughout the day... I would think less of random stuff.

Tone, how did it go with your doc? I'm sorry I didn't get to this post earlier.

I know some folks feel better with a little boost from IR. However, sometimes it is a matter of adjusting to the med and not about waiting for the boost. If this is working, then it's a wonderful thing!

Update:
I went to the shrink. I figured something out--the guy does not like to change meds in a hurry. He's very methodical. So he wanted to up the dose of the Adderall XR to 30 mg a day and see how that goes. I'll see him in a month with an update .....

I tried 30mg XR earlier on and got a racing heart ... but I think that was in the phase where my body was still adjusting to the medication. We'll see how it goes from today ....

I'll definitely be reporting back and asking for feedback. Definitely helps to get responses from others to help sort things out.