Hello. I was recently diagnosed with ADHD (finally) at age 35. I started off with generic Adderall (Barr) 10mg tabs 3-4 times a day as needed and they worked very well. I think there was still some room for improvement but the difference was dramatic nonetheless. My biggest issue was with constantly having to pop pills over the course of a day. In an attempt to remedy this my Pdoc prescribed 50mg Vyvanse to get me through the morning and afternoon and 10mg Adderall if I needed it to work at night. I tried this for a week and I saw very little difference when using the Vyvanse but I instantly perked up at night if I took the 10mg Adderall. He was hesitant to increase the dose of Vyvanse since I would be maxed out at 70mg and we agreed that Adderall XR would be the next best thing (only taken twice a day instead of 3-4). I also had theorized that my body just did not "agree" with the Vyvanse, perhaps because it was a Pro-med and can metabolize differently so I was fine with the Adderall XR idea. Well, I have been on Adderall XR now for 2 full days and I have found that it is even worse than Vyvanse. I don't believe there is a "break in period" for this drug as it should work from day one like Adderall IR. Has anyone had a similar issue where the extended release versions just don't come close to the effectiveness of the instant release whether it is Adderall or another drug? Should I ride this out and see if the XR improveds or bail and try to nail down the proper dose of the IR formulation? I know these are questions my doctor will need to be asked but I would love to hear if anyone has had a similar experience. Any info would be great.

Thanks.

Joe

You body will build a tolerance eventually so sticking with the same dose if will gradualy affect you less. In my opinion vyvanse with a booster instant release works best. (Without getting technical) They way Vyvanse works is the protien attatched to the amphetamine which is what makes it time release. So only so much of it will affect you at a time.

Thanks Electric, but tolerance is not the issue. After typing my first post today (about 6 hours after taking my last Adderall XR) I popped a 10mg generic Adderall IR and I got about 3 solid hours out of it. I don't get ANYTHING from Vyvanse or Adderall XR which seems quite odd to me. So basically I had to drag through the day getting about 3 good hours of work done over the course of 8 hours. Then when I took the IR I got 3 awesome hours late in the day on a Friday when I should be dragging. I don't get it.

Joe:

The key to understanding amphetamine's stimulant activity is the pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) relationship. After you take the capsule or pill, the contents dissolve and the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) gets absorbed over time. If you plot the drug level in the blood vs time (or consult the package insert) you'll get a good idea of the PK. Meanwhile, you can also plot the intensity of ADHD symptoms vs time, that is the PD curve. To examine the relationship, figure out what PK values correspond to optimal PD activity. Then you can schedule your dosing to create the PK that corresponds to high PD. If you cannot measure your [amp] you can simply map out the times after dosing during which the medicine works best.

For ADHD, my opinion is that dextroamphetamine (d-amp) is better than a mixture. The levo-isomer and salt form are close to irrelevant. Generic dexedrine spansules deliver a certain blood level of d-amp and that can be used cost-effectively to lay down an active dose for the morning. You can boost the d-amp levels as needed with IR generic d-amp 5 mg at a time. Vyvanse is cool but the cost seems significant.

Good luck.

I had the same problem with extended release formulas. Vyvanse was awful, but Dex IR was great for me. For some reason, the ER mechanism just doesn't work properly for everyone, and it can actually make you feel worse than you would without medication.

My advice would be to go back to Adderall IR if it was working for you. What's the point of the "convenience" of a once-daily pill if it makes you feel horrible? If the IR version works well, then it's worth it to take a 2nd or 3rd dose throughout the day. I mean, it takes 20 seconds to swallow a pill. I don't feel like it's a terrible inconvenience when it's time for my 2nd dose of Dex (I actually kind of look forward to it when the 1st dose starts wearing off).

Thanks for the insight. Although it's unfortunate you had too go through the same experience I feel better knowing that this is not uncommon.