Hi, so Ive been taking adderall for about 3 weeks. Im on 20mg XR. When I first started I took it every day but I noticed it starting to not work as well so Ive started taking it every other day. I hate doing this because the days I dont take it are hellish, Im my normal, depressed self. So tired and fatigued, dont want to do anything, too tired to do anything. I hear that alot of people take breaks from their meds to beat tolerance and stuff but what am I supposed to do on those days, they suck, I cant function at all, Im totally useless, Im like a zombie. Today I didnt take it so yeah Ive felt pretty crappy all day, plus Ive been sleeping til almost 4pm, going to bed around 5am. I really need to fix my sleep schedule.
I was thinking about asking my doc if I could have some ritalin or something to take on the days I dont take my adderall.

Also I was wondering if it would be safe to take two 20mg XR's in one day, like if I had a really hard long day, just a thought. Thanks....sorry about rambling on about nothing.

:)stay safe,call your doc especially if you are just starting meds,take care:)

Usually it takes about 3 weeks for some of these meds to kick in, and for you to adjust to them, so if you can, try to hang in there for another week or so. I definitely wouldn't mess with the dosage, please don't "double up" on the 20 mg levels. I'm wondering if your dosage may actually be too high. I know someone who takes Seroquel to offset the stimulant ADHD medications and get a regular sleep schedule at night, maybe talk to Doc about this? Otherwise, my other main piece of advice is to start taking a multi-vitamin daily. If you're deficient on even one key vitamin, mineral or nutrient, it can actually have a dramatic effect on how your body absorbs and processes the medication. Good luck to you, and hang in there!

Hi, so Ive been taking adderall for about 3 weeks. Im on 20mg XR. When I first started I took it every day but I noticed it starting to not work as well so Ive started taking it every other day. I hate doing this because the days I dont take it are hellish, Im my normal, depressed self. So tired and fatigued, dont want to do anything, too tired to do anything. I hear that alot of people take breaks from their meds to beat tolerance and stuff but what am I supposed to do on those days, they suck, I cant function at all, Im totally useless, Im like a zombie. Today I didnt take it so yeah Ive felt pretty crappy all day, plus Ive been sleeping til almost 4pm, going to bed around 5am. I really need to fix my sleep schedule.
I was thinking about asking my doc if I could have some ritalin or something to take on the days I dont take my adderall.

Also I was wondering if it would be safe to take two 20mg XR's in one day, like if I had a really hard long day, just a thought. Thanks....sorry about rambling on about nothing.

When I started taking Adderall, I was totally sure I'd be able to take a day or two off every week with no problem.

What I quickly realized is that in contrast to the Adderall days, the drug-holiday days were absolutely awful. It's not that I sit around craving the drug, but I just basically feel like I did before I started taking it at all, which, in comparison, is not good at all.

However, it is less bothersome some days than others. If I don't have anything I have to do, then I can get through okay with just lots of caffeine. So rather than try to take a day each week off, I'm taking groups of days off. For instance, I'm not taking any from Friday to Sunday this week because I'll already have been off for two days (today and Thanksgiving) and I'll get all my weekly chores done today, so the three days at the end of this week or just for me to do whatever. Yes, I'd get more out of them on meds, but I do want to take some breaks and this is the best way I've found. I can't do this often because normally I have to work five days a week, but there are opportunities with holidays, vacations and such.

So as far as your situation, I think going one day on/one day off is probably about the worst set-up. It's always worst the first day off, and you never take a second one in a row. My advice would be to go for, say, three or four days off in a row a month rather than every other day. This should help to slow down tolerance but still allow you to feel like a real, functioning person the vast majority of the time.

Thanks for the replies. Yeah I think the "every other day" setup is kinda dumb so I think Im gonna start taking a few days off instead. The Adhd fan, the adderall isnt causing my sleep schedule to get messed up, Ive always been like this, it will get messed up and ill fix it and so on, its a vicious cycle. I just cant turn my brain off at night, I take xanax but they wont put me to sleep. I have risperdal and seroquel that I could take but never do cuz I hate the side effects. As for taking vitamins, I think Im going to start taking some, I know I cant be too healthy, I havent been eating very much or anything healthy.

my doc suggested i take adderall xr and concerta on alternating days to combat tolerance but i'm not too keen on concerta. i'm trying to get him to prescribe me namenda instead to combat tolerance, but it's a battle. he'd rather put me on concerta or wellbutrin in conjunction with adderall. we said i'll just take another month of only adderall and we'll see what happens.

To aesculanus. I am new to this forum and I read your post and I am intrigued. I have never heard of wanting a prescription for Namenda to combat tolerance. I know Namenda is an Alzheimer's medication but did not know that it could be used for tolerance. Where did you get your rationale for this? I'm not being critical of you, just very very curious. Thanks.

ADHD is a 24/7/365 day a yr disorder.

Stimulants are urinated out of the body quickly.

Meds are designed to be taken everyday;excluding side effects/allergic reactions.

Medicine is not an exact science,so always call your doc ( or pharmacist) with questions or concerns.

tc

mctavish23

(Robert)

namenda has gotten a rep for being the magic drug for combat amphetamine tolerance. whether it deserves it or not is another issue. most people that talk about it have never used it, because it's tough to get ahold of. you need a prescription, and they're only just now doing clinical trials on it for add. my doctor said it would be "highly experimental" to try it with the adderall. we'll see.