I have just been prescribed dexedrine after trying concerta. The dosage is 20 mg in the morning and another 20 mg at noon. When I took the meds the first day, I didn't feel overwhelmed, I felt calm and relaxed and alert. I started feeling a bit sleepy around 2pm and about an hour later Ithought wow this is fantastic. It seemed the drugs really kicked in then. Later in the evening I was waiting for the meds to wear off. At 11pm I was thinking, hmmm they should have worn off by now, then at 3am I wondered do they ever quit?

The next day I decided I better not take any because I'm working early and I've had so little sleep. I felt the effects of the medication until the early afternoon. Amazingly I didn't feel the effects of the loss of sleep either.

3rd day: I decided to take 20mg in the morning and 10 later on. Thinking maybe this dose is too high. I feel fine, a bit of an increased pulse but I also feel tired and unmotivated. At 2pm I go and have a nap, I sleep until 3pm when I get up. Around 11pm I notice the drug is sort of wearing off. It's hard to tell because even now at 1pm I'm still having that "there's drugs in my system' feeling. Along with this drugged feeling is a kind of melancholia, not quite sadness not quite depression but not cheerful. I feel emotionally flat. No sense of humour and I seem very serious.

It bothers me that I seem to have such an extended reaction, when I was on the concerta as it wore off I was very aware it was wearing off because it was like being in a car with really jerky breaks. This drug is much smoother, but I can't tell when it's over with. I liked the feeling of 'being myself' when the concerta wore off. I realise this is only the end of the third day and only the second day I've taken the medication but some feedback would be nice.

With concerta I had tons of focus, didn't help me to remember and I didn't feel this calm.

With Dexedrine I don't have that same focus, I seem to be wandering more, but I'm not impulsive, or jumpy. The feelings of being overwhelmed are not present probably because I'm slowed down.

I truly have no idea what to expect. Whether to worry or not.

I'm a combined type now, was hyper as a child.

Sorry for the disorganized post, I'm tired and going to bed right away. Any feedback would be gratefully received.

Hey Ginni, :)

I haven't seen you in the chat for quite some time.. Whats up with that? 40mg Of dex is quite a bit for starting, IMO. What was your dosage of Concerta?

I was on 36mg concerta

Hi Michelle,

I tend to work a lot so I've not been around the past few days. Hope to see you soon.

You may want to try 10mg dex every 3 hours instead of 20mg twice daily.
If I take 20mg dex at once, I feel too stimulated and unfocused.

When starting amphetamine coming from methylphenidate it is easy to be confused as to what you should be feeling and when the meds are wearing off.

Dex is less physically stimulating in low doses like 10mg at a time but can be quite stimulating at 20mg+ at a time.

When I first started taking dex I could not sleep the first night and the next day was not fun. I had trouble sleeping the second night also and only got about 3 hours at most.
I finally crashed hard on day 3 and slept all afternoon.

It takes a few days to really learn to fall asleep no matter if you "feel" the meds still in your system.

I find that regular sleep is important to dex being effective. Sleep deprivation robs me of the chemical balance I need to benefit from stimulants.

Well this is going to be a bumpy start. I woke up with a head cold this morning so I didn't take the dex again today, rather I went for the cold medication. I will try your advice of 10 mg every three hours as soon as I get over this head cold. There is no way I can take head cold meds and dex at the same time. I'll work myself into anxiety.

Do people mix cold medications and dex? I just didn't know if it was safe.

Hi Ginnie,

Halloween I had a head cold. Needed the dex for school + the human interactions of that evening/night. Needed the cold medicine to not be a snotty mess for the whole thing.

According to drug interaction websites, there are none between the two. I took my normal dose of Dex + DayQuil and felt the same as if with Dex on its own (minus the cold) and didn't die.

Check out a drug interaction website for your specific cold med, but for DayQuil anyway it all checks out. (Alcohol on the other hand shouldn't be mixed with either drug, just fyi, had to forgo that on halloween. Better safe than sorry.)