I was prescirbed a low dose of adderall XR (generic - corepharma) to start out. It's 5mg twice a day. At first it was working pretty well - better focus and concentration, more motivation to get my work done and pay attention in classes. It's been a little over a week now and I feel like it completely stopped working at all. I try to take it on an empty stomach too.

My question is, I'm not due to go in for my next appt for another 2 weeks. Should I call my doctor tomorrow and ask if I should come in earlier since it's no longer working? Now that I finally felt what it was like to feel better, I'd hate to have to put up with it not working for another 2 weeks. Plus, I have my first 2 exams of the semester this week :( I'm just afraid I might sound like a pushy patient, because I get the impression that a lot of patients are frowned upon for wanting to increase their dose for this medicine.

I have a rather strong tolerance to stimulants (takes a lot of caffeine to do something for me) so I'm thinking that may be why this dose is no longer effective?

lol Wow this story never gets old. If you look you will see the board swamped with this same topic. Many people are having this exact issue with adderall xr. My doctor increased my dose and it continued to stop working. You could try and ask to increase your dose by calling early....but I feel the same thing will happen on the next dose. I am switching to adderall ir...maybe that is something you would want to consider.

Thanks, yeah I have read a lot of other topics on this too. I am definitely going to ask about IR next time I go in. I have a lot of digestive issues and I think that maybe the XR is not being properly digested with me especially. Today has been another very unproductive day for me. This medicine would be wonderful if it weren't for the tolerance issue I think.

seems like your receptor sites are shot...

seems like your receptor sites are shot...

What does that mean? After only a week of 10mg/day?

What does that mean? After only a week of 10mg/day?

It's a possibility - More of a educated guess...

I would suggest just switching to IR or another medication (but try IR first). This problem is becoming extremely common and I rarely hearing anyone saying good things about Adderall XR. From what I've learned, if it ends up not working after such a short time already...it will continue to lose effect fast. Don't bother wasting your time.

I've been on Adderall XR for nearly 1.5 years now and I love it. I would suggest to increase the dosage because a dosage like that is a children's dosage. Normally, adults should be started out on 20mg-30mg of Adderall XR daily. If the effects wear off then your pdoc may change it to twice a day. Don't give up so easily.

Good Luck.

Hmm, so i just called my doc today, apparently i AM taking adderall IR (corepharma generic), not the XR. But still, the dose is low at 5mg twice a day. They want to put me on 15mg XR once a day now...doesn't seem like that big a change to me, and I'm not too keen on switching to XR from what I have read about it recently. I wonder why they are keeping the dose so low if a normal adult's starting dose is 20-30mg? I thought they would at least take me to 20mg.

It's all in the titration. Lowest possible dose increased slowly over a period of time. It can take some time to get to the right therapeutic window for you. But slow titration is, in my opinion, a sign of a good doc.

You mention that you have some digestion issues. It could be that the acid in your GI tract is impacting how well the Adderall can work. High acid will reduce absorption. You are also under different stressors give school just now. This could be the reason for the increased acid or the reason that the dose doesn't seem like it's working. A good discussion to have with your doc.

You also want to be mindful of any supplements that you are taking. I made that mistake myself and now take all my vitamins at night.

It's all in the titration. Lowest possible dose increased slowly over a period of time. It can take some time to get to the right therapeutic window for you. But slow titration is, in my opinion, a sign of a good doc.

You mention that you have some digestion issues. It could be that the acid in your GI tract is impacting how well the Adderall can work. High acid will reduce absorption. You are also under different stressors give school just now. This could be the reason for the increased acid or the reason that the dose doesn't seem like it's working. A good discussion to have with your doc.

You also want to be mindful of any supplements that you are taking. I made that mistake myself and now take all my vitamins at night.

Thanks ADHDTigger, I will bring up digestion issues with my doc. I thought I actually had a problem with too little acid because whenever I take betaine HCL tablets (essentially stomach acid supplementation) with pepsin enzymes, I digest my food much better with less pain. But I could be mistaken and I do feel acidic-like pains often - whatever it is I know that it could be a factor.

One thing I have been confused about, I don't know if anyone happens to know - but everywhere I read says lemons and limes and acidic juices turn your urine alkaline after they are digested even though they have a low pH prior to ingesting. I know not to eat these things with my dose, but if I ate these things at night, could that make my urine more alkaline in the morning for my dose? Just a thought...might be a stretch, but I've read that a more alkaline urine prevents the amphetamines from being excreted too quickly.

Vague, citrus is a really bad plan. It is ACID. Acid kills your Adderall. Adderall is absorbed in the GI tract so the Ph of your urine is immaterial.

I take a couple of Tums about 15 minutes prior to taking my meds. I have a chronically acid stomach so the Tums calm everything down and give the med a fighting chance.

I take a couple of Tums about 15 minutes prior to taking my meds. I have a chronically acid stomach so the Tums calm everything down and give the med a fighting chance.
Wow, I was actually thinking about this the other day, and was wondering if my problem with Adderall is any way related to the acidity of my stomach. I have never tested for such a thing, and am pretty ignorant on the topic...do you happen to know offhand how one can tell if they have a highly acidic stomach?

Generally you have burning pains in your stomach, am I right? i definitely have that. What about taking something like tagamet or pepcid ac instead of tums? I really can't stand tums lol.