I am 21 and my doctor just put me on adderall IR 20mg twice a day. This seems like a lot to me, but when I go to school its a fairly long day, and he did ask me that so maybe that's why he put me on it twice a day. Anyway, I was just wondering if you guys/gals have any advice for a first time adderall user. I was prescribed because of ADD not narcolepsy just to clarify.
Is there foods that I should avoid? Times that I should schedule eating, since you lose appetite.
Thanks in advance, and hopefully this stuff helps me out.

avoid things that contain citric acid. it tends to shorten the effective duration of adderall. as for eating, the first few days were difficult, but you learn what works for you. i find the slim fast kind of shakes work well. if you have trouble sleeping, i recommend melatonin. it is over the counter, natural, and does not form dependency unless you use it for months without taking some nights off. how much do you weigh? just listen to what your body tells you :)

Also avoid milk, as it coats the stomach, intestines and hinders absorbtion

I was started off on one 20 XR mg tablet in the morning (really night for most of you) for two weeks, then upped to (2) 20 mg (40 all togeher) to be taken once a day in the morning.

The XR is an extended release version, and is now available as a generic (as of 4-1-09)

I work 12 hour shifts, and it last all day for me

so your 20mg IR twice a day does not sound too far off

But you may wish to ask about XR, it's nice only having to do it once a day!

The doc started me out with 10mg IR 2 times a day. I found that with playing with the times of doseage and amounts and found that 5mg 2x or 3x a day wasn't enough and 10mg 2x a day was too much and made me extremely hyper..
7.5 2x a day seems to do the trick.

On an added note.. I'm three weeks in now and still trying to work sleep in. Once my brain shuts down and goes back to it's foggy and scattered self, I find my body still has it's "buzz" of energy... I've learned that when it's time to sleep, I force myself to do it, or I'll stay up all night. Once I fall alseep, I crash so hard, I don't even remember my dreams. (which BTW, normally I'm a light sleeper and wake for any noise)

Piece of advice you've probably read a bunch of times: Don't take your meds within 6 hours of bedtime. You'll be too amped. Allow your body time to get used to the drug and adjust.

Hope that all made sense (I'm wearing down now). Good luck and hope that helps!

Thanks for the replies. The pharmacy gave me the generic adderall, didn't notice til my step mom showed me where to look (she is a nurse so she knows). Anyway, I took 10mg at 4 today, to see how it works for me, and since I have work to get done. So far, I am blown away. Its literally like driving out of a fog. I notice details I didn't before. I took a walk on a path that is next to my house, been taking walks for years, and just noticed a trash can, cactus, and other things that my parents said have been there for years. Wow! Also, my vision feels better. I always feel like I need to get my prescription for my eyes changed, but now its just awesome. Anyway, I feel like the dose is starting to wear off, so maybe its a good thing the doc put me on 20mg. Probably gonna start off tomorrow with just 10mg, I don't want to rush my body into this. But one thing is for sure, concentration, focus, and all that is much, much easier!

20mg twice a day is high. Not necessarily too high, but it is a pretty high starting dose. Since you had such a good response to it, then maybe 10mg in the morning, and then 10mg after that wears off, is better than two 20mg doses.

(I took 20mg all at once my first time. I was so high I could barely walk across campus. The doctor had actually told me I could take another 10mg after the first dose wore off if I needed to. :eek:)

Just a warning, that the first time you use it is kind of an anomoly honey moon period that will go away if not at your next dosing, soon afterwards. I remember how amazing the first one felt for me, and I have not been able to achieve it since even with 3x the dosage. Just to put your medication in perspective here's how my progression went (I hope it helps you).

Started on 10mg 2x a day Ritalin, then 10-20mg 2x a day on adderall, and now on 30mg 2x a day adderall. It took me a pretty long time to get up to the right dose, but I think it was worth it.

Yeah, that's true. The honeymoon doesn't last forever. When I first started taking it, I could tell you right down to the minute when it kicked in because it was so intense. Now, it comes on more subtly and leaves more subtly.

Not to say there isn't a mood elevation. It isn't like you're supposed to be depressed after the honeymoon (although that does happen for some people, and for me, depression was part of the honeymoon; there was a terrible crash following the buzz).

I started off at IR 20mg twice a day, but it was definitely a little much for me... I ended up starting with 10 mg x2 and then gradually working up to about 15 mg x2....

20mg IR is ok.. it would be better to start slower so you can build up a tolerance slower. I 2nd that melatonin helps ADHDers fall asleep... only if you aren't taking an SSRI also. Then stay away from melatonin. 20mg IR may have been prescribed based on your weight, which in my experience doesn't really factor in when it comes to Adderall.

You will quickly find that there is no magic formula and the correct dosage, foods, and time to take it will be an ongoing experiment. I suggest taking as little as possible because your body will build a tolerance slower.

I started on 15mg XR once a day, but it wore off way too fast, so my doctor changed my prescription to 15mg XR twice a day. Along with that, I get a prescription of 20mg IRs that just says "take one half or one full tablet daily as needed". I really like my prescription because it gives me a lot of flexibility, which I need with my work and school schedule.

On long days when I have work and school, I usually take one XR in the morning and one about noon. On half-days (on the rare occasion that I get to sleep in), I will just take one XR. On days when I have a lot of stuff to do at night such as studying, I will just take one XR during the day and an IR later at 5-6pm.

P.S: I am also 21 and in school, I go and see a doctor that is very familiar with students and Adderall, and she consents to me "experimenting" with my dosage. If you discuss your issues with your doctor, I am sure he/she will let you responsibly do some "experimenting" with it as well.

I doubt I was prescribed 2x 20mg IR because of my weight. I am 132lbs. When I went to the doctor at least. Apparently my doc has a tendency to over do it but I am going to email him after week 1 with my experience of taking like 10mg 2-3 times a day and see what he has to say. Do you guys take breaks to avoid tolerance?

I do take breaks quite often, but I don't think it is recommended.

P.S: I am 140ish lbs as well

I'm a guy, 5'10 and 190lbs and I started with 15mb XR once a day. I'm about 175lbs now and I'm still only taking 25mg XR once a day. I started 8 months ago.

I started on 20mg XR 4 months ago. (Wow time flies) I jumped up to 30mg XR after a month on 20mg. I asked my pdoc for the bump as I could sense the 20mg wearing off early afternoon.

I had a hard time adjusting to the 30mg. I was also titrating up on Lamactil at the same time. The side effects were too much - blurry vision, teeth grinding, dry mouth, etc. After a month on 30mg, I asked pdoc to drop down to 25mg. I'm doing OK with 25mg. We discussed at last appt about going back to 30mg. Instead of 30mg XR, pdoc might prescribe a small dosage of IR to take in the afternoon if needed. We'll figure this out at next appt. I take a break from Adderall at least 1 day a week, sometimes 2, sometimes more if I'm on vacation from work.

BTW - I'm 5'11", 156 lbs.