Just wondering how many people have managed to stay at about the same dosage on their meds since they first started with the med? This excludes titrating up to find the optimal dosage. Have you managed to maintain a pretty consistent dosage since you started?

For a lot of us I think, when we initially started a stim med, it was accompanied with a mild euphoria, coupled with excitement that it seemed to be working. This quickly subsides, and some of us (including me) wonder if the med is still working.

This is funny, because do we "feel" an anti-depressant is working? It doesn't provide any initial euphoria, but it eventually works because we are no longer in depression. But, with stims it seems like we need to FEEL it's working.

I've managed to stay on a pretty moderate dosage, but it's not really easy. For me, combining my med (Focalin) with Wellbutrion has helped. They seem to be synergistic. Also, I had to realize that a measure of its efficacy was not how good I felt, but how it affected my concentration and focus.

Moreover, I try to take a break from the Focalin two days a week, usually Fridays and Sundays, when I'm more relaxed to begin with, and I have the least high-stress activities.

How do other people feel about this? What kind of strategies have you employed to prevent tolerance?

What about acute tolerance. There are many people who postulate that your afternoon dosage should be greater than your morning dosage due to acute tolerance. My pdoc has never mentioned this, and recommended a higher dosage in the morning, lower dosage in the afternoon. However, I've read some research that promotes the converse of this. We generally need a higher dosage in the afternoon due to the fact that our meds our more efficacious with increasing levels, rather than stabilizing or decreasing.

Please share your thoughts, insights and experiences.

Just wondering how many people have managed to stay at about the same dosage on their meds since they first started with the med? This excludes titrating up to find the optimal dosage. Have you managed to maintain a pretty consistent dosage since you started?



Yes I have been on the same dose of adderall for about a decade. Does that count?

How do other people feel about this? What kind of strategies have you employed to prevent tolerance?


None - tolerance is an addictive quality not a therapeutic one.


For a lot of us I think, when we initially started a stim med, it was accompanied with a mild euphoria, coupled with excitement that it seemed to be working. This quickly subsides, and some of us (including me) wonder if the med is still working.

This is funny, because do we "feel" an anti-depressant is working? It doesn't provide any initial euphoria, but it eventually works because we are no longer in depression. But, with stims it seems like we need to FEEL it's working.


The need to "feel" is all in your head - ADD medication treatments are not about feeling but about functioning.

I use the razor analogy to explain what I mean

When ever one first uses a razor they get a tingling feeling to the skin they "feel clean shaven" However if one continues to shave every day or so eventually the "feeling" of being "clean shaven" diminish and eventually subsides all together.

Just because one no longer "feels clean shaven" does that mean the razor no longer functions?? The same logic applies to ADD medications.

As your brain adjust to the chemical changes the medications "feeling" begin to diminish and over time they cease completely. Despite the dissipation of the "feeling" the medication still produces the same chemical changes it did when you first began taking them

After a decade of being on the same adderall dose I no longer "feel" the effects because I have just become accustom to the chemical changes that occur much like one becomes accustom the the feeling of being clean shaven after ten years of shaving every day or so - same principle applies

The need to "feel" is all in your head - ADD medication treatments are not about feeling but about functioning.

Brilliant Meadd!

I've adjusted my dosage since I've started, but to modify my symptoms. Not in search of some 'high' or 'europhia' I've seen some folks talk about.

And her analogy using the razor is equally as brilliant, because it captures ADHDer and medication so well.