Son is nearly 17, and only on 15 mg XR. When asked if it's helping, all I get is a pathetic I don't know, and most afternoons he has a crash where he has to nap from when he gets home to bedtime some evenings. When he was on it about 4 years ago, it was perfect. Focus and productivity like night and day, no crash. What happened? Will this get better? is it the difference between Shire and Barr?

I just read a thread about electrolyte replacement. Maybe a V-8 will help.

It just breaks my heart to see him struggle through these med trials, he's not getting much help so far this school year, and can't even get through his homework at night without falling asleep. :(

15mg per day?

Yep. We all wanted him to start out low. We talked about going in and asking for 20, as 15 didn't seem to be doing much for him focus-wise. He's had a couple of good days, but mostly not so good. If he does go to 20mg, will the crash be than much harder?

I'd expect a 17yr boy, with the metabolism of a gazelle, to need more than 15mg per day.

I'd expect him to need at least 30mg per day.

And yes, the crash may be worse, but it should be later in the day (i.e., bed time). If it's a problem, a 5-10mg IR booster is given in the afternoon.

yeah, that's really not a decent dose at all. I took Adderall IR for almost 9 years and took 20mgs 2x per day. 20mgs of IR = 40mgs XR

Everyone has their own optimal dosage, but 15mgs XR is nothing but a good starting point. I'd be very surprised if 15mgs XR is anyone's optimal dose.

Thanks so much guys! Does/can energy level generally increase at higher dose and cause loss of energy at too low a dose?

Definitely going to ask for a booster or a move to IR rather than the XR, preferably Sandoz if I can find it.

I need my tear-stained Raggedy Ann in my avatar.

Thanks so much guys! Does/can energy level generally increase at higher dose and cause loss of energy at too low a dose?

Definitely going to ask for a booster or a move to IR rather than the XR, preferably Sandoz if I can find it.

I need my tear-stained Raggedy Ann in my avatar.

For me, my energy increased. At such a low dose, he is still likely fighting his ADHD traits because the med isn't strong enough for him. I don't know about your son, but I'm inattentive with low physical energy (some days I wish my mental energy was low . .). Being at my optimal dose helped my energy.

The reason I stayed with IR rather than switched to XR, because I had control over IR. I could take it in the evening to study and not worry about being up all night long. Also, IR was more affordable.

He's in school, right? If it would be too hard to take a second dose at school, he might as well stay on XR and get a booster of IR right after school. IR only lasts 3-4 hours.

I just read a thread about electrolyte replacement. Maybe a V-8 will help.


Are you talking about V8 tomato juice? That has LOTS of acid and is probably a no no with Aderall.

I was never medicated with Adderall xr, though I was on Concerta, which is basically the time release of Ritalin, and I can say that your sons symptoms sound familiar. For some reason the time release tended to really whipe me out, leaving me a little cranky, and without so much as a sense of humor in sight. Some days will be better, depending on sleep, diet, that sort of thing, but in my experience, the XR pills just lead to a sort of pathetic lifelessness. I would suggest that maybe, if a bump in dosage doesn't help, he switch to an I.R., and maybe take it after the first class or so? Assuming he's a student in a typical high school, and depending on his own productivity schedule, he might be fine normally for the first class. That might allow him more time after school to rebound into some normalcy.

Are you talking about V8 tomato juice? That has LOTS of acid and is probably a no no with Aderall.

Yes, we have v8 on hand. I told him to have some in the afternoon when he gets home and NOT in the morning with the high acid content, which would be a nono. He just generally seems so depleted between the vyavanse and now the adderall. I have a call in to our doctor. I will update.

He didn't take the adderall today, but got a call back from the doctor. He wanted him to go from 15 to 30 mg (taking two). I thought that was a pretty big jump?

He didn't take the adderall today, but got a call back from the doctor. He wanted him to go from 15 to 30 mg (taking two). I thought that was a pretty big jump?

Nope. It's typically how XR is dosed at low doses.

Driver's right. . it's not a bad jump at all, pretty normal!
Let us know how it works out for your son :)

Maybe we'll give that a try. His energy levels need to get up there somehow....

No harm in increasing the dose gradually. My almost 12 yo (120 pounds now) was on Adderall till June, 10 mg. We took the summer off and when I started him back on 10 mg right away when school started in Sept., we had some days where I thought he had too high a dose.

I think he needed to adjust a little bit so I cut it back for a few days. The pdoc said last week that we may need to up it beyond the 10 mg as he's getting bigger (and gained about 10 pound over the summer, which was a very good thing btw). I find it hard to think I'd give him up to 15 mg right now, but maybe we will need to. Teacher said focus is good but he's still getting a bit distracted....my point is that its always better to be a bit cautious, so if your instincts are to go slower, go slower and watch him day by day. Good luck!

Well, we got to the doc and he just added a booster in the afternoon, I didn't even fill the script. :=( Son just seemed sooooo incredibly worn out and flatline from the adderall and then the afternoon crashes. These med trials just suck the big wind.

A few days off the med and he was back to his normal self again. We then started on L-tyrosine, and just added on ginkgo. He's a terrible with self-awareness, but he notices a slight improvement in his concentration on the tyrosine and I'm noticing a better mood, and he started ginkgo today, and noticed a lot of improvement in how he went through his day. He couldn't say how, just that it was noticeably "better."

We will try these for a month or so and reassess.

I can understand your frustration with the trial and error process. It sucks....very, very, much. [can you imagine being so depressed you are very close to suicide and you are supposed to wait almost a month for the meds to "kick in?"]

Still I really think you ought to rethink it and maybe go ahead and get that prescription filled and let your son have a stab at it. It just might do the trick! Stranger things have happened. And you might really be cheating your son by not taking this chance.

Yeah, I do agree, Maurice! Thanks for your encouragement. Will give it another go during the next school break, so if he feels yucky, at least he won't be loosing more on schoolwork. He lost more time while on the med than he did off! Doc said we could double the 15s too, might try that too.....

I finally got a pharmacy to order the Eon/Sandoz, so we have some 5 mg on the way. Woot? I know you aren't supposed to do this but I read people do it all the time and play with the doses.....Just to see if he does better on the Eon IR, I only wonder how my son would do if he took just one 5 mg in the morning, and one 5 mg in the afternoon, or move up to 10 mg in the morning and 10 in the afternoon. Not sure how the doctor would like that tho.....Ugh. I just read another post here that Sandoz may be manufacturing the XR soon too.