Let me start by saying thanks to everyone on this forum. It has been invaluable for me in this first week on my meds. You all have helped me get to sleep, understand what I am feeling and why, and maximize the effectiveness of the meds while minimizing side effects. Thank you all immensely!
I have been prescribed 20mg of Adderall XR once a day for Adult ADHD. (The bottle says Amphetamine ER, but I am assuming this is the generic, even though it is $60 for 30 pills.)
Day 1 - Took the pill in the morning after eating breakfast (eggs, coffee, OJ), normal routine: go to work, drink coffee, eat lunch, work, head home, dinner, bed. I felt somewhat “medicated” and VERY jittery with the coffee and Coke at lunch. No signs of any euphoria, but definitely an increased focus. There were muscle aches (lower back, between shoulder blades, etc) and pains but nothing unmanageable. I felt it wearing off by the end of the day and leaving me somewhat mellow. Couldn't sleep, but was only up until 1:30 a.m. Daily intake of water around 88-110 oz.
Day 2 - Took the pill in the morning after breakfast (eggs, coffee and no more OJ due to the citrus and lowering the effectiveness of the med). Also took the last of my penicillin for strep throat. I hadn’t taken it the day before because I didn't want to mix the meds. Normal routine now with no more caffeine after I take my meds. The day was good. Not much of the medicated feeling and no jitters thanks to eliminating the caffeine. Still focused and getting used to functioning in this focused state. I felt a little anti-social so I have to remember to get up and talk to other people. I also need to to do this because otherwise I will stay frozen hunched over my computer for hours on end. Not good for the aches and pains. Daily intake of water around 88-110 oz.
- When I went to the restroom for the first time after taking the meds my urine was a dark maroon color. I called the nurse and she said that it was probably because i took the Adderall along with the penicillin. She told to me keep an eye on it and make an appt. if it didn’t get better. It did get better over the day so I chalked it up to mixing the two.
- I notice I am having a little trouble recalling words.
- My wife recommended taking Magnesium to help me sleep and I threw in a Melatonin for good measure. I took 340mg of Mag citrate/acerbate powder mixed with water along with 5mg of Melatonin. Let’s just say that the magnesium had a “cleansing” affect on me. Wow. But I was able to get to sleep that night and didn’t wake once. Very happy about that.
Day 3 - Took the pill in the morning after eating breakfast (eggs, only a couple sips of coffee, water) Still feeling the “affects” of the magnesium and they lasted through much of the day. I stopped taking the penicillin and there was no more discoloration in my urine. I noticed that the afternoon “release” of the drug really didn’t take affect. I am chalking this up to the fact that nothing was staying in my system very long thanks to the magnesium “cleanse”. I’m still noticing the aches and pains. Took 5mg of melatonin to sleep and had no problem falling and staying asleep. Daily intake of water around 88-110 oz.
Day 4 - Took the pill in the morning after eating breakfast (eggs, only a couple sips of coffee, water) Plumbing is, thankfully, back to normal. It was a good day. I was focused and working well. Noticed an increase in aches and pains in my lower back and now in my groin and testicles (comparable to “blue balls”). I also noticed an increase in having trouble recalling words and memories and even doing simple math. I found all of this to be quite odd. Took another 5mg of melatonin and had no problems with sleep. Daily intake of water around 88-110 oz.
Day 5 - Took the pill in the morning after eating breakfast (eggs, cup of coffee, water). Got to work and noticed that my urine was, once again, a maroon color. This time without having taken any penicillin. Called the doctor and he had me come in for blood work and urinalysis. He found blood in my urine and is waiting on the blood work to come back. He also scheduled a CT-Scan to check for kidney stones. He told me to stop taking the meds until we can pinpoint the problem (I was planning on taking the weekend off from the meds anyway so this was fine). I do have a history of kidney stones and I am thinking that drinking all this water has started flush another one out. Awesome. Urine was normal color by the end of the day. I didn’t take any melatonin this night and had no trouble sleeping. Daily intake of water around 110-150 oz.
Day 6 - I did not take anything this morning and enjoyed a couple cups of coffee-oh joy! Drank between 44-66oz of water in the morning. Urine is still back to normal. Started to feel run down towards noon so after lunch went up to take a nap. Slept for a little over 2 hours and woke up feeling AWFUL. After that the day was shot. Depressed, didn’t want to do anything, felt overwhelmed, just wanted to sleep. It was terrible. Not sure if it could already be withdrawal, but it felt like it. Went to bed at 9, without the aid of melatonin again, and slept right through until 7am
Day 7 - Still no pill. The “blues” seem to have gone away and am functioning fine. I am wanting to start on the meds again tomorrow because I need to focus on work. I am going to monitor everything and proceed accordingly.
Moving forward - I will be increasing my intake of healthy foods and vitamins along with moderate exercise. Hopefully the kidney thing will work itself out. We will see. The medicine helps tremendously with my focus so I would like to keep taking it. Hopefully everything can get sorted out and I will find some balance.
Again, thank you all for the help and advice. This forum has been a great resource as I start down this path. Hopefully some of my experience will be helpful to others.
06-24-12, 03:07 PM
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