Adderall XR--any tips on dealing with crashing?

[oneup]

I've been on the XR for about a week now and the crashes are getting pretty annoying--every day about 10 hours after taking it I get a mild headache, mild naseau, feel tired, super brain dead, irritable, depressed, focus is worse than normal--can't even read really for this three hour or so period.

Ive been on IR before and it was easier to micro-manage the crashes--basically take another ir, drink coffee, take a nap, or just go to sleep for the night. I'm new to XR, and on kind of a low dose for now--15mg.

Last night against my better judgement had a drink to mellow me out during this burn out period and watched some tv. Hey great idea, lets follow one dehydrating chemical w/ another one! This morning I was really dragging, definitely not something I want to do on a regular basis.

Does anyone have any tips on how to manage this? I was thinking of trying one of the following:
--dragging myself to the gym during this time and working out & listening to music. This would help w/ the irritability and i could do while brain dead.
--or, option B, cutting out caffeine as much as possible, hopefully this would reduce the adderall xr crash? This would be tough as I've been using caffeine for a very long time. I usually take 200mg, or drink 2-5 cups of it, depending what I'm up to, but maybe better long term?

I probably wouldn't be able to try both @ the same time--if I eliminate all caffeine, I doubt I'll have the energy to exercize regularly. Does anyone have any other tips? I could also just stick with it till I go back to the doc, the benefits still out way the side effects.

[oneup]

Hmm 190 page views and no replies by passerbyes or non-member lurkers. Its cool though I won't take it personally

Yes I am in a weird mood now. I can only blame the 4 or so cups of coffee I recently drank. So I will try to answer my own question through trial and error. I hope its ok that I post a crash-avoidance diary here...this sub forum seems like it is mostly people asking questions...maybe I can answer my own?

4/13, about 9 hours after taking xr, crash symptoms start. Drank coffee, energy level returned to normal, brain dead feeling went away, no depressed feeling, read for a while and finished a project. Now, its about 14 hours after, and I'm pretty wired, and have that same headache, feels like a migraine but not as bad as a typical one--occasional pulsing, but not throbbing. Plan to take some vitamins, minerals & hydrate before sleeping.

Preliminary conclusion: Caffeine > alcohol for me at abating the crash period I get with adderall, but still not ideal. I probably consumed too much though.

Sidenote--took prilosec in AM, may have shortened the therapeutic window of effect some today. Reducing AM caffeine to 100mg+ 1 cup coffee...worked well today even though I spent way too much time on my computer. Also, maybe the crash I am getting daily is just a migraine? It feels alot like one, particularly the sort of irritability, wanting quiet/isolation, nausea, tired, lower than normal focus, and unilateral headache. Tomorrow will probably try later dosing or exercise.

[Flory]

hey there...its ok i sympathise...i dont crash really hard but i do get the worst insomnia and tummy aches when im coming down..i dont know what to suggest other than going back to an ir formulation or using an ir to micro-manage the symptoms on the evening

[oneup]

Thanks...I guess we all have to go through some trial and error period in the beginning of working with a new doctor and finding the best combo. I feel better about the XR tonight knowing that I can use caffeine at least to deal with the kind of brain fog feeling, if I need to. It was kind of disorienting, and embarrassing, when someone was trying to have a conversation with me last week and I wasn't hearing a word they were saying really, so I had to make an excuse and leave to not be rude. I think I had just started the XR that day and it caught me off guard. The headaches and other stuff I think I can deal with for now.

[Unmanagable]

I haven't tried the xr, but with the ir, I had symptoms very similar to the ones you described when the dosage was too high. After speaking to my dr., we decreased it and it made a signficant positive difference. Wish I could offer you more info. Wishing you luck!!

[lolerary]

This question has been discussed at length on these forums. If you aren't satisfied with the number of answers you got here, I would suggest using the search option. There are a ton of tips concerning how to deal with come down.

[sarahsweets]

what time do you take your xr?

[kostuch]

I just started on the XR and have been having the exact same issue. I took 15mg IR twice a day, I liked it because I knew when I was coming off of it and would take the other 15mg which would last until the evening. With the XR I am on the same 15mg dosage twice a day and I seem more foggy minded then when on the IR. I have been on the XR for 3 days now, so hopefully it will improve. You are not alone, I have also had to increase my caffeine intake to get through the time the XR begins to wear off.

[AddYourAll]

Originally Posted by kostuch

I just started on the XR and have been having the exact same issue. I took 15mg IR twice a day, I liked it because I knew when I was coming off of it and would take the other 15mg which would last until the evening. With the XR I am on the same 15mg dosage twice a day and I seem more foggy minded then when on the IR. I have been on the XR for 3 days now, so hopefully it will improve. You are not alone, I have also had to increase my caffeine intake to get through the time the XR begins to wear off.

do you take both 15mg XRs at the same time or do u take one, then wait a bit to take the other?

also, plz give medicine a little more time..I was about to give up with it- dealt with side-effects for 3 weeks, then most of them (moderate) vanished. I even get great sleep on a low dose of adderall XR now...it used to take 1or2 temazepam to get me out for 8 hrs or 4mg of Xanax(had very high benzo tolerence, not recommended)

[Shevey]

I'm on two twenties a day and I don't really get the crash until the end of the night after my kiddo goes to bed around 7 p.m. I find that increasing my intake of caffeine tends to help. However, I've also found that if I do not drink enough water throughout the day or get enough sleep at night, it's not going to help me in the next morning and I'd better not even think about taking my dose under those circumstances that day.

Oh, and how I manage balancing the caffeine and water is by drinking one caffeine beverage, then refilling the bottle with water and finishing that before getting another soda. I also found out that drinking a huge glass of water before bed seems to help me sleep better and wake up in better shape than if I don't. Kinda like trying to mitigate a hangover, y'know?

That said, I don't have a ton of input because I just started out on this path and I'm not at my optimal dosage nor have I necessarily found the right medication for me.

[kostuch]

Originally Posted by AddYourAll

do you take both 15mg XRs at the same time or do u take one, then wait a bit to take the other?

also, plz give medicine a little more time..I was about to give up with it- dealt with side-effects for 3 weeks, then most of them (moderate) vanished. I even get great sleep on a low dose of adderall XR now...it used to take 1or2 temazepam to get me out for 8 hrs or 4mg of Xanax(had very high benzo tolerence, not recommended)

I take 15mg XR in the am and again when I start to feel a crash (typically around noon), around 6pm I begin to crash again. These crashes seem worse then the crashes with the IR. I plan on giving them a chance and trying to find a good balance. Everything was fine with the IR, my Psych does not like the ups and downs of the IR and that is why he switched me. Thank you for your input.

[oneup]

Originally Posted by sarahsweets

what time do you take your xr?

Around 9, after breakfast. I think the earlier I take it the better it seems to work for me, in terms of benefits, like motivation, focus, mood. I've been debating whether to take an off-day today, but will stick with it, since for me adderall seems to work better after I've been taking it regularly.

I think I'm going to try to go to the gym later when I just start getting the tired irritated feeling...I want to see if exercise can reduce the crash symptoms.

Originally Posted by kostuch

I take 15mg XR in the am and again when I start to feel a crash (typically around noon), around 6pm I begin to crash again. These crashes seem worse then the crashes with the IR. I plan on giving them a chance and trying to find a good balance. Everything was fine with the IR, my Psych does not like the ups and downs of the IR and that is why he switched me. Thank you for your input.

I agree the crashes with IR were easier to deal with. I do like the smoothness of the XR in terms of its benefits though, sometimes the IR would only work for 2-3 hours for me if I remember right.

[Drewbacca]

Originally Posted by Shevey

I'm on two twenties a day and I don't really get the crash until the end of the night after my kiddo goes to bed around 7 p.m. I find that increasing my intake of caffeine tends to help. However, I've also found that if I do not drink enough water throughout the day or get enough sleep at night, it's not going to help me in the next morning and I'd better not even think about taking my dose under those circumstances that day.

Oh, and how I manage balancing the caffeine and water is by drinking one caffeine beverage, then refilling the bottle with water and finishing that before getting another soda. I also found out that drinking a huge glass of water before bed seems to help me sleep better and wake up in better shape than if I don't. Kinda like trying to mitigate a hangover, y'know?

That said, I don't have a ton of input because I just started out on this path and I'm not at my optimal dosage nor have I necessarily found the right medication for me.

Caffeine = anxiety. Add the Adderall into that... you might want to try to give up the caffeine, as there is a good chance that is what is causing the picking you mentioned in the other thread.

[stealthology]

Seriously: take a couple fish oils when it's wearing off. It works wonders for me. Go for a 10-15 min walk if you can.

[Shevey]

Originally Posted by Drewbacca

Caffeine = anxiety. Add the Adderall into that... you might want to try to give up the caffeine, as there is a good chance that is what is causing the picking you mentioned in the other thread.

But I haven't experienced any anxiety? At least it sure hasn't felt like it and I know what it feels like because I've definitely had a few solid panic attacks in my past.