My experience with Adderall 20mg - went to the hospital

[akiss4u]

Well I am going to try Adderall in the morning - does anyone eat before they take it in the morning? I hear you don't get much of an appetite so I thought it may help to eat first. What are your opinions?

I also bought a case of pure water because I hear you get really thirsty at first. I am going to stay clear from my soda's. Any meal suggestions would be great.

Thanks you all!

Wish me luck I hope it works...

[Penultimate]

I take mine when I first get up with just water. I never had any stomach problems or any other problems other than the taste (kind of sweet and bitter at the same time). It might be a good idea to eat something first just in case. I found adderall to be much less harsh than other stimulants. The only advice I can give is avoid caffeine like the plague when on adderall.

[akiss4u]

I love Diet Dr. Pepper so I dont know if that is going to be easy. I was up to about 8 cans a day because it had a calming effect on me and seemed to help think straight. I used to drink a can just before bed because it helped me sleep. I think that is called self medicating. I am also a smoker and I hear that cig's are a stimulant also as well as caffiene. Maybe I can kick both those habbits if I get the correct medicine and no longer need those. I hope I can get some help with the smoking for sure! It is addicting though. I hate that habbit. It makes everything stink not to mention the health risks.

On another note I took my first does of Adderall about 15 minutes ago. How long does it take to start working?

[Gregster]

It doesn't matter if you take Adderall with food or not - it doesn't affect absorption or effectiveness of the Adderall. If poor appetite is problem (it's a godsend for me!) then it is a good idea to eat before taking it, before your desire to eat goes away.

[akiss4u]

I could lose a few pounds and it would'nt make much difference. I chose not to eat because I am not hungry this early. I drank a 10oz bottle of water. I am still waiting for some change - it has been almost 30 minutes now.

With Ritalin it took about 45 min. to an hour to kick in but it was gradual.
Thanks Greg

[Penultimate]

Yeah, but the drop off from Ritalin is much worse. Adderall is much more gradual.

I used to be like you only with diet coke. I now drink mostly bottled water. It takes some getting used to but now I am almost off of soda. At times I miss the flavor so I buy a caffeine free diet coke

[akiss4u]

I agree on the drop off - that was awful with the Ritalin LA for me. I took my first dose of Adderall this morning and it was about 7:30 and I felt the effects for a good 6 hours and then my lower back started to hurt and I started to feel kind of weak. Maybe a slight headache trying to creap in too. But nothing like the Ritalin. I do think that the Adderall is much less harsh than the Ritalin.

[Penultimate]

I take two doses one when I get up (6am on work days) and one at about 3pm. But I am also taking 10mg rather than 20. I will eventually go back to 20 but for now 10 2x a day works.

[akiss4u]

I ended up in the Emergency Room tonight and I just got home. I just wanted to share my expeirence with you all. This is what I discovered after the doctors began testing

I had High Blood Pressure=150 over 89
(*Normally it is 109 over 76.)

My EKG= Showed heart palpitations and irregular beats.
(*Never had any of this before.)

+ My Blood work was done and came back okay.This was good.

So here is what happened.......
7:30am: I took Adderall 20mg (regular pills) with 20 ounces of water. No food.
I felt very calm and in good spirits. I had a decent sence of humor and the ability to get things done in an organized matter. I still had the daydreaming and some slight distraction. No fidgiting or hyper behavior at all. I felt rather slow moving but time seemed to go by fast. About 10:30 I felt my heart bounce fast for just a few seconds, but then it slowed back down. When this happened, I got a little chilly feeling - like when all the hair stands up on your arms and goosebumps appear.

At 1:00 I started to get a slight headache on my right side - my ear hurt and my eye hurt also on my right side - and felt rather sleepy- so I figured the medicine was wearing off. When I took Ritalin LA - I knew it wore off when the headches came.

Well it was 2:00pm and I decided to take the second dose of Adderall 20mg (regular pill).

4:00 pm - Still having the headache that was getting rapidly worse and no appetite and I had drank about 100 ounces of water by now and no caffeine all day. Then I noticed I could not stand, I had to lay down and my heart started beating irregular and more rapid. I felt a tighness in my chest and my whole body got tense. I started to lose my vision and felt faint. I had no idea what was happening to me - I just felt like I was going to die! I asked my husband to take me to the E.R. and he did.

After all the tests the doctor said I may have had too much Adderall and that I need to notify my psychiatrist of the side effects I just expereinced. He also asked me about my caffeine intake I told him I had not had any but that I normally had 6-8 cans a day. He thought I was experiencing withdraw from caffeine and too much Adderall inhanced the effects. He also said that I need to gradually reduce my caffeine intake. On top of this I had an anxiety attack because of the pain and the Adderall just intensified it. He gave me lortab for the pains and Inderal(this is for high blood pressure). It worked - once my blood pressure was down and the pain was under control. I felt just fine physically now emotionally I was a wreck. I still am shaken by all this and I think I will hold off on taking anymore Adderall until I talk to my doctor.

I do questions still - if you can't take Adderall or Ritalin with caffeine products but you have to keep taking it and gradually stop the caffeine... and you have to take ADD med's - Well hell that makes no sense to me. What do you do?

Do you get off caffeine first and then take the med's???- Heck I don't know right now. I am so upset I just want to give up!

I am WAY TOO scared to try Adderall again and now I wonder if I have a comorbid of anxiety in addition to ADHD.

I want to go back to the Ritalin in the morning and get a fresh prespective on it. I am still affraid of my blood pressure rising up. I just dont know what to do.

I need help.









:uhh:

[Brianne]

I would agree that was probably too much Adderall for you first time on it. When I started taking it I started on 10mg once a day then a month later 15mg a day then a month later I was at 20mg a day. I now take Adderall Xr so it last all day. I have been on the XR a year now was on the regular about 3 1/2 years. I also noticed no one told you not to take it with juice. Cirtric Juices tend to make its effefts lesson because the acid breaks it down to fast. I eat Have a small meal before I take it. Other wise it makes my stomach upset. Everyone is different though some may not need to while others may need to.
It takes 6-8 weeks for the body to adjust to a new med so you may try haveing it lowered quite a bit until you body can adjust before taking so much. I am suprized he started you on such a high does because you never know what your side effects maybe and at least if its a low dose the consequences if your body can't take it aren't as bad as they can be on a higher dose. My pshchologist wanted to be sure to ease me into it. I am glad he did because at first it made me dizzy, light headed, and very talkitive LOL! After a few weeks they went away as my body learned to adjust.
Don't know if that can be of any help but I tried!
Oh and I don't know about the caffeine thing I drink a lot of sprite so can't help there sorry.

[akiss4u]

I can totally agree with you on starting slow. My doctor had me on the 30mg Ritalin La extended and it only lasted for 5-6 hours so the "crash" back into "ADHD land" was bad around mid day. I was getting these "crash headaches" with anxiety and feelings I really don't know how to describe.

Anyway I heard that Adderall is less harsh for some. So I talked to my shrink and he said lets give it a shot. I mean when I took the Adderall this morning, I could have went to sleep on it after 2 hours and I liked that I did not feel so serious - I still had emotions. I was very calm and then something changed after the second dose. I don't know what changed - I just know I liked the ADHD syptoms leaving, the calming and focus effect at the begining and hated the end result.

NOW... the Ritalin improved my ADHD, my vision and hearing and it also made me emotionless. I could eat on the Ritalin and not on the Adderall after the second dose. They both have pros and cons but now I am terrified of the Adderall and the E.R. doctor said I needed to treat my anxiety.

I honestly feel I am still in the middle of a MAJOR ANXIETY ATTACK at this very moment. I dont have the rapid heart but my chest and muscles are still tight and I feel sooooo scared. I hear that you can not get good results with ADD med's that are stimulants if you are also anxiety prone. I also hear some take xanex and stimulants. Tonight the doctor told me that I just needed to calm down but I CANT! He said that I am working myself up but I dont know what I am doing - he also said that once your body has released the anxiety chemical the chances of reoccurance are great. Now what am I going to do?

About my shrink who prescribed me the Adderall 20, he did say to experiement with the dosages to find the right timing and amount. He did say I could break the tablets in half but that he worried it may not be very effective and only because the Ritalin was at 30mg and it seem to be a fair dose. I do not blame him at all for this. I chose to take the the full pill at my own risk and to take it 2x's today and I learned that was bad. Now what am I going to do until my next appointment? I have 2 weeks of Ritalin LA left and maybe the side effects will go away in time. Maybe I take the Adderall and cut it in half and it will be better. Maybe I need something for anxiety. Maybe it is just hopeless. Ohh I am so confused and I know I cant give up but I am in shock and I feel helpless.

[scott]

I don't have any information or advice that will help, since I'm still learning the ropes around here, but I will say that I'm glad you are ok and hope you can get things straightened out soon and get back to normal!

Whatever "normal" is...

[akiss4u]

Thank you Scott and Brianne! Jeeze - I feel so much better that you all are replying. I figured everyone was going to avoid my chaos!!!! I am still alive so I will keep trying to fight this ADHD. I am just really worried about what to do next. You have no idea how your posts have helped me - I don't feel all alone in the middle of the night- I feel supported and understood. THANK YOU!

[kimo]

You poor thing! That must have scared you half to death!

FWIW, I am on Strattera. Doc started me on 40 mg. Well, 2 days into it I felt really "wonky" so I went to the med center at work (we have a clinic with a nurse on duty at work, comes in handy sometimes! ) Anyways, my BP, which is usually low (like 116/74) was 150/90 and my pulse rate (normally in the 60's) was 106!! So believe me . . . I *totally* understand how you felt!

So I got off the med for 1 week and started at a much lower dose (20 mg) and ramped up way slower than the doc recommended. My BP is like 120/74 and my pulse is back to 62 and I'm on 40 mg of the Strattera.

Of course, I'm no doctor, but maybe if you ramp up much more slowly on the meds you won't have those problems.

Please be patient . . . you *will* find something that works for you!

[Penultimate]

Maybe you should start off with 10mg once a day and work up to more.