Has anyone else experienced an Adderall "Crash?"

[SydneyBristow]

I've been taking Adderall XR (Barr)for about six weeks now, and I still don't seem to have the dosage right.
The last two weeks I have been taking 30 mg in the morning. The first few days, this seemed to be working very well. But after that, it seemed to stop being as effective.
I usually take the 30 mg capsule at 8 a.m., when I first wake up. I get to work at about 9-9:30 a.m., and I feel great and productive for the first few hours. Then, around 2 p.m., I start getting sleepy/drowsy. It becomes hard for me to focus and stay on task I feel this way for about an hour or two, then I feel ok for the rest of the evening. After I get through the sleepy phase in the afternoon, I am able to be productive again, although not as much as I am in the morning.
I read somewhere that if I am feeling a "crash" around the time the medicine wears off, it means I am taking too much to begin with. Others say that you have to increase your dosage in this situation.
I'd like to know if anyone else has experienced something like this.
Thanks!

[musicpainter]

First, I love your name. Great show!

I started noticing the crash after a week of taking Adderall. I take 20 mg of the extended release kind in the morning and then my doctor gave me some 10mg immediate release for times like that, when it's wearing off and I need a little extra help. I don't know what the crash means in terms of dosage and whether it's correct or not. I go to see my doctor on Friday and plan on asking her if it needs to be increased? or what is causing it.

I did read somewhere (I don't recall where so don't quote me) that amphetamines tend to wear off and cause a crash and that it's "normal". I have noticed though that assuming I don't have a strenuous day mentally, I don't crash, but when the Adderall wears off and I'm already mentally exhausted it increases the crash.

[formychildren]

Yes, I notice that too. I am new to it as well so I wasn't sure if that was normal. When its wearing off I get really relaxed, not too sleepy, but wanting to sit and do nothing for about an hour. Then I get a bit of a second wind and am okay, I don't like it happening in the mid afternoon so I try to take my second dose before that begins so then the second dose kicks in and I don't get that crash until the next dose begins to wear off around dinner time.

[SydneyBristow]

Music and Formy, thank you both for your input.

Music, I love the show, too, and was very disappointed when it was canceled.

You said you had a doctor's appt. today. How did that go?

[Crazygirl79]

Adderall currently isn't available here in Australia and since the TGA (Therapeutic Goods Association) are strict on what medications are made available and everything I've heard about Adderall it's highly unlikely it'll ever be made available here. I've heard of a lot of people 'crashing' badly on this and I question what active ingredients this drug has in it to cause this affect?? I'm currently on 10mg of Dexedrine per day (was on 20mg and then 15mg) and although I don't 'crash' as badly as I did when I was on 20mg it's still bad, during the 'crash' period which is normally late afternoon or early evening for me I often sympathise and imagine how bad a crackhead must feel when they're 'coming down' because thats technically what 'crashing' is but on a much smaller scale. The only advice I can give you is to chat with your doctor about either changing the dosage again, changing medications or coming off medication altogether (I plan to switch medications and use in conjunction with natural therapies) I hope this helps?

[FrazzleDazzle]

Try a switch if you can, to the Shire brand Adderall 30 mg. For many, it's smoother throughout the day, and the crash less-so than on the Barr brand. Impax XR if you can find it is another one you could try. I would recommend to try another manufacture before messing with dosages.

[daveddd]

for me effects seem to differ every day i take mine, which is quite frustrating ,

and i take it everyday , no holidays

[arrested_truth]

On a side note, has anyone else ever noticed a difference in crashes from the difference in doseages? (Doseage-ing?)
For me While taking 30mg XR I noticed practically no crash at all, but with 10mg XR twice a day I encountered a horrible, emotional crash almost daily... but now with 20mg XR once or twice a day it's somewhere in between?

[FrazzleDazzle]

When my son was on the Barr 15 mg, the crash was really hard. When he switched to the 15 mg Shire, it was a very smooth comedown. When he switched to 30 mg, the comedown is much the same, tho the effectiveness was much better. So, on the Shire, the comedowns seem the same for him between the 15 mg and the 30 mg XR forumulas.

[musicpainter]

Music, I love the show, too, and was very disappointed when it was canceled.

You said you had a doctor's appt. today. How did that go?

I only got into it after it was off the air, but I have the complete series and every so often I have Alias marathons and just get lost in it. Such a great show!

I went yesterday to the doctor, and she asked about all my symptoms and how they had improved and if there was anything that still needed work. For the most part everything is better. She said all my side effects (cold fingers/toes, temporary insomnia, feeling of raised heartbeat, etc) were all normal and that they'd pass if they haven't already.

She is keeping me on 20mg of XR in the morning and then I have 10mg IR pills that I can take in the afternoon as needed (up to 2 a day) which has been working out really well for keeping my focus consistent. I don't have much of a crash anymore which is nice. But then again, it's winter break now so my mental stress/over exertion is pretty much zero for the next month

Overall, I'm happy with how it helps me. And my doctor seemed quite pleased too when I was listing all the things I can do now (like follow conversations, connect the dots to things that to most people would be obvious, focusing on a project, spending more than 10 minutes at a time on a homework assignment, and others).

Hopefully your crashes will become less frequent and then disappear for the most part (like mine have), I can handle one a week as opposed to in the beginning when I had them pretty much every week day.

[NeaneB]

Oh god, yeah. I take the immediate release form so I think it may be worse. I have found relief by taking half of my dose as SOON as i feel the beginnings of the crash. Man, do I hate that crash.....