substituting ritalin during an adderall break

[indy]

i'm going to take an extended adderall break over the christmas holidays starting on monday. today i only took half my dose, tomorrow i'll take half again, and monday i'll take none.

the one problem i have is that i'm completing this distance education math course and i need to work on it over the holiday. i know i can't do it without adderall. i'm a dummy when it comes to math and i simply can't do it without adhd treatment. we're talking basic multiplication and addition here. or basic algebra. i'm being tested for dyscalculia this summer, but it doesn't negate the adhd and improvement in my math skills from the treatment there of.

anyway, that was my long winded way of saying that even though i'd like to take a break from the adderall - and i'm going to - i still need to be able to do math. so, i was thinking, since i have a whole bottle of left over methylphenidate tablets i could take one of those every couple of days and do a couple hours of math. they only last a couple hours and leave my system really quick.

would taking a tiny bit of ritalin every other day or so ruin the adderall break?

i want to lower my tolerance and just give myself a break from being on a continuos stimulant. would taking some ritalin counter this objective?

has anybody done anything like this before?

[trishcan]

A lot of people switch from methlyphenidate to amphetamines and back to avoid tolerance and reduced effectiveness and prevent the need to stop medication entirely.

I'd run your plan by your doctor, but I've found it to be a very effective way to accomplish what you say you need to do.

[indy]

Originally Posted by trishcan

A lot of people switch from methlyphenidate to amphetamines and back to avoid tolerance and reduced effectiveness and prevent the need to stop medication entirely.

I'd run your plan by your doctor, but I've found it to be a very effective way to accomplish what you say you need to do.

cool thanks!

[StoicNate]

And Ritalin(methylphenidate) is known to be neuroprotective from amphetamine med neurotoxicity.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2701286/

[Retromancer]

This is news to me. Any sources you can give? I started out on methylphenidate but switched to amphetamine-based stimulants because amphetamine was more cost effective for high dose I had to take. A decade on and the amphetamine stimulants -- last one was Adderall -- have ceased to be effective. It would be good if switching back to methylphenidate was a possibility...

Originally Posted by trishcan

A lot of people switch from methlyphenidate to amphetamines and back to avoid tolerance and reduced effectiveness and prevent the need to stop medication entirely.

[indy]

Originally Posted by StoicNate

And Ritalin(methylphenidate) is known to be neuroprotective from amphetamine med neurotoxicity.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2701286/

i'm sorry, i don't understand what you're saying and i'm not much of a link clicker.

[StoicNate]

Originally Posted by indy

i'm sorry, i don't understand what you're saying and i'm not much of a link clicker.

There was a study done that found methylphenidate to be protecting the brain from long term methamphetamine use, since amphetamines are known to be a little toxic to the brain. Hey, if it can protect against methamphetamine then it will protect against long term Adderall use.
This link is an official scientific link that I'v posted. It explains the study.
Unless you're afraid of information, then I can understand.
I'd highly recommend having a small methylphenidate break from Adderall to ward off any sort of neurotoxicity, y'know just in case.

[leapofaith]

StoicNate, I don't think Indy or anyone else for that matter is "Afraid" of information. That comment wasn't warranted, I think Indy was trying to ask you to put the information you found into terms most people can understand. I found the link you put up highly informative, thank you. However, I have a medical and science back round. This article is very clinical and most people without science experience would not get the base meaning from the article. Maybe you could translate it for her.

[StoicNate]

leapofaith, I stand by pointing out that information with a link is worth looking at so that the OP knows where the information is coming from.
And that information and links that I post are based on knowledge that is beneficial or have something to do with the OP's question.
Hey I have adhd ok..lol

[Wintermute]

Despite my doctor's uneasy suggestions that this isn't so, I was under the impression that methylphenidate and amphetamines cause cross-tolerance. That is, if you took 10mg of adderall everyday, you'd have at least 15-20mg of ritalin for similar effectiveness. They aren't the same thing, but they do work very similarly.

This is what I've been made to understand after talking to people who abuse both substances (and other scheduled substances) back and forth.

When I switched from 60mg ritalin IR to Adderall and was told to find my own dosage I ended up with 40mg adderall IR a day, and shortly after that I was up to 60mg. If I had taken 40mg of adderall right off the bat I'd have been either high as a kite or jumping out of my skin....So in otherwords I think the ritalin will be only slightly helpful, like a weak cup of coffee when you've gotten extremely little sleep.

Lastly, I should tell you that I really recommend that you talk to your doctor before deciding to do this, because they should know best.

[leapofaith]

Dear mr Nate,

I agree that what you posted is very poignant to the OP's question, it answers the question completely. Thank you Again for the link, it answered some questions for me too. It is great that you have taken your time to find it and post it for everyone!
I too like knowing where or how people get their information from.
Sooooooo....What I was trying to say is, The information in link you offered is very Science based Great!! Usefull!! Not easy to understand for even very intelligent people, maybe scary for those who have no back round in science.
Maybe you could put it into everyday words all people use.

[StoicNate]

OK so, I will make this as short as possible and very easy to understand.
Methylphenidate aka Ritalin will keep the brain safe from Amphetamines aka Adderall/Dexedrine, since amphetamines harm the brain when it is used long term or daily.
If a person takes a single dose of Ritalin at the end of a day of amphetamine use the brain will be kept safe. Methylphenidate might even protect the brain from Parkinson's Disease.
This is what the scientific link is saying.
In my opinion, I'd rather take Ritalin than Adderall since the brain is a very important organ to keep safe.
Next time I see a doctor I will suggest to him starting me on it.

[indy]

Originally Posted by StoicNate

There was a study done that found methylphenidate to be protecting the brain from long term methamphetamine use, since amphetamines are known to be a little toxic to the brain. Hey, if it can protect against methamphetamine then it will protect against long term Adderall use.
This link is an official scientific link that I'v posted. It explains the study.
Unless you're afraid of information, then I can understand.
I'd highly recommend having a small methylphenidate break from Adderall to ward off any sort of neurotoxicity, y'know just in case.

i've never heard of adderall neurotoxicity but i'll look into it.

[indy]

Originally Posted by Wintermute

Despite my doctor's uneasy suggestions that this isn't so, I was under the impression that methylphenidate and amphetamines cause cross-tolerance. That is, if you took 10mg of adderall everyday, you'd have at least 15-20mg of ritalin for similar effectiveness. They aren't the same thing, but they do work very similarly.

This is what I've been made to understand after talking to people who abuse both substances (and other scheduled substances) back and forth.

When I switched from 60mg ritalin IR to Adderall and was told to find my own dosage I ended up with 40mg adderall IR a day, and shortly after that I was up to 60mg. If I had taken 40mg of adderall right off the bat I'd have been either high as a kite or jumping out of my skin....So in otherwords I think the ritalin will be only slightly helpful, like a weak cup of coffee when you've gotten extremely little sleep.

Lastly, I should tell you that I really recommend that you talk to your doctor before deciding to do this, because they should know best.

thanks. ironically since going off adderall i've had no motivation to do any math so i haven't even thought about taking ritalin.

[indy]

Originally Posted by StoicNate

OK so, I will make this as short as possible and very easy to understand.
Methylphenidate aka Ritalin will keep the brain safe from Amphetamines aka Adderall/Dexedrine, since amphetamines harm the brain when it is used long term or daily.
If a person takes a single dose of Ritalin at the end of a day of amphetamine use the brain will be kept safe. Methylphenidate might even protect the brain from Parkinson's Disease.
This is what the scientific link is saying.
In my opinion, I'd rather take Ritalin than Adderall since the brain is a very important organ to keep safe.
Next time I see a doctor I will suggest to him starting me on it.

first off, to address your first comment and another commenter, i am not stupid or non-scientific. i am a pre-med student and read science stuff all the time. i did however just tell you in my original post that i was coming off adderall so that might have suggested that reading an article was/is too much for me right now. i seriously have to concentrate on reading without adhd medication.

secondly, i've never heard of adderall caused neurotoxicity, but i don't deny its existence. it is, however, something my psych has never mentioned. i know back when i was taking lithium i read some studies about how lithium is also neuroprotective (in addition to being a bipolar medication,) and it may prevent age-related brain degeneration and help with alzheimers. i don't know if more research has been done in that area since i read about it years ago. but if lithium can do something like that then there's reason to believe that other drugs can help the brain.

so thank you for sharing this information. and i don't mind scientific articles. i just can't deal with them while not on anything for adhd.