Adderall & Ritalin

[Poohbear122279]

Hi I had a Brain Aneurysm on 02/08/09. My Psychiatrist put me on 150 mg of Adderall and 5 mgs of Ritalin. Now the Adderall dosage is spread out through out the day and doses are 4 hours apart. I also metabolize the meds faster because I had Gastric Bypass Surgery so my body digest things differently. Well after trying the Ritalin for 5 days it made me so spaced out and tired. I like the Adderall better, it makes me focus and concentrate where the Ritalin made me feel sleepy. I want some feedback on Adderall and the dose that you take. I tried posting this on another website and they said that my dosage is way to high and that the max dose for Adderall IR is 30mgs a day and told me to get another doctor. I told my Psychiatrist what I was reading on the internet and she said that those studies were done years ago and on children. She told me that she prescribes some people up to 150mgs a day and to not believe anything on the internet. I would like some feedback on what other people are prescribed. I'm new to this medication.
Thanks,
Jenn

[indy]

you didn't mention why you are taking adderall. do you have hypersomnia due to the brain injury or do you have brain injury induced adhd, or do you have childhood adhd? any one of those conditions would require a different treatment approach.

i have childhood adhd and i take 20mg adderall xr in the morning and 25mg xr at noon. so my total daily dose is 45mg. my psych, who is very up to date on adhd as he has adhd himself, will not prescribe over 60mg total daily dose to his patients. but narcolepsy or hypersomnia patients are often prescribed much higher doses of stimulants.

anyway... you should tell us why you are taking the adderall and then we'll be able to help better.

[meadd823]

I agree knowing why you are on stimulants will help us answer the question better - I do not agree with the ceiling dosage approach though - I am on a lot more than 40 mg of adderall but I do not do well with time release medications.

I have yet to hear of a brain aneurysm being treated with stimulant medications seems rather counter productive to me Brain aneurysm and vaso-constricting medication = not logical connection {IMHO}

[StoicNate]

Are you experiencing any bad effects of taking such a high dosage of Adderall?
I feel truly worried about the amount of medication you're being prescribed after a Brain Aneurysm.
I also felt spacey/tired on Ritalin and made my heart feel weird after 8 days of trying it out.
I think Ritalin is for more impulsive adhd-ers.

[Scarletta]

Make sure you have a pharmacologist involved if you don't already. I don't think this is too high. I at one point was taking 90 to 120 mg of Adderall a day, my psychopharmacologist psychiatrist is also an adjunct med school prof and speaks all over the nation- well known for his novel type of therapy approaches.

I currently am off adderall and take 120 mg of Ritalin a day. of course, this is for adult ADD and chronic fatigue syndrome, as well as adjunct to antidepressant, Lexapro.

i know brain injured people respond well to amphetamines or dopamine agonists, so I am not surprised.

I wouldn't worry, just get a second opinion if you are, but make sure it's someone who knows their stuff. It's amazing the amount of GPs out there who think the max you can give of Adderall is 40 mg (actually the FDA says 60 mg, and that's only been tested on little children).

And doctors are always free to prescribe above the FDA guidelines, it's not the law.

[Poohbear122279]

Sorry I didn't mention why I was on the Adderall, I'm on it from brain injury induced ADD. I never had any problems focusing as a child, but my neurosurgeon and my Psychiatrist both agree that because of my Aneurysm it could cause ADD. I'm not quite sure what the difference is between ADD and ADHD. My Psychiatrist says that I have ADD. I take 45mgs in the morning, 30 mgs 4 hours later, and then 30mgs later and the rest of my dosage I break up through the day to get me through a full day. For instance if I feel like I'm not concentrating enough I may take 15mgs with one of my other dosages. I must say that before she started me on Adderall, I was not able to think clearly or concentrate at all. My doctors told me to exercise my brain by doing math or crossword puzzles. Before all off this happened to me, I was in school taking prerequisites for nursing. Since being home I have bought pre-algebra books and I tried to do the problems and I could not fiqure the answer out for the life of me, and these were problems that I used to be a wiz at, once I started on the Adderall, I was flying through these problems and it felt great it gave me hope. Yesterday I did our taxes and completed them. It felt so great. I'm so glad that I found this forum because the other one I was on was giving me negative advice and would not answer my post when I needed help. This website is great. I hope to here back from anyone, this was my first post and I'm sticking to this group. I didn't think I would have had this many replies so quickly.
Sincerely,
Jenn