concerta to adderall

[hollywood]

Usually I take 126mg of concerta with ritalin boosters in the am and pm. I've been on the dose and regiment for 5-6 years and it works well for focus, but I wanted to try adderall to see if it helped more and didn't give me the hyperfocus that concerta can at times. What would my dose be going to adderall being that I take a 54mg concerta and 36mg concerta in the am, and then a 36mg concerta at noon? My doc gave me 60mg of adderall one in am and one at 1pm but I feel like I'm unmedicated and I just feel scattered as if I took nothing. I'm not sure if I need time to adjust or if it's too strong or too weak. Not sure if I should just go back to concerta after 3 days or what. I have just felt very spacy on this adderall. Is it an adjustment issue, or dosing issue? At one time I took adderall for a few weeks and adjusted and ended up on like 40mg of adderall . Not sure whats going on.

[hollywood]

Geez.. No help . I just wanted to see what the reasons I feel so strange on 30mg of adderall xr were. I 've been on ritalin concerta. Is adderall twice as strong in reality and does it really last much longer? I'm been on adderall for only a few days and have been told to use ritalin boosters in addition to adderall for a week until I am used to the adderall and how it works. I feel loopy unless I use the ritalin boosters. Is this just because I'm not used to adderall .. hello. Help would be good.

[godessnoelle]

I'm there with you, I switched from concerta, it made me a crazy person! The adderall worked awesome for the 1st week, but now I'm spacey again, and a little dizzy too, I'm thinking of asking my Doc to reduce my dose though, I'm told the less you take as adult the more effective it is. and trying to see if Ginko Biloba helps at all. I'm not a big fan of being all medicated all the time.

[hollywood]

thanks for your response. I'm usually on 126mg of concerta with ritalin boosters. It works well but has its kinks. I took this adderall in the morning and could not really function. I felt tired and just kind of like I took nothing. I'm not looking for a certain feeling but come on I do have adhd and I will just sit there and do nothing if not medicated. I took 30xr and had this feeling. Coming from concerta 126 i did not think this would happen. Maybe take less?

[godessnoelle]

It seems like a lot to me! 53mg of concerta made me a crazy person for sure! I’m sure it’s different for everyone. It sounds like you’ve been taking medicine for ADHD a while longer. I’ve spent my adult life off meds and compensating by doing things like drinking a ton of Coffee in the morning and going straight into a 2 hour workout 1^st thing to “even” myself out. Also I take a planner EVERYWHERE or I forget EVERYTHING! I’ve been on medication for only a few months to help with school. But what I’ve been reading about Adderall is that anything past 20mg isn’t very effective on adults. I’m on a 30mg slow release and take 5mg in the afternoon. Also I’ve read that the foods you eat can affect it as well. Coffee makes it stronger but it last way less time. OJ makes it harder for your body to absorb it, ect. I’ve drastically changed my diet lately. No more coffee L on the other hand a pleasant side effect for me is no more craving Alcohol or cigarettes. It sounds repulsive ever since I started Adderall. My body thanks me J lol. I wonder if you gave your body a break from the medication, if that would help..

[hollywood]

most likely I think it would help. I'm just getting sick of this. I believe and have always felt that xr medications are not that good in the long run because they cause your body to get too used to a dose and will still be in your blood at some level throughout the day, over time you have to titrate up and then you max out. I think thats what my issue is. It's like it works but not to the level that it should work. I think ir meds were better because I didn't have to take as much and could take more periodic breaks and lower my bodys adjustment level. My doc rx'd me 60mg adderall xr coming from concerta 126 but honestly it's just not worth it. I would rather take ritalin that much adderall makes me loopy and at some level I do have some genralized worrying issues. It's rare that I don't know what to do but I'm not taking that much adderall period. I read that 40mg is an adequate conversion from 126mg concerta.. I'm like wow.

[godessnoelle]

Have you only seen one doc? I don’t know too terribly much about doses, but that seems like SO much medication. Be careful coming off them too!! When I begged my Dr. to take me off concerta. She prescribed me the adderal and said to Finnish up the concerta 1st, and NOT to stop taking it until I started the Adderal. So instead of finishing the 53mg. I switched to the 25mg dose that was left from the month before. I crashed for 2 days!! My poor son thought I was sick! I guess a lot of times Docs will have you to take a break from your meds and slowly wean you off of them so your body doesn’t become over dependant. Has your doctor not done that?

[hollywood]

its not really all that much considering I've been on the medication since I was 14. Granted not that dose but my adhd has always been a bit severe. 126mg of concerta is like 27.2 mg of ritalin taken 3 times daily. No , my doctor has never done what you just described. The idea is to titrate down and manage a dose that works but doesn't exhaust or create side effects. I could titrate down but usually when I do the dose is not very helpful.. That could be only short term if I adjusted and then found the lower dose to be helpful. I have taken a few weeks off two years ago but still needed a larger ritalin dose to carry me out through the day. i guess thats why I had to escalate my ritalin dose in the first place. My dose is more like 35-40mg 3 times daily . So in reality its not all that large of a dose, but I do think that it can make you tired day in and day out. So when something like this happens , and I get a dose that doesn't work I guess my experience tells me to set back and don't panic and just lower the dose.

[JR1973]

Hollywood, your conversion numbers are fairly accurate (amphetamine vs methylphenidate). You are correct in that amphetamines are roughly 2x more potent than methlyphenidate for most people. Do amphetamines last longer than methylphenidate....yes and no. Amphetamines have the natural benefit of a longer half life which is how Vyvanse gets promoted as long acting (not really since it is nothing more than a large IR dose of Dexedrine). Methylphenidate has a very short half-life.

If you are wanting to switch you may have better luck with starting on adderall IR to better find your magic numbers then you could switch to XR. Just my thoughts though but since you are coming from the methylphenidate side you may probably respond to the faster acting IR amphetamines (but have to deal with multiple dosing). You could always try dexedrine too. Rumor has it that the 5mg pills are much better than the 10mg pills. However with dexedrine you will be popping pills like tic-tacs every day since they only come in those small mg pills (not including the spansules). That's a lot of pills

good luck
J

[hollywood]

JR1973,


thanks for chiming it , it was getting a bit frantic with the sudden change from mph to amp. I know that I did well on amp in the past but it took some getting used to. I am not certain that I have the courage or the patients to try and trial the dosing on adderall xr. I took the doses over the weekend and man all I felt was sleepy and tired. Not the tired from feeling worn down just sleepy from the adderall. So at this point I am not sure what I will do. I may just not take adderall at all. I don't mean to shortchange something that may be of benefit but obviously adderall works totally different than mph . I will tell that it is far more smoother but I do not know what my dose will be .. Strange considering I pretty much know the proper conversions and ratios...? The key is that I do know that I am not looking for placebo or a buzz so thats out of the picture. The sleepiness was rather much, but I was also taking wellbutrin which may be disrupting the validity of my results. I have eliminated wellbutrin and will not go back to it. If I have success on adderall , when I find my dose I will add cymbalta to soften or balance the effects. Why do you suppose it makes me feel so sleepy while adjusting? Do you feel it's temporary ? I am not alarmed as I can go back to mid dose or upper dose concerta and then in two weeks add cymbalta. I do not need cymbalta per say. I am doing it or adding the med to give me a better range of adhd control.