![[dr. bob]](/dr-bob-sm.gif)
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 24 of 24. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by CareBear04 on January 29, 2005, at 22:43:33
hey all--
this is my story regarding stimulant-like drugs. i started on high-dose 450mg of wellbutrin for inattention, then moved to strattera, then strattera plus provigil, then adderall, then adderall xr. provigil was somewhat helpful, but it made me such a zombie where i would do the same thing for a whole day and seclude myself from the rest of the world. straterra and wellbutrin didn't do much.i've been on adderall xr since early september and adderall in general since august. adderall was awesome for me at first, except that it contributed to a significant amount of weight loss. i switched briefly to concerta and found that it helped, but it wasn't as helpful as adderall. now, about five months later, adderall doesn't seem to do much of anything for me anymore. i take 30-40mg of the XR in the morning, and though it's supposed to last a long time, it wears off usually within 4 hours. i feel tired and sluggish and inattentive, not focused and able to work like before. i take 20mg of regular adderall in the afternoon.
when i was on concerta, my dose was 3 x 27mg tablets in the morning and i took regular adderall in the afternoon. does anyone know what the conversion factor is between adderall and ritalin? concerta used to be weaker for me than adderall, but today, it seemed to pick me up and get me going in a way that adderall hasn't in awhile. is it possible that the drugs are different enough that a tolerance to one of them doesn't necessarily mean tolerance to the other?
i've read many of the more recent posts on stims, but i still have some questions. for example, can anyone tell me more about focalin? i just know that hardly any pharmacies carry it.
can anyone suggest a stimulant regimen that would get me going again? i've been so wiped out tired and haven't been productive at all. should i switch to concerta and supplement with regular adderall in the afternoon or with regular ritalin? should i add back provigil instead of adderall in the afternoon? what is the max dose of ritalin and adderall per day?
thanks everyone! please respond if you have answers or advice!
Posted by Maxime on January 29, 2005, at 23:54:39
In reply to STIMULANT OPTIONS, please!, posted by CareBear04 on January 29, 2005, at 22:43:33
I take Adderall XR and the effect doesn't last as long as I would like but at least I don't crash like I did on Ritalin.
Many people who take Ritalin prefer regular ritalin to the SR version. They like to take it throughout the day ... every four hours or so. Are you taking it for ADD? Or to help your depression?
You might also want to get your thyroid checked. It could be that you are hypothyroid, not to mention what stims might do to one's thyroid (I have no idea, it was a rhetorical question).
I don't think I have helped much have I? I'm sorry.
Maxime
> hey all--
> this is my story regarding stimulant-like drugs. i started on high-dose 450mg of wellbutrin for inattention, then moved to strattera, then strattera plus provigil, then adderall, then adderall xr. provigil was somewhat helpful, but it made me such a zombie where i would do the same thing for a whole day and seclude myself from the rest of the world. straterra and wellbutrin didn't do much.
>
> i've been on adderall xr since early september and adderall in general since august. adderall was awesome for me at first, except that it contributed to a significant amount of weight loss. i switched briefly to concerta and found that it helped, but it wasn't as helpful as adderall. now, about five months later, adderall doesn't seem to do much of anything for me anymore. i take 30-40mg of the XR in the morning, and though it's supposed to last a long time, it wears off usually within 4 hours. i feel tired and sluggish and inattentive, not focused and able to work like before. i take 20mg of regular adderall in the afternoon.
>
> when i was on concerta, my dose was 3 x 27mg tablets in the morning and i took regular adderall in the afternoon. does anyone know what the conversion factor is between adderall and ritalin? concerta used to be weaker for me than adderall, but today, it seemed to pick me up and get me going in a way that adderall hasn't in awhile. is it possible that the drugs are different enough that a tolerance to one of them doesn't necessarily mean tolerance to the other?
>
> i've read many of the more recent posts on stims, but i still have some questions. for example, can anyone tell me more about focalin? i just know that hardly any pharmacies carry it.
>
> can anyone suggest a stimulant regimen that would get me going again? i've been so wiped out tired and haven't been productive at all. should i switch to concerta and supplement with regular adderall in the afternoon or with regular ritalin? should i add back provigil instead of adderall in the afternoon? what is the max dose of ritalin and adderall per day?
>
> thanks everyone! please respond if you have answers or advice!
Posted by Maxime on January 30, 2005, at 0:01:48
In reply to STIMULANT OPTIONS, please!, posted by CareBear04 on January 29, 2005, at 22:43:33
http://www.johnswank.com/Dosing%20and%20Conversion%20Stimulants.htm
The above URL will lead you to a chart that might answer some of your questions. And they it goes by your body weight in terms of the max dosages and shows the equivalent dosage for various stims.
Maxime
Posted by alohashirt on January 30, 2005, at 0:59:31
In reply to STIMULANT OPTIONS, please!, posted by CareBear04 on January 29, 2005, at 22:43:33
some qns:
What is your pdoc like?
Do you exercise?
How old (set in your ways) are you? As a 40something I can see that medication will only be one part of improving.
Have you had a thorough blood workup ( including hormones, liver function? )
Do you have a support group / collection of other distracted people? My fantasy is that this would help me enormouslysome data:
0) Music really helps jump start me when i am flagging. See http://www.kidloco.com/radioloco/meta_mix03.ram and scroll to 20'45" for a French lounge remix of Chicago hip-hop that is stunningly effective.
1) dosage of stims is not weight dependent but rather personal. See the paper on www.johnratey.com for a great review of adhd medication choices.
2) amphetamines & methylphenidate work differently. For me, I can stay focused longer
on methylphenidate (ritalin family.) and Concerta is by far the smoothest in that family, 72mg being the "right dose." Amphetamines seem to subjectively feel like a sharper focus but more distraction.
3) Most adhd don't get enough sleep, which means impaired intellectual function regardless of meds.
I routinely sleep < 6 hours and am fuzzy because of it.
4) If I go > 4 hours without food I get sleepy.
5) Focalin is one of the two Ritalin isomers and allegedly smoother and more effective. Made me grumpy as hell.
6) When I exercise regularly (and Concerta can give me the focus to actually get up and do the exercise.) I have much more energy, even when I'm sleepy.
7) Strattera seems to help me more when combined with Concerta.
8) Danger of Concerta is getting stuck in a mental rut ( a mediocre version of "flow" .) When something jogs me into changing my environment for ten minutes, being around people with some urgency, I suddenly remember what I am supposed to be doing.
9) I am told that medication just enables the body, but for adults especially, coaching is vital to help us get beyond a lifetime's bad habits. I ahven't been able to afford coaching and writing lists has been a crappy support system so far.
10) I am way, way, way more productive when working in a structured environment with others who nag me me "when will X be done?" In my current quiet, beautiful office with enough time to easily complete my open work assignments I fritter away time.
11) Drinking water helps me.
12) Bonnie Mincu (see google) recommends getting a personal timer to remind you to do stuff. I planned to set this up in my Blackberry but have procrastinated on it!
13) Titration is very difficult. I have noticed that when I have too much meds I get sluggish.
14. As well as tolerance there is a tendency to adjust one's expectations upwards as medication improves things.
15. Methylphenidate & amphetamines are two of the most widely and long tested drugs in use and have extremely safe records. My understanding is that "safe doses" are are much, much greater than recommended max doses, which is very different from, say, tylenol. Rely on your pdocs for titration and if you're not happy, get another pdoc.Good luck.
> hey all--
> this is my story regarding stimulant-like drugs. i started on high-dose 450mg of wellbutrin for inattention, then moved to strattera, then strattera plus provigil, then adderall, then adderall xr. provigil was somewhat helpful, but it made me such a zombie where i would do the same thing for a whole day and seclude myself from the rest of the world. straterra and wellbutrin didn't do much.
>
> i've been on adderall xr since early september and adderall in general since august. adderall was awesome for me at first, except that it contributed to a significant amount of weight loss. i switched briefly to concerta and found that it helped, but it wasn't as helpful as adderall. now, about five months later, adderall doesn't seem to do much of anything for me anymore. i take 30-40mg of the XR in the morning, and though it's supposed to last a long time, it wears off usually within 4 hours. i feel tired and sluggish and inattentive, not focused and able to work like before. i take 20mg of regular adderall in the afternoon.
>
> when i was on concerta, my dose was 3 x 27mg tablets in the morning and i took regular adderall in the afternoon. does anyone know what the conversion factor is between adderall and ritalin? concerta used to be weaker for me than adderall, but today, it seemed to pick me up and get me going in a way that adderall hasn't in awhile. is it possible that the drugs are different enough that a tolerance to one of them doesn't necessarily mean tolerance to the other?
>
> i've read many of the more recent posts on stims, but i still have some questions. for example, can anyone tell me more about focalin? i just know that hardly any pharmacies carry it.
>
> can anyone suggest a stimulant regimen that would get me going again? i've been so wiped out tired and haven't been productive at all. should i switch to concerta and supplement with regular adderall in the afternoon or with regular ritalin? should i add back provigil instead of adderall in the afternoon? what is the max dose of ritalin and adderall per day?
>
> thanks everyone! please respond if you have answers or advice!
Posted by med_empowered on January 30, 2005, at 2:59:08
In reply to STIMULANT OPTIONS, please!, posted by CareBear04 on January 29, 2005, at 22:43:33
hey! I take 60mgs/adderall daily, along with cymbalta and buspar. I know what you mean about the adderall burnout-I'm looking for a way to augment my regimine (30mgs xr, 30mgs standard release) without having to go up on the dosage of adderall, since it is schedule II and all. Anyway, one of my friends swears by just straight up adderall-he takes 80mgs daily, divided up just like doses of regular ritalin would be (40mgs am, then 20 and 20 afternoon and evening, respectively). When you realize that straight up adderall has a half-life of 10hours, this kind of dosing seems like it would work nicely. When you think about it, the xr was really invented to prevent abuse of adderall, not so much to help patients. Anyway, I found before that Tofranil boosts adderall (or any other amphetamine, supposedly; this is why tricyclics are only rarely co-prescribed) and vice versa, so there was a nice anti-depressant/stimulant synergy going on. On the downside, tricylics do tend to cause weight gain, raise blood pressure, and can cause heart weirdness, so I opted for just cymbalta and adderall, no more tofranil. BUT I hear Pamelor is a good add-on TCA. How was the provigil? I want to try something as an add-on, and it sounded good, but I'm not so sure now. Do you ever take breaks from adderall? The breaks themselves suck, but when I start taking the adderall again, I can have a few solid weeks of improvement before tolerance re-enters the picture. Then there's the question of what you're eating, especially if you take XR...I avoid fruit juice, fatty foods, and most meats for most of the day, and I don't eat for 1-2 hours right after taking my top o' the morning capsule. I've found that this helps.
Posted by dick hunt on January 30, 2005, at 11:29:03
In reply to STIMULANT OPTIONS, please!, posted by CareBear04 on January 29, 2005, at 22:43:33
Hey :)
I've tried several, and for some reason, regular Dexedrine worked the best. I've also been on Adderall, Concerta, and Ritalin. Maybe your doc could try you on Desoxyn? Good Luck!
Posted by CareBear04 on January 30, 2005, at 18:49:16
In reply to Re: STIMULANT OPTIONS, please! » CareBear04, posted by Maxime on January 29, 2005, at 23:54:39
hi maxime,
thanks so much for your posts and for the chart. hmmm, either the chart is very conservative in dosing, or else i've on a super high dose-- 50mg of adderall or 27 x 3 (81?)mg of concerta + 10-20 of adderall. i'm between 40 and 50kg, so according to the chart, i should be on, like 1/4- 1/3 of that. and the problem is that on that much adderall, i still don't get much out of it! and while it used to last about eight hours, now it wears off after 4-5, which is less than what a regular adderall should last. anyway, thanks for the ideas!
Posted by CareBear04 on January 30, 2005, at 18:55:59
In reply to Re: STIMULANT OPTIONS, please!, posted by alohashirt on January 30, 2005, at 0:59:31
hi alohashirt,
wow, your post was full of great ideas and advice. thanks so much!
my pdoc is pretty open to ideas, but since she's mostly an analyst, she hasn't tried many drugs outside of the most prescribed in each category.i'm 21, so not too set in my ways. i'm inattentive and frequently hyper; some doctors have diagnosed ADHD; others just think i'm talented and bored. i don't know which is true.
as for sleep, when i first started adderall, i had a hard time sleeping. when i'm hypomanic (bipolar II) or agitated and depressed, i sleep very little. but at middle of the road times like right now, i'm sleeping at least 8 hours a night, and i'm still kinda sluggish during the day. i need coffee in addition to the stims to function decently.
exercise is a great idea. in the past few months, when i've become tolerant to the adderall, i've been pretty sick and have hardly exercised at all. my body has become deconditioned, and i'm supposed to try to exercise more.
is it normal for the appetite suppressing effect of adderall to wear off over time? at first, adderall xr really killed my appetite all day, but now, i don't notice any such effect at all. that, i'm sure, will please the drs since i have lost too much weight recently, but that was one measure that let me know that the med was working. it's hard to gauge otherwise.
thanks again for your post!
Posted by CareBear04 on January 30, 2005, at 19:02:28
In reply to Re: STIMULANT OPTIONS, please!, posted by med_empowered on January 30, 2005, at 2:59:08
hi med_empowered,
it's good to know that someone else, too, has been thru the laundry list of stimulant-type meds. i haven't tried any tricylics, though i'd like to, because i've had some heart problems and already have the problem of my heart beating too fast and overworking. i think more drugs would just add to the problem.
provigil would be a good add-on, i think. i never had any problems sleeping on it, but when i wanted to stay awake, it would keep me up. i've recently been trying 30-40mg of adderall xr in the morning, then 10mg of regular adderall and 100 of provigil in the afternoon. this seems to help more than just adderall itself. since i want to switch over to concerta for awhile, anyway, i've been considering asking also for immediate release ritalin for the afternoon. but if it's true that adderall is twice as potent as ritalin, that would mean 27 x 3mg of concerta (my old dose) plus 20-40mg of immediate release ritalin, which would equal 120+ mg of ritalin a day! that seems way off the charts in terms of recommended. are there people on that high doses? i'm also very small if that makes a difference.i've never taken med holidays from adderall. i'm sure they would help, but i get so cranky and depressed off the med. how do you do when you're not on it? do you take something else instead?
thanks for your post!
Posted by CareBear04 on January 30, 2005, at 19:05:00
In reply to Re: STIMULANT OPTIONS, please!, posted by dick hunt on January 30, 2005, at 11:29:03
hey dickhunt,
i'm not sure my pdoc knows of desoxyn. still, even though she has no problem writing me four scripts for schedule II drugs + a handful more for schedule IV, i think she would raise one or both eyebrows if i asked for meth. i'd love to try it, but i don't think, either, that she would prescribe a dose that equals my adderall dose.
how does dexedrine compare to adderall? can you go from adderall and dexedrine to take a break from the other? if i'm tolerant to the amphetamine mix in adderall, wouldn't i be tolerant also to dexedrine? i've never tried it. i asked my pdoc once, but she said it wasn't much different from adderall.
thanks!
Posted by med_empowered on January 31, 2005, at 0:01:28
In reply to Re: STIMULANT OPTIONS, please! » med_empowered, posted by CareBear04 on January 30, 2005, at 19:02:28
Hey! Sorry about your stimulant woes, and thanks for trying to help me with mine. I read over some of your posts, so I'll just respond to what I remembered to respond to...sorry if its a little incoherent. With the appetite thing, I had the same experience...it basically means you're developing tolerance. Adderall was once a diet drug (Obestat, I think...Andy Warhol loved the stuff), so it makes sense; no stimulant-type diet drug works indefinitely. Sorry you can't use tricyclics b/c of heart problems...they're problematic, but effective for many. I tried to find a heart-friendly tricyclic-like drug, and the closest thing I found is cymbalta, which hits up neurepinephrine and serotonin in a balanced fashion, kind of like Tofranil. It raises blood pressure a bit, but isn't necessarily contraindicated in those with heart problems. Effexor, too, comes to mind, but it causes way too much heart weirdness, jumps in cholesterol, and possibly tardive dyskinesia. Besides, dosing with cymbalta is way easier. You also mentioned adderall holidays...mine are pretty easy...I take an occasional weekend or more off. At first I eat more, sleep a little more (nice if I'm not sleeping well) and feel a little grouchy, but I settle into it. A doc actually RX'd Didrex, a schedule III diet drug, for extended holidays; its amphetamine-like, but doesn't pack the adderall punch..basically it prevents full-blown amphetamine withdrawal symptoms from developing.
Posted by alohashirt on January 31, 2005, at 0:42:03
In reply to Re: STIMULANT OPTIONS, please! » dick hunt, posted by CareBear04 on January 30, 2005, at 19:05:00
Dexedrine feels smoother than adderall to me.
I need to take breaks with either on weelends just to clear my head. Don't seem to have same need with Concerta.Current regime:
72mg Concerta 7.00am
10mg Dexedrine 8.00am
20mg Dexdrine 2.00pm
50mh Strattera 8.00pm
exercise two mornings per week
Posted by CareBear04 on January 31, 2005, at 22:21:46
In reply to Re: STIMULANT OPTIONS, please!, posted by alohashirt on January 31, 2005, at 0:42:03
hey alohashirt,
it's good to hear that you don't seem to need med vacations on concerta. i hope the same holds true for me. do you find that the strattera helps on its own, or only in combination with a real stimulant? i was on strattera at 80mg for awhile, then added 200 of provigil. i could tell a difference with the provigil, but i think the strattera was pretty much a dud for me. here are my current meds:zoloft 50mg in the morning
prozac 10mg in the morning
lamictal 200mg in the morning
eskalith cr (lithium) at night
xanax 1mg four times a day
adderall xr 30mg in the morning
propranolol 20mg four times a day
zofran 4mg a day
reglan 10mg four times a day
phenergan 25 mg three times a day
prevacid 30mg twice a day
percocet 2-3 times a day
klonopin wafers 2mg at night
Ambien 10mg at night
seroquel, prescribed but not taken
remeron, prescribed but no takeni know, it's ridiculous. and i'm 21 years old and on as many meds as an 80 year old would take.
do you find that exercise works to take away the need for some meds? i'm supposed to get more exercise because my body has been deconditioned by illness, but i'm having problems with my knees, so i need ideas on non-weight bearing exercise.
thanks so much for your help!
Posted by CareBear04 on January 31, 2005, at 22:27:44
In reply to hi again!, posted by med_empowered on January 31, 2005, at 0:01:28
hey med_empowered!
thanks so much for your help! sorry i wasn't able to lend more insight into yours.
is cymbalta considered an SSRI? i know only a little bit about it. i haven't looked more into it because i'm on both zoloft and prozac (because i haven't been able to increase the zoloft without becoming agitated) and i'm pretty satisfied on the antidepressant front. i've been on effexor xr up to 150mg a day, and though it helped with anxiety, i didn't feel much of an antidepressant effect.when i read about adderall or amphetamines being used as diet drugs, i did read that it's a short-term solution because the appetite suppressing quality wears off. but as for the ADD focusing type qualities-- do those last indefinitely? i'd like to take med breaks, but it's so hard. what is the drug that your pdoc gives you to help stimulant withdrawal?
i don't have a huge appetite or anything and appetite suppression is a side effect my pdoc and others are trying to avoid. they considered giving me marinol, pot in a pill, to stimulate my appetite. still, i liked feeling the appetite effects of adderall because then i knew it was working. one can feel more awake and alert one day for other reasons than adderall working, but the appetite properties are pretty unique to stimulants.
thanks so much again for your advice!
Posted by dick hunt on February 1, 2005, at 6:14:21
In reply to Re: STIMULANT OPTIONS, please! » dick hunt, posted by CareBear04 on January 30, 2005, at 19:05:00
Hey you :)
I was on adderall 60-80mg/day for two years, and dexedrine 20-30mg/day for 3 years. I noticed being more in a haze on adderall, whereas the Dex just felt cleaner and helped me focus better... I think adderall is only 25% Dex, and you'd think they would be similar, but there is definitely a difference for me...
Posted by alohashirt on February 2, 2005, at 22:03:21
In reply to Re: STIMULANT OPTIONS, please! » alohashirt, posted by CareBear04 on January 31, 2005, at 22:21:46
Exercise - it seems to give me more energy and a better mood, but doesn't change my distraction.
Strattera - I am sceptical about its effects, but I'm taking because I really want to give my psychiatrist a chance to suceed fail on his own merits (and he does think it helps.)
Posted by CareBear04 on February 2, 2005, at 22:49:54
In reply to Re: STIMULANT OPTIONS, please!, posted by alohashirt on February 2, 2005, at 22:03:21
thanks alohashirt! what dose of strattera do you take? i took 80mg for awhile, then even added 200mg of provigil, but i didn't feel like the strattera was working, at least not by itself.
i think you're right about exercise. i've gotten a lot more the past few days, and i've had more energy. i've also switched to concerta, so i don't know if that has helped. also, either on adderall or concerta, it has helped to make the drug work better. i've heard that adderall's absorption is affected by fatty foods, but concerta isn't. either way, waiting before eating helps.
thanks for responding!
Posted by alohashirt on February 3, 2005, at 12:49:19
In reply to Re: STIMULANT OPTIONS, please! » alohashirt, posted by CareBear04 on February 2, 2005, at 22:49:54
50 mg Strattera
Adderaall (& dexedrine) are less effective when drinking fruit smoothies at breakfast.
Posted by CareBear04 on February 3, 2005, at 13:09:02
In reply to Re: STIMULANT OPTIONS, please!, posted by alohashirt on February 3, 2005, at 12:49:19
thanks, alohashirt! yeah, i noticed that fruit juices make adderall less effective. i think i read somewhere that it's the citric acid in juices and most yogurts that inhibit the amphetamines? i really do like juice and yogurt, and unfortunately, when i'm on lithium, i crave sweet drinks, not water. are smoothies later in the day, rather tart ones, okay? i take a second dose of adderall late afternoon or early evening. does fruit juice also affect ritalin? thanks so much!
Posted by alohashirt on February 5, 2005, at 9:12:09
In reply to Re: STIMULANT OPTIONS, please! » alohashirt, posted by CareBear04 on February 3, 2005, at 13:09:02
It doesn't affect ritalin so what I do is drin k my obligatory juice when I wake with Concerta, and wait a few hours before taking the dexedrine or adderall. Still trying to work this all out a day at a time ...
Posted by craig getty on February 28, 2005, at 16:44:26
In reply to Re: STIMULANT OPTIONS, please!, posted by med_empowered on January 30, 2005, at 2:59:08
I also take about 60mg of adderrall a day with cymbalta (40mg). Sometimes i substitute extended release dexedrine for the adderrall, but extended release (whether dexedrine or adderrall) is never quite as effective.
Unfortunately, my sleep patterns are very erratic. I hope to work on that, and eventually lower my adderrall intake because I feel irritable a lot.
My experience with Provigil was that it worked okay for about month, but eventually was only as effective as a cup of coffee.
Ritalin also stopped working after a month and made me very irritable.
I'd love to see the drug companies develop a nicotine pill.
> hey! I take 60mgs/adderall daily, along with cymbalta and buspar. I know what you mean about the adderall burnout-I'm looking for a way to augment my regimine (30mgs xr, 30mgs standard release) without having to go up on the dosage of adderall, since it is schedule II and all. Anyway, one of my friends swears by just straight up adderall-he takes 80mgs daily, divided up just like doses of regular ritalin would be (40mgs am, then 20 and 20 afternoon and evening, respectively). When you realize that straight up adderall has a half-life of 10hours, this kind of dosing seems like it would work nicely. When you think about it, the xr was really invented to prevent abuse of adderall, not so much to help patients. Anyway, I found before that Tofranil boosts adderall (or any other amphetamine, supposedly; this is why tricyclics are only rarely co-prescribed) and vice versa, so there was a nice anti-depressant/stimulant synergy going on. On the downside, tricylics do tend to cause weight gain, raise blood pressure, and can cause heart weirdness, so I opted for just cymbalta and adderall, no more tofranil. BUT I hear Pamelor is a good add-on TCA. How was the provigil? I want to try something as an add-on, and it sounded good, but I'm not so sure now. Do you ever take breaks from adderall? The breaks themselves suck, but when I start taking the adderall again, I can have a few solid weeks of improvement before tolerance re-enters the picture. Then there's the question of what you're eating, especially if you take XR...I avoid fruit juice, fatty foods, and most meats for most of the day, and I don't eat for 1-2 hours right after taking my top o' the morning capsule. I've found that this helps.
Posted by NewToADDMeds on March 13, 2005, at 9:18:59
In reply to Re: STIMULANT OPTIONS, please!, posted by craig getty on February 28, 2005, at 16:44:26
I am 40 and have all the symptoms of ADD but have always just felt I lacked discipline. I've tried and tried organizing, staying on task, planners, classes for organization, etc. and never follow through with what I learn. I figured at 40 it's time to at least give meds a try. My Doctor has me on Strattera right now, started at 25mg for a few days moved to 50mg, 75mg and now to 100mg. I really haven't noticed much difference with Strattera but it's been about 3 weeks. I am worried about safety with this one because it's so new. The stims are much more tested and at non-abusive dosages not that dangerous IMO. I was wondering if any docs prescribe Didrex for ADD. Although not straight Amphetamine, I have read that Didrex is converted in your body to Amphetamine and Methamphetamine(primarily the Amphetamine). I was not prescribed any but I did a test with some a friend using them for dieting had. Normal diet dosage is 25mg to 50mg. I'm somewhat tolerant to most meds. I took 50mg and felt for about 3-4 hours very sharp and focused. I tried 100mg and felt more of a slight euphoric feeling like back in my college days when I'd get a little meth when I had to cram all night for an exam. At the 100mg, I also felt the coming down more.
Any comments?
Posted by eve1979 on March 15, 2005, at 15:02:27
In reply to Re: STIMULANT OPTIONS, please!, posted by craig getty on February 28, 2005, at 16:44:26
I just got on adderall xr how can I get my p doc to give me regular adderall, the xr type is slow acting and i'd rather take a few pills a day if i need them instead of 1 pill that is suppose to work all day but it dosnt seem to. Anyone with experience on adderall xr compared to regualr adderall?
Posted by CareBear04 on March 15, 2005, at 17:56:07
In reply to Re: STIMULANT OPTIONS, please!, posted by eve1979 on March 15, 2005, at 15:02:27
hey eve,
i started on the regular adderall, then switched to the XR. now i take XR in the morning (30mg) and one or two doses of 10mg regular later in the day.
i personally like the XR better. i'm at the point now where i've worked up a pretty high tolerance to adderall, so neither form has a big effect on me. in the beginning, i could feel the regular adderall working a little, but when i switched to XR, i could say without a doubt that i felt it working. for one thing, it killed my appetite the entire day; that was the main indicator, though not necessarily a positive one. the xr helped me focus and settle down much more, and it gave me more energy than the regular and without the crashes that i had taking regular three times a day. even regular adderall is pretty smooth, much more than ritalin, but i didn't like the ups and downs. the XR is supposed to last something like nine hours at least, but at most, it lasted about seven for me, and now, i take my first dose of regular adderall as early as 2pm. i really like and prefer the feeling and efficacy of adderall xr, and i wish it would work for the whole time i'm awake each day. since it doesn't, taking the shorter-acting doses later in the day works ok, too.
have you tried other stimulants?
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