New to Adderall--PLEASE HELP! | ADHD Information

Hello everyone,

I'm really glad I found this message board to post what I'm going
through. I just started taking Adderall XR 20 mg about a week ago.
Initially, I started to feel it soon after I took it, which was great. I was able
to concentrate SO MUCH BETTER and get things done. Now, I don't have
the same effect anymore. I have been really irritable, overwhelmed, non-
productive. I have been taking Paxil for a very long time, so my anxiety
has been under control for a long time, so I'm wondering if Adderall is
making me feel this way. I'm not sure if it's the med or not...and I'm just
praying for feedback that could possibly help me. Is there a possibility
that I should LOWER my dosage? Or possibly RAISE it? Are these common
side effects?? I just don't understand why I'm experiencing this change all
of a sudden. I was really excited when I first started taking this medicine
because my life was changing for the better, but now I feel that it's not
working anyone and that I've possibly become tolerant to it. I'm just
scared that it's not going to work for me anymore.

I would really appreciate feedback because I am soo lost in what I should
do.

Thank you sooo much!Hi Cherub! My son is 8, he was first diagnosed at age 6. He started on Adderal XR and it was a wonder drug for him. The only drawback was the mood swings/anxiety/anger when the drug was wearing off. (usually right around dinner time.) He was having issues after about 10 months on it with anxiety- he picked at his fingers until they bled, so I let him go without any meds for the one month that summer. He did very well, but was VERY hyper - his normal state. When he went back on the adderall the anxiety kicked in even worse, and he was telling me that he could do things like walk out in front of a car because 'the voice in my head tells me I can'... He also said 'my brain tells me things'...and my 6 yr old baby started talking about suicide. All in the same day! Needless to say, there was NO WAY I was giving him the adderal again. The doctor prescribed Concerta, and he has been doing very well on that. And so far, no voices. This is just my experience and I'm sure not normal. But if you are having any issues at all, I suggest calling your doctor and asking for a RX change. I hope someone here has more answers for you than I do! Same thing has happened to me except I am taking Lexapro for anxiety. I see the Dr. in a couple of weeks and hopefully we can resolve this. What I have heard is that possibly you need additional ADD meds for later in the day?????

I had the same expierence. My first few days were almost euphoric. I felt so normal, happy, was able to do things I have never been able to do before. Now it is such a let down. I feel depressed, because now I know what it felt like to be good & now the feeling is gone. I cant concentrate. Has anyone had this problem & then just a slight bump in dosage made a difference.

don't have an answer but wanted to put this back at the top so hopefully someone who does will see it. Barb

Cherub65

My son has ADHD. He is 10 and weighs 85 lbs. He also has the same reaction you do. This is our second time to try Adderall. The first time he was on (the old Adderall, blue tablet) and it worked great in the beginning, after a few weeks he became very irritable, argumenative and hard to deal with. We were on Concerta for a few years, that worked okay, it just stopped working. The doctor wanted to try him back on the Adderral with the extended release, hoping it would help with the irritability. So now he's on Adderall XR 20mg and 1 1/2 mgs of Risperdal. We are starting to see the irritability again. He goes back to his psychiatrist in September, I'm sure we'll be changing meds one more time. Hope this helps. Good Luck.

dede10.my friends son is on the adderall drug you mentioned.he lives in the UK and has only just been diagnosed with ADHD and severe depression at the age of 12 even though he has had behavioural issues for some time.even after the first dosage he started to hallucinate..it was like he was having a bad trip on LSD...he said he could see the devil with peircing eyes looking at him and the devil was telling him to 'go to somewhere happier'....my friends son then climbed on to the window ledge and jumped.....luckily from only one floor up!!he escaped with a broken leg and wrist.he had to see yet another psychologist as they took this as a suicide attempt.his mother was told that he had to stay on adderall as he would become used to it and would eventually work or he would be sectioned for the short term and be admitted to the psychiatric ward of his local hospital.this is a 12 yr old boy with no previous aggression although he was depressed as i mentioned.it seems absolutely horrific that this is allowed to happen in the first place...never mind telling his distraught mother that this is the way it will be for a while..what the hell is happening?something has to be done and quick.i accept this is probably a very severe and rare reaction but nonetheless should not be allowed to happen.

Hi. My daughter was diagnosed with ADHD about 2 years ago. We tried all the stimulants and she experienced weight loss with each except Ritalin. Ritalin worked for about 6 months until she started going through puberty. Then she began to be afraid of everything. She didn't sleep at night because "someone was going to come through her bedroom window (2nd story bedroom)) and take her." Her cycles of not sleeping and being afraid just kept escalating. She just knew that everyone was out to get her. She has recently been diagnosed bipolar and the doc said the Ritalin was making her manic. (Maybe that is what is happening with your friend's son.) We took her off it and started her on Depakote which is helping her sleep but she is very impulisive, hyper, talkative, argumentative, rude, and downright mean sometimes. Doc wants to try Reminyl for the ADHD instead of a stimulant. Does anyone have any experience with this? I know it is used for Alzheimers. We haven't tried Strattera because, at the time, I was concerned about her weight loss and didn't want to move from Ritalin, which was not causing weight loss.

The only comments I can add about Adderall XR are what my 12 yr old son has stated to me about it. He says he doesn't like taking it because he says he feels "zombified" when he's on it and also feels like he has no physical energy. We're trying him out on swim team for the summer, and his first day, he was so excited to go, but said he felt like a "brick" in the water. At first I thought it was just his inexperience, but the second day we tried going without any meds, and the difference was amazing! He said he felt a world of difference between day one and day two. He says though he's able to concentrate on his video games better when he's on his meds (it's summer, he's a 12 yr old boy, cut me some slack! ahhaha), other than that, he doesn't really feel they "do" much for him, so he's been off 'em now for almost a full month, and he seems fine to me. Of course, we'll see how long that lasts once school starts on Aug 12th! Hope this helps!

Oh yeah, also, when he's on the Adderall XR (and it also happens when he takes Concerta), he has this eyelash pulling out thing and also this really annoying "throat clearing" thing that he does, and comments on feeling "sad".

Keep us up to date on you, ok?

What you are doing is called chasing the high. That is a very normal response to any stimulant that you put in your body. You have to remember that this is a controlled substance because it does give you that euphoric feeling at first. I was lucky when I started talking Addrall two years ago I was going to school and taking a pharmacology class and did my term paper on Addrall. So when I first started taking it I knew more then my doctor prescribing it to me. That was very scary sometimes but was very helpful. If you want to find out information about any drug get the PDR version. Or what is the Physician desk reference; it has all clinical trial info and all drug interactions. Because things like Antihistamines can increases the absorption of Addrall and you can overdose on Addrall if you react strange to it. I did have this reaction and ended up in the ER. This was after I started inching my whole body and itched my skin raw in a few spots.

Kristin

Hello I am a 25 year old ADHD male. I have been taking ADHD medication ever since I was 6 years old. I have recently tried many drug cocktails to deal with my attention issues and stimulant medication side effects. Currently, I am taking 50 mg of zoloft at bedtime and 5mg of ritalin 2-3X per day. Strattera gave me severe mood swings. I weigh 220 pounds and was taking 5mg of Adderall XR with pretty good results, but @ 10mg of Adderall I had panic attacks about once every 3 to 4 days. Because ADHD stimulant medications are stress/anxiety producers by nature, some people might consider taking an SSRI like Zoloft along with there other medication. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT FOR YOUR DOCTOR TO TITRATE THE DOSE OF STIMULANT MEDICATION!!!!!!!! If you take too high of a dose, the positive benefits will start to disappear. Also you may have a greater response to a lower dose of medicine after the first 1-2 weeks when doctors may already try to increase it. So, try to stay at each dose long enough to be absolutely sure it is necessary to increase. I promise you will be glad that you did.