I have tried them all. I was diagnosed with ADD at age 25 and I started with strattera, right after becoming sober after 3 years of college pot. I wasn't sure if it was the Strattera that was working or the fact the I wasn't used to myself sober. I was then switched to adderal. I found that when I took it, I was not able to concentrate better, but that it actually magnified and accentuated my ADD attitude and inability to concetrate. I was then switched to concerta during the day and ritalin in the evening and it was just up and down all day. My mood stayed for about 35 at a time before changing again. I decided that I felt the best and most consistent on the Strattera and went back to that. I gave that a month and decided that it was working pretty well, I just needed a tiny bit more of something and it would be perfect. I was given a small dose of ritalin, 5mg, to take 4 times throughout the day. Spiking the Strattera, as my doc calls it. This was how it went for about 6 months. Huge changes were made during that time. I changed my lifestyle, including, most importantly, my diet. I found out, through process of elimination, that I am allergic to eggs and milk (cheese). Those two things, for some reason, were the major sources of my inability to concentrate and settle down. After eliminating these from my diet, I felt MUCH better. I realised, however, that the ritalin was only lasting about 1hour and a half as opposed to the 3-4 hours it was supposed to. I asked my doctor what the difference between ritalin and adderal was and she told me that adderal lasts longer and is more consistant with less peaks and valleys. I wondered, "If I am no longer having the issues from milk(cheese) and eggs, having eliminated them from my diet, maybe I should give adderal another shot as opposed to taking 100mg of strattera a day and about 20mb of ritalin on top of that a day." I stopped the strattera and ritalin and was given 10mg adderalXR to take twice a day. It has been 5 days now, and I have much more energy and am much more productive and present at work that I ever was, BUT..... After about 3-4 hours, I start getting extremely irritable and my neck, shoulders, arms, and stomach are so tense. My jaw is clenching and all I can think about is smoking a cigarette, which I haven't had in 6 months. I feel completely drained and out of it. When, I take the second pill, again it is ok for little while and then this extreme tension and muscle pain.
Has anyone had a similar problem? Do you think that it is too small a dose, and that it kinda works for a little bit, and then the remnents are just a tease? Or is it the complete opposite, this is too much?
I find it hard to think that it could be too much, after taking 100mg of strattera and 20mg ritalin a day for 6 months, but it IS a different drug. I guess I really want the adderal to work for me, because, when it does work, however short it is, I am more productive than ever, and i've heard so many bad things about Strattera AND Ritalin.
Any advice?
---Andrew
Kristin - LOL @ your siggy. Very funny there!
You'll see how bad night bruxism is (thanks I'd forgotten the terminology there - I'm only human!) by how scarred your guard gets. Mine is 2 years old and looks like a dog's chew toy now. Still works but damn!
I do think it may be causing more of your troubles for sure. I grind and sometimes in the day so I see it now. I know it's a small side-effect of my meds and be damned if it is going to be enough to stop me!!
Well hope you find that NG and see results. My idea is it may not be classic TMJ where your jaw joint has loosened but rather fatigued muscles like mine. Hope so dear.
I am so grateful for functioning concentration and attention, the side effects would have to make me non-functional before it would be worth giving up being able to think and communicate.
You might talk to your doc about switching to the adderall extened release. I had much fewer side effects on it - and I didn't have to worry about forgetting to take my afternoon dose.
if your have facial tics bannas would prob help you
a generic is seriously identical in active ingredients to the original. They use the "blueprint" - the original med patent that covers the med. The only difference is the suspension - how it carries it (yeast powder, chalk, food color, etc.). The suspension is there to give the pill/capsule substance otherwise it's neutral. The only times the generic are different is when the manufacturer refuses to release key materials on the production (and they get sued for that).
so there's no generic fast acting and generic time released? thats messed up!no there is generic fast acting but xr generic but somtimes the docs will have coupons for the xrso maybe i should try the name brand fast acting and see if the side effects are any less.
wat med are you on
generic fast acting adderall
whatmg are you on and any methods for trouble sleeping lol and do u get a rush when you take your med
It could be the fact that our amphetamine-based meds can act as a diuretic (flush out lots of water) and that you are suffering a loss of pottasium. It's needed for proper muscle firing and ask anyone who has been in the desert and they'll tell you after sweating and not retaking salts in they get nasty cramping.
I find that it does affect my smooth muscles like the ones in my intestines. Doc says it gave me mild IBS which cramps like kid's colic. Nasty pain but I take a simple dicetel pill which takes it right away.
I tend to think that muscle aches that have been described are lack of potassium or something not directly related to the meds. There is little evidence of it anyway. Anything is possible but who knows?
thanks Glen...so if i make sure to drink plenty of water, it could go away? because lately i haven't been drinking or eating much of anything. it has really affected my appetite! any ideas of increasing my appetite? should i take potassium supplements?potassium supplements shouldn't be necessary unless you are in the sahara. I'd say a banana here and there - or gatorade but I mistrust them as I read a lot about people drinking far too much and getting sodium overload.
An easy thing to do if you consistently get pain is to get a small blood test and urine test done. They check out electrolytes and how much is going out. If you do they will probably ask you to about 2 hours into your meds as that's when it starts to really flush. I have been on meds for over a year and my overly active bladder went away mostly within 4 months. I still tend to pee more than when I didn't take meds and sweat a bucketload but I make sure to take lots of water in, eat well and take a multivitamin. Seems to be fine I just have to take a pill for my IBS when I feel it coming on.
Most side effects go away or lessen over time. Checking with an MD is always best though.
yea i use to get muscle tension what i would do is make a banna shake after i have took my meds and it would relax my muscle tension
so after being tested, what would i do different? what would b the purpose? i try not to eat bananas because of the huge amount of sugar thats in them. im hypoglycemic. so maybe i can drink water all day and maybe one gatorade per day(or no gatorade?)?
oh yea is there a difference between generic adderall and brand adderall cause what i heard its was just the fillers that is the difference or what will be the best generic manufacture brand to get that comes close to brand name adderall
cris, i didnt understand what u were trying to say.does generic adderall work the same as brand adderall is one stronger then the other cause of were its made. I have a friend that takes brand adderall and said its way more stronger then the generic and you get less bad effects on brand. I just wanna know is there really a difference between generic and brand
i wonder if there is a difference. that would b nice to know. i know there's a huge price difference! i think they have a forum some where on here with that subject. not positive though. i want to know what the difference between adderall xr and regular adderall is. all i know is the xr is "control released" or something...i think.i tried both i was on adderall xr 20mg and it work really good and thats the brand name and then i wanted to try fast realeased adderall 20mg and got generic and didnt feel right and got more bad sideffects. The difference between them is xr is time realeased were to say if you were taking 20mg of xr it would equal 40mg cause its all in one pill as to say for the fast acting you feel it right away in like 30min but you have to take it twice one in the morning and during evening and xr all of its in one pill but slowly realeases in your body and it may need two weeks for it to start wroking but everybody different
OH! SO you're having muscle tension and soreness too! ok, so it's not just me. Go to search and look up muscle tension in the subject category, in all forums. i'm not sure which forum it was posted. CAN U TELL WHERE IT IS (when u find it)? There you will be able to read my experiance with the similar side effects i've had. I heard drinking gatorade, when its wearing off, help with the edginess. not sure if it works though. its something to do with the electrolytes. I tried it yesterday, but i think i took too much adderall for gatorade to give any releif!
I was a pot smoker too for many years. I'm 26 now and quit in September of last year. I think the adderall helped with that some. I took 10mg this morning and i'll probably take one or two more throughout the day. I've been taking 30mg in the morning. Maybe its just too much for me. and maybe i should increase it within a month and not 2 weeks, like i did. (which, by the way, my doc said was fine.) (who knows?!) i feel like my own guinea pig! it's so annoying! But...the catch is, my doc put me on something for depression and anxiety, called Risperdal. I got on that and increased my adderall dosage about the same time. the risperdal was so "sedating" that i needed more adderall to balance it out. so this went on for 2 weeks and he took me off the risperdal a couple days ago to see which one was causing this muscle tension. (so i felt the adderall was again too much without the risperdal, so today, dropped the dosage.) so its maybe a combination or both meds. maybe its still having lasting side effects.maybe its the adderall. maybe it was the jump in dosage. hopefully soon we'll know. (Right now, I'm noticing the muscle tension again from typing! and i only took 10mg!)
I'm thinking about asking my doc for the adderall xr...i don't know if that would be any better or not. (what's the real differance?)
I saw that KIM24 wrote that...when she messes with her doses, all it does is "kill her muscles." (Kim, do u know if its the "messing with doses that does that? or is it the INCREASING of doseage?) Mine have been killing me too! So, that's probably what my problem was. So I'm dropping the dosage to see how it works out for me today. I don't know for sure if that will help, being that i am still "messing with my dosage." (even though i'm taking less) I've lowered it before and all it did was last for a shorter amount of time and i got sleepy and edgy ealier than usual. so i then take another. Its a pain!
I don't know if the xr and the regular adderall have the exact same effects at all? CAN ANYONE SHED SOME LIGHT ON THAT? So i'm not sure if you're taking too much or too less. Maybe try breaking it in half and take 5mg twice a day. Or ask your doc about the regular adderall. I know that most of the intense side effects went away after some time...maybe a month. But then i increased it and they all came back.
Have you learned anything new and helpful about this stuff since you last posted on this subject? please someone help us figure this thing out.
Wow,
I thought I was just crazy. My facial mucles and TMJ have been KILLING me this week w/ the tension. I just started generic adderall last Fri, and have had dull headache about 1-2 hrs into the dose, along w/ the tension. I take 10 mg am and 10 mg around 12:30.
Glen, do you think this tension etc may be related to dehydration? Been very thirsty, staying away from sugar and caffeine like a good girl (one of those rare moments) and drinking 50-70 oz H2O daily. I could try a banana here and there.
Really good to hear others are experiencing this. Keeping a diary for this first month so my doc and I can discuss problems.
Thanks for all the info
Kristin
wow that's a great question Kristin!
tension in the facial muscles could be a sign of the amphetamine exacerbating tics you already have but were not noticable. I know they are saying now it doesn't but I find that I grind my teeth now which I never noticed before. I have one tooth that's particularly thin and I got permission to wear a night guard I have to work that avoids the worst of it.
I have an ex with TMJ - she brought it on with nighttime grinding of teeth while asleep. She sounded like she was grinding gravel at night (shiver). When she was stressed it would be so bad it showed up while awake though subconsciously.
I'd think maybe you are having some minor side effects due to the meds. It's a fairly common thing to grind teeth while on adderall/dexedrine and I know my left side of my jaw where I grind most gets very sore and clicks (which is what I know is some signs of starting TMJ).
Now - that being said being dehydrated can cause pain in any muscle as loss of sodium and potassium can cause painful cramps. Usually they hit the larger muscles first like leg/buttocks and back but can hit almost anywhere. If you find you are losing water in the bathroom a lot then adding water in equal doses and eating bananas would be a good option. Can't hurt as they say.
Headache could for sure be early sign of dehydration as I get that in the summer if I keep up my coffee without added water. Bad habit and I pay oh do I pay.
I know I kind of went in circles in this one but honestly I can only guess if your TMJ and other things are dehydration. Maybe you should talk to your dentist for an appliance like I have and you can't grind your jaw at night if you do. Most likely causes of TMJ are grinding and that stops cold. I feel great when I use it while sleeping.
Wish I could be more certain. I hope you find what works. And remember if you have a cup of coffee wash it down after with water!
LOL, Glen
I have a NG, just need to pull it out and spit shine it a little. I work for DDS, so will get a better fitting one.
I may just be clenching more, but seriously, I usually wake up in am w/ headache and tension in facial mucles when I have bruxed at nite. Maybe I am doing it while pulling all that tartar off teeth, lol.
Thanks for info on losing water in bathroom, cause I feel like I have spent 23/24 hrs there this last week. Will get some bananas tomorrow. Sometimes my brain just has to be "triggered" w/ right info or clue so I can remember what I am supposed to do.
Thanks again Glen,
Kristin (who has been know to shut an entire room up w/ one comment that no one understands...deer in headlights...funny)