Icky reaction to Adderall | ADHD Information

I started taking Adderall in November following an ADHD dx - doctor
prescribed 20mg XR. The first few days I felt pretty good - the first thing I
noticed was that my "inner voice" (not to be confused with the voices in
my
head ) quieted down & for the first time in as long as I can
remember I was able to sit & concentrate on whatever I needed to be
doing without getting distracted by my surroundings & thoughts of other
things that needed to be done.

After a few days I noticed I was feeling a bit..."off," but I attributed it to
getting used to the medication. I was still feeling focused, but somewhat
less alert - I could still sit down & concentrate, but five minutes after I
was done, I couldn't have told you the details of what I'd just done. Same
with conversations - it was almost like being a little bit drunk - I could be
completely engaged in a conversation, but once I left I couldn't remember
anything about the conversation itself.

In any case, when the time came to rewrite the script, I told my counselor
about my concerns - although I didn't really get into the one above, since
I thought it was just a matter of getting used to the meds - my bigger
concerns were that it didn't seem to be kicking in in the morning, and I
felt like I didn't really get going until the afternoon; and also that I was
feeling really edgy in the evenings & was still quite awake late at night. I
didn't have insomnia - if I turned off the light & went to bed, I could fall
asleep with little trouble - but since I wasn't feeling tired, I could just as
easily sit up watching the History Channel until 3AM.

He said the latter problem was a fairly common reaction to the
medication wearing off, but that the former made him think my dosage
was a bit low (I'd gone in thinking it was too high, because it seemed to
last well into the night). Based on the timeframes I gave him (taking the
meds at about 6AM & starting to hit my stride at about noon or 1PM), he
thought I wasn't getting enough in the morning, and that it wasn't until
the second dose was released that my brain sort of kicked into gear. This
made sense to me, so I agreed & we increased the dosage to 25mg.

I started taking the 25mg last Thursday, and the past week has been an
utter nightmare. At first I felt like I did on the 20mg - focused enough to
get my work done, but with some sort of disconnect that kept me from
feeling fully engaged. Over the weekend I did a first read-through of a
manuscript & noted how strange much of the phrasing was. Monday I
started editing...and I struggled to find the words to fix the problems I
saw. Tuesday was worse. I thought maybe I was just tired; I hadn't had as
much sleep as usual Sunday & Monday night - so I went to bed early
Tuesday.

Yesterday was...scary. I literally couldn't make sense of anything I was
reading - everything seemed "wrong" to me, but I couldn't find the words
to make it right. I literally couldn't think straight, and I was sort of
freaked out. I called my counselor & he said to stop taking the meds & let
it all work its way out of my system. I spoke with him again today & made
an appointment to see him early next week; in the meantime I'm not
going to take anything. Apparently I sounded "agitated and paranoid" on
the phone yesterday, which isn't surprising as I felt like I was losing my
mind.

Clearly my dosage was too high. I'm not sure whether my eating habits
may have exacerbated it - I've been paying more attention to what I eat,
but because I'm not as hungry I know I haven't been eating as much as I
should. I'm not sure whether Adderall is simply the wrong med for me, or
what. I'm still feeling really foggy, and somewhat depressed. I want to
take a nap so I don't have to think about how "off" I feel.

So - if you've made it this far - any input? I'm curious whether anyone
else has had this sort of experience. Thanks.

Adderall is powerful stuff, i had the same problems as you, but after a few weeks of use, and now, some 9 months later, and a (quite) higher dosage than before it's working great every day.

The three major problems i have:

1) If i forget my morning Adderall XR 30mg, i am pissed off to the MAX all day, and i mean seriously pissed off
2) It started giving me panic attacks (never had em before), which were mis-diagnosed as 'acid reflux' (wtf?) for a while, till i got one of them attacks (a bad one) doing 90mph on the freeway and called my psych, he immidiattely put me on Klonopin 1mg, which has since been raised to 1mg, three times per day.
3) Sex.. forget it.. both Klonopin and Adderall affect sexual performance, with the amount of Klonopin i take (3mg per day), it simply doesn't work no more (and is SUPER frustrating for both me and the wife).

But, overall, i am quite happy with my combo of Adderall XR 30mg in the morning + 1mg Klonopin, 15mg generic Adderall in the afternoon + 1 Klonopin and 1 klonopin before sleeping.

Luckily i am at an age (33) where sex doesn't matter 'as much' anymore :) still frustrating to not be able to keep 'it' skyward in the middle of 'things' and needed some 2 hours (!) to get to the 'end phase' of the 'it being skyward'.

Hemmie
Oh, i should add, i also take 'the best' vitamins on the market twice a day (morning and evening), magnesium citrate (NEVER EVER use magnesium oxide when using Adderall! It'll kill it's effects) 200mg twice per day (400mg is 100% daily value, we ADD folk need a bit more, but that i get from my normal diet (four meals per day, 6x 24 oz of protein shake per day), Omega 3's (1000mg EPA, 520mg DHA), Saw Palmetto (not ADD related, is for my slightly enlarged prostate) and i take a Melatonin (3mg) before bed to get some better sleep.

Hemmie
so meggie, it seems as though, at first your doc thought your dosage was too low, then raised it...then it was too high? What r u taking now? anything? and how's everything working out? learned anything new about all this? i'm new to adderall, myself. I did what meggie did, then I dropped to 10 mg a day.

 works for me..
bugzappers38749.9171527778

What do you mean Hemmie,

Sex doesn't matter anymore at 33.  Your young.....Check with the doc for other drugs......2 hours......benefits someone.

LIVEADHD38756.3660532407Hi all. My ten year old son has been on 10mg of adderall XR since 3/2/06. He has told me that he hears voices in his head since he started taking it. He did say that yesterday and today he didn't hear any. I wonder if it's a temporary side effect. Did anyone else experience that when they started Adderal XR?