Alcohol Counteracts the Adderall XR | ADHD Information

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Let's see Adderall and Alcohol... I think it's called a speedball.

LOL. Sorry bad joke.

Hi all, I am new to the boards and will tell my ADHD story in the board dedicated to that topic but you should know that my story is not that different from others who have a high IQ and were diagnosed as adults. 

Anyway, I was going nuts today.  I take Adderall XR 30mg daily and it works great.  I started on Straterra (120mg) and Lexapro (5 or 10mg I can't remember now).  This cocktail worked for a while but I couldn't take the side effects of the Straterra (difficulty urinating and ED) plus it just didn't work as well as it should have.  Anyway, I have been on Adderall XR 30mg for about 5 months and I couldn't be happier except for a couple of side effects.  I just wanted to know if anyone else experienced the same thing.

Basically, what I have is ADHD and I start the day out just fine.  I am calm and very focused.  Right around noon to one o'clock I get very irritable and tense.  I don't feel like I can relax.  Well the way I used to deal with this is to have a couple of drinks to relax (I know very bad thing).  The thing is, even one standard alcoholic drink seems to counteract the Adderall making it so I can't focus on anything.  Does anyone else have the problem of irritability and feeling tense in the middle of the day while taking Adderall XR and if so what are your strategies to relax?  Also, does anyone else feel like alcohol counteracts the Adderall?  I know I shouldn't have Alcoholic Beverages while on the medication but I like to have a few beers every now and then.  Thanks all for your time.

Be careful drinking on the med. I would call your doctor about the side effects and get advice.

Hiya, welcome!

I am on the same dose of adderall and had the same problem.  Try and keep track of your attention span at that time of day.  XR only lasts me about 5 or 6 hours.  I realized that I was working with a somewhat functional but greatly reduced attention span for the other 4 hours of my workday.  It would make anybody cranky.  My pdoc added a dose of IR in the afternoon so that I had full coverage.  My days are going much better now.  Good luck!

I have been taking Adderall XR for 2 yrs now & have the same experience with irritability/anxiety about 4/5 hrs after taking med. What I do is try to make sure to eat something & keep hydrated. MOST importantly I exercise (moderate cardio) for 35 mins about 4/5 hrs into med. The exercise helps the tension/irritability. I also start to feel frazzled during the 4/5 hr timeframe. Moderate exercise does help a ton for this feeling.

hbone

I am going through I similiar experience I just started Adderall XR 20mg a day and it is having some effects...For the firt 5 or 6 hours I am ok ..Then I crash ...and try to get to sleep but i can't from the meds...It is making me crazy...and the Dr prescribed Xanax which I am not sure the side effects of mixing those two pills together...

[QUOTE=Johnnyboi]I forgot to say that caffeine free drinks such as sprite works just as well.  Just gotta make sure it has a lot of sugar, and it does the trick for me.  Don't bother with the diet sodas though! Personally, I've never heard of anti-depressants making the medication more effective.  From my own personal experience, it does not, in fact, it makes it less effective.[/QUOTE]

LOL well I definately can't say for a fact if the anti-depressant thing is true or false since anti-depressants never worked for me. That is what my Doctor told me so I figured I'd pass the info on. Of course just because a doctor says something doesn't make it true, I've had enough experience with doctor's "mistakes" too see that.

So much of it probably differs from person to person too. Just like the meds effect everyone differently I suppose the interactions differ as well. Like the alcohol example, obviously mixing alcohol with meds is not a good idea but all the times I did it, it never seemed to effect the adderall at all.

I never experienced the sugar thing myself or I guess I have but just attributed it to caffiene since I don't drink caffiene free drinks but you are right. Sugar helping during withdrawal makes sense since it is a stimulant too.

My withdrawals were always the worst when I didn't eat all day and usually forcing myself to eat when I started getting really cranky would help.
Thanks for the link, Mafiakiddo :) If you having trouble sleeping you might ask your doctor about trying 3mgs of Melatonin right before hitting the hay.  It works for my granddaughter.

Mixing Adderall XR and Alcohol is a very bad idea.  Yea, I know you're tense, but did you know Adderall speeds up the central nervous system, and Alcohol slows it down? It's a stimulant vs a depressant, which in turn puts extra stress on your heart, not good for your health my friend.  Either add an extra dosage in the afternoon, or chew gum, that usually works for me.  Also, I noticed whenever I was crashing, I'd drink mountain dew, or pepsi.  It introduces some sugar back into my system that the adderall yanks out when you take your dosage in the morning.

Drinking soda helps when you are crashing because it contains caffiene. It doesn't really have anything to do with sugar. It helps because it is a stimulant. Which makes sense since the crashing is from stimulant withdrawal, adding a stimulant will ease or stop the feeling you get when your meds wear off.   I forgot to say that caffeine free drinks such as sprite works just as well.  Just gotta make sure it has a lot of sugar, and it does the trick for me.  Don't bother with the diet sodas though! Personally, I've never heard of anti-depressants making the medication more effective.  From my own personal experience, it does not, in fact, it makes it less effective.Johnnyboi38802.8922453704

I was wondering about alcohol and Adderall together...I don't drink much at all but there were no warnings on the med info I got at the pharmacy and my doc didn't say anything. 

Same thing was happening with me. Just like other have stated for me it was because the meds had worn off. XR lasts about 6 hours on me, needless to say having it wear off like that while I was at work caused a lot of problems. I ultimately had to add a second dose of XR and did much better after that.

The only thing I noticed about mixing alcohol and Adderall was that I got drunk a lot faster. It's stupid to drink and take meds but I was in college and stupid at the time so I got lots of practice. I went from having to drink a large amount of alcohol just to get buzzed to feeling the alcohol after only 2 drinks.

The other thing that possibly could be a problem is the absorbtion of the meds with alcohol. A lot of things effect how well Adderall works. Fruit juice for example lowers the absorbtion of Adderall while Anti-depressants make it stronger. Not sure exactly how alcohol effects it but it's a tempermental drug so it's improtant to watch what your taking and how it interacts the med.

Here's a link that lists a few common interactions WhatMeds.com