Adderall XR and finding the right dosage | ADHD Information

I am experiencing the same thing and thought that maybe body mass has to do with it.  I am 70 inched 210lbs, and take 1 XR x 20 mg per day.  I felt something the first day or two but since feel nothing.  It has been very frustrating to say the least.  I am still taking it as perscribed but have yet to feel the may a majority of people have posted the way they feel when on the medication.

 

Wondering if they go according to body weight, etc. I started taking it on December 9 and felt the effect of 20mg right away but over the course of a week wasn't feeling any effect at all.  Doctor is rewriting rx for 2x20mg 1x/day.  Is this going to be a trial and error sort of thing or is there a guideline to follow according to body mass, etc? Should I be asking for psychiatry input?  For the record I am a male, 6'1" and weighing about 195.  When I did first start taking it, I was amazed at the feeling of calm that came over my brain even though I was energetic on the outside with plenty of ability to focus on what was important at both work and home. Anyone else with similar experiences?  Any input appreciated.

 

I don't know what "bid" or "tid" or "qd" stands for.... but I take a staggered dose.... one 20 mg xr first thing in the morning and another 20 mg. xr about 6 hours later when the other first one's effect is wearing off. 

MaxDad alludes to the euphoric side effect initially and I was thinking that I should be having that feeling as it is "kicking in" but, I guess, that is not the case though it sure feels good.  The funny thing is, I kept waiting for the crash like I experienced the couple of times I used coke.  That aside, I am hoping for better results since I started in with 2x20mg.  I also wonder if there is any benefit to staggering the dose; going to a bid or tid as opposed to qd? Is this done with the XR? 

Usually there are two ways that they gauge med dosage in adderall - one is to start on a high dose and work down until side effects are tolerable but the ADHD is controlled - or start low and work up until the med works all the time but the side effects are low or negligible.  Way too many start high but it sounds as if you were started low.

When starting low (like I did with dexedrine - 10 mg) you'll find an initial help then it tapers.  Then the MD/psych brings it up another step and there is longer relief.  This will continue until you find weeks or months of aid.  Then the option is either to raise or change meds/dosages or to take med vacations to give the body a chance to reacclimate to the meds.  I choose vacations and have stayed on the second lowest dose for my dexedrine (20mg at 2x/day) which works best for me.

Body mass and weight provides no indication of a person theraputic dose of Adderall. With stimulant meds most people have widely different theraputic doses.

There are guidelines developed (I think) by Harvard med school on the the theraputic range of Adderall. They claim that most have a theraputic range of between .3mg and 1.0mg per kilo of body weight. So if you weigh 100 kilos your total daily dose range would be from 30mg to 100mg. However this range is too wide to determine the precise dose. That's why the "best practice" is to start someone at a low dose and slowly increase the dose over time to determine the theraputic dose. In my case my doctor had me go above my theraputic dose for a brief time to validate that I was not getting any additional benefit.

It's very possible that a 200 lb male would have a theraputic dose of 20mg and a 100lb female a dose of 50mg. At this point our understanding of the brain is still relatively low so there's no true understanding of what impacts a persons needed dose.

In fact, science cannot even conclusively prove how the stimulant meds work to help those with depression and ADD. While they are fairly certain the proof is not concrete.

If your Doctor is not HIGHLY experienced with ADD then you should see a therapist or Psych who is. That's critical since those folks will understand the nuances of prescribing stimulant meds.

As for the initial feelings on the med you were experiencing a euphoric side-effect that will eventually go away. Don't confuse this with the true benefit you seek which is a better abilty to maintain attention and curb impulsiveness. Instead, look for improved performance at work/school, better relationships and social skills and better awareness of your actions and behavior.

Best of luck to you.

MaxDad


I believe that 'bid' is 2x a day and 'tid' is 3x, so 'qd' is most likely 1x....  chasesmom7939080.3097685185SoxFan

You shouldn't experience a crash with XR. Adderall actually stays in your system for another 12-18 hrs so there's no sudden exit. However, when I took Ritalin I did experience a crash because when the benefit is done it's out of your system. Also, you cannot really compare the experience to cocaine. The intensity of cocaine as compared to an ADD med is vastly higher -- a pharmacist mentioned to me that it's almost 200 times the intensity.

As for staggering the dose I do that occasionally with IR (instant release) but when I was on XR it didn't provide a noticible benefit since it's a slow release med to begin with.

MaxDad