Late afternoon dose of Stimulant med. | ADHD Information

I take Adderall and do take it late in the day, and i am starting with a new anti-anxiety / sleep aid medication call hydroxyzine pamoate, it has sedative effects that are not as strong an benzodiazepines but also is not nearly as addictive, although this medication is recommended to take less than 4 months.

i have been taking it for only 1 week but it seems to take away the need for ambien and xanex. Also bandryl is available OTC and is good enough for some people to be a sedative and reduce the crash after taking stimulants.

good luck

Hi,

Thanks for the info. I'm trying to cut down on the evening Adderal doses but it's difficult. I DO take a chewable 'children's' benedryl at night sometimes. Other times it's the sleep aid Ambien or Diazepam. Seems to depend on how much Adderall I've taken in total during the day. I average 30 mgs /day but sometimes will add an extra 15mgs (half a tablet) in the late afternoon.

So I'm cautiously experimenting with the other medications AND trying to get in more excercise. I would love to exercise in the late afternoon and get on with the remainder of my evening without any additional medication. That would be great. But afternoons are when I need most of my energy when my family all comes together so I spend time with my daughters and help them with homework, make time for my husband, make dinner, etc. 

My husband is a farmer and gets up at least by 5:00 am - works all day in our wonderful heat!! (104 today!!) and is exhausted when he comes home.  So my presence is necessary for quality family time and 'connection' .  

My desired excercise routine is walking - a LOT. We have a large pear ranch and there's lots of land to walk on. However I've always excercised in the mornings, when I have the best energy and am ready to go!

I just have to get the girls (6 & 4) outta bed, fed and moving along. Then there's the times they just don't want to go with me!! So It's a daily thing. frustrating though. Just gotta get them trained! It's time. Period. Anyhoo, I appreciate your response.

Right now my time is 12:40 am and I'm still awake and DON'T WANT TO BE!! But I'm feeling the affects of the other meds. So I'll try again to go to bed! Siighhhhhhh. This is rediculous. I hafta just change my tune way around 'cause the mornings HURT like hell sometimes when I wake up hard and need more sleep. But the days have to go on with those two sets of beautiful blue eyes looking at me, waiting for juice and breakfast and attention. Ugh. I'm tired. AcK! 

Thanks all.

 

I find strong coffee calms me down when the adderall wears off

My son takes Zoloft each morning and  QR Ritalin with the last dose at 4:30pm.  Without it, he doesn't function.  We had the problem that when he was able to get off to sleep until well after midnight.

To counteract this he is on avanza - mirtazine.  The tiniest bit makes him tired and he goes into a wonderful sleep at 9:00 pm.  It is wonderful because he wakes up refreshed.   Sleep depreviation causes the ADHD and anxiety symptoms to worsen.

I disagree with dropping anxiety meds - anxiety is a co-existing disorder.  Without zoloft my 14 year old can't function- he is so restless and paranoid.  Yes exercise is great but no amount of exercise would cure his panic attacks and stress. 

Hi Ladychaos,

Love the name. It's my life most of the time. Thank you for your valuable input. I'll have to ask around about a sleep aid that's not as addictive as Ambien but I still have about 40 pills left and plenty of Valium too. I just have to be very very conservative.

Sometimes it's so dang hard because I am easily dependent on the Adderall and lately I'm finding it difficult to do the "drug holidays" as well. Just a few years ago when I was first diagnosed I was prescribed Dexedrine and I remember taking only 5 mg's which would be enough for the morning. The rebound with Dex left me very irritable however. Adderall is not as bad but I hate the fact that I'm up to sometimes 45mgs a day.

I'm going on a mini vacation for 3 days this month and have no need to take the meds with me, so I think it's a good opportunity to start over.

Thanks again, I appreciate your response.

 

Does anyone else take stimulant meds very late in the afternoon? I take Adderall - between 30 to 45 mgs per day. Usually I find I need to function the most after 2:00 pm and later. So I take my first dose (20+/-mgs) around lunchtime and then the next dose much later than the recommended time - like about 5:00pm.

This obviously has caused some evening anxiety and sleep issues. so prior to dinnertime, I take a small amount of diazepam (5 mgs) for the anxiety, and to sleep I take Ambien before bedtime. This combination works very well for me and seems to 'cut' through any affects of my late dose of Adderall. 

I was wondering if anyone else takes their stimulant meds late in the day and if so, what you do to counter the affects? I don't do this every day but enough to be concerned about the other drug's dependency.

Any opinions would be welcome.

 

I do this at times too, so I understand your concern.  I don't take Ambien anymore, but I do take Xanax 0.5mg for anxiety; however, I took these prior to being on Adderrall XR 30mg.  I have suffered with anxiety and panic attacks for as long as I can remember.  I believe it started affecting me around the age of ten. 
Getting back to your concern, I asked a pharmacist once if it would hurt me to take the xanax while the adderrall was still in effect.  He said no, they would just counteract each other.  Obviously, interactions between the meds is not what you are asking, but I thought I would add that.  I think that you might consider taking something for sleep and not the anxiety.  You could choose a sleeping aid that is not addictive.  Unfortunately, Ambien can become addictive.  A friend of mine who is a professor (I trust her input) and she said she had to stop Ambien because it was addictive.  That is the extent of my research. 
I was told by my psychiatrist that xanax is less addictive than valium so maybe you could change to that?  It does help me sleep.  I hope this works out for you. 
Thanks

 

Since you mention wanting to exercise, I've noticed that exercising works Adderall out of my system pretty darn well--so try exercising right before bed and you may find your solution!   

A number of folks use meletonin to aid in falling to sleep and you'll find several threads on that here too.

 I assume you're taking Adderall, not Adderall XR, in late afternoon or evening. 

Yes, I'm taking regular Adderall. So it's good to know exercise helps eliminate it from the body. Hmmm, a concern is - Since Adderall itself brings the heart rate up, would exercise on top of that be dangerous? Over taxing my heart?

I am pretty healthy, within my weight range (although pretty out of shape) and I have NO heart condition whatsoever. I also have normally low blood pressure. I've never asked my doc this question but I assume it wouldn't be a problem, all things considered.  

Anyone with medication / exercise combo specific information would be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

I went to the cardiologist after taking my 30mg xr dose of adderrall.  I had the treadmill test and it did not hurt me.  My blood pressure and pulse were normal for the test ranges.  Adderrall shouldn't hurt you while exercising.  Now remember, I take the extended release, and I waited an hour before exercising after I took it.  I AM over weight, so it should be better for you.  All my tests came out normal.

Hello!

You know what that reminds me of?  What Judy Garland and Elvis did.  Up pills and then down pills. I'm no Dr. but I think you need to stop taking so many meds and if your adhd is that bad, just stick with the stimulant, but at a lower dose.  I would remove the anxiety and the sleeping pills and exercise instead.  If you take a daily 30 to 40 minute walk, it does wonders for the adhd symptoms.

Good luck!

Hi Liouxie,

You're totally right and I realize it's time for me to get my head outta my butt and start moving again. I have been doing a lot of thinking. Conciously and subconciously I know this is unhealthy.  School is almost out for my 2 girls and I will have more flexible time for some reorganization and a much needed change of lifestyle.  I know exercise helps tremendously and I've gotta get back to it.

Always good to know there's someone out there ready to kick someone's booty who needs it. You were nice about it tho.