I think it took about a month (two appoints two weeks apart) before he decided that 20 mg. xr 2x/day was what he thought was right for me. I stayed on that about a year...until I was able to convince him to let me try taking one 20 mg. XR in the a.m. and a 20 mg. IR in the p.m. That combination is a bit more versital so that's what I've stayed on. Notice though, that the total amount per day has remained the same. Though I do think I may be receiving a little less benefit these days from this dosage than I did the first year or so I took it, it is still helping enough that I'm not ready to increase yet. I really don't want to increase...there are side effects and I figure the longer I can last without upping the dose, the better.
I am newly diagnosed with ADHD and was put on Vyvanse. My doctor gave me a 30mg Rx and said I could take 1 or 2 pills. The first week I took the 30mg, but didn't notice much of a difference and started taking the 60mg. I felt a huge difference and things seemed to be getting better.
At my 2 week appt., my doctor thought perhaps I should try 50mg instead since I was feeling some mild anxiety at the 60mg dose. This was 3 days ago. I have taken 50mg the past two days instead of 60mg and I feel like I'm regressing. I'm more easily distracted and my thoughts are wandering again and some of the obsessive thoughts I was having around my eating disorder are stronger. Also, I would feel pretty focused and capable of sitting and focusing on one task for several hours in the morning and early afternoon, but on the 50mg, I am not getting that same feeling and focus.
The doctor wanted me to come in a month again to follow-up, but now that I've had some forward progression finally, to take a step backwards on the lower dose (albeit a smaller step, I'm still better on the 50mg than without), I don't think I want to wait a whole month to change the dose again. Does anyone have experience with this? Should I wait a week or 2 to make sure or is it best to wait the whole month before setting a new appt. to talk about raising the dose?
I don't want to waste his time or look stupid since I know the process of adjusting medication can take a while... thanks for anyone who has advice on this.
~ADHDgirl
http://ijustlearnedihaveadhdnowwhat.blogspot.com/
Yeah adhdgirl29...same thing happened to me at the start. I started out initially with Adderall, 10 mg pills and was told to, working cautiously, go up to 20 mg. in the a.m. but stay at 10 mg. in p.m. for the trial two weeks.
I reported to the psychiatrist that 20 mg. worked great, but I didn't like the rebound. So, he puts me on 20 mg. Adderall xr, one in morning, one in afternoon (only lasts 6 hrs for me). So, despite my telling him that 10 mg. didn't come anywhere near optimum effect....my doc calmly replied that he wasn't looking for optimum effect...just enough to improve things!
Luckily, with a prescription for 40 mg/day, I've been able to accommodate my medication with my demands for focus and output and things have worked well.
John,
How long did you try the lower dose before setting an appt to get it increased? I just am not sure what is the normal time to try out a dosage before saying it just isn't working right...
Thanks!
~ADHDgirl