adderall xr | ADHD Information

does anyone know how the mg's are determined with adderall xr. my son just started on adderall xr 20, but that still does'nt seem to do much. so i don't know if its safe to ask for stronger. what does anyone's child who takes adderall xr dose is.20mg of adderrall if a significant dose, but dose is based on symptom relief not a number based on weight or age. If it's not helping his sympotms discuss with his docotr and either an increase or maybe different med is in order.i don't feel that 20mg is too much, josh is 9, he had been on 15 for 1 1/2 yrs,it just did'nt seem to do much anymore. that is low compared to some of the meds he has been on, yrs ago they had him on concerta 54 probably when he was 6, i felt that was way too much.

I take 20 mg Adderall XR capsules.   XR is supposed to work so that you get an even dose over an extended period.  To figure the theoretical dose in your system, divide the capsule dose in half.  So, for the 20 mg XR, you theoretically have 10 mg in your system at any one time.  (the Adderall XR official site has a nice graph of the release over time).

So if your son is used to taking the regular adderall in a 15 mg dose, the is theorhetically getting a lesser amount when he takes a 20 mg XR capsule.  To get the same amount, he would need to take a 30 mg XR capsule. 

Duration of the XR is claimed to be 12 hours.  I get 6 hrs before rebound, which, by the way, I find to be much milder than rebound from regular. 

I've noticed that there is a wide variation in what is considered a "high" dose of Adderall.  Interestingly, a number of clinical trials I've found on the web tested response using three doses-20 mg. 40 mg. and 60 mg. and most participants got maximum benefit at the 40 and 60 mg. amounts, which somewhat flies in the face of those who think that max for this med should be lower than 60 mg.