does anyone take adderall xr two time day | ADHD Information

my dr. put me on adderall xr 10 mgs two times a day to avoid the evening crash since it was wearing off after 6,7 8 hours.

so far it has been ok but not noticing much of anything this way either as i was not notincing much either on 10 mgs once a day.

i tried 20 mgs once a day for two days and thought i was going to die! the first night i did not sleep and so i was so tired the next day and took the 20 mgs anyways and was doing ok till it wore off and i crashed so hard i thought i was going to go crazy!

had tons of internal anxiety, my whole body was so tensed that it hurt, my mind was thinking the worst possible scenarios of what is wrong with me..all in all it was theeee worst day of my life!

If you can't sleep with the one dose taking it 2x a day you'll have even more trouble sleeping.

I started with 10mg Adderall xr and It was sooo horrible and I didn't notice any help with attention , then I tried the short acting because I had them both and that still had side effects but they were not as bad. The worst was not sleeping and coming down was really horrible. The up side was I was able to focus so I stick with the short acting at 10 mg and soon had to up it to 15 then to 20mg. I was going through the meds so fast I thought I'd give the xr one more try (didn't want them to go to waste) this time with 20mg- I didn't notice any hep with attention, but also didn't notice the side affects. I tried 30mg and Wammo perfect. Anyway try it for at least a week, because the side affects wore off for me.

maybe you should try ritalin I have use to take adderall XR twice daily before and it was horrible so I tried 30 mg once a day it was great untile I came down after about 5 hours Ritalin has a totally different effect on me if I take too much I get really tired I take adderal XR twice a day, but I must take the second dose by 1 or 2 pm; otherwise, I have insomnia. My 9 year old son is on 20 mg adderall xr once a day and he has a real hard time sleeping at night and he gets his meds ay 7 am

i have already been on adderall xr 10 mgs for over two weeks and about once a week i get a good nights sleep.

if i cant sleep on 10 mgs i can only imagine what 20 is going to do to me cause i need to go up!

dryksgirl,

How long has he been taking it? It took me at least a week be fore I was able to sleep.

I thought the same thing when I took Wellbutrin. I took it before my ADD diagnosis and I never really thought anything of it.Has anyone had their Doc. insist on prescribing long acting vrs short acting adderall?

Hello again lstuart,

I started with WellbutrinXL 300mg a day and I still take the same dose. It's funny because I don't know if it actually works, and I'm afraid to stop taking it in case it is working. My doc said it would lift my mood. Sometimes I think it was just a matter of time before before I started feeling better. Depression is the worst...especially with ADHD.

Hey all, I take adderall XR 20mg once a day. Before being dx with ADHD I actually had what they thought was insomnia (turned out to be ADHD!) and the doc before my current one was persrcribing ambien for me everynight. Once I saw a compentent doc and was dx with ADHD and started on meds I never needed to have the ambien again. As long as I take the meds before 10am I am fine. My meds are going to be upped this week but I am not worried about not sleeping. My doc tried me on ritalin (just little input on the post that said try ritalin, of course everyone reacts differently) and that was the worse two days of my life! I felt depressed and I am not, just really couln't function. BUT she had said if I still had insomnia with the Adderall a very low dose of ritalin taken in the evening can help with sleep. Just thought I would share what I was told.i did not have insomnia before i started all these stims so i am pretty sure it is the meds causing the insomnia..i was not a great sleeper but at least i slept, a far cry from now, lol...so i am trying this seroquel for sleep at only 12.5 mgs and it worked wonders the first night but after that i took it too late and woke up too early, and felt crappy all day, so tonight will try it early again and hope for the best..with this new dose of concerta at 27 mgs i may have even more insomnia! eeek!

Instead of taking Adderall XR twice daily, my dr. has recommended that I take 10 mg. of Adderall XR in the am and take 5 mg. of Focalin in the mid to late afternoon to get me through the evening. Focalin has a shorter active time span in the body but in some ways is more intense. Focalin has really has helped me to pay attention during long lectures or having to study.

The medication gave us the freedom to be able to change. In essence, however, medication does not change one; there is still work to be done. I wish that it were like a magic wand because I too struggle in many areas of coping with what some view as basics. Sometimes, it feels as if I have to go back to basics to figure out how to function.

In reality, it takes a concerted effort to practice new skills. For instance, I had to recognize that I would possibly need to work a little harder than many of the other students in my class to make it. It took some small steps like getting help from the disabilities office from the university I attend to give me some pointers and a letter that allows extra time to do the work. It took me being willing to adapt to new things like: monitoring my colander for appointments, being aware that I feel like I need to be the center of attention, recognizing what kind of learner I am, learning how long it takes me to do certain write a paper or get certain concepts. The medications create an instant quietness in my head which has given me the ability to attempt to change many of my ingrained coping ADHD mechanisms, but they are not magic. Yet, it is so much better than it ever was prior to the medication. Now I know, I have spent most of my life unaware of my behavior. And, it is these behaviors that have greatly impacted the quality of my life and the lives of those around me. For example my poor time management, my interrupting others, and my poor study skills, have been forstered low self-esteem and ill with others.

Also, I want to say to those who have tried are trying to get off anti-depressants that I was able to finally wean myself from Effexor 75 mg. which I was almost on since it came on the market. By eliminating Effexor not only did I end the additional expense of the medication, but, I also found out that the drs. were right when they said that treating ADHD with the proper medication would also elevate depression that they were right. For me anyway, Adderall XR (or for that matter probably any other stimulant for us ADHDers) alone could lift my depression.

theoptimizer38413.5341087963I take 40mg xr twice a day, first around 7am, the next around 2 pm. Im in bed by 11 usualy wihtout any problems.[QUOTE=theoptimizer]

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This is all very interesting to this newbie. I was prescribed adderall at the end of January. I was started on 20mg of sustained release twice daily. It doesn't do much unless I take 2 pills at the same time. I have an appointment on Monday and I plan on telling my doctor this. That would be 80mg per day and I read here that the max was 60mg per day.

I'm of medium height and weight and have had no adverse effects from the med. In fact, I'm calmer, sleep better, and my appetite is fine. I exercise (cardio and weights) almost every day.

At first, I went to this Dr for depression, so I also take wellbutrin xr and lexapro. Dr noticed the ADD...I still squirm in my chair and daydream looking out the window... I've had a really good month: clarity, depression better (because I can think better), less squirming, better concentration, etc. Not a single bad effect.

Does anyone think I'm taking too much adderall? I've read so many different dosage info that I'm wondering. When I read of people taking 10mg a day and having bad side effects, it makes me think twice about asking for a dosage increase.

Hi Rich66,

I take slow acting Adderall, 30mg 3X a day. Most literature says 60mg is the max, but a few others say that the drug is safe at higher doses. I take such a high dose, b/c I metabolize it quickly. Also taking Zoloft for anxiety. I see my dr. Tues. and he mentioned putting me on Wellbutrin to increase the longevity of the Adderall. You seem to be doing well on the combo. How long did it take for you to notice a difference? How many hours a day do you get out of the meds? Any advise would be appreciated!

Hi lstuart,

I've been taking the wellbutrin xl for a few months longer than the adderall. Since my primary complaint at the time was depression, my doc thought it was ADD related depression. She recommended wellbutrin because she said it had more of a stimulant effect than most other anti-depressants. Remember though that wellbutrin takes 2-6 weeks to take effect. Started that in Dec and just started adderall last month.

The real breakthrough to me was the adderall. For the first time in...I can't even remember...my mind was clear and my depression lifted. I still plan on continuing with the wellbutrin, while I'd like to wean off of the lexapro.

How many hours? The wellbutrin lasts 24 hrs. The adderall lasts about 4 hours. I think I'll ask for either 30mg x 2 or 20mg x3 and see what she recommends. I like the short acting because it gives me more of an "as needed" depending on my day, schedule, etc.

Good luck. My appt is monday and I'll let you know how it goes.

It is all so amazing to me how the meds work for everyone soo different.

Im 44 and attending college and doing alot also online and at college I can not focus at all, cant comprehend what I read, can study for a test for a month ahead and then come time for the test have no clue of what I had studied for soo long..so I got tested for ADHD and have these problems that I have. All the other stuff that relates to ADHD Im fine with my doc said.

I have been working on this and testing since November and it is now end of February and have tried 4 different meds and nothing seems to work on me so far.. UGHHH fusterating....

I have tried concerta, addreal xr, foclain, and now dextrose spanules which come next Monday I will see what next will try. Try it for a few weeks then onto something else hoping that something will kick in and give me some concentration, focus, reading comprehension that I really do need.. I started out on them all with low doses and then worked my way up to around 36, 30 the max and my doc said if I dont notice anything on that amount of dose then I wont notice it if we bump it up higher. I have soo many sitting around in my cabniet but I just dont dare take say like try addreal xr a 40 or 50 dose..I dont like pills anyways but if this will help me with my study habits then I think it would be well worth trying to find something to help me here..

I read so much where everyone seems to notice there meds working right away.. I know I have a slower metabolism..but Im always on the go and keep plenty of busy with things around.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!! or suggestions...

Thanks DJT

rich66,

thanks for the info............ I know Wellbutrin takes a while to kick in; at this point I just want my meds to stay consistent, so I'm hoping Wellbutrin will help me. Lexapro was the first anti-depressant I tried and I didn't like it (sleepy all the time), and Zoloft has worked well for me. Definitely let me know how your appt. goes - I see my psych. on Tuesday.

Rich66,

I forgot to ask what dosage of Wellbutrin did you start on and what dosage you're presently taking..........

lstuart

Ooops!

I meant to write that I totally agree with you.