intro and question.. | ADHD Information

There are often consequences for taking these meds, so you want to take the minimum effective dose. One of my first meds was Cylert, which turned out to destroy your liver and is now banned. Most of these meds have very little long term data.

Hello everyone, this is my first time posting, so I guess Ill give a general intro on myself. I am newly diagnosed with ADHD. Well I was actually diagnosed years ago, but did not choose to seek out treatment via meds or anything.

I recently decided to seek out treatment after my husband made it clear to me that my adhd, scatterbraindness and all were not just affecting me. For me, being adhd was a part of who I am, Im talk too much, too fast, am easily sidetracked, forgetful, ditzy, and so forth. I also tend to be very anal about details on things when I get into the hyperfocus mode, hence the screenname, LOL.

sooo, N E ways, after my husband pointed out that it was causing problems for others around me, I decided to go to the dr to seek help. I was prescribed Adderal XR 10 mg to be taken once or twice a day. This was on Dec 12th.

At first the meds made me feel a little edgy, jittery. My mind was better focused and my thought process and speech was slowed down, but my body felt a little on the wired side. This seemed to kind of subside after a few days. I started out only taking one Adderal a day, and after a while, I started noticing I would get a headache about halfway through the day. I am guessing this was the adderal wearing off, so started trying a second dose in the day.

I went back to the dr for a checkup a few weeks ago, and she felt all was going fine with the meds and dosage and told me that I could also try taking 2 adderal in the morning, to see if it would have a better or longer lasting effect.

I was a little leary of taking 2 at once, because I didnt want to feel too edgy. If I even drink too much caffine, I start to feel more on the nervous side, so the thought of adding even more meds was something I was not ready to try. However, this past week or so, I have noticed that I just am not as focused as I was when I first started taking the meds,  and it seems to be wearing off a lot faster. I also seem to just have an overall weak feeling. Today I decided to go ahead and try 2 at once.

So far today has been ok with taking the 2 at once, but I do have a little more of the nervous body feeling, like what I had when I first started taking the meds and I have noticed that I have a headache all day long. The headache came on about the time my meds kicked in. So I guess my question for you all is, do you think its possible that the headache might be a sign that the dosage is too high for me, or just my body adjusting to the higher dosage?  

Thanks in advance for any advice you all might have. I am off to tend to a cranky crabby little boy who has decided to totally derail my train of thought, so sorry if some of this is rambly or does not make sense  

Amy

Don't expect too much from the meds. The headache is probably from the dehydrating effect of adderall. Drink lots of water, but you may still end up with a headache anyway. It's the same effect as an alchohol hangover.

If I were you, I would keep it going with one dose. Never take more than you need.

Welcome AMY! I pretty much understood what you were saying. We seem to share a lot of the same symptoms, like talking to fast, easily distracted, unfocused sometimes, than others hyperfocused. Like you said "anal" (love your screen name)! Oh, and did you mention forgetful? I loose everything!

I'm 47 and was DX'ed a  little over 2 yrs ago. Your lucky that your husband knows about add/adhd. Mine knows, but still thinks I use that as an excuse to be lazy and what ever else I choose, but he is starting to come around a little more. I was also driving other pple crazy around me b/c of my add/adhd ways.

It took some time to get the meds straight! I was taking adderall 20mg three times daily, along w/klonopin for anxiety and ambian for sleep. To make a long story short, I really needed adderall XL 30mg 2 times a day. Much to my suprise, my insurance covered it. This is my first day (other than the trial XL) that I can take it and not have that "crashing" feeling. So far, so good!

Are you taking 2 XL's at once? My understanding was that it won't last any longer, you'll just feel the stronger dose. Adderall sometimes gives me headaches no matter what the dose. But so far today I'm fine, and I'm doing 30&30. 1 around 9 and one at 5. I felt jittery when they wearing off

Of course I'm no Doctor, but what you might need is maybe 20mgs twice a day of XL. No matter what dose, it seems that somedays it really works terrific, than somedays not as well. and you can build up a tolorance to it, so your lucky your  starting at a low dose. I was given at first 20mgs of reg. adderall 2 times a day, than was uped to three. I think 60mgs is the most prescribed. When it no longer works, I have to take a break for a week or so. Hopefully my NEW XL will work better! Keep us posted.

P.S I hope you weren't derailed to long!

 

Thanks to both of you for your input. I do have a questin for floof though. What exactly do you mean by sticking to only one dose, do you mean only taking the adderal xr once a day, or just taking the one pill at a time? I normally try to stick with just one dose a day, as I do not get up early and do not wish to take the second dose too late in the day. I already tend to stay up later than I prob should, so if I take a second dose too late in the day, it just makes for a much later night for me. If I get an early start and have a full and busy day ahead of me, where I must be at my best and most focused, I will go ahead with teh second dose when I start to notice the first one wearing off. For me, the adderal xr usually works for about 5-6 hours and then fades...

As for the dosage and taking more than needed, my dr advised me to play around a bit with the dosing and see what would work the best. I would never just take more than prescribed, and only took 2 10 mg adderal xr because the dr had advised me to try taking a stronger dose...

With the headaches, I guess it could be a dehydration thing... I usually dont drink near enough water. I just dont care for it and dont drink it like I should, so that is something I will have to be better about doing. I know I took some motrin and it did not help to ease the headache at all... hopefully drinking more water will help on that part.

In the meantime, I think I will just wait and see what happens. I really do not know if taking the extra adderal today has helped me to focus more.but then again,  I guess having a 3 year old who is not feeling well with a cold and is in an overly demanding mood today, and having this wretched headache would keep anyone from focusing like normal though... so guess I will just hash it up to being one of my off or bad days and try to have a better day tommorow.

Amy