reduce or increase adderal? | ADHD Information

Hi Fly Away.

You did not mention what it is that you do that is impulsive. Is it something that you should be doing and you just think of it and do it quickly without any further contemplation? Or is it something that you should not be doing to begin with?

I, for one, like to hyper focus. If it means I am able to get things done then I am very happy about it. I really do not like the interruptions either, but for me that is a good thing, otherwise I could allow myself to just get interrupted right out of whatever it was that I was doing and not complete it, and maybe even forget that I had even started it and wanted to finish it....

I feel more impulsive with my speech-- too talkative, saying things I might not of otherwise said- that kind of thing.  I also am impulsive with my actions.  I think of something and I want to do it right then.  

I know I do this without meds.  :)  Without meds I don't catch myself as much.  My h says I am less impulsive with meds.  Maybe I just *feel* more impulsive.  I worry about it more when I am driving.   I don't know which is worse- being distracted by noise or being too impulsive behind the wheel.  If it makes any sense I am more focused on the adderal but more impulsive.  Is that possible?   

 

I started adderal about 2 months ago.  I feel like the adderal increases my impulsiveness.  My h feels it doesn't.  He thinks I do better on the adderal.  He thinks I am more focused and less impulsive.  I can't see it though. 

I *like* the adderal simply because I get in a good mood, feel energized, I am more productive.  I can prioritize.  I think with the medication though that I tend to hyperfocus-- which I tend to do anyways.  I get more intent on what I am doing and dislike interruptions.   I described the feeling to be very machine-like.  While I am on adderal I also have noticed I crave, and I do mean crave chocolate and caffeine.   I don't like this part of it at all.   I also found that when the adderal is wearing off I start to fight off the urge to feed the 'buzz'- maybe thats were the urge for caffiene and chocolate come in?  I take 20 mg twice a day.  I started off with 10 mg but that didn't seem to be enough.  When I am on the 20 I am not nervous or anxious. 

I feel like I have mixed signals here.  On one hand the increased craving for caffiene and chocolate on the adderal seems to me to indicate I am not getting enough of something.   I crave it much more on the med than off.   The increased impulsiveness seems to indicate too high of a dose although sometimes I can take a dose and want to take a nap.  Is it as confusing figuring out doses for everyone? 

Thanks for your imput.   

 

What is the normal dose?  just wondering cause a lot of my friends say they will take a 20mg of adderal xr and are fine the entire day.  but my doctor (after trying 20, 30, 40, 60mg doses, which didnt work or last long enough) has put me on 90mg a day of adderal xr.  does any one know of a dosage that high?  is it bad or unhealthy?  thanks guys.Fly, I have cravings too.
However trying to prolonge it isn't going to help.
I think that you're just not getting everything out of it you want before it tapers off.
Maybe try your second dose later in the day?
And it sounds a little like you're probally still losing wieght alot.
It's really harsh, if you can eat do it.
I think the craving is your body's need for energy.
Which is what leads me to think you're losing wieght.
If it's not the case totally disreguard it but if it does strike home I may be able to help some.
I (And I'm sure everyone else who takes adderall) understand how undesirable food is but you really should eat as much as you can before you dose in the morning. Drink like 2 cups of orange juice every morning and just try to eat as much as you can before you even dose in the morning.
And it also seems like you're not sleeping as well as you should.
I mean I'm no doctor and I live the same half life you describe.
I understand that my body is basically running off amphetamines at this point because I can't eat or sleep.
I try to force food whenever I don't feel revolted by food.
I stopped a few weeks ago because I knew my body needed a break.
I slept for about two weeks and I just ate and ate. I built up my body and I feel like I'm ready for it again.
I'm not really sure if it's an option, and I might be alone in this but I use pot as a way to stimulate my appitite when I can and rest.
I'm not saying thats my reason for smoking but it helps me alot.
I don't know if I'm alone in the long sleepless nights and intense days.
It's 6 am and I've been up all night because today was my first day back in nearly a month and my body has lost it's tolerance.
God lol I always end up talking about me.
Well atleast it was relevant to your problem this time.
The craving is for the amphetamines though.
It's really addictive.
I think that you should try some of the stuff I talked about if you want.
If you still have problems and are unhappy with adderall don't take it.
I love being able to function in society like everyone else.
Sometimes it doesn't feel totally fitting. But I'm very happy.
Please nurish yourself more though.
I do think that might be the problem.SubtractTheWack38386.1733449074

 naplesgator8-  90 mg a dose seems high but I know everyones body is different.  How do you feel on that dose?

SubtracttheWack, 

Thank you for all your suggestions.  I do think eating healthy is key to feeling better.  When I changed my doses to slightly lower but 3x a day which conicides with mealtimes I do better with that.  I was losing weight- which I didn't mind but I really don't need to lose any.  I think my weight is in a normal, healthy range.  I took a med vacation, ate, slept and started some vitamins.  That seemed to build me up again. 

 I don't think I could go the pot route.  I got kids I have to set an example for plus I did that when I was younger and it gave me a whole new set of problems.  Please don't take any of this as a judgement on you though.   I don't mean it that way because if my circumstances where different maybe I'd consider that.   I do worry/wonder though about the 'addictive' personality that sometimes goes with ADD.   I am just speaking for myself but I've struggled with this in the past.  I tend to go to one extreme or the other.  I'd like to find a place in the middle :)  By taking the med vacation I kind of relieved myself from the feeling that I was feeding off the amphetamines.  I also came back to a lower dose which did not produce the cravings I had with the higher dose.  I guess it takes some fine tuning to get it right.  Good luck to you also.  What kind of dose are you on?  Have you been on adderall for a long time?  I appreciated your insight so don't feel bad about talking about yourself.  We learn from others experiences.  I don't have anyone in real life that is on this medication that I can talk to about it.  My adult step son is on adderall but he is completely different than I am in how the ADD presents itself.  He is 100% inattentive with no hyperactivity or impulsiveness (very, very laid back) whereas I tend more toward the other extreme.        

 

 

 

I'm on 60 mg of adderall and I have been for about.... I think maybe three four months.
Before that it was 30 on and off for a year.
lol and I don't take it as judgement, I've only been here since like midnight and I've sufficently screamed about everything that bothers me.
Its nice to hear that you're doing well.
However continual usage will end up in them increasing your dose, it's pretty much unaviodable.
I think that you'll be fine though.
Yeah sometimes I kinda feel really alone because no one can really keep up.
Not that I blame them, I'm freakin nuts.
I'm a very kind supportive, intresting lol individual.
I'm not really like other people though and I'm worried that I'm distorting everything because I'm a post teen "individual".
I dunno no matter how much I try to rationalize that I'm normal I cant.
I function just fine in everyday life, in fact I pretty much wake up and love every moment of my life.
I've been to FAR too many shrinks whom have said I'm a very confusing person.
It's really wierd, I feel like a function on a diffrent level then most people though.
My motivation in life isn't really that much diffrent.
I kind of get off on being unchallanged mentally.
Or at the very least.
Unfathomable.
I'm so scared one day I'll wake up and not think I'm special anymore.
I don't really understand how other people operate inside thier heads so I set myself as the basis of how I judge them.
Are they similar?
Or diffrent?
Do they think ALL the time like me?
Do they have as much a passion for knowlege as me?

I dunno.
But as of right now I've yet to meet a peer who can keep up.

honestly it's a bit lonely
Other then that.
life is bitchin and a half.
After all, I'm 18 :)


EDit: OH on the sleeping though.
I've found that by doing situps or some form of exersize right before you sleep (not that you really need it on adderall, life is a freakin exersize) gives you like a 10-20 window where you could just fall asleep.
That and fresh air.
Thats a biggie for me.SubtractTheWack38386.2745486111

We must be posting to each other at the same time!  LOL.  Oh, no I got things to do but this is fun!  :) 

I'll just be real quick otherwise I might stay here and get nothing else done. 

I enjoy people who 'think' alot because thats what I do.  Its my blessing and my curse.  When I got good things to think about its great because I get into things and really enjoy but the down side is when its bad things its real hard to get out of the rut. 

I do feel like I have to tone myself down so I don't blow people away.  Enthusiasm is good but too much and people don't know what to do with you.  Is that how it is with you?  Plus, I am older and more tired than you :)  I am in my 40's so people do mellow with age.  I got a husband, kids, work etc. to wear me down.  When I was in my teens and 20's I was more extreme.  I remember the days of staying up all night and going and going all the next day.....can't do it now, though.  

I am glad you found this place.  I am also glad you can see yourself as special and unique because you are.        

 

I wouldn't really say I tone myself down.
Honestly I'm kind of stuck up.
I don't give people my all because honestly no one can really handle it.
I have to articulate my words very carefully when I speak because if I don't I speak in this mile a minute language only my mother can understand.
I LOVE talking like that though.
It's almost a sense of nirvana when I can cut lose and really be open with someone.
PROBLEM IS, those moments are far and few between.

But yesterday I got sick of looking out from the inside.
My friends understand that I think before I say anything and that I don't unleash myself upon them because they really have no idea howto respond to the things I say.
So I told my three companions(They practically live in my house) that I was ready to speak and that they were going to have to learn to keep up.
So I've been calling them at random hours asking questions like
"hey uhh... If there was a universal equasion would the equasion be based on the infinate answer of itself or would it have a set numerical value?"
It's like after four years of being stuck with myself I can finally speak.
And frankly I don't care if they can't understand what I'm talking about.
I'm saying it anyway.

Thanks for the reply jamieleana.  i know I am ADD too.  Wish I weren't but now I am just trying to deal with it. 

I did adjust my meds and it has helped.  I am on an anti-depressant too which I have been slowly reducing.  The anti-depressant without the adderall makes me very tired.  I think what happened is the higher dose of adderall was working earlier becuase it had to overcome the tiredness of the anti-depressant.  I am now on 10 mg 3 x a day instead of 20mg  2x a day.  The 10mg  3x a day covers the whole day for me but I eliminate the highs and lows.   I've done this for the past couple days and it really helps.  I also took a week med vacation. 

I think the medication works so differently for each person so I don't see how someone can tell about your situation with the little bit of information in your post.    

 

wow fly away yu sound exactly like me!!!1  i alsowas on adderall xr 10 mgs and when it would start to wear off i would get so chatty and motivated more so then when on it, and off it too.

i get more talkative with it and then again when it wears off and i came to  this board asking about it and was told if that is the case then i am speeding and not add at all.

take it for what it is worth, ido not for a moment believe that i am  NOT add as i know i am..