After four months of being on short acting 20mg Adderall once a day, I have switched to 20mg Adderall XR once daily. Thursday, my first day when I started it, I took it at 6:30 AM. I also took short acting 10mg Adderall to jump start it, as well as Pseudoephedrine HCl for allergies. I was very irritable, and felt drowsiness come across during the day for about 30 mins. I was much more comfortable in social situations, and also seemed to talk a little more than usual. My emotions were dead, they still are after my second dose today, not that I mind though. I took the exact same amount today along with the short acting and the allergy meds as I did on Thursday, and I was still irritable though. When I was on the short acting, I would feel it kick in, and give me a rush, so whatever I tended to do, no matter how boring, it seemed exciting. However, I felt like my energy had been drained from my body when the drug wore off. I also have a hard time yelling or speaking very loudly when I take short acting, and when someone yells it makes me really angry. On XR, I am able to speak loud, yell, whatever I choose to do. I feel very slow on the XR, as if I actually have to make an effort to do something, and it's a struggle to keep up. On short acting, keeping up wasn't a problem, I was always ahead of the game. I also feel like my long term memory functions better on XR, and short term better with short acting. On XR I don't get as cold as I did when I took short acting. For example, I sit under an air conditioning vent some part of the day, and no matter what I wore, it used to kill me on short acting, but XR allows me to enjoy it. I think XR actually raises your body temperature, not sure though. Also, my energy is conserved throughout the day with XR, and I don't crash as hard which is nice. I like the benefits from both drugs, but I can't stand being slow on XR! On short acting, sitting around made me feel unproductive, on XR it doesn't matter if I sit around. Should I increase my dosage? Is the short acting I take to jump start the XR interferring with it's effects? I'm going to take the XR alone tomorrow and see how it does for me, otherwise I think i'm going to try 30mgs, and if i'm still unsuccessful, go back to short acting twice daily. I am aware that 20mg of XR is the equivalent of 10mg short acting twice daily. Again, I took short acting 20mg once a day before I started, so that's probably the reason why I'm not feeling anything. Please give me your feedback if you have any experience with either one of the two drugs, it would be greatly appreciated.
Well, I don't know exactly what you're looking for, but I've been on Adderall and Adderall XR for a few years now and find that they work really well for me. I take 75mg of the XR in the morning and 10mg quick release in the evening. I notice that the way you were comparing the XR and the quick-release had a lot to do with the "speed" effects of the drugs. You mentioned that you would feel the quick-release kick in, etc, etc....The XR is often prescribed because it doesn't typically provide that intense "euphoric" (for lack of better wording) feeling. It also minimizes peaks and troughs, as you noticed, for a more-balanced energy-flow. I also noticed that you said you can now sit around, etc. on the XR....this is a good thing. You shouldn't be taking the drug in quantities that make you go, go, go...you should be taking them to minimize symptoms-you still need internal motivation to do tedious tasks, etc.
Feel free to post any specific questions and I'm sure we'll all do our best to answer them!
I called the doctor today, and asked him if I should try 40mg XR instead of 20mg, but he wants to see me on monday. Personally, it feels like I'm not even taking anything. I don't feel motivated one bit, and everything seems like a big deal now. I noticed it prevents me from falling asleep, but that's it. My friend is on 30mg XR once a day, and said it motivates him, but I have yet to see it myself from XR. It is also giving me breakouts, the short-acting didn't do that. For now, I'm going to return to 20mg short acting twice daily. Also, I don't take the information in as well as I did on short acting. You seem on a pretty high dose of XR, how's your heart doing lol? I think the problem is that the XR is the equivalent of 10mg, and I was on 20mg instant release.When in doubt, call the Dr. lol...probably a good idea to go back to what you know for now. Perhaps the XR just isn't a good fit for you....but you do make a legit argument about the dose equivalencies...I am curious as to if it would work better if you did up the dose. haha As for my heart, it's nice and strong! I could take a higher dose, but I kind of like some of my AD/HD tendencies and they stick with me at this dose!
I'm curious if it would work better if I upped the dose as well, but that's why I called the doctor. I was just wondering with those who have good results with the XR, if it made them more productive like the short acting did for me.Well, I tried my first dose of Adderall XR.20mg. It was the wost day...I a few hours later I got a dull headache..and my eyes started getting sensitve to ligt....I took the meds at 10 am and by 6pm, I had a full blown migrane with vomiting and blurered vision. I have to admit it scared me. I haven't had a migrane like that since I was 12 yrs old. So I am pretty sure it was the XR...I just can't figure out why. I think I will go back to the short acitng, which works really well. I was just hoping to only have to take it once a day instead of 3x aday...but now I see it as a very minor inconvenienct compaired to the symptoms I got from the XR....has anyone else had differing experiences with the two versions?|
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