Adderall XR wearing off too soon | ADHD Information

A few observations from this "kid" of 50 something w/ADHD taking Adderall XR in a.m. w/ a p.m. booster of the regular release....  I get about 6 hours of effectiveness out of the XR (if anything, the duration is a little less now than when I started; the immediate release type gives me 4 hours)  Everyone's different in duration but just wanted to share that others have less than the purported "12 hours" effectiveness of XR (like auto makers' exaggerated claims on fuel efficiency, I think drug companies are inclined to do the same...).

For the years I worked a 40+ hour a week job, taking one XR first thing in the morning and another XR at 11 a.m. or noon worked great for me....smooth (no big ups or downs) and I had benefit of the meds into the evening.  If I knew I had a long day, I delayed taking the second dose until a little later in the afternoon...

I've switched now to taking an IR, not XR, in the p.m. because I'm semi-retired and don't consistently need full day-through-the-evening coverage.

If the Adderall is working for your son or daughter and duration is the only key issue, then sticking with Adderall and extending duration seems to be the challenge....two XR's a day might just be the ticket!!

A little background...

My son is almost 7 years old and was diagnosed with ADHD at age 4.5.  His ADHD likely has a few origins...he was born at 28 weeks (after a less than stellar pregnancy...some maternal drug use and no prenatal care) and he has a very small intrauterine encephalomalacia on his left frontal lobe.  He clearly has learning disabilities as well, but is too young to accurately diagnose.  He's been on Adderall for the last 1.5 years.

He's currently taking 10mg of Adderall XR at 7:45 in the morning, with a 5mg tablet of generic Adderall that can be taken in the late afternoon (3-4pm), if needed.  Our problem is that, while his mornings at school are going fairly well, he is having consistent impulsive behavior and distractibility after noon.  4-5 hours certainly seems like a short amount of time for an extended release to work!  We've considered just having him take the generic 5mg earlier in the day...but then we worry that he may end up with too much in his system.

Now, the last time we met with his doctor, he suggested that if we had to make any further adjustments with his meds, that we should consider switching altogether.  While I'm not completely adverse to this idea, I'm not sure that, since Adderall clearly has a positive effect on his behavior (even if it's short term), we should start exhausting our choices at age 7.

Would it make sense to remove the XR altogether and just go with the regular Adderall...given in the am and at lunchtime?  But then what happens when it's all worn off by 4pm and he's a hot mess?  Without medication, he's emotional, frustrated, easily angered, impulsive, etc....but, still, at heart, the sweetest, most loving child you can imagine.  It's sad that he ends up getting so much negative attention, when there is so little of it that's under his control.

We have an appointment with his dr. during the first week of October, and would appreciate any advice you have to offer.  We are always open to the doctor's suggestions, but would like to have some of our own as well!

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Well, we've had our dr.'s evaluation, and he decided to try Metadate CD (Ritalin).  His concern was in trying to find a medication that would work at the least amount. 

We waited until this morning to try it, as I didn't want to send him to school without knowing how he responded to it.  So far, he seems fine, but not quite as "together" as he was with the 10mg of XR.  We've started him on just 20mg; however, so it may just be a matter of increasing the dosage a bit.

Thank you all for your support here...it's greatly appreciated.

Is it extended or fast release? I'm just trying to see what dose he's on...My son is on the fast release 5mg 3 times a day (sometimes 4 if he needs it) so I guess that's about 15-20mg total

I hope it works well for you!  It sure did for us!  Please let us know.

I found that the switch from one stimulant to another wasn't a huge drastic change for my son. I was worried that it would be but it was more subtle than that.  Good luck guys!

I can relate to you!  My son is also a very loving child but also gets his share of negative attention.  It's heartbreaking sometimes because I want people to be able to see the wonderful sweet side to him but the ADHD keeps getting in the way! Poor liitle guy!

As for the Adderall-My son tried Adderall 1st and we tried every combination imaginable to make it work.  It just wasn't the medicine for him.  One of the reasons was he metabolized it VERY quickly (this sounds like it may be your son's problem) He would go through a fast acting dose in 3 1/2-4 hours when it was supposed to last 6. He would then go into horrible rebound!  When we switched to the XR he metabolized it slower but it still didn't work well so we switched to Ritalin and it's been much better.  He metabolizes it much slower.

We figured we were on the right track because we (like you) saw some very good results with Adderall.  My son's doc said that's a really good sign.  It usually means that stimulants as a group will be very helpful-you just have to find the right type, dose, and timing.

I wish you the best of luck!  

we are in the EXACT same boat as u right now. its week six of adderal xr 10mg for my dd  and suddenly it is wearing off even earlier than it was before. we got a booster dose this week of 5mg adderal generic to be given at 4-5pm and its not doing a thing. our ams are great, but afternoons are a disaster... no attention, impulsive and the anger , frustration picks up.

 

im afraid to change it to another as well, but its looking more and more like what its going to be on tuesdy when we have our appt  :(