Adderall IR

[adidas]

Hey Everyone,

I just got diagnosed with ADD a 5 days ago and was prescribed 5 mg tabs of Adderall IR. I am a 19yr old male weighing about 125 lbs. My doc wanted me to try one tab(5 mg)  for a few days, and if that felt like it wasn’t working then two tabs(10mg). He said that he would allow me to try 3 tabs(15 mg) if required but wanted me to call him first before I did that. To help I decided to try to write a story, using that as a gauge as to how well it was working

I tried one tab for the first 3 days but felt no different.

Deciding that it wasn’t working, I tried two tabs. On the first day I felt somewhat more concentrated but crashed about 6 hours later. On the second day, I felt like I was almost able to fully concentrate on my story, but was distracted here and there and felt my mind wander every few minutes. I also didn’t crash after 6 hours and only felt mildly tired.

What I want to know is if Adderall can be ‘almost working’ and if I should ask my doc for permission to try 3 tabs (15 mg)?

I will of course be telling my doctor this when I meet him in 4 days for a follow up visit, but I wanted you get you guy’s input as he said I could call any day, except Christmas and New Years, for permission to up the dosage to 15 mg.

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[shutterbug55]

Hello adidas,

I take Adderall IR as well. I am a 59 yr old who weighs A LOT more than 125. I take 5mg a day, and sometimes 10mg. I split a 10mg tab in half. This is because Adderall is tailor made for my brain. Having said that, Adderall does not erase all my ADD symptoms. It makes them less impactful. This gives me a window of opportunity to self-direct or ignore distractions, or employ any number of coping mechanisms so I remain on track.

Mostly what Adderall does for me is allow me to react to situations by thinking through them, rather than get emotionally wrapped up in them.

Maybe Adderall is not made for your brain, maybe there is another medication that will work better, or maybe Adderall along with something else might work for you.

Each of our brains is a unique constructADD brains are even more different. Because ADD is a spectrum disorder, it affects us all differently. Distractions might be a nuisance to me, but debilitating to you and so on.

Get a partner. Moms work really well. You are too young for a wife, yet. and girlfriends won’t be there for the long haul. Sit down with your mom and figure out the top 4 symptoms that cause you the most trouble. Moms will tell you which ones bug her/others.

Then find a medication that knocks down those symptoms the most with the least amount of side effects. This will take time and experimentation with you being the guinea pig. You will have the medication dosage and timing down to a science. Your doctor will be a collaborator as well.

Meds are only a part of the picture. They will not cure your ADD or make it go away. You will need counseling and you will need to educate yourself on ADD. The great part about it is, your mom will be able to see the changes in you, long before you see them. Your mom will also be able to judge which meds are working and which ones don’t. You will have the final say, because you will notice the side effects and other things.

 

Hope this helps.

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[timmernh]

Hi Adidas–

I take 10mg IR, and weigh about 200 pounds.

Be patient with your doctor…it takes a while, even when you respond to a med like Adderall, to fine-tune the dosage level and timing. My doctor had me keep a journal for the first month to see how I was sleeping and if I was having any other side effects. Our brains and our bodies all interact with the meds differently.

I’d also say yes, Adderall can seem like it is working “a bit,” but my experience has been if that if it is working at all, you can tell. You might try doing something you always do (vs. writing a story, if that isn’t something you always do) when evaluating if the meds are working. I found that things that used to take me 30 minutes took 3 minutes. It helped to compare to something.

Please also take shutterbug’s advice seriously, and acknowledge that there’s a lot more to treatment than medication. (I have found that the meds make all the difference in the world for things I want to do, but almost no difference for things I never wanted to do in the first place…)

Good luck! Remember– your brain may be different, but that also means it is awesomely different, and packed with all sorts of secret weapons that others’ brains lack.

Really.

T

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