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hi kristya! i also take a combo of the xr and the ir adderall. i think i started sometime in september? i have had similar experiences, though only one incidence of dizziness…and that had happened to me before – way before taking any meds. overall my experience is that it is helpful, sometimes more sometimes less. if i haven’t had adequate sleep or am very stressed(more than usual) it can feel like it’s not working at all.
had an experience last month that really shook me. had been feeling more groggy than usual for a few days, also more scattered and all, and then one morning i was so tired that when i got home after dropping my son to school i konked out on the couch i think as soon as i hit it. didn’t take my morning med at the ususal time so i could sleep in, and didn’t have alarms set because i wasn’t working that day. i woke a few hours later, still super tired, but took my med hoping it would help me function. i promptly fell back asleep…..and didn’t wake again until 5 pm! and only then because husband had just returned with our 2 boisterous kids. i took my ir then, even though it was late, hoping to be alert and together enough to help my son with his homework. i had a bite to eat, made sure his homework was complete, got him ready for bed…..and went back to sleep! the next day , though i didn’t pass out all day again, i still felt tired and “out of it” all day and night, despite taking my meds. the following day i took extra med(more ir) because i needed to be alert (didn’t trust that the other parents would be adequately vigilent about monitoring the kids in the pool) and i was ok. actually by the evening i felt better than i had in days.
and then i began to really worry – had i developed a tolerance to the med already? is that even possible in so short a period of time?
well, i told my psych about what happened. he said definitely not a tolerance issue, but sounded more like a prodrome of a bad flu. sure enough, days later – after caring for my son who was sick with some sort of upper respiratory bug, it hit me, and hit me hard. and while it was quite uncomfortable at times, i was relieved that it wasn’t an issue with the med.
the point being, the med can only do so much, and it’s effects are very much affected by your circumstances – sleep/health/stress/diet/…
also, from what i know, the active chemical components-including the isomers- are the same for the xr and ir, it’s just the xr is coated for different time release in order to achieve longer and more level blood levels. just the same, i also feel i do better with the ir, i’m guessing probably for some period the blood levels go higher than with the xr that i’m taking, and think other factors may influence this too….which may mean i’m not on an ideal dose of the xr, but don’t really want to go higher with the xr if i can avoid it, and also don’t really want to have to worry about remembering to take meds even more often than i do now if i switch to all ir
i don’t know if this helps, but at least you know you’re not alone
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Oh! I read the label on my medication wrong and that’s was why I was confused. I think. I have the generic versions and the XR says dextroamp-amp and the IR says amphetamine salts which I’m now thinking are two different ways to say the same thing. I asked my doctor about it and she said the difference maybe in the way the molecules are cleaved.
She either didn’t understand the chemical make-up behind the two (I don’t expect every doctor to know every medication off hand) or it was the way I asked the question. She also said it could be that my system handles a large dose all at once really well but not over an extended period? I’m not quite sure.
At any rate, I’ve continued to go down hill in the past two days, doing things that I haven’t done in two months. For instance, I got a locker at my library to store my stuff in during the day when I’m running in between lab, class, and working out and proceeded to lose the key to it in about an hour. I then spent two hours trying to find it in my backpack only to discover it was in my pocket
. It was a waste and I really needed to work on things. That was very common place for me two months ago (pretty much every 30mins-give or take-I would be looking for something). Focus, among other things, has also gotten worse. Granted it’s still way better than not using adderall, but it has definitely been getting harder. I never want to go back to having to deal with all the anxiety associated with losing everything, forgetting important lab work and school stuff, and not being able to “hear” in or “read” for classes!!!!I hoping that after I make it through these last two weeks and when I’m less stressed my medication will start working better.
Do you have any suggestions or tricks? Is there anything that worked for you?
REPORT ABUSEwish i had a great answer for you, but here goes…
when i go through rougher spurts, i use more alarms/reminder timers, try to write more notes – and stick them in my pocket so i don’t lose them (and at some point i’ll find them hehe), try to get adequate sleep, try to avoid adding on any additional responsibilities(if possiible)……you can also try taking a walk/doing yoga/pmr to help calm the mind.
and when all else fails, take a deep breath and remember, “this too shall pass”
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