Adderall... stopped working?

[TheActress]

This makes me very sad. The past few (3) days I've noticed a decline in the effectiveness of my Adderall, and today it seems as though it literally is just not working. I take it and I am exactly like I was prior to being put on it. Unable to concentrate, fiddling with things, doodling, playing with my hair, can't focus in class/group, having to re-read paragraphs in homework, talking to/distracting people in group and class, generally being totally ADHD etc. This is very dis-heartening seeing as I had very promising results at the beginning (not magic, and I knew I was going to have to increase eventually).

I started at 15mg in the morning, and then had to increase to 15mg BID because it would poop out on me around noon. Now its just not doing crap for me. I have pdoc next week and I'm just totally pissed. Is this normal because I'm on such a low dose (I've been told 15 is a low dose)??? Has my body just gotten used to it or something? Hell, its only been 2 weeks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I just want my wonderful focus and motivation back again! That was terrific. Any ideas guys?

[Velvet Elvis]

It's normal when you start taking stimulants to need to up the dose a time or two before you reach your final dose.

Also, some of the more euphoric effects will wear off, and it will get less peppy as you develop a tolerance. That's just life. It should still work for your primarily inattentive symptoms though.

15 mgs is a really low dose though and I would expect that you'd need to raise it some from there before reaching your final dose.

[AirMarshall]

Adderall can build up tolerance. 15mg is a relatively low dose, so there is room for you to go up.

Everyone is different in their tolerance. Velvet Elvis told me that I wouldn't feel a thing below 40mg (based on his experience). Hah, I split tabs and 7.5mg is enough to affect my sleep.

There are two or three other meds that have longer term action that aren't stimulants. They don't have intense an effect (or crash) as the stims.

Best, a.m.

[TheActress]

It's normal when you start taking stimulants to need to up the dose a time or two before you reach your final dose.

Also, some of the more euphoric effects will wear off, and it will get less peppy as you develop a tolerance. That's just life. It should still work for your primarily inattentive symptoms though.

15 mgs is a really low dose though and I would expect that you'd need to raise it some from there before reaching your final dose.

Its not even the peppy and euphoric I'm looking for... for example. Today in group I could not sit still, I was playing with my hair, picking at my eyelashes, talking to the girl next to me, flipping thru my papers, doodling, counting ceiling tiles, almost took a nap, bouncing my leg, ended up braiding my hair. And during "mindfulness exercise" couldn't concentrate for the life of my and kept bouncing from subject to subject and then ended up having a conversation with myself in my head about how I was supposed to be being mindful. Also, at the moment I'm supposed to be doing Spanish homework, but have only been able to read the same couple sentences about a million times without comprehending a thing.... I'm frustrated out of my mind.

Edit: I already said all that.......... Wow........ Talk about not remembering a goddamned thing. o.O

[TheActress]

So I guess my question is, should I call pdoc and let her know whats going on and see about upping the dose? Or should I wait till my appt next week? I never know when calling is appropriate... because things might be bothering the fuck out of me, but I don't know if they're important enough to call about.

[one_girl_revolution0622]

If it's interrupting your daily routine, then it's definitely important enough to call. I've not called my doctor about stuff before for fear of "bothering" him, but in all reality, that's their job. I've recently stopped taking my Adderall because I got tired of the tolerance and constantly having to up my dose. Instead I asked my doctor to let me try Provigil. It's somewhat similar to Adderall in that it helps with focus, concentration and alertness. I wanted to try it because of a study that I read about it being used in bi-polar patients and they were found to have less instances of anxiety and depression. So far I like it. I felt like the Adderall was making my anxiety worse and to the point where I couldn't manage it. On Provigil I still get the benefits of Adderall but without the tolerance factor, the edginess and it has helped some with my anxiety so far.

You might ask about Adderall XR, which releases the medicine throughout the day instead of it being released into your system all at once.

[Velvet Elvis]

Adderall can build up tolerance. 15mg is a relatively low dose, so there is room for you to go up.

Everyone is different in their tolerance. Velvet Elvis told me that I wouldn't feel a thing below 40mg (based on his experience). Hah, I split tabs

Best, a.m.

I meant 40mgs a day, so 20 meg doses

So I guess my question is, should I call pdoc and let her know whats going on and see about upping the dose? Or should I wait till my appt next week? I never know when calling is appropriate... because things might be bothering the fuck out of me, but I don't know if they're important enough to call about.

If you see her once a week as it is, you might want to go ahead and wait a few days to see how things shake out. If you're taking the instant release stuff, which I think you are, you might have much better luck with the sustained release or with vyvanse.

[daisy]

I have ADHD - Inattentive. I had the same problems with Adderall XR 30 mg + 20 mg Adderall IR. I had been on it a while, but I believe I started at 20 mg Adderall IR twice a day to begin with. The XR helped me for a much longer period of time.

Eventually it pooped out on me, and even though my pdoc said it wasn't possible for ADHD medicines to poop out, I had the same effects as you. (Though it took much longer than a few weeks for me, I know when my ADHD medicine has pooped out or not!) Because of the effects, I started Vyvanse. In order to go on Parnate, I had to go off of Vyvanse, of which I required a dose of 80 mg. I never pooped out on that dosage, which is technically slightly above the normal dosage by 10 mg. Honestly, I wish I could be on Vyvanse now. I had more luck on Vyvanse than on any other drug for ADHD. I did not even feel the side effects like I did with Adderall, and never had any issues concentrating, which I always did on Adderall. Of course, everybody is different, so Vyvanse could be a waste of time for you, but I found that it was my ADHD lifesaver.

I did not have any luck on Ritalin, but many people do. It also may be worth trying out.