Adderall knocks me out?

[Zimmie]

Hiya! I have a shiny (though long time coming) new diagnosis of ADD, and my pdoc has put me on Adderall – 5mg 2x/day for a week, then 10mg 2x/day starting the second. I'm still in the first week, but it absolutely knocks me out. I mean, I take it and immediately feel exhausted. Today I slept with my head on my arms in a student center for four hours after taking my dose. I'm very confused, since it's basically speed – all the info my pdoc gave me indicated that it would make me wired/unable to sleep. As you can see in my sig, I'm on a lot of other medications. Could this be an interaction? Should I just wait for it to go away? This is finals week for me – maybe not the best time for starting new meds but DEFINITELY not the best time to be sleeping a lot – but then again probably the best time to get my act together and get on meds that will help me... So I don't really know what to do.

[Velvet Elvis]

Welcome to the nervous system paradox of ADHD. It's why they giver hyperactive kids speed to calm them down. This isn't an uncommon side effect. It might get better at a higher dose or after you've been on it a while.

One good thing about stimulants is their short half-life. You can just quit taking them and the effect is gone the next day, no waiting around to come off a med. With that in mind I'd definitely wait until you've tried the higher dose before giving up on the stuff. Perhaps you could even call your psychiatrist and ask about moving the the higher dose a few days earlier due to your exams.

[AnneMarie]

The 10mg would be worth trying before you give up on Adderall, but I'd definitely wait until after finals to take any of it! 10mg 2x/day is still a low dose, btw.

All ADHD meds don't work the same. Because one effected yout his way does not mean all will. For example, Adderall does not wipe me out, but Concerta did. So, if Adderall at a higher dose doesn't do it for you, another ADHD med still might help.

Good luck on finals!

[Zimmie]

Thanks for the advice (and the good wishes)! I'm glad this isn't anything horrible – I got really worried when I got basically the converse reaction to what everyone says will happen. And I think i will try 10mg.

[Guest Holly]

Same thing happened to me. Doc thought i might be add so tried Adderall XR, and I couldn't function. Felt like absolute shit.

Went back to the doctor and he said "Then it means you don't need it." He truly is a brilliant man, so he knows what he's talking about, although he didn't go into the scientifics with me. So maybe reassess your diagnosis? ADD is over-diagnosed today. He put me on Nuvigil instead, which works differently, and so far it's been better.

[ldo]

When I first started taking Adderall, it would make me feel like I either had to be doing something or needed a nap, my choice! One thing to be aware of with this stuff is that the rebound when it wears off can make it hard to sleep. In that case a fraction of the normal dose, taken at bedtime, may help. I find myself taking a quarter tablet of dexedrine at bedtime and sometimes, if I get restless, another quarter at 3AM or something.

Holly: Not getting a good result with a particular stimulant does NOT mean you don't have ADD. If your doctor really knows his stuff, I suspect you misunderstood him. If Nuvigil is anything like Provigil, people say it's pretty useful for ADD.

As far as ADD being over-diagnosed, I doubt it. I'm sure docs are wrong sometimes, but I bet they also miss lots of people who are more inattentive than hyperactive. They missed me until I was 40 something. Seems to me that "ADD is over-diagnosed" often (not necessarily in your case) really means something like: "I believe in Cartesian dualism, so the idea that behavior and thinking can be influenced by chemical really bugs me. Therefore the doctors must be wrong."