Posted by jerrympls on June 24, 2006, at 2:27:26
In reply to Re: Why does adderall suck so much, posted by mike lynch on June 21, 2006, at 4:01:13
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> > It's amphetamine, for Lord's sake! I take 80 - 100 mg per day
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> Umm rigght. That just doesen't sound right.. anyway. I've been on a litanly of stimulants in an effort to improve concentration and motivation. Most of the stimulants provide me with just that, but the problem involves the fact that they're all accompanied with the unbearable crash. Adderall is the drug that works BEST while it's working, but it may have the worst withdrawal out of all the stimulants I have tried, which I think is every single one that is legal in the united states. I'm beginning to think it's not even worth smoothing out the crash if it has to be achieved by taking other drugs. I just want to abstain from toppling med after med into my regimine. Ultimately I just needed something for focus and motivation, that's all. I just don't know why stimulants hate me so much :/I'm in the same boat - so I can empathize. Adderall works so well for me - and it's the only thing really from keeping me from staying in bed the rest of my life - however, when it wears off, the dysphoria is extremely uncomfortable and depressing in its self. I take 20mg XR 3 x daily. There's no way once daily dosing would work - at least with me. The formulation is supposed to provide "8 hour relief" - so much for advertising. The problem is two-fold: 1) Adderall wears off 2) Presynaptic neurons "run out" of fuel. Some doctors think amphetamines cause "receptor burnout" however I am not convinced. In theory one could say that MAY be true - but I have not read any evidecen to support it.
But what to do about it? If you have a GOOD doctor - he'll understand and have some compassion. Sometimes doctors will prescribe some immediate release Adderall to supplement the XR but it's rare to find a doctor who show compassion and/or real knowledge of pharmacology and who isn't afriad to use it.
One simple thing to try is magnesium taurate. 125mg 3-4x daily works well for me. I've been taking it since April and it's helped lesssen the crash from Adderall considerablly. A benzodiazapine like Xanax, Ativan or Klonopin help too. However, watch out for the doctors who use the "They cancel each other out" excuse. They don't cancel each other out pharmacologically. This excuse is used moreso to keep the doctor more at ease so he/she doesn't have to worry about prescribing "addicitive" substances. So - they're really looking out for themselves before you - which is unfortunate. Best doctors are found at teaching hospitals at major universities like the University of Minnesota. The residents there were better than all the psychiatrists I've ever seen combined. And they're not afraid to use meds off-label and/or try novel med combinations.
I wish I had some better answers for you as I am trying to find them as well. It sucks to feel really good, productive, social, etc., and have it stripped of you day after day after day. The best thing to do is to talk to you doc. Perhaps overlapping two XR doses would help so that the "crash" happened at bedtime.
Also try the magnesium taurate (or magnesium glycinate). I've never been one for vitamin/mineral supplements - however, magnesium really does work.
Good luck - hang in there
Jerry
(current pharmacy student)
poster:jerrympls
thread:659335
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060623/msgs/660852.html