<p>Yeah I'd take it just for fun, but I got such a bad headache (during the crash) last time that I'm scared to try it again.</p>
<p>Lumine, have you been living under a rock the last few years? There's been tons of articles everywhere about how people abuse ADD drugs.</p>
<p>I'm aware that they do; I'm just expressing my disapproval of the practice in the form of a semi-rhetorical question.</p>
<p>i'm prescribed adderall if that somehow makes it different if i take it...(but then again i think the scheduling of drugs is ridiculous, but that's another issue all together)</p>
<p>taking an admittedly over-prescribed drug two or three times during final exams to improve concentration is hardly abuse.</p>
<p>First off, I recommend either talking to another doctor or talking to your current doctor about how the Adderall is making you feel. Also, always take your medication as prescribed unless instructed to by a doctor.</p>
<p>That being said, my girlfriend has ADD and has been on several different medications for it ever since around 4th grade. When we started dating she had been prescribed Concerta a few years before and it was the current med she was supposed to take. I only saw her take it a few times because she had homework, studying or tests. Otherwise she never took it because of how it made her feel. She described the feeling as "like being in box." She would become very anti-social and quiet, which is the very opposite of her normal personality.</p>
<p>She also suffers from depression and when she went to see a psychiatrist, he said that it was probably linked to her ADD and if she could get that under control, her depression would become better. After being prescribed Concerta again, with the same effects as before, she told him about how it made her feel. He then prescribed Strattera, which is a non-stimulant ADD medication and doesn't have that same anti-social effect or other side-effects that stimulant based medications do.</p>
<p>Since going on that, she's been feeling quite a bit better. I should note that it's not quite as dramatic an effect that the other medications had, and because of the type of medicine it is, you must take it for a few weeks before it starts taking effect.</p>
<p>I have also read that some doctors are prescribing Welbutrin to treat ADD. Like Strattera, it's not stimulant based and probably wouldn't have the same effects of drugs like Adderal, Concerta, etc.</p>
<p>But like I said, please go to your, or another, doctor and talk to them about your options. If your current doctor doesn't want to listen to your concerns, then it's time to find a new doctor that will.</p>
<p>How long does it generally take for Adderall to kick in? I was taking a small dosage (30 MG XR) and before that I was taking Concerta, but other than being more thirsty and less hungry for a few days, I didn't really feel anything. I stopped taking it because my doctor said I didn't need to after I tested negative for ADD/AHDH, but would I have felt anything if I increased the dosage? I'm just wondering. I don't like the idea of taking medication I don't need to take, but yeah, it could help.</p>
<p>College 9!
I frequently find myself struggling with "social life or grades" indecision. For me though, the conflict is not coupled directly to the "take adderall today or not" decision, so I'm not in your exact position... but I think I have a handle on where you are coming from.</p>
<p>I switched to adderall from ritalin because the withdrawal period for ritalin was what you describe your adderall withdrawal as: I was moody and emotional during the up and down period.
After I switched, I started on daily 25mg XR. It was too intense, and I think perhaps I did become a little antisocial during that time. I then switched to 20mg XR, which was enough to maintain focus without developing tunnel vision. I also had the doctor prescribe a bottle of "take as needed" 5mg adderalls (not XR), which I take on the weekends if I wake up late, or which I can take for only the morning, or which I can break in half and use to supplement the 20mg time release if I have a particularly tough time focusing.
So, my advice would be to try out a weaker prescription strength to see if you find a happy medium, and to see if your doc. will prescribe you "as needed" small dose pills.
Also, the gel caps for adderall do not have any function in the time release, so you may feel like opening one of your current prescription sizes up and removing some of the beads before you take the pill. Use common sense and reason, but experiment. See what works for you. </p>
<p>Tell your doctor about the emotional heck this causes on the weekends though, because they might have more ideas (alternative drugs) than just reducing dose size.</p>