Adderall XR/IR question

[carolyn11491]

Hey guys, pretty sure this would fit here since its a pretty general(?) question about adderall.

I know the difference btwn the two....XR means extended release (lasts longer throughout day) and IR means instant release (starts instantly and lasts about 4-6hrs) both depending on the person.

My bf has recently been prescribed a generic form of 10mg IR and ive taken some perodically to help study/take tests. My question is is if you have add or adhd wouldnt you automatically need XR? I mean I feel like anyone with add would need a pill that lasted a full day. If your taking an IR that means after it wears off your add would just come back and youd either need to redose or just go the rest of the day not being able to concentrate (amoung other symtomps related to add). It just doesnt make sense to me why a doctor wouldnt just prescribe the XR in the first place so the patient would be set for a full day?

Just wondering if anyone knows the reason why certain people are prescribed IR vs. XR? Is their a preference of not being on the drug full day? I can see why someone like me (not prescribed/not necesarily needing adderall/do not have add) would want to take an IR because it lasts just long enough to get work done. But what doesnt make since to me is why someone with add would be prescribed to IR since theyd need it to last a full day. Basically, what am I missing about this concept? haha

Sorry for the long elaboration. Just a question no one has seemed to be able to answer for me! Thanks for your help

 

[Tommyboy]

Many people don't like the side effects of this drug, or how it makes them feel. So if they can take an IR which will only make them feel it for shorter amounts of time, then they may want that formulation. This way they can take it before class, and then it will wear off after classes. You get the idea.

 

[Legerity]

With IR you are more in control of the effects and when to take your dose. People may take it 2-3 times throughout the day to have the effects prolonged. With XR it is up to the pill and in my experience it isn't always as predictable as I would have liked. But if taking a pill once a day for therapeutic use is what you prefer, then it can be more convenient.

 

[Doug2113]

From what I've seen XR pills aren't going to hit as strongly as an IR pill (obviously, but let me elaborate). When you take an XR pill (without adulterating it as quite a few people around here do *ahem* ), it is designed to slowly breakdown and release into your blood across a specific amount of time. In my experience, taking an XR dose of, lets say, 200mg of Tramadol, which is supposed to last for 24 hours, does not hit as hard as taking 50mg of IR Tramadol 4x daily. While you don't have the ups and downs of the IR pills, there is more therapeutic effects.

When I was first put on Tramadol, the doctor, just to try me out, gave me 400mg/day (the max) to work with to see exactly what I needed. I was taking the full 400mg daily, so she thought it might be a good idea to switch to the ER (same as XR) formulation to avoid dosing 4x daily, but the max ER formulation is 300mg. She tried me on this (but they were way to expensive so I went back to the IR formulation right after this, and since it was her nurse that switched me back, they put me on 300mg IR daily instead of the original 400mg), and, granted I was down 100mg daily, I felt A LOT less pain relief. When I switch back to the IR formula after this one month of hell, I noticed a big difference.

To back this up, a little while after being back on the IR formulation I stumbled upon this chart on the prescribing information of Purdue Pharma L.P.'s (the pharmaceutical company that makes Oxycontin and all the other somewhat-difficult-to-adulterate Opioid formulas without a lab) formulation of Tramadol (You can find this at this link on page 3. http://www.purduepharma.com/PI/prescription/Ryzolt.pdf). The amount of drug present in the blood, while having a slow, steady decline, don't hit as high of a level as the IR do, and take quite a while to kick in. I would find that my pain wasn't being taken care enough as it needed to be, and, from what I speculate to be from a tolerance issue, they felt like they would wear off before the 24-hour mark. The larger spikes from redosing the IR tramadol is due to tramadols peculiar bioavailability that increases if you already have some present in your blood, but if you'll look below those spikes, you will see the the blood content was still significantly below the original levels of the first dose. The peak levels of the ER dose were also close to being as high as the IR dose, but it took forever for it to reach this and was horrible for the pain and stiffness I awake to. It already takes me an hour or 2 to get to where I've gotten as limber as I'm going to get with the regular meds, so those weren't great for me.

Also, like already said, it gives you more control over you dosing. With the IR Tramadols, I can take another dose a couple hours early if I'm hurting really badly, or a couple hours later, if I really don't need to redose yet; however, with the ER dose I take it once in the morning, and then I'm fucked if I need something later on in the day. ER/XR doses are normally indicated for patients at high risk for abuse or for those that might forget to take a dose (I don't know how often that really happens with pain patients though.......), or just for convenience of only needing to take the one dose. Less pills, less worry. but I've rambled long enough on this, so time to shut the fuck up. I sometimes just don't know when to end things lol.

 

[laCster]

XR makes me stay up for 24+ hours.

 

[opiatekrzy]

i prefer IR, so i can redose at my leisure when i feel i need to redose, with the XR, i dont get too much of a buzz to focus, clean, etc..just a real subtle uplift....

 

[opiatekrzy]

i feel doctors are getting hip to adderall IR and XR, and from my experience, being on xr does not provide that addictive euphoria that an IR tablet can produc eeven when taken at prescribed doses, maybe they choose XR so you slowly release the drug over time, not all at once, so u can avoid a crash or comedown...i really think the IR's have more potential for abuse, even if u crush the XR beads to powder, still the IR ar vey euphoric even taken at prescribed dose

 

[pasha]

Old thread.

Closed. PM me if you have questions.