Stimulants Dexamphetamine dosage

[Flickering]

I take 20mg of prescription Dexamphetamine a day (10mg morning and afternoon) ostensibly for ADD but really for depression. Now, the medical establishment doesn't seem to acknowledge that this is a thing, but I and several people I know beg to differ. My mind is heavily overstimulated and I find it very difficult to concentrate on mundane tasks; consequently I can get deeply caught up in negative thoughts, and my default energy level is incredibly lethargic.

For instance: I can sleep through that dose, easily.

When I first tried this, several months ago, a friend gave me Adderall, in 30mg tablets you could split into quarters. I experimented with 7.5mg, 15mg, 22.5mg and 30mg in one go. Eventually I found the three-quarter dose was about right most days, and took this twice a day (for 45mg total). It worked great. I became much more productive, focused, sociable and cheerful, with no serious side effects. It was only a sample though so I ran out, and went to the doctor for more.

Now, I'm not noticing nearly as good an effect from the 20mg/day regimen of Dexamphetamine. Starting yesterday I decided to double my own dose and see how it went. So now I'm taking 20mg twice a day, for 40mg total. It's MUCH better. (I will run out before I get a refill but I was planning to take a week off it anyway so I could safely smoke changa.) It doesn't feel recreational, it just gets me to approximately the level I was at when I was taking Adderall.

So, obviously I need to ask my psych to up the dose, but I see him infrequently and he seems to think three or four 5mg pills a day should be fine. Wanted to ask for feedback here. It's surprisingly hard to find information on Dexamphetamine dosage. Is 40mg a day safe, does anyone have experience with it, what are the limits? Thanks.

 

[pinpoint]

Textbook tolerance... I am Rx'd the same dose as you and could ask for more but I know damn well that it would continue in perpetuity until side effects vastly outweigh primary effects.

 

[Flickering]

That was the other thing I was considering. So perhaps it would be better to stay on 20mg/day and to periodically take a day or two, or a week, off? More cost-effective, healthier and more potent effects?

 

[SatNamaste]

Hi,

Flickering... I think that's right on. Yes.
I'm new here but can relate to this issue. I've taken almost every ADHD medication available over the past several years (and have plenty of experience with recreational stimulants). When I started dexedrine, I knew I'd found the right one. However, time and consistent use created quite a tolerance. I experience something like mild withdrawals, or at least its absence can be very noticeable. I recently took a "holiday" from all the ADHD meds, and I'd recommend the same. I took several days to mellow out until I didn't feel like I was missing anything. Now, I'm trying Vyvanse for a while but I intend to return to dexedrine when it should be more beneficial.
At one point, I was taking 20mg, 3x/day. That was harmful, and I would've jumped ship earlier had I known any better at the time.

I hope that's helpful and wish you the best!

 

[Flickering]

Thanks SatNamaste.

I decided to take a week off the pills to see what happened. I did have mild withdrawal symptoms, mostly like a flu but without the yuck headspace fortunately.

I recently got back on them and I'm taking 3 5mg pills in the morning, 2 in the afternoon. I would like to up it to 3 morning and afternoon. I don't think I had much if any tolerance.

I think 6 a day would be ideal, maybe 7 for days when I'm particularly tired or busy and just need to get shit done; 8, I have found to be the line between therapeutic and recreational.

 

[InterestingFACT]

Personally, I like Vyvanse a lot in terms of providing a "smooth" effect without obvious peaks and valleys. (I suspect that much of your negative thinking has to do with your mid-day comedowns).

Other than that, it's a simple fact that amphetamines cause (relatively) rapid tolerance. Except in some geriatric populations (or so I've read), you should really expect stimulants to be sustainable as antidepressants in the long-term.

Magnesium can ostensibly help hold tolerance at bay. Some people take stronger NMDA antagonists like DXM at night in an attempt to reverse their tolerance. But honestly tolerance breaks are definitely the best solution if they're a realistic possibility for you.

Have you tried other treatment avenues for your depression? Stimulants are occasionally still used for their antidepressant effect, but only as a very last resort resistance to other forms of treatment. In addition to the regular drug toolkit doctors use for depression (eg. SSRIs, TCAs, MAOIs, rarely atypical antipsychotics), I also want to highlight that psilocin and ketamine have been shown very effective in the treatment of depression, likely due to neurogenesis through the production of BDNF (though I'm not necessarily recommending that you do these drugs).

 

[LSDMDMA&AMP]

40mg is safe. Thats how much i get daily.
with enough use tolerance results that ime doesnt go away even with abstinence
amphetamines fkr depression is a terrible idea.
and mind you, look at my name you dig?
I dont know how experienced you are with amphetamines, but a side effect, especially with heavy use, is depression.
its rather inevitable.
bad speed crashes used to make me super depressed, now i dont get depressed but i am also tolerant to where i did 130mg at about 2, 7 hours ago, and my heart isnt even racing and shit, and ive got probably another 30 or 40mg in my pocket, that i am gonna do within 45 min to try to feel better and delay the comedown.
I mean amp tolerance increases faster the higher your tolerance is.
mine is ridiculous and it sucks so bad.