Duration of Effect of Adderall XR

[Alex000]

So, very recently I was rx'd Adderall XR, only 5 mg, but still a start. This is the first stimulant ever scripted to me, and I have no experience with amphetamines, only methylphenidate a handful of times. I have only taken it yesterday morning, and in the morning today. I am just uncertain about how long I am supposed to feel "up", and how the comedown works for someone with zero tolerance. Again, it is XR, so this has to be taken into account. I was feeling tired earlier, and I thought it had worn off after about 10 hours, but now at 14 hours I am still feeling somewhat stimulated with increased libido (sexual and otherwise), which is rather rare for me. Can someone please enlighten me on taking amphetamines, in low doses, for someone with no tolerance?

 

[ErgicMergic]

Adderall XR contains a bimodal release system, which means half the beads are glucose coated and released instantly, and the other half are plastic coated and released all at once several hours later.

That is fantastic that 5mg XR has such a noticeable effect on you, and that your doctor was responsible enough to start you on a low enough dosage. You should stay on the lowest possible dose that simply allows you to focus and be alert, not the dose that makes you stimulated, euphoric, insomniac, motivated, not procrastinated, etc, since those honeymoon effects will fade quickly away with the slightest of tolerance.

 

[Alex000]

Thank you for your reply, I suspected it released in such a fashion, but wanted to make sure. I am in a bit of a quandry, though, because I highly doubt I suffer from ADHD, and that diagnosis was not even made. The psych doc at my most recent psych ward simply is fond of stimulants, and when I asked to be scripted a low-dose one, he gave me the choice of which one, and he scripted it. He thinks that they improve cognition, memory, focus, and of course they do, but he values education and such, so he did not have an issue with something to help me along. My thoughts can be slow, sometimes even somewhat absent, and I am usually fatigued, but I really do not have ADHD. I am wondering if I should reserve the Adderall XR as needed for heavy work or take it daily to help with fatigue and low energy, along with some other depressive symptoms. It really does help with my mood, but I am fairly sure that effect will fade, although in history, and even today in some cases, amphetamines have been and are used in the treatment of depression. I do not have any desire to take a more traditional anti-depressant as they are not as immediately efficacious nor as effective, and they cause signifcant blunted affect. I guess what I am asking is can amphetamines successfully treat depression over prolonged periods of time if I keep the dose low and steady? I have magnesium, which I could employ for tolerance prevention, but even with that I am unsure.

 

[GenesisMN]

I totally agree with the person who originally replied about keeping t as low as possible. You're sadly very right about the euphoric effects, and even congitive improving effects, beginning to fade quickly when abused. I'm also very glad to hear that if your doc is really pushing the stuff so bad that he allowed you to choose low dose and the fact you had the common sense to do so is a good sign that you'll most likely have no trouble controlling yourself with dosages. If you even choose to continue taking it after you start noticing things like slight decrease in motor coordination and lack of motivation to get a big load of work done once you're not taking meds. I guess to be completely honest, when I started taking adderall to help me in high school I did abuse it frequently and still do, so I'm not an expert in long term effects of low doses. But I know friends who take maybe 20-50mg in one or two doses spaced out over months and they are claiming to feel physical effects so I assume the effects are very similar with a longer onset when staying at low/prescribed doses.

Edit: In regards to your question about using amphetamines as an anti-depressant, I would have to say that it most likely would only be effective for a short amount of time. You'd eventually need to up your dose to get any effects at all, I'll give it this scenario the upper hand and say it would be a year until this happen, but then the same thing would happen again eventually. By this time, immediate cessation of the drug would likely cause even worse depression because of the crutch it becomes to your brain's functions to perform normally. So in order to stop taking it if you decided to do so someday, you'd probably have to ween yourself off it by lowering dosage slowly or by being given another medication altogether to ease withdrawals. If I were you I'd just try curing your depression some natural way, overcome some fears, meet new people or start going to concerts, etc. I've struggled with unmedicated depression off and on in my life and drugs of any kind just seem to worsen it (besides psychedelics and bud) and something even as slight as a weekend out of town seemed to lift my entire mental state more than any chemical I've taken.