How to lower adderall tolerance? Should I be worried?

[sadcollegestudent]

Around August, I was prescribed 10mg of Adderall IR daily and it worked well, but then I realized I needed it to last longer because I'm in class all day, so I started taking 15mg or 20mg, not at once but throughout I guess. And I went back to the doctor's and told him that the dose wasn't doing anything for me, so he gave me 20mg IR, and I would take my 20mg, and sometimes I'd throw in a 10mg, and then a 5mg about 5 hours before bed. And I go back after that for another follow up, and I tell him that I'd like XRs because the IRs aren't lasting long enough, so he gives me 20mg XRs and it was okay for a while, until I started to pour anywhere from 3-6mg into the other capsule to get more of a boost? And if that wasn't working, I'd just take another one. The most I've ever taken in a day was probably 40mg, so two of my 20mg capsules, but during that time I was also sleep deprived because college classes and all..., so I'm guessing that I needed more for the same effects because after a certain point it was only keeping me awake and not stimulated.
So now, I'm back to my 20mg, but I'll still pour about 3-5mg into the pill I'm going to take and take it for a little more boost or euphoria, I guess? For me, that feeling of happiness is usually associated with motivation and getting things done because I also suffer from depression, but I'm not on any anti-depressants at the moment.
But I'm worried that my tolerance is going up really fast or something; I don't exactly want to increase my dose or change the medication. It works really well for me, but sometimes I'm just not feeling the effects of attentiveness? Should I be worried? What can I do to decrease my tolerance or fix whatever's going on in my brain? I do try to take breaks on occasion, except I still feel less on 20mg than I do with 23-26mg, but I still feel it, just very minimally.

 

[Speed King]

Hello. Welcome. First, your not in real bad shape. If anything your habits need fixing. This will be out of order so bear with me. Escalating your dosage is not good, habit wise. IR works for some people, but not for you. No big deal. At least you recognise that. I suggest you try a drug called Vyvanse. I have been prescribed the majority of amphetamines for ADD and can make decent suggestions. This is all my opinion. For long acting, smooth focus, like I said, Vyvanse. The last time I had Adderall XR, I didn't like it. This is all subjective and my opinion. It might be good now. The maximum recommended daily dosage for IR Adderall is 60 Mg/day. So your good there. What you don't want to do is jack up your tolerance if you don't need to. Tell your doctor how you feel. What you need to do is take periodic breaks from the medicine. Take a day or two off a week, to give your brain a break. Don't take it to stay up longer then you need to. That is one of the worst things you can do. Eat healthy, take vitamins and minerals, especially cal/mag/zink pills. Stop ramping up your doses. You will re adjust, if you take a break. Some other Bluelighters will be along to help you out. Hope this helped a little.

 

[falsifiedhypothesi]

I'm also on 20mg of adderall xr a day and have depression. I like to skip days to keep tolerance down, sometimes I'll even pass up a week and a half just because I feel I can function without the adderall. Depression makes the equation more complex, I know. For the first few months I rationalized that I needed adderall to get out of bed and yeah it definitely helps but you can function without it.

I'm not perfect either, I take more then 40mg some days and while i can actually accomplish things that day it makes me completely useless the day after. If you feel the compulsion to take adderall have a large cup of coffee instead, it's kind of cheesy advice but it's stopped me from overusing a few times. Try taking a week break from adderall and see how you feel. Using adderall everyday makes me feel mentally dulled, if you feel the same then it's definitely time to take a break if not for mental clarity at least for tolerance.

 

[emann83]

From my experience with Adderall, which i have been on for over 10 years. Your tolerance goes up pretty quickly when you are taking the medication every single day. I am prescribed 30xr for morning and 25xr for afternoon time. I find that when I am not really feeling that stimulated effect as you are talking about I will take maybe two days off from the Adderall, which would be on the weekends since i am not as busy then compared to the week and come Monday morning when i take that first dose I get that stimulated euphoria you are talking about. Again that is my experience but i would try that if you have two days to take off. There are no serious w/d effects from Adderall, at the most you will maybe feel a little tired and sleep in. Just drink coffee for the those two days and you will be just fine. I hope this works as good for you as it does for me. I can relate to looking for that euphoria and thinking i needed more to get it but i am on a pretty high dose and when that feeling goes away i just take the two day break and everything is back.

 

[MocCozmiK]

This is an interesting article
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16170232

I think it means that they don't need increasing doses in order to get the same effect.
But I am not sure if I am understanding exactly

 

[falsifiedhypothesi]

^looks promising but i think they only reported on baclofen co-administered with amp so if you already have a tolerance it may not reverse it or maybe that result is in the full paper.

 

[PriestTheyCalledHim]

If you want to lower your tolerance do not take it daily. Do not take it on weekends, or when you have time when you are not busy doing important things. Also, do not re-dose or take more of it like you are doing.