how do you know if your adderall prescription is to high?

[Bentleybexley39]

2:30a and I’m still wired. On 30mg extended release. Took at 7am. Am I taking too much?

[UhNonImus]

That’s crazy, my first thought is yes too high dose, second is you didn’t exert enough mental or physical energy throughout the day, also you need to eat and drink plenty of water.

How long have you been taking it ? Have you tried instant release ?

[jilllewis84]

It could be too high, but it seems unlikely that the adderall wouldn’t be out of your system after that much time.

It’s possible you actually need the stimulant to sleep. It seems counterintuitive but since we actually need focus to be able to fall asleep (rather than falling prey to racing thoughts and anxiety), the effect of the stimulants wearing off often causes sleep problems. If you are interested in staying on adderall, you might test this theory out — try taking a nap while the adderall is strong in your system (maybe like around 10am). If you’re able to fall asleep then, that might indicate the stimulants actually help you to sleep. If the issue is the same or worse as it is at night, you might talk to your doctor about reconsidering the medication or dosage.

Another thought is it could be the adderall itself. I take adderall and love it, but when I tried ritalin it actually made me more likely to hyperfocus, causing me to have fixating thoughts that kept me awake when I was trying to sleep. Now I’m on wellbutrin and adderall and it’s a pretty perfect balance.

[Bentleybexley39 in reply to jilllewis84]

The symptoms you listed with Ritalin sorta sound like what I’m dealing with. Massive amounts of work stress that I fixate on. I have been taking this dose for 4months. Used to not be this bad, but work is getting worse so that sounds like the cause. I should also mention I’m on lunesta to sleep… sometimes it works sometimes it doesn’t.

[jilllewis84 in reply to Bentleybexley39]

wow yeah, maybe your body just isn’t into adderall. have you tried ritalin or vyvanse? one of those might be a better fit for you. or if you think it is work related, I wonder if there’s a limit you can put on it, like “if this aren’t better in x amount of time, I’m going to try switching meds” ?

I started with adderall and it was amazing except I started to get side effects for taking it too many days in a row (having to pee all the time like I had a uti). that’s when my dr had me try ritalin. at first I thought the dose was too low bc I felt my adhd symptoms were worse compared to when I was on adderall. so i kept asking her to increase the dosage over about four months. things kept getting worse (like everyday started feeling like my worst days of unmedicated adhd) but I didn’t make the connection to the medication. Until one afternoon I realized I’d forgotten to take it that morning. I felt calmer and my head cleared. It was a lucky break, otherwise I may have stayed on an unhelpful med for a lot longer.

I had tried vyvanse for a few weeks before that and didn’t love it. that’s when I asked about going on wellbutrin and taking adderall as needed to focus. it’s been a really good fit for now.

another thing I learned is that drugs are like cocktails, and the same way different bars make slightly different margaritas, different drug manufacturers will make slightly different versions of brand name drugs. this I also kind of lucked out in learning when my insurance changed and I switched from the generic adderall to the brand name. the brand name doesn’t work as well for me and gives more unwanted side effects, so now my dr writes a prescription specifically for the generic.

it’s a lot of stuff to weed through finding the right medication balance and it can get really frustrating to have to keep changing and tweaking and modifying. but it’s totally worth it. there are so many meds out there that are helpful for adhd it’s worth it to keep trying new things until you find something with none to minimal side effects.

[Bentleybexley39 in reply to jilllewis84]

Tried Ritalin and vyvance didn’t like those. What are your thoughts on non-stimulant ADHD meds? With work emotionally and mentally abusing me and working 15+ Hours frequently I’m like a total mental mess. I can’t wipe the slate clean with the meds. I’ll be on the sleeping meds the rest of my life probably. But I’m at my mental breaking point.

[Hidden in reply to Bentleybexley39]

Bentley, also wanted to comment, I was also at my emotional breaking point. Stress and workload kept increasing and I was loosing my mind. I decided to take medical leave so my doc and I could work on the optimal med and dosage and to work on My mental health. So glad I did. It’s only been a week, but wow! Huge difference. It having to worry about work has given me the time to work on me.

[Hidden in reply to Bentleybexley39]

I had my doctor switch from Ritalin to Adderall early in my journey. Ritalin doesn’t last long, upset my stomach and made me extremely moody. Adderall is so much better, but it lasts 6 hours so if you take too late, you won’t sleep. Took me 2 years to find the right dose and combination. Try and switch to Adderall, you’ll notice a huge difference. Best of luck.

[Neurolancer]

You didn’t say how long you’ve been taking this dose. It’s common for Adderall or any stimulant for that matter to feel “strong” when you first take it. You might want to give it some time and see how your body adjusts. A few other thoughts: Be sure to take it early enough in the day. Extended Adderall lasts around 12 hours. Practice good sleep hygiene too — don’t get wired out and play video games for a couple of hours before trying to sleep!

[Hidden in reply to Neurolancer]

The first time my doc tried XL version with me I was on 60 mg x 2/day, so he put me on the same dose of the XL version. I wake up at 5:30 for work and take my Adderall right when I get up. The XL version lasted much longer than 12 hours when it came to sleep. I felt it come down in the afternoon and was tired when I went to bed, but sleep rarely came until 1:30-2 am. I would sleep most weekends to catch up.

Now I take a combination of IR and 1 XL in the morning and have an IR boost I can take in the afternoon if I need it. It’s perfect! Finally, after 2 years of trying I think we got it. I maintain a regular sleep cycle and try to go to bed and wake up at the same time every day and it helps. It does take time to adjust to the med and sleep can be a luxury. I took a nap yesterday after taking my afternoon dose. That surprised me. always read that’s a good test to see if you’re med and dose is right.

[BTV65]

I tried 40mg of extended release at one point, and decided it was too much. I was jittery, it felt like my heart would flutter occasionally and I was getting dizzy if I stood up too quickly. I also was having trouble falling asleep, even though it was definitely more than 12 hours since I took it. Basically, there were a lot of little signs and side effects. I went back to 30mg and all of those little signs just disappeared.

Did you have anything else, like caffeine, that could have impacted you? I've found I can't drink coffee in the second half of the day or else I can't fall asleep. Never used to be an issue.

[Bentleybexley39 in reply to BTV65]

I get dizzy! I haven’t drank any caffeine since 2018 it massively intensified my anxiety when I drank it. Been on 30mg for 4 months… I don’t take it on the weekends and just become a total zombie.

[Hidden]

Hi Bentley. 30 mg isn’t too high, but if your just starting med therapy, it would have been better to start you on an instant release formula first and then move to an XL version once you get to you optimal dosage. I was diagnosed almost 3 years ago and think I’ve finally found the right mix and dosage. My doc put me on 60mg Adderall XL when we were looking for the right med. like you, it didn’t matter if I took mine at 5 am, I still couldn’t get to sleep until around 2 am too. I dropped down to 30 mg and that didn’t make a difference. However, I’ve noted when I take med holidays that it usually takes me about two weeks to adjust to the meds. I would see if your doc would be willing to put you on instant release. You usually take a dose when you wake up and another around lunchtime. Sleep is vastly improved for me because I have control of the dose. Hate the XL formulations. All the best.