Adderall XR and anxiety

I have had really bad anxiety and panic disorder for a year now from being a former pot smoker. My doctor prescribed me adderall xr 20mg after I asked her to. I'm in college and I have a friend I go to school with who takes it. I found out about it from her and she gave me a few. When I took it I was fine. Even the come down wasn't as bad as what I am experiencing now. I took the first pill out of the bottle yesterday. The first 5 hours were great. I was focus on what I was doing and I had no anxiety or weird side affects what so ever. Around 2am I started feeling dizzy, fatigue, parts of my body was going numb, my limbs were getting weak and they hurt, i got massive migraines, chest pains, weird shots of pain that felt like lightning going up my spine to my neck, blurred vision, and my speech was slurred. I did not want to wake my parents up because I thought maybe i was just having a panic attack. My doctor put me on metadate prior to adderall and I had some panic disorders with it, but this was far worse. Then I realized that all of these horrible feelings couldn't be from anxiety. I usually just get the rapid heart beat, short breath, numbness due to hypertension, and chest pains. This was far worse! I felt like a thousand needles were poking into my chest, at time I felt so weak I thought I was going to faint, if I got up too fast I got dizzy spells and everything became a blur to me. I was so scared that I felt like I was going to die. I had read the papers given with the drug and it said to seek medical attention immediately with the symptoms that I had. I didn't want to do anything drastic like call 911, because thats what I did with the metadate and over time i felt fine, so instead I called the poison control hotline on the pamphlet. The woman over the phone said that what I was experiencing was normal and that everything only seems more intense because its late and i'm tired but I can't get any sleep. Her voice and assurance made me feel slightly better, but afterwards things just got worse. I don't understand why this drug had these effects on me when I took the same thing before with no problem! During that time I had anxiety as well, and I still did not have any issues. I love the fact that this drug helps me to remain focus, but the after affects are so horrible. Does anyone know if I can just sprinkle half of the pill in some food or something and I won't have these problems, or if there is something equivalent to adderall without those horrid side effect?

Question:
Can anyone describe differences between XR and regular, either from experience or medically speaking?

I was diagnosed add and prescribed about 10 months ago. The adderall worked immediately, no significant side effects. I mentioned it wore off before I was ready. I was prescribed 30XR and 15XR twice a day. I feel a little different than before, i have anxiety I didn't have before. Also, I do feel like if I skip a day, I took Nyquil, and I can't do anything except sit around.

Normal? is it the XR vs the normal? thanks for the comments

just started taking Adderall, though i am not prescribed. I went to my doctor and asked for it but she said no. I explained that I am often overwhelmed at work, I am a case manager and keeping on task with all of the work is hard. My doctor said when she was in med school, med students used to take it for that purpose.So anyway i bought 5 pills from a coworker. I seem to have super human energy, get all types of work done and stay focused all day. On the down side, in 5 days I have lost 3lbs., I want to lose weight, but not that fast. I have what I consider to be Adderall hangovers the next day, where I am extremely tired. I also have noticed severe headaches, every day that I have taken it, I crash by the end of the day at work and cant wait to get home, because I am so tired. My neck aches, and I had to change to a firmer chair at work, because all of a sudden my back is killing me, I also get insomnia and have to counteract the Aderall with Tylenol pm just to get to sleep. These side effects freak me out, and I don't know if I want to again ask my doctor for a script, but I get so much done at work, and I am heading back for grad school, I just don't know what to do? oh yeah, the pills that I bought were Adderall XR 30 mg.

numbness in hands, sometimes sooo bad it hurts and wakes me up in the middle of the night. Anyone else have this expierence?

I get intense headaches and neck aches when I take Adderallxr and Adderall (i have tried both). when i stop taking it, after 2-3 days the head aches are gone, and the neck aches greatly diminished. However, I also take Isosorbide - a long acting nitrate like nitro glycerine. I have discovered that the two probably interact. if i stop the isosorbide, the headaches and neckaches are at a much lower level. I have found that relaxation techniquies help lower the neck pain and headaches also. I suspect that Adderallxr makes one more susceptible to anxiety (of which i have a lot right now due to challenges in job).

I also have trouble sleeping. I will try orange juice an hour before I go to bed to see if that helps.

When i get the dose right, Adderallxr is great. I am much more focused, calmer, and get a lot more priority things done. I wish I had known about ADD 40 years ago. I will somehow figure out the right dose and how to diminish the side affects. The benefits are too good for me to quit taking Adderallxr.