Adderall and adderall xr

I am almost 21 and i have been on Adderall XR since i was in 8th grade, and i was on Ritalin from 3rd grade to 8th grade. I was off of Adderall from when i graduated (because of lack of insurance, the med is expensive) to about a month ago. Before i stopped taking it, i weighed approx 125-130 and i am 5'7''. For the 2 years i was off, my weight skyrocketed to 155-160, and now i am in a constant struggle to get the weight off. The only side effects that i have ever had were dry mouth which leaves a weird taste in my mouth, and lack of appetite, which i dont mind since im trying to lose weight.
During the time i was off of the Adderall, i was LAZY. (which im sure also helped the weight gain) I wanted to do nothing but watch tv and play The Sims. I was easily excited, and i would blurt out sometimes inappropriate things that i should have thought about before saying.. I was a mess at work, always distracted and disorganized, and always forgot what i was supposed to do.
Now that im back on it, I have been cleaning at home a lot more, and going to the gym, im a little bit more quiet, which im sure my roommates don't mind. I have also noticed that i am little bit more grouchy, but i think that i just am a bit more serious, and i don't want to be pestered. ( for example, my roommate is watching Family Feud and hes yelling out all of the answers, and im about to strangle him as im writing this, but who wouldn't.) This medication may not work for some people, but for me, it absolutely helped 100% at school, and at home. And without it, i am a disorganized mess.

Hi,
I just turned 25 years old, and was diagnosed with ADHD as well as anxiety after taking an EEG about three years ago. Before that time, I had been suffering from depression, anxiety, and I couldn't control my ridiculous cravings for sugar and carbs. I know that this sounds weird to people who do not have ADD or ADHD, but for those of us who do, these symptoms might not seem so odd. I had been in counseling and seeing Psychiatrists from age 15 on. Finally, I developed a terrible eating disorder due to not being properly medicated. Some deal with their issues differently than others, but I needed to feel in control of something in my life. As it was, I was completely unorganized, unable to focus on any one thing, unable to study and recall information, tired, unmotivated, and eventually Bulimic/Anorexic. Once I was forced to go to an in-patient clinic for a month and a half, I learned from numerous tests and great specialized doctors, I was finally able to start living again. At age 22 my doctor, at the time prescribed Adderall XR and Xanax XR and three years later, I am still taking both medications. I admit, sometimes I don't want to take it, because I like to feel my emotions and be in the moment of life, but I know without it, I am a wreck and completely out of control again. I let things go, become a total hermit, sink into my own pool of sorrows, and am not anything resembling my old self. Just one problem though, I am a singer and find that when I take my Adderall, I am so dry that my range is cut short- very short, and the tone of my voice is dull. I sing for a living, so this is a major concern. I also find that I don't seem to have the same emotion when I am singing. I can handle the emotional thing, but you can't hide not hitting the notes! What can I do? Is there anything to counteract this side affect? I asked my doctor and she said lemon drops- well, if you are lucky enough to find lemon drops- that's great, but they definitely don't do the trick. I drink nothing but water all day and still- I just can't stay hydrated! What am I going to do? If anyone has any advice or is experiencing the same problems, please drop me a line. Thanks so much for reading and take care!

I AM ON ADERALL XR AS AN ADULT FOR ABOUT 5 YEARS NOW. I AM 34. I TAKE ONE 20 MG PILL A DAY AND HAVE HAD SOME CRAZY MOOD SWINGS. I FIGURED IT WAS MY AGE WITH NO KIDS. ONE GOOD THING IS THAT IT HAS HELPED ME CONCENTRATE AND IT HAS HELPED ME STAY THIN! ALTHOUGH, RECENTLY I HAVE BEEN GAINING WEIGHT. IM NOT SURE WHY, IM DOING THE SAME THINGS. I GAINED 10 LBS IN 3 MONTHS. I DID GO FROM ADDERALL TO ADDERALL XR, BUT MY DOCTOR HAS BEEN SWITCHING ME THE WHOLE TIME IVE BEEN TAKING IT. IVE ALSO HAD WEIRD STOMACH GURGLES AND STRANGE OTHER PROBLEMS WITH MY BUTT. NOT SURE IF THEY RELATE, BUT I REALLY AM JUST LOOKING FOR OTHERS WITH THE SAME ISSUES. THANKS. DO THESE PILLS EVENTUALLY STOP WORKING?

I am 29 years old, I have been taking Adderall XR for about a year and a half. It wasn't working too well until recently. Note that stress depletes the nesessary brain neurotransmitters necessary for focus, and optimal functioning. The very first time I took Adderall, I was taking 15mg and the night before, I had the proper amount of sleep which is about 7-8 hours. It worked very well. I woke up at I think, about 8AM, and the medication started helping me focus in approximately two hours later. But unfortunately that day, I had just received some very depressing news. The next day, the medication did not work properly again until now. I'm assuming the stress from this news depleted my brain's natural chemicals and did a number on me. On the other hand, if I had not of experienced that bad stuff, and I was going to school or work on a regular basis, my symptoms of AD/HD would of been a lot less and that Adderall would have consistantly worked. These medications are much more effective when taken properly, when you sleep well at night, exercise helps, and when there is very minimal stress in your life.

Since this August I have been seeing a specialist, a psychiatrist who specializes in AD/HD. Before August, I was taking 20mg of Adderall XR and 20mg of Prozac every other day. Today I've had Adderall increased to 30mg. So now I take 30mg of Adderall XR, 150mg of Wellbutrin XL and 20mg of Prozac every third day. Today I seem to be more focused, more energy, less procrastination, and less figiting.

Also, I would like to comment on the fact that for that 21 year old who was prescribed a lot of Adderall to start with----- 20mg of Adderall twice daily-- I believe that is too much. If I were her, I would of either started with 5 or 10mg of Adderall or even start with 10mg of Dexedrine instead. Before I took Adderall, I had been taking Dexedrine ever since I was 17 years old. I had been taking Dexedrine on-and-off. I think I started with 10mg of Dexedrine and 20mg of Prozac. My psychiatrist then, told me we would start the Prozac also because Dexedrine sometimes has the tendency to give people a bit of nervousness. So the next day, I knew Dexedrine was a miracle drug because I could actually listen to what the teacher was saying, study, learn, focus, keep info. in my brain and have conversations with people,without forgetting what I was about to say! It was amazing. From that point on, I knew that I had a brain and in that brain there was actually a high level of intelligence. Before the meds, I had always thought I was dumb.

It is also my opinion that in combination with medication, people with AD/HD should see a counselor or AD/HD couch to help them with their planning in life, goal setting, follow-through and to just sort of push them along positively.
So good luck everyone.....If anyone with ADD or AD/HD has had simular experiences or wants to chat, e-mail me or leave a message on this post.

I am 21 years old and my doctor prescribed me 20mg of Adderall to take twice a day. I've been taking it for about a week (only in the morning, I'm still too wound up to take it 4 hours later!) and I have already lost 10lbs. Also I've been having trouble breathing deeply, chest pain, tingling in my arms and legs, and no appetite whatsoever. Are these symptoms normal?

My 4year old grandson has been on 20mg adderall Xr for aprox 2 months .. It has helped with his hyperness but soon after taking the drug he becomes emotionl and completely beligerant. He acts out and screams at you. This goes on for hours. Ive discussed this with doctor and he wants to up the dose.. Almost afraid to. Dont want to think that grandson could get anymore beligerant. He was hyper before the meds not beligerant. Where can I go to find more on this.?

my daughter has been recently been put on adderall xr 5mg. she is 6, the only side effect so far is decreased appetite. i only give it to her on school days and her teacher said that it really makes a difference. i don't plan on giving it to her for a long time, but i heard that when i stop giving it to her that her weight will increase 2x. is that true?

I started taking adderall xr 20 mg about 6 mo. ago. I am 31 and was 185 lbs @5'11". It definitely raises my focus and I get more done at work. I lost 20lbs. and when I went to the gym to work out last week I could barly bench 135 when I used to work out with 190 or more. This tells me it is very tough on the body. My friends think I look like I am on crack. As far as the addiction thing goes it is true. If I try to take a day of I simply cannot function. It is not a insatiable craving when you don't have it. It just puts you in a major fog. For example, if you drink coffee or cola and you skip a day and are a little off you can still get by fine. If you skip a day of(or try to skip) adderall xr it is litteraly 20x worse! I plan on tappering off for good soon. I will find a better way to deal with my add. My main reason for posting this is to say: DO NOT GIVE THIS DRUG TO GROWING CHILDREN. I believe It will definitly do permanent harm.

My son has been taking Adderall for about 4 and 1\2 yrs. and I will tell ya'll that it help him at first but as the yrs went by it is like he is not taking anything. He just got off of taking the Adderall XR and it wasn't even helping him any. It was like it was giving him a boost. I have read all of the storys that ya'll have put on here and they all sound just like what I am going through. There is one thing that I noticed about everyones and that is that no one put on here what was in Adderall. If you do some looking into it Adderall has amphetamines in it. That is why you only have so many days to get it filled. If you look it up in a PDR or in THE PILL BOOK it will tell you that it is pronounced ADD-ur-all and then under that it says "Generic ingredients: AMPHETAMINES" So if you are taking this I would say that it is time to get off of this med. I have taking my son off of it and he seems to bwe getting better. Adderall is just like Ritalin. Ritalin also had Amphetamines in it as well. I just thought that I would share that with all of ya'll. I am glade to see that there is a place to do this and share story's and just maybe keep someone that has not ever taken this med and that might just be thinking about putting a kid on it that just maybe this will change their mind.

I start taking Adderall, xr about 9 months ago. At first I had the expected side effects, dry month, restlesness, loss of appetite. I felt extremely alert, and much more focused at work. My husband even noticed my attitude was much more calm and relaxed, which made him much more calm and relaxed. So it seemed like it was a miracle drug. Well, here lately I have been feeling more tired and unmotivated than I ever have in my entire life. I have been taking 10 mg since I began, and usually only once a day for only the days I work. I never take it on my days off. So I am not sure if that is the problem. And I am not sure if it is because I need up my mg, but honestly, I feel that it is not worth it in the long run. I am beginning to think my body is reacting because I need more, and I refuse to do that. So my results are worse than when I started 9 months ago. I have decided to stop cold turkey and very concerned about withdrawl effects. But I would rather go through that than the rest of my life be dependant on a medication that is obviously messing with my body.

I have been on adderall for six years. I have taken adderall xr, as well as the shorter lasting adderall. I am upset with my doctor, because I trusted him for years with my health, and because he was recommended to me from people I know. If I would have been told the truth when I asked about the side effects, and withdrawl symptoms, I never would have taken these drugs in the first place! By placing this, I am hoping that maybe I can prevent someone else from ever starting this horrible drug in the first place. I wish I would have known about behavior cognitive therapy years ago (which is natural), because I would have gone that way instead of taking adderall. Over the years, it has made my symptoms worse.

I am a 14 and a half year old girl, 112 lbs., and I've been on Adderall Xr for about 2 years. It gives me dry mouth like Hell. Whenever I stand up, I get so dizzy I can't see. If I don't eat, it feels like my stomach is ingesting itself. It does help my ADD, I take it everyday. When I miss a dose, the day after is literally Hell. I like to hurt myself, basicly for fun and out of boredom. I took an herbal sleep aide for a long time since Adderall gave me severe insomnia (sleep just never came), but I've recently gone on strike since I don't want to have to take for the rest of my life. I usually do fine, except when I've had a certain amount or more of caffine, which was the same on the sleep med. I also have an eating disorder where I know I'm hungry, but I just don't want to eat. I've also become a lot more angry and irritable. I naturally keep things that bother me inside, and I'm extremly vindictive, so that sometimes stupid things just set me off for no reason. I take 25 mg everyday at about 7 in the morning.
Good luck to everyone out there. =^..^=

I am a 25 year old man who was diagnosed with ADD about a year ago. My Doc put me on adderall xr 10 mg one per day. We then upped to 20 mg, and then 30 mg. I must say the drug is wonderful! I only wish I was diagnosed and put on this when I was a kid. I never could concentrate or finish anything in school. I would hear words from people and teachers but they just did not register. I would drift from thought to thought but still hear the words. I truely belive that ADD has been a huge factor in me never finishing school and also loosing a long term relationship. In the relationship I had same thing. I would hear her speak, and want to listen but something literally would not let me!!! So, to her, i just was "Not wanting to listen". We broke up over it! Two years later I told my doctor about my concentration problems. Since being placed on Adderall this has disappeared. I can totally listen and concentrate. My life has totally been improved. I have been promoted twice at my job now since being diagnosed. The only side affects i have experienced so far is for the first 2 days a headache and yes i was restless. Its IS an amphetamine. That dissapeared in two to three days. Also, dry mouth is a problem. To me the benefits totally out weigh the side effects. To the parents of younger children or teens, this drug is widely abused. Please keep it away from them and only administer it to them by recommended dosage. I feel most of the negative comments on this drug are from the EFFECTS OF ABUSE!

Our doctor started two of my children (one diagnosed ADHD the other ADD) on Adderall after watching both of them struggle at school for a couple of years. The older one was held back for lack of attentiveness and disorganization (diagnosed ADD). He was 14 at the time. My younger son was 9 and was not only inattentive but terribly disruptive at school.

Upon taking Adderall the younger son calmed down noticeably (20mg of Adderall XR). It was absolutely amazing. The teacher noticed immediately that this restless boy who would ask the same question over and over without listening to the answer was suddenly attentive and well-mannered. The side-effects are concerning however. This child is naturally thin and not a terribly good eater. His eating diminished and I took to forcing him to drink an Ensure every day. He also was not sleeping as well. I noticed that the side-effects passed after the first couple of weeks. I refrain from giving him the Adderall on weekends and days off, as I am worried about addiction and long-term addiction. He has now gone all summer without any - but there are days that his ADHD is especially frustrating (for everyone around him - and him too. I will see his face fall when he has annoyed someone and he gets barked at for bothering others) and I wonder if I should have continued so as not to shock his system again when school starts in the fall.

The older child takes the Adderall very rarely now. When he knows he will have a big test at school or feels "out of it" he will take one...but seems to have learned to deal with the ADD problem a bit better naturally. He is not a straight A student - even though I know he has the potential to be one. I feel that for him it is optional and at present, he dislikes the feeling he has on it - so chooses not to take it.

I can only hope that the decisions that we've made are the right ones. I have read a lot of posts here about not giving this to children. We have tried other methods, but nothing else seems to work. One person here mentioned focusing for 10 minutes a day on something and giving the child more attention. Sounds like a good plan, but in action nearly impossible. This child's attention span is almost non-existant at times. He cannot focus on the activity at hand and interupts constantly. He will ask a question and when I respond he will ask the same question over and over. I can tell him something 10 times and it doesn't seem to "sink in" to his brain. When he takes the Adderall he is focused and attentive and I will only need to tell him something once in order for him to understand.

My 7 year old son has been taking Adderall XR for about 3 weeks and last week he told me he was hearing voices in his head. Different ones. They have mean voices. I asked his doctor about it and he said as long as they don't tell him to do anything we are ok. I am not comphorted with the Dr response. I am not sure if he is actually hearing them or if he is able to hear his thoughts, due to being able to consintrate. Has anyone had a simular experiance?