I’ve taken my largest dose of Adderall yet, 15 mg. I know it’s not a lot, but I’m very sensitive to stimulants in general (almost zero caffeine intake). I generally take 5mg at around 9 am and leave it at that. Sometimes I’ll take another 5 with lunch. Today I felt extra fuzzy, so I took 10 at lunch instead.
I feel like I’m still scatterbrained, but faster. Still context switching like crazy. Can’t follow through things to completion. What gives?
That’s… contrary to what my doctor said. 20 to 40 minutes to start being effective, and no day after day cumulative effect, she said. She even recommended not taking those on weekends and holidays to avoid building a resistance.
Some ADHD medications (like atomoxetine) need to be taken every day, in order for them to be effective, and they take a while to be effective (much like antidepressants). And you’re right that Adderall isn’t like that, and is likely to start being effective straight away.
However, there is still an acclimatization period of sorts. For me, this was discernible in the fact that initially, I had a few minor side effects, but after a while of taking my medication every day, they disappeared. So like, on the biochemical level, there is some impact of taking it regularly. But there’s also the more human side of adjusting to stuff — as I outlined in another comment I left on this thread, once I found a medication that worked for me, I needed to develop new strategies to actually manage my focus and routine and stuff (the meds helped, but they weren’t a silver bullet is what I’m saying).
That makes sense, the chemical effect is instantaneous, my adaptation to this new state of being isn’t.
So there’s two lines of thought here;
1 is that the first time you take it, the meds have the best effect and you finally have a functional day, but better, it almost feels like Felix felicis from Harry Potter. Some view it as what should be striven for, which unfortunately can end up with people chasing that first time feeling again, leading to increasing the dose more and more despite side effects.
2 is that after taking the meds for a few months, you’ve gained a tolerance, its less euphoric but actually more functional because you aren’t chasing the euphoria (or the dopamine from starting a different task).
Personally I find IR meds to up and down for my day to day, XR is a lot more comfortable long term