I am engaged to a man with ADHD. I finally got him to see a psychiatrist for medication management about six months ago. The doctor prescribed him Adderall and has slowly worked him up to the dose she feels is appropriate. The problem is his insurance won't cover the extended release form in the dose he takes. Without it, he is one person when he wakes up, another for a few hours after taking his morning meds, another when they wane in the afternoon, another when the second dose kicks in and yet another late in the evening. He is not good about talking to the doctor about what's going on because he "doesn't see it." I love this man dearly and he is an absolute joy the two periods of the day where the medication is active enough in his system, but he is angry, childish and defensive the rest of the time, not to mention the mood swings.
Does anyone have any experience with this or any suggestions? It's really like dealing with Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and I feel like I'm going crazy.
Generic Adderal
Submitted by YYZ on
It sounds like the dosage or timing for the doses might be off. I'm an ADD guy diagnosed 3 years ago at 43. I take about 50mg - 60mg per day. 20mg at 5am when I get up, 20mg around 10am and then I try to hold until about 4pm for my 10mg dose, sometimes 20mg if I need to push through a longer day. I can feel the Adderall begin to tail-off around the 4-5 hour mark, but it is not bad. I used to take my afternoon dose around 2pm, but found that I was much better at home in the evenings and had an easier time sleeping taking the last dose later in the day.
I am pretty even keeled on my generic Adderall...
He takes generic as
Submitted by RollercoasterOfLove on
He takes generic as well. The psychiatrist wants him on the extended release, but his insurance won't cover it because it would mean he has to have 2 extended release pills per day to make the correct total dosage and that's not within their guidelines for some reason. He is currently taking his meds twice per day but they are not extended release. Because he isn't aware of the changes (he says), he doesn't see the need to speak to the doctor regarding this. What's odd is that she somehow saw the need for the extended release even though he says he never told her what I was noticing. Anyhow, thanks for the reply.
How long is
Submitted by YYZ on
he waiting between to doses? My Non-XR Adderall do begin to tail-off after 4 or 5 hours, but it is not and extreme effect at all. I like the control of the non-XR Adderall because I can tailor it to my day. Everyone reacts differently to the meds, maybe another stimulant would work better. Sometimes it takes a few months to figure out the right meds and dosages.