Posted by med_empowered on October 20, 2005, at 14:36:39
In reply to Adderall dosage questions, posted by bissie66 on October 20, 2005, at 13:21:28
hey! first off, kudos to your doc for being willing to be flexible to help you feel better..you've really got a good doc. Now..adderall/dexedrine dosages vary wildly, but...the FDA recommends that you cap it @ 40mgs/day for ADHD, 60/mgs day for Narcolepsy. Since depression is "off-label," there's not specific recommendation..usually the goal is low-dose stimulant, with other meds added in, so I'd aim to keep it at or (better yet) a bit below 30mgs/day, total. If you're using the IR (instant-release) version, you should probably divvy it up into 2-3 doses, starting in the early AM, when you wake up. How you divide it is really up to you, but its pretty common to "front-load" stimulants--take the biggest chunk in the morning, a smaller dose in the afternoon, and then, if needed, an even smaller mid-afternoon (preferably before 3 PM) dose. When I took Adderall, I did it for ADHD, so the doses were pre-fixed and I just had to adjust to them, so you're dosing schedule sounds much, much cooler than mine was. If you get hyper-focused or drowsy, you've probably taken too much (some people get drowsy no matter what on amphetamines; if this happens, you'll need to talk to your doc about what can be done). Do try to avoid taking too much--my doc pushed my dose too high, and i started getting hyper-focused (almost OCD) for hours and picking at my face :-( . I think the best way to experiment would be kind of systematically--i.e, day 1 take Xmgs AM, Xmgs later, Xmgs PM and then see how you feel..adjust upwards or downwards, adjust the dosing times, etc. each day until you hit something that feels pretty good--you won't ever really hit a "perfect" dose/dosing schedule, but you will feel much better if you just spend a week or so experimenting a bit. Good luck!
poster:med_empowered
thread:569312
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20051017/msgs/569334.html