I have been on adderall for 2 years now and I am experiencing the common problem of it becoming less effective. I am currently on 20mg xr and it isnt working as well as it did before. I am reluctant to move to 30 mg because I know the same problem will occur in a few months. Adderall works perfect for me, but I need some advice on how to bring back the effectiveness of the drug. I was wondering if there is an alternative drug to adderall that I could use for a few months that is very similar. If I stop the adderall for 60 days or so will the effectiveness come back once I begin using it again.

My main questions are:
1. How long to I need to be off adderall before it will be 100% effective again?
2. What add medicine should I use while I am off the adderall?

I appreciate your time and thoughts, and look forward to hearing from you

Hey Derek,

I'm sorry I can't answer your real questions but I just thought I'd warn you of something...

Adderall can cause severe mood swings as well as some forms of depression if you stop taking it after that long so please try to taper off slowly. Your body is used to having it every day. I was on it for about a week last year and after that one week I felt horrible for 1 day after stopping

Thankyou for your response. I do understand the need to slowly taper off. I was planning on doing this all with the help of my dr. But I just wanted to be able to suggest an alternative for him to think about

i also recently started 20mg Adderal XR, but have felt ZERO difference...does that happen a lot?

How about concerta....it is the ritalin version of the adderal xr....

How about concerta....it is the ritalin version of the adderal xr....

Dexedrine is very similar to Adderal. I'm in the same boat as you are. I have an appointment in two weeks and I'll see what the doc says about flip flopping the two.

An alternative approach to increasing the effectiveness of Adderall is co-administration of anti-depressants or SSRI's. You may be wondering, I'm not depressed...why would do I need SSRI's? Adderall's mechanism of action is stimulation of the brain cells with increasing the production of serotonin. SSRI...selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors...would stop that serotonin from being reabsorbed. Resulting in larger quantities of serotonin.

HOWEVER...I would recommend care with this approach with high dosage levels of SSRI's and Adderall, as high levels of serotonin can result in an acute hypergenic state of the brain...or serotonin syndrome. Over stimulation can result in extreme hypertension, mania, convulsions, and sudden cardiac arrest.

Just talk to the doc...ask if anti-depressants can increase the effectiveness of Adderall and if it would be a temporary or long-term solution.