Large doses of (prescribed) Adderall(adderrall)

Does anyone else have an unusually high tolerance to Adderall (adderrall) or other stimulant medications for their AD(H)D? I am shocked at the amount of mg's it takes for me to actually get a mild benefit from Adderall (adderrall). It is a prescribed amount from my Dr, I'm just shocked at the resistance I have to it, and I still don't think I'm getting much out of it. (I'm a 30 year old Woman, I'm 5'5, and 135lbs.) Has anyone else gone through this, or is also going through this??? I'm at a prescribed amount of 160mg Adderall (adderrall) XR per day, and feel like I could easily go to 200mg's. I have had virtually no adverse reactions, my blood pressure is good and stable, appetite is good, and I can sleep any time day or night. I just don't get this ... Doesn't this seem obscenely high??

[Sandman2]

  I agree, one would think that your doctor would be more concerned then he is.  It certainly wouldn't hurt to see if there are other psychiatrists around who specialize in adult AD/HD.
The following link might help.  It contains a ton of info on the various meds and you can see easily how they differ.  http://www.healing-arts.org/children/ADHD/medications.htm
   Hope this helps.  Happy new year!

[Sandman2]

   Wow,  that is a lot.  Kind of makes me wonder what would happen if you went to just the Adderall (adderrall), and skipped the extended release since it doesn's seem to be working much anyway.  The other advantage would be that you could take it has needed.  Many adults have been able to adjust the med intake to their life style demands this way.  
   It always does amaze me that a dosage that would send a non ADHD person straight up the wall, across the ceiling, down the wall, across the floor, and repeated many times - never has this effect on an ADHD person.
   At any rate, this is certainly something that you should let your doctor know about.  

[KelleyMack]

I know, right? And it's the Non ADHD people who abuse the Stimulants, who make it an utterly horrendous ordeal to get the proper meds and doses that the ones WITH ADHD really need. Even with getting the more usual doses filled, I still got the Pharmasist's scrupoulous questioning reactions. Now that it's a higher amount I absloutely dread getting it filled. They look at me like I'm some kind of horrendous junkie, trying to scam my way into getting a mass quantity of drugs. They even call my doctor to see if it's a valid prescription, while I stand there in front of the line in pure humiliation. I wish they would make a note that the doctor approves this amount, because I have to go through the embarassment of it just about everytime. When I go back to pick it up, I get the whole berating lecture of the harmful and habitual effects this medicine can have and especially at my dosage.

I feel like I'm the only one who has this massive unexplainable tolerance, and I am so stumped as to why.... I'm afraid I might be doing some damage to my mind and or body that I'm not even aware of, although my doctor tells me that it's ok as long as my blood pressure stays in the norm, etc etc... I've done a lot of reaserching about this, and I am almost positive that I have a Dopamine deficiancy. I mentioned my concernes about this to my doctor at my appointment the other day, and asked him if he thought that maybe Dexedrine would work better for me.

I guess it totally slipped my mind that by suggesting other means of meds or treatments to a highly educated and masterfully proficient, dynamically skilled Doctor, by an average menial everyday person, can really aggitate the Doctor's ego. It seemed that he was kind of offended... He said, "Let me worry about the chemicals, we as Doctor's go through years of training for this, we know what we are doing".

Woopsy. Although I felt bad that I ticked him off, I'm not too sure that Doctor's are always right on with the way they treat and medicate their patients. Sometimes the patient knows and understands themselves and what might be better for them, even better than the Doc does... I just know this way is not working, and I hate that I can't suggest other avenues with him.

Has anyone been swithced to Dexidrine from Adderall (adderrall) and found better results with Dexedrine? From what I have read about the switch, it seems to be highly individualized with various results... I'm just thinking the Dexedrine would be a god-send to a person who might have a dopamine deficiancy?? I would love some insight or advice with how others have managed with their meds. I'm wondering if I should, yet again, find another Psychiatrist... This massive amount of Adderall (adderrall) is becoming more and more unaffective every day that passes, and my Psychiatrist doesn't seem to care much about my take on it, or what I have researched... I really don't want to go on any higher of a dose than what I'm at already... I need some help. :/

[Sandman2]

  I agree, one would think that your doctor would be more concerned then he is.  It certainly wouldn't hurt to see if there are other psychiatrists around who specialize in adult AD/HD.
The following link might help.  It contains a ton of info on the various meds and you can see easily how they differ.  http://www.healing-arts.org/children/ADHD/medications.htm
   Hope this helps.  Happy new year!

[LeslieVernon29]

I do...  I take 60 mg of Adderall (adderrall), but used to take 60 mg of Dexedrine a day(the spansules.)  If I'm not careful, I can run through my ADD meds so quickly...  I usually write it down when I take one so I won't abuse them.  I used to be on 90 mg of Adderall (adderrall)(both XR and a 30 mg IR tablet)a day.  But I told my psych that I wanted to lower my dosage, because though I had no health problems... it just seemed like too much.  A psych who's actually really experienced with ADHD and adults will keep upping the dosage.  They know you get immune to it, and that every person's metabolism and ADHD are different.  

ADDers will abuse stimulants as well, because many times they forget that they took their second dosage.  I've done that many times.  My ex girlfriend would lock them up(cause I asked her to)and it was better that way.  My current psych would up my meds, but probably be concerned since he knows I have a past of alcohol abuse(and admit that I still drink.)  Also he gives me 75 1 mg of Klonopin a month, and Ambien since I complained about the Restoril(Temazepam.)  All psychiatrists are different, and I'm an active guy who works out, am 5'11, 170 with a fast metabolism.  He said some people take 120 mg a day of Adderall (adderrall) which I think would be all effed up.  You'd be so reliant on the meds that you could never get off them.  

[johncg912]

Thanks for your post on some of the issues you are having with stimulants; I find that I am encountering some similar difficulties with the dexedrine that I take for my ADHD. I am a pharmacist as well by the way, so maybe I can I can help you out with some relevant advice.

The first point I'd make is that no doctor or pharmacist will disagree with the fact that a particular dose of a certain drug that is adequate and effective for ONE person will NOT NECESSARILY be adequate and effective for another. That's because we (human beings) are all different,no two persons have exactly the same physical make-up.. For example, it may take, say, 40mg of Dexedrine a day to successfully treat symptoms of ADHD in a particular 25 year old male who is 185cm tall and weighs 85kg, Though another male of exactly the same age, height and weight may well find that 40mg of the Dexedrine is wholly inadequate and that his adhd symptoms do not.
respond to anything less than 80mg (or even more perhaps) a day of the same drug. Yet another male, again, of the exactly same age , height and weight will find his ADHD symptoms are perfectly controlled with only 20mg of Dexedrine each day.
Tolerance works the same ways. Some people may find that the effect of a drug like Adderral tends to "wear off" quite quickly, that they feel they get used to it with time and start needing more and more of the drug to get the same effect that they had at when they first started taking it. Another person may find that they do do experience this kind of effect (tolerance) at all with Adderral, but that they did with Dexedrine!

The second point, or if you like,general principle is this (and it is similar to the first). ..The drugs Adderal, Ritalin, Amphetamine Sulphate, Concerta, Vyanase, Dexedrine, and Methedrine and the like are all similar. They are all classed as pharmacological stimulants and they all work in roughly the same way after they are taken, that is by making more dopamine available in those part of the the brain (like the frontal lobes, for example) that are dopamine deficient due to problems  (with dopaminergic nerves and dopamine receptors, etc) that have been caused by  ADHD.
Even though they are are stimulants and work in much the same way, a person who finds that Adderral is not effective for alleviating their ADHD symptoms , may very well find that Dexedrine is; likewise one person my find Ritalin is an excellent treatment for their ADHD, while another person finds that it is not effective for them at all. Again , it is due to the fact that because everyone is different,Likewise some people find that using stimulant patches that are applied to the skin  as opposed to swallowing tablets gives them better releif from their symptoms.

[Sandman2]

   To leslie and John - check out this discussion - http://www.medhelp.org/posts/ADD---ADHD/For-Adult-Aderrall-Takers/show/1438643#post_6556761
   Have either of you tried to reduce your dosage and had trouble doing so?  Am I off base thinking that it shouldn't be that hard.  Beginning to think that I am - because so much is based on need (type of job you have for example).