Does an Adderall "pill holiday" affect depression drug's effectiveness?

[Kovacs22]

I'm diagnosed with ADHD and depression at 25mg amphetamine tab daily (15 morning, 10 lunch), and 15mg Sertraline every breakfast, respectively. Regarding the ADHD, my psychiatrist told me I should probably take a "pill holiday" with the Adderall every once in a while when I don't study or when I am not doing much work. I tried that once, but I think it somewhat threw off my treatment for depression. I seemed to have gotten some of my symptoms back for depression (I think it's getting better now). My questions are as follows:

1. I didn't really consider a "pill holiday" for Adderall since I thought that it was like anti-depressants, in that Adderall needed to build up in my system for my body to get acclimated to for chemical balance or whatnot. Anyway, apparently that's not the case if I can take a "pill holiday". I took a pill holiday, and for several days afterwards while on my regular regimen again, I experienced my depression symptoms. Does the lack of Adderall somehow affect the chemical balance, or does it make the affects of Sertraline less effective? I read that Sertraline amplifies the effects of Adderall, but I'm wondering if the negative inverse is true - does lack of Adderall impede Sertraline in any way?

2. I've been on Zoloft 15mg for about 3-4 months or so. Does Zoloft lose its effectiveness in that time period, or rather, could it? I'm sure it's different for different people, and I read that for other people, Zoloft lost its effectiveness after 3 years, and others after 15 years! Anyway, I'm going to consult my psychiatrist to see if I need to up my dose or if I should consider a more consistent, stable, and long term oriented anti-depressant.

Thanks in advance.

[Paxiled]

Speed is a treatment for depression, though for many it causes anxiety so it isn't usually used for that anymore.  One of the natural treatments for depression is phenylalanine, an amino acid that targets norepinephrine, or adrenaline.  Snris such as Effexor and Cymbalta target both serotonin and norepinephrine (which is why they too are not recommended if your primary problem is anxiety).  Basically, treatment for depression is that it's a "down" disorder so you give an up of some kind and anxiety is an "up" disorder so you sedate the person (of course, most of use suffer from both, so it's not so simple in practice),  That's the danger of taking speed -- your brain gets used to it, and when you stop it you go into withdrawal, which will make you feel lousy (in your case, more depressed).  Your doc is trying to avoid you getting addicted to it I think and trying to avoid getting your brain too used to it, and also trying to avoid it from burning out and not working anymore, but because you also have depression, it's making that worse now that your brain is used to having an artificial "up."  

[Kovacs22]

And, I know that my psychiatrist can answer my questions, but I need to go in with concise questions since our sessions are so short. So, I need to know what I'm talking about and specific advice or insight would be very, very helpful. For point (2), is there a specific anti-depressant that works best (like a gold standard) if upping the dose of Zoloft doesn't work?

Thanks again.