Other - Adderall for studying question

[kidhopeless]

Swim needs advice on adderall for study purposes. SWIM has a script for them since october but takes only when studying mostly on weekends and before exams. SWIM now needs to study for a very important and difficult standardized exam that SWIM is taking in early September. SWIM would like to study very hard for this and would like to take adderall every day till the exam. IF he were to do that, would SWIM work up some major addiction/dependency or damage his body physically/mentally? Also there has been an increase in tolerance as well and SWIM does not want to increase the dose. Before 20mg XR would be enough but now thats like coffee to SWIM. What should SWIM do?

Please do not tell SWIM to man up and just study with out them because SWIM has tried that and is not very effective. Considering the importance of this exam, SWIM needs all the boost avaliable.

[runitsthepolice]

Adderall is prescribed to be used every day so yes, at normal dosages thats fine. After a month or so swiy will start to really hate it. An increase in tolerance is possible long term. Perhaps consider taking weekends off or something similar?

[kidhopeless]

What dose should SWIM move up to?

kidhopeless added 1 Minutes and 12 Seconds later...

^^Dosage that is.

[*ChemBabe*]

SWIM was worried about that too at first, but SWIY is able to take it everyday. What SWIY needs to watch out for is maintaining healthy habits throughout the process. When SWIM is on it everyday, she has to be very careful to get A LOT of sleep. SWIM constantly studies too, and she gets so into it that she will actually go an entire week on about 8 hours of sleep, and not realize what she has done until the week is over. That is sooo bad !! Make sure to eat even if SWIY does not want to and take vitamins and all that other stuff.....SWIM's sure SWIY knows how it goes.

As for dosage, since it is XR, SWIM would probably stick to her normal dosage or go up slightly (+10mg). Here's a suggestion if SWIY wants to consider it......

This is one of the reasons SWIM requested to be on IR instead of XR because she wanted to have more control over when and how much she is taking since she only takes it for studying. She didn't want to constantly be taking 20 mg several times throughout a very long study day so she started only taking 10 mg every couple of hours. At first, she wouldn't feel as though it was working, but when SWIM realized that she was still going for hours and hours...she began to believe otherwise. It might seem as though SWIY's dose isn't working, but it probably is unless he's nodding off and completely losing concentration. If that's the case, SWIM would just go up a little bit.

Good luck!

[kidhopeless]

Chembabe, howlong has SWIY been taking them and at what dose? Does SWIY feel an addiction of some sort to them?

[*ChemBabe*]

Let's see...SWIM has been on her adderall for about 6 months. She is prescribed 20mg 3x/day for a total of 60mg a day. SWIM knows that everyone is different so such a low dose may not work for SWIY. SWIM studies constantly....literally, most hours of the day. So she needs to be awake most of the time with good concentration. Since she studies so much, she was going up at least 100mg per day. Knowing that she would eventually build up a tolerance, she didn't want to get to too high of a dose. She felt that was dangerous. When she started cutting her doses in half, she didn't feel as though the effects were the same. That is until she realized she was staying up the same amount of time and getting just as much studying done. She takes 10mg every few hours over say a 12-15 hour period for a total of about 60mg or so, versus doing the same thing with 20mg. Maybe it works for her because it is always in her system. She knows it seems weird, but it works for her and she finds that coming off 10mg isn't as bad as coming off 20-30mg. SWIM doesn't have as many high's and low's, and her mood stays constant. Depending on how long SWIY has been on it, he may require a much higher dose than her.

Just so noone gets crazy about SWIM suggesting a system that may be stupid...The point is, it works best for SWIM, and If she were SWIY, she would just play around with his dose and find what works best for him in order to study really well. Sorry, SWIM has seen issues like that arise from other swimmer's posts in the past .

Oh, SWIM also takes a break here and there so maybe that helps with tolerance. She will be on it for a week or two, and then take a break for the week she doesn't have an exam or a heavy load. That's one of the main reasons she asked to be on IR instead of XR because SWIM prefers to have control over how much and when she takes it.

By the way, may SWIM ask what exam SWIY is preparing for? She eventually has to prepare for an important one too so she is just curious. And how long has SWIY been on adderall?

*ChemBabe* added 7 Minutes and 39 Seconds later...

SWIM just re-read SWIY's first post...
Maybe SWIY feels as though the 20mg XR isn't working as well because if SWIM recalls correctly, the 20mg XR is being released twice as 10mg each time, to total 20mg. Is SWIY only on it once a day? Maybe SWIY can ask his doctor to stay on the XR, but take IR boosters a couple times throughout the day? She has read that some people do that.

[kidhopeless]

SWIM has been on Adderall since October 08, so just a bit more than SWIY. SWIM used to take 20mg XR in the morning and study like a machine all day but now SWIM needs to up his dose and that concerns SWIM because of the potential health risk, dependency, or addiction. Way too many scary stories out there about adderall addiction and SWIM does not want to be on the next Dateline Adderall Special. Swim is currently studying for MCAT and needs all the avaliable help possible to get a really high score to compensate for a GPA that is a little below the average acceptance rate. What exam does SWIY need to prepare for? But SWIM is gonna hold steady with 20mgXR for as long as possible. But does SWIY feel a total dependency or addiction to adderall at all?

[*ChemBabe*]

Since SWIY is only on 20mg XR once a day, it's ok to go up if SWIY feels he needs to. Think about it, if SWIM and many others are prescribed 60mg total per day, SWIY is only getting one-third what we get. SWIY should be fine if he goes up a little. Just discuss it with SWIY's p-doc and see what he has to say.

SWIM worries about health risks too. She makes sure to drink A LOT of water, does NOT workout while on it, and always strives to get plenty of sleep....but the latter is sometimes unsuccessful . When SWIY is able to, take a break from it. Sometimes, SWIM feels as though she gets tired of always going, going, going, (her busy schedule is mostly to blame) so when she doesn't need it, she just doesn't take it for a few days.

SWIM will eventually study for her MCAT's too!! She knows what kind of pressure SWIY is under. She might run into the same issue of having a good GPA, but not as excellent as some of the super nerds she will be competing with-haha. SWIM has been told by a friend who is in med school that although the MCAT is hard, it is really not as difficult as people like to lead on. He said what makes it such a hard exam is the length of it. He said your brain gets so tired after awhile . SWIM has heard its like 5-7 hours long or something in that time frame. It's an endurance test. Unfortunately, SWIM cannot speak from experience, but the kid did get into a top 20 med school so he must know a little of what he's talking about. Just study hard so SWIY knows his shit . Ooo, when SWIY takes it, let SWIM know how it was if he remembers?

[kidhopeless]

Thanks, Chembabe. SWIM is going to try 40mgXR today and see how that works out. SWIM recommends that SWIY starts studying early on and be fully prepared because a LOT is covered on the big cat. If SWIY needs more advice, she can PM SWIM. Goodluck and thanks for reponding all.