Thanks so much for continuing to follow up re medication. There are so many videos out there about first starting, or fully stopping, but so little about in between the big changes. Really helpful, thanks
But, besides the tollerance,...dont you feel those 90% is wired into your brain because of learning and new routines with less adhd sympoms, so do you overall feeling better than before the medication? .....Or its just 10% of the good old benefits left over, and 90% old-unwanted (adhd) behaviours?
I truly benefit from taking this medication but anytime I mention altering or taking breaks from the medication. My doctor is always quick to say I don’t need it. I just feel like they are looking for any reason to stop prescribing this medication, which is very strange to me. I mentioned that around my period it’s almost not effective. I’ve also mentioned that it doesn’t work if I take it on a full stomach. My doctor seems to just type in information to a computer and it tells the doctor what to say. I don’t even feel like my doctor is using logic or reasoning.I just have to hide my thoughts and opinions just to get medication and then treat myself based on personal experience. Now what I have found that really really helps me is to take a Tums first thing in the morning with only a little bit of water. Let that do its job and then take my medication by swallowing or letting it dissolve under my tongue. Once I feel like I’m rolling on my meds then I will take very light sips of ON nutrition amino energy. Anything else cancels my meds. For some reason I feel like this enhances it. Once I am feeling my meds 100% then I will have a high protein breakfast. I only do this instead of a break because I’m in nursing school and can’t take days off.
I've been doing the same thing, but without the Amino energy drink and I've had literally all the same experiences. I'm also (hopefully) going to nursing school soon, but trying to make it out of statistics, (last class), and man does my ADHD brain really rebel against me with any form of math. And yes most docs look for excuses to take pts off as the paperwork that goes along with pts on stimulants is supposedly a nightmare. I'm trying different things in the interim, trying to get a feel for what works and doesn't...more or less biohack, as (hopefully), once I get into (accelerated), nursing school, (same as you), I won't have days off. Thus far what has helped me, in different ways than Adderall, (so I have to know subjectively what my brain needs and when), is Tesofensine and Modafonil. Trialing, (not all at once), Bromantane, Alcar, 9ME-BC, Noopept, low dose Pramipexole, and Phenylpiracetam and hopefully will soon try Cortexin and Cerebrolysin, which outside stimulants propurtedly have the best chance of giving some bang for your buck. Word of caution if you go the biohacking route at all, know the half lives. Ie; Tesofensine, (triple re uptake inhibitor), has I believe a 9 day half life. So if you go to your docs and have to take a urinalysis, none of those substances will specifically come up, BUT, you can "pop," positive for an abnormality with the test... Tesofensine and Modafonil for sure will.
I’ve been taking meds for while and it can be that the initial sides and euphoria go away and the meds keep working and you get used to operating at a higher level. The meds are only supposed to bring you to a normal level and normal people don’t walk around jacked up. I would say if you think the meds are not working anymore take a week of them and monitor your behaviour if there is no change you need see the doctor but if you decline and go back into full adhd mode then they are working.
Agree. First day on meds, I felt like non-adhd people are every day, for the first time in my life! It was like sitting at the wheel of a Ford Focus when you have driven a Dacia all your life. Nothing regular people get excited about. Eventually it’s the same for us. I still experience my adhd symptoms in the evening after the meds have completely left my system if there’s a lot of interaction and my kids can immediately tell. But I also want to experience days when I don’t need to interact with anyone and I’m doing something I’m enjoying with no distractions in sight without meds. Or go to a much lower dose so my other symptoms are lessened (restless leg, hesitations etc)
@@fenegroni I totally get you what you mean. What meds do you take out of interest I have been on 20mg of Ritalin for about 18 months now and I don’t feel any feeling from them but I’ve renewed my prescription late a few times and been off meds for like 2-3 days and the adhd symptoms return and I get the feeling how did I go so many years like this lol horrible. 😁
@@topman.9646 I take Elvans. Still in the titration period but it proved to be very effective even on 20mg - I remember the first day was like wearing glasses for tre first time after squinting… Now I can still tell the moment it ‘clicks’ which for me is only 25 minutes after taking the pill. When the meds wear out everything goes back to how it was but luckily the experience of having achieved something encourages me to be a better me even after the effect is gone. So far no side effects but it’s too early. I’m just so happy that my life can finally turn around. I went from ‘lazy’ to ‘obsessed’ back to lazy so many times before because I was never really ‘there’. I hope you can find a medication that works for you. Because I know how hard it is to keep up all the good things without it.
@@topman.9646 Unfortunately for me, the fact that a smaller dose already shows such an improvement only points at the severity of it. My family history is atrocious, I will spare you the details.
The point is you take an ADHD medication holiday to reduce tolerance and then you will rebuild the tolerance once again. It is a vicious circle. How we make the ADHD work for a long time period without developing a tolerance.
For a year ago i was on 162mg of concerta and now i take 90mg dayly and my tolerans dosent raise so depends on dosage youre tolerance sometimes dont raise
I took one day off on Saturday, took half dose of the Adderall on Sunday, went grocery shopping early morning after good night sleep, came home and I had to nap shortly thereafter. I could feel it like it was on my first week. Just 1 day seems to work for me, but maybe I will try 2 if I have a Monday morning where I am not at work.
Been on 54mg of concerta for a year. When you get back on do you jump right back to your normal dose or does your doc prescribe a lower dose to build back up? I was thinking of taking a week or two off. Also do you take any other stimulants like caffeine on your days off or do you just white knuckle through. Thanks!
I’ve been trialling Concerta for 1 month 1 week and stopped taking it when I was ill/sick. It was too much to stimulate a tired body lol. I’m just confused on dosage at the moment because 18mg really was astonishingly helpful for like 3 days and then dipped down to a boost getting out of bed, then a lurch, below unmedicated, until the osmotic long release kicks in at 13:00. Then it is just kinda slowly decreasing from small boost to nothing. I tried 36mg and it is the same graph pattern ish but it keeps me above the line of 0, like, better overall than unmedicated, Rather than dipping down, but I’ve only tried it for a few days, so wonder if it will turn out the same, when my body gets used to it. So, I can’t figure out if 18mg plus holidays will be better than 36mg plus holidays, or if 36mg will be too much. I definitely know that 18mg regularly is kind of pants. I am a bit confused because my best productivity comes in the first days of increase but that is what people seem to call the high period? So… in reality am I a bit depressed? Plus ADHD lol? Because the extra happiness chem kick really contributes to great focus. What a complex condition lol. The drugs are hard to figure out how to balance, but the effect on my home, and consequential wellbeing is unreal. 🤯 I slept like crap before and so the long release is not helping with that 🫤 my Dr prescribed Melatonin out the gate but I heard it’s not great for liver etc. long term. It also gives me kinda nightmares and headache and I wake after a few hours asleep. Any tips how to navigate this? Your videos are much more digestible than others by the way, thanks for editing them down, it’s way better than ones with fancy thumbnails and rambling and repetition.
Im going to take 1 months off. I dont like to take it every day. I feel take it like 1 or 2 days is fine for self study...but more than that sucks for me.
I have been taking adderall for 2.5 months and have never taken the medication during the weekends and as of today the adderall seems to have completely lost its effectiveness. I have been panicking all day as I didn't think something like this would happen. Today is Monday October 18 and I decided not to take the medication until October 26 (for 1 week) and I am hoping that things will be back to normal by then but I have serious doubts. If I see no improvements I have no idea what to do and don't know what my doctor would tell me at my next appointment. I have a feeling he would take me off stimulants all together but it has greatly helped me for the time it was working ):
@@nadyanwar5806 Yes, it worked like new. I have decided to switch my schedule up a bit to fight tolerance. I am thinking instead of taking 20mg twice a day for 5 days, I will either only take 20mg once on Wednesday or take Wednesday completely off (more likely) of adderall. The psychiatrist agreed that you kind of have to experiment a little to learn about adderall tolerance affects you and to find what works best.
Yeah I havent taken a day off since I started in October, my dosage went form 30mg to 50mg. I am considering taking a break for a few days to see the results when I start again
I took 36mg of Concerta and it worked like magic for the first two weeks, then I started to feel normal, not excited, not happy, not active as I used to be with medication. Now I am taking 54mg but still it seems that my brain got used to it and now I am stuck. Every week I take on day off in the weekend but still no help.
Same boat here. 18mg did nothing. 36 was noticeable. Euphoric lift, but faded off after 10 days or so. However, dosing up to 54 clouded my mind and started having dark thoughts. Started doing weekends breaks, and sometimes not taking if I felt like I could survive the day, and went back to 36. Doing fine now. It´s just what everyone says. You don´t have a huge lift, but it´s there. House is no longer a mess and I got used to it, so the effect is there haha.
Hello, I moved up from 30mg to 50mg of Elvanse today and I didn’t notice much affect and also felt quite down. Can you relate to this at all? I think I just need to give it more time. I have noticed on Elvanse that each day can be different and I don’t always get the same affect from one day to another.
Hi Holly. Yeah, I did notice this somewhat! Personally I just found it much harder to regulate my emotions altogether. I would refer you to my video on ‘lowering elvanse dosage for better results’ which may help! Take care
I take Adderall XR back in April I had a surgery where I had full anesthesia, since then it never works like it did prior to surgery. I couldn’t find any information online and my doctor says it’s just tolerance. How could it completely change over a week if it was tolerance I don’t understand.
@@serhat1 I mean it happed for me. Vvyance worked for me. You need to talk to your doctor. Vvyance I can actually feel it. It kills your appetite really bad.
I took three months off Ritalin but it still isn’t working as it used to. The alternatives in the UK (Elvanse, Atomoxetine & Concerta) caused too many side effects and gave little symptom control for my ADHD.
What is the rest of your daily life like? Do you exercise frequently? Sleep well? Control stress? Drink plenty of water? Eat a balanced diet? Would be good to hear if there might be another cause
Thanks for your video and reply. I try to do a HIIT workout 5-6 times a week but I struggle a lot with depression and anxiety. I’m also on the autism spectrum and have leaky gut syndrome. It’s a shame because Ritalin alleviated all of my ADHD symptoms and I finally managed to ‘clear the fog’.
Thanks so much for continuing to follow up re medication. There are so many videos out there about first starting, or fully stopping, but so little about in between the big changes. Really helpful, thanks
So glad you found it useful! 👍😄
i have taken 20mg ritalin for 3 years , it now seems to have 10% of the effectivness it once did
But, besides the tollerance,...dont you feel those 90% is wired into your brain because of learning and new routines with less adhd sympoms, so do you overall feeling better than before the medication?
.....Or its just 10% of the good old benefits left over, and 90% old-unwanted (adhd) behaviours?
I truly benefit from taking this medication but anytime I mention altering or taking breaks from the medication. My doctor is always quick to say I don’t need it. I just feel like they are looking for any reason to stop prescribing this medication, which is very strange to me. I mentioned that around my period it’s almost not effective. I’ve also mentioned that it doesn’t work if I take it on a full stomach. My doctor seems to just type in information to a computer and it tells the doctor what to say. I don’t even feel like my doctor is using logic or reasoning.I just have to hide my thoughts and opinions just to get medication and then treat myself based on personal experience.
Now what I have found that really really helps me is to take a Tums first thing in the morning with only a little bit of water. Let that do its job and then take my medication by swallowing or letting it dissolve under my tongue. Once I feel like I’m rolling on my meds then I will take very light sips of ON nutrition amino energy. Anything else cancels my meds. For some reason I feel like this enhances it. Once I am feeling my meds 100% then I will have a high protein breakfast. I only do this instead of a break because I’m in nursing school and can’t take days off.
I've been doing the same thing, but without the Amino energy drink and I've had literally all the same experiences. I'm also (hopefully) going to nursing school soon, but trying to make it out of statistics, (last class), and man does my ADHD brain really rebel against me with any form of math.
And yes most docs look for excuses to take pts off as the paperwork that goes along with pts on stimulants is supposedly a nightmare.
I'm trying different things in the interim, trying to get a feel for what works and doesn't...more or less biohack, as (hopefully), once I get into (accelerated), nursing school, (same as you), I won't have days off.
Thus far what has helped me, in different ways than Adderall, (so I have to know subjectively what my brain needs and when), is Tesofensine and Modafonil.
Trialing, (not all at once), Bromantane, Alcar, 9ME-BC, Noopept, low dose Pramipexole, and Phenylpiracetam and hopefully will soon try Cortexin and Cerebrolysin, which outside stimulants propurtedly have the best chance of giving some bang for your buck.
Word of caution if you go the biohacking route at all, know the half lives. Ie; Tesofensine, (triple re uptake inhibitor), has I believe a 9 day half life. So if you go to your docs and have to take a urinalysis, none of those substances will specifically come up, BUT, you can "pop," positive for an abnormality with the test... Tesofensine and Modafonil for sure will.
A friend of mine takes 50mg Adderall daily but takes weekends off and she said that works great. I wish i could do the same.
I’ve been taking meds for while and it can be that the initial sides and euphoria go away and the meds keep working and you get used to operating at a higher level. The meds are only supposed to bring you to a normal level and normal people don’t walk around jacked up. I would say if you think the meds are not working anymore take a week of them and monitor your behaviour if there is no change you need see the doctor but if you decline and go back into full adhd mode then they are working.
Agree. First day on meds, I felt like non-adhd people are every day, for the first time in my life! It was like sitting at the wheel of a Ford Focus when you have driven a Dacia all your life. Nothing regular people get excited about. Eventually it’s the same for us. I still experience my adhd symptoms in the evening after the meds have completely left my system if there’s a lot of interaction and my kids can immediately tell. But I also want to experience days when I don’t need to interact with anyone and I’m doing something I’m enjoying with no distractions in sight without meds. Or go to a much lower dose so my other symptoms are lessened (restless leg, hesitations etc)
@@fenegroni I totally get you what you mean. What meds do you take out of interest I have been on 20mg of Ritalin for about 18 months now and I don’t feel any feeling from them but I’ve renewed my prescription late a few times and been off meds for like 2-3 days and the adhd symptoms return and I get the feeling how did I go so many years like this lol horrible. 😁
@@topman.9646 I take Elvans. Still in the titration period but it proved to be very effective even on 20mg - I remember the first day was like wearing glasses for tre first time after squinting…
Now I can still tell the moment it ‘clicks’ which for me is only 25 minutes after taking the pill. When the meds wear out everything goes back to how it was but luckily the experience of having achieved something encourages me to be a better me even after the effect is gone. So far no side effects but it’s too early. I’m just so happy that my life can finally turn around. I went from ‘lazy’ to ‘obsessed’ back to lazy so many times before because I was never really ‘there’.
I hope you can find a medication that works for you. Because I know how hard it is to keep up all the good things without it.
@@fenegroni glad to hear that it’s working nice that it a small dose as well! Yh it’s a God send. Well best of luck going forward! 😉
@@topman.9646 Unfortunately for me, the fact that a smaller dose already shows such an improvement only points at the severity of it. My family history is atrocious, I will spare you the details.
The point is you take an ADHD medication holiday to reduce tolerance and then you will rebuild the tolerance once again. It is a vicious circle. How we make the ADHD work for a long time period without developing a tolerance.
For a year ago i was on 162mg of concerta and now i take 90mg dayly and my tolerans dosent raise so depends on dosage youre tolerance sometimes dont raise
I take my 18mg long release at 5am sleep till 6am normal wakeup time so by 7-8 pm i get nice relaxation no issues with sleep
I took one day off on Saturday, took half dose of the Adderall on Sunday, went grocery shopping early morning after good night sleep, came home and I had to nap shortly thereafter. I could feel it like it was on my first week. Just 1 day seems to work for me, but maybe I will try 2 if I have a Monday morning where I am not at work.
That’s awesome - if you can get away with just one day then that’s the ideal situation!
@@ollieedward643 just be careful of Monday’s. Especially if they are hectic and you have a lot of conference calls.
@@TheCoolOwen I’m always fairly distrustful of Mondays as it is! Cheers man 👍
Great video Ollie!
Thanks Max!
@@ollieedward643 Would you be interested in talking? I’m thinking we could do an Instagram live together to discuss adhd.
Been on 54mg of concerta for a year. When you get back on do you jump right back to your normal dose or does your doc prescribe a lower dose to build back up? I was thinking of taking a week or two off. Also do you take any other stimulants like caffeine on your days off or do you just white knuckle through. Thanks!
I’ve been trialling Concerta for 1 month 1 week and stopped taking it when I was ill/sick. It was too much to stimulate a tired body lol. I’m just confused on dosage at the moment because 18mg really was astonishingly helpful for like 3 days and then dipped down to a boost getting out of bed, then a lurch, below unmedicated, until the osmotic long release kicks in at 13:00. Then it is just kinda slowly decreasing from small boost to nothing.
I tried 36mg and it is the same graph pattern ish but it keeps me above the line of 0, like, better overall than unmedicated, Rather than dipping down, but I’ve only tried it for a few days, so wonder if it will turn out the same, when my body gets used to it.
So, I can’t figure out if 18mg plus holidays will be better than 36mg plus holidays, or if 36mg will be too much. I definitely know that 18mg regularly is kind of pants.
I am a bit confused because my best productivity comes in the first days of increase but that is what people seem to call the high period? So… in reality am I a bit depressed? Plus ADHD lol? Because the extra happiness chem kick really contributes to great focus. What a complex condition lol.
The drugs are hard to figure out how to balance, but the effect on my home, and consequential wellbeing is unreal. 🤯
I slept like crap before and so the long release is not helping with that 🫤 my Dr prescribed Melatonin out the gate but I heard it’s not great for liver etc. long term. It also gives me kinda nightmares and headache and I wake after a few hours asleep.
Any tips how to navigate this? Your videos are much more digestible than others by the way, thanks for editing them down, it’s way better than ones with fancy thumbnails and rambling and repetition.
Any luck in finding stable med and dose?
Im going to take 1 months off. I dont like to take it every day. I feel take it like 1 or 2 days is fine for self study...but more than that sucks for me.
I have been taking adderall for 2.5 months and have never taken the medication during the weekends and as of today the adderall seems to have completely lost its effectiveness. I have been panicking all day as I didn't think something like this would happen. Today is Monday October 18 and I decided not to take the medication until October 26 (for 1 week) and I am hoping that things will be back to normal by then but I have serious doubts. If I see no improvements I have no idea what to do and don't know what my doctor would tell me at my next appointment. I have a feeling he would take me off stimulants all together but it has greatly helped me for the time it was working ):
Hey how are you doing
Did it worked again after you stopped it for one week?
@@nadyanwar5806 Yes, it worked like new. I have decided to switch my schedule up a bit to fight tolerance. I am thinking instead of taking 20mg twice a day for 5 days, I will either only take 20mg once on Wednesday or take Wednesday completely off (more likely) of adderall. The psychiatrist agreed that you kind of have to experiment a little to learn about adderall tolerance affects you and to find what works best.
Yeah I havent taken a day off since I started in October, my dosage went form 30mg to 50mg. I am considering taking a break for a few days to see the results when I start again
Have the effects of the medication lessened since you started the new dose?
@@ollieedward643 yeah definitely!
@@jackb6106 in that case it may well be worth taking a couple of days off the meds, Jack
I took 36mg of Concerta and it worked like magic for the first two weeks, then I started to feel normal, not excited, not happy, not active as I used to be with medication. Now I am taking 54mg but still it seems that my brain got used to it and now I am stuck. Every week I take on day off in the weekend but still no help.
Have you tried any other ADHD medications? Concerta may not be the one for you (?)
Same boat here. 18mg did nothing. 36 was noticeable. Euphoric lift, but faded off after 10 days or so. However, dosing up to 54 clouded my mind and started having dark thoughts. Started doing weekends breaks, and sometimes not taking if I felt like I could survive the day, and went back to 36. Doing fine now. It´s just what everyone says. You don´t have a huge lift, but it´s there. House is no longer a mess and I got used to it, so the effect is there haha.
Hello, I moved up from 30mg to 50mg of Elvanse today and I didn’t notice much affect and also felt quite down. Can you relate to this at all? I think I just need to give it more time. I have noticed on Elvanse that each day can be different and I don’t always get the same affect from one day to another.
Hi Holly. Yeah, I did notice this somewhat! Personally I just found it much harder to regulate my emotions altogether. I would refer you to my video on ‘lowering elvanse dosage for better results’ which may help! Take care
@@ollieedward643 Hi Ollie thanks so much for your reply.. I will watch your video 😊
I take Adderall XR back in April I had a surgery where I had full anesthesia, since then it never works like it did prior to surgery. I couldn’t find any information online and my doctor says it’s just tolerance. How could it completely change over a week if it was tolerance I don’t understand.
ADDERALL XR is garbage
@@depressed_weighted_B1anket What do you recommend?
@@serhat1 I mean it happed for me. Vvyance worked for me. You need to talk to your doctor. Vvyance I can actually feel it. It kills your appetite really bad.
I took three months off Ritalin but it still isn’t working as it used to.
The alternatives in the UK (Elvanse, Atomoxetine & Concerta) caused too many side effects and gave little symptom control for my ADHD.
What is the rest of your daily life like? Do you exercise frequently? Sleep well? Control stress? Drink plenty of water? Eat a balanced diet? Would be good to hear if there might be another cause
Thanks for your video and reply.
I try to do a HIIT workout 5-6 times a week but I struggle a lot with depression and anxiety. I’m also on the autism spectrum and have leaky gut syndrome.
It’s a shame because Ritalin alleviated all of my ADHD symptoms and I finally managed to ‘clear the fog’.
@@Yippeekiyaymummy hiit is brilliant for alleviating some anxiety/depression symptoms so keep that up! Hope you’re well 👍
@@Yippeekiyaymummy paradoxically exercising so often can exacerbate anxiety
@@Yippeekiyaymummy Hi, What meds do u take for ADHD now?
Has ritalin started working now??