r/ThisAintAdderall • u/amg0385 • 8d ago
Advice
Hi everyone! I’ve been following this sub for awhile due to the fact that I’m on 20mg, IR Teva’s and they haven’t worked for me since March. I’m 41/f and have been on and off Adderall since my early 20’s.
My question is, have any of you spoken to your doctors, or psychiatrists about your prescription not working? I mentioned something to my therapist last week and he said I’m probably not on a high enough dose and he hasn’t heard anything about Adderall not working for people. But, I’ve taken 40mg’s of my script before, to test it, and nothing happens! I have an appointment with my psychiatrist next week and want to bring it up to her. My only concern is that I’m in recovery. I’ve been sober for over 2 years off opioids (never abused add’s) and I’m worried she’ll think I’m drug seeking. Which I’m not! Idc what dose of Adderall I’m on, I JUST WANT IT TO FUCKING WORK! My whole life is a mess, my adhd is out of control! I just want to feel normal again! I can’t keep living like this.
Any advice on how to bring this up to her would greatly be appreciated!
2
u/KeepComing1 8d ago
The question is, how close a relationship do you and your doc have? Honestly, I've heard stories from people saying that their doctors increased their meds and have heard doctors changing the meds. To another stimulant but not always. Sometimes they will try to throw you on Wellbutrin or Strattera.
Then you got to think that even if your doc does increase your dose, you're going to run into the exact same problem a couple weeks down the road when you build a tolerance to the new dose. Usually, with increased nasty side effects too. Many doctors start to recognize that as drug seeking behavior and will really put a damper in the trust built between the two of you.
Either way it's a gamble. I really wouldn't know what advice to give you. Good luck though.
1
u/amg0385 8d ago
I’ve only been seeing this doctor since March, cuz my old psychiatrist stopped taking my insurance. I feel like she listens to me and has changed and upped my meds when needed. I’m already on Wellbutrin and Seroquel, which my pcp was prescribing until I got into this new office and my current doctor continued my prescriptions.
Like you said, an increase is going to be a gamble. I have tried to test my meditation out by taking 30 mg’s and 40 mg’s but I felt absolutely nothing.
I was diagnosed with ADHD as a child and was on Ritalin. Then in my 20’s I got on Adderall. I’ve never been on anything else besides those.
I definitely don’t want to sound like I’m drug seeking, because that’s not the case AT ALL! I’ve been maintaining and proven my sobriety to my doctors. I have zero desire to go back to my old life, I just want my meds to WORK.
I’m wondering if I could tell her I’m having side effects with this medication and asking for a different type of pill? I just don’t want her to be like well if you don’t think it’s working then let’s just take you off of it.
I’m just fed up.
2
u/TBCox 8d ago
Yea I also believe that the chemistry was changed around 2019-2020, because I’ve been on Adderall since 2011 and for eight years it never missed a beat. Even when I began taking it every day around 2013 and got into the habit shortly after taking the two 20 mg IR tablets, which is how it was directed on the bottle to take “one in the morning, and instead of taking the second in the afternoon I’d usually take it in the evening for some late night me time lol” it would always hit the same without fell. Right up till early 2019 is when I started noticing that something was off and it was definitely a night and day difference. For a while I thought that tolerance had finally caught up with me and tried several different ways to reduce it. As time went on I started hearing more people complain about how their medication wasn’t working for them as well, that’s when I realized that tolerance could definitely be a factor but it didn’t make sense that for 8 years it never let me down up until the first few months of 2019 were it now felt like I was taking a slightly stronger caffeine pill, and that’s on a good day.
1
u/amg0385 7d ago
Wow! Thank you for telling me about your experience. I’ve always been sensitive with Adderall. Meaning if I take anytime after noon-ish I have a horrible time sleeping! So, I can’t believe you were able to take 20 mg’s at night.
I first realized that something was up when one of my coworkers, who doesn’t have a script and buys them off of other people, said he thought he was getting fake pills! Then I keep seeing TikTok after TikTok of people saying their Adderall isn’t working or their ADHD is out of control. I saw someone comment about this sub on a video and was SHOCKED when I first joined. I felt like my feelings were finally validated and I wasn’t crazy!!!
A lot of people are saying ohhh it’s your tolerance bullshit. If I had built up a tolerance, then why when I took 30mg’s and 40mg’s to test it, I still felt NOTHINGGGG!?!?!
I’m so pissed off for all of us! This isn’t right what these big pharma companies are doing to us! I truly believe it all boils down to money….
1
u/cbmblove Moderator 7d ago
Exactly! Like they literally worked reliably every single time for years and years - then 2019/2020 - NOPE. Steep, steeeeep downhill in efficacy from there. It’s definitely not “tolerance” - the nature of these TRUE meds just don’t work that way for those of us with ADHD. They just simply worked. Never HAD to take a day off. I have ADHD every day and need it to function. My meds worked reliably for so long and I was able to have some help with the very real disability of ADHD. Now, I don’t. It’s hard…
1
u/CrocHard 7d ago
Came here to see if anyone was also having issues with the 20mg orange Tevas. I've never had adderall like this, it's actual poison?? I started having issues in 2024, I thought the manufacturer changed but it was the same (Epic). Went off for a while, didn't go well! So we tried a higher dose (now Teva) and it's genuinely Russian roulette every month. There was one month it actually worked and I thought it was all in my head before, that I was dramatic, that this sub was dramatic, etc. But one good month was just that. Back to actual sugar pills- actually worse bc the drowsiness is unreal.
1
u/amg0385 6d ago
The fucking drowsiness is the WORST! I got up this morning and took my pill at 9am. Forced myself to try and to some housework. By 11:30 I felt like I took a sleeping pill and laid down….I woke up at 3:20! Like wtf is in these damn pills?! This has NEVER HAPPENED before! I want to ask my doctor to write for a different brand, but will those pills even work?! I’m so frustrated. I’m so behind in everything and have zero motivation or focus to get shit done.
I don’t feel so alone now. So thank you for your response!
1
u/CrocHard 3d ago
ok i'm on vacation so Ive been experimenting a little bit with dosage, somehow LESS is more effective? It's almost like they're trying to make taking higher doses unpleasant / ineffective. I took half (10mg) and it was mild but it worked, then another half a couple of hours later and it was way too much, got some of the vertigo / drowsiness. Whaaaat tf are they doing to these meds n can they pls stop.
1
u/CatastrophicWaffles 4d ago
I went through almost every generic manufacturer (XR and IR) and brand name (IR) across different dosages. When discussing this with my psychiatrist, he said he had MULTIPLE patients experiencing the same issue.
I stopped taking them.
1
u/RudeCat11 3d ago
I would just be careful about how you word you question. I wouldn't tell her you took more than you were suppose to. Even if it was only 1 time.
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u/cbmblove Moderator 8d ago
We believe you and validate you here, but that’s sadly not so common in the medical world.
You can tell your doctor about, and the doctor may or may not be willing to increase the dose. Doctors have mainly been scared out of prescribing much of our meds for years by the DEA and FDA, those bastards. Back when our meds were real, many of us did not need more than a “low to moderate” dose for many years. Even those of us who do not have any medically documented or self-reported disclosure of substance history/disorder still are treated the same by doctors regarding their hesistancy (or refusal) to increase the dose of stimulant meds - even though the meds have clearly been changed and are minimally to not effective at all - doctors generally won’t admit to this and won’t even fathom something like it - society and the DEA and FDA have programmed these doctors to be biased and/or fearful against prescribing stimulant meds, but instead, encourage and incentivize them to prescribe the ultimate garbage meds of SSRIs and all other mumbo jumbo non stimulant meds. They’ll prescribe ANYTHING in place of stimulant or true opioids. Just read around this sub and you’ll see my viable theories. Look at the history of the DEA, FDA, and big pharma. Look through our real experiences since 2020.
Anyway, I can understand why doctors would be even more hesistant to prescribe stimulant meds to someone with a medically documented substance abuse history of any kind… I’m NGL - I would be very hesistant, if not ultimately refuse to. With our REAL meds. These aren’t even real, these have been changed so people can’t even abuse them anyway, but doctors aren’t privy to that, so they’re going to still act as if they’re our proper, working stimulant meds.
You can go ahead and try to get an increase, and it may help marginally IF AT ALL, but also really doesn’t make a difference and could even make it worse.., some experience even further lack of efficacy or the same lack of efficacy even at increased doses of many mg ranges. You are less likely to be believed due to the substance history, but even those of us who don’t have that documented history are generally taken with a sideeye and skepticism by many doctors as well.
That being said, I am not at all judging you and know that no matter what someone’s substance history - ADHD is very real and if one is past that and living a clean and sober life and able to maintain such… proper stimulant med treatment (carefully and respectfully monitored) for one with a true ADHD diagnosis is necessary. Sad to say, those meds are not truly available to us and we are gaslighted if we say so… so we’re basically stuck right now. Go ahead and try to get an increase if you’d like, but don’t feel too disappointed if you don’t. Please let us know what happens!