Stimulant medications

[Mishes]

I hear you, Wynton. At this time, for me too, I feel the Adderall positives outweigh the negatives. I have a tolerance for Adderall now particularly since I don't take "holidays" away from it. I probably should but they're just so miserable! I never exceed the dosage my doctor has given me permission for. Though I do drink a moderate amount of coffee now a few times(or sometimes more) a week. Since I have a tolerance to the Adderall and have gotten used to a moderate amount of caffeine I can drink it without palpitations or that I'm gacked out on coffee feeling. I try to avoid it but if I do sense that I'm getting close to that I stop drinking the coffee and back off much activity for awhile if possible otherwise I know it's likely to cause more harm than good. As long as I'm careful about that it seems to me to be beneficial. I do take "holidays" from the coffee though so I don't build up too much of a tolerance to that.

I just get really worried about those with CFS who seem to be in denial mode and end up doing so much that they cause a major "crash". Especially in my earlier years before I found out what CFS was and got diagnosed. I remember doing that and I can see now how my health deteriorated after the major episodes particularly. Hopefully though with all this info much more available most people might be more inclined to be tempered than I was then.

I know I've been writing so much it might seem like I've got lots of energy, but I don't. I just take a long time and use up a lot of my energy for the day because I hope that it might prove worthwhile for at least somebody.

Two last things.
Generic Adderall orange tablet vs blue tablet.
The generic Adderall that comes as an orange tablet is the best one to get that I know about. I'm aware of another generic that is a light blue and that one does NOT have the same effect. I've read online many other people complaining about it as well.

My pharmacy did a switch on me once and I went ahead and gave it a full month trial even after noticing it being much less effective the first day. You know sometimes it just takes awhile to get used to a med. It definitely is not an acceptable replacement. My pharmacy told me they had decided to try purchasing this new generic brand instead of the other. I told them (politely of course) that I would not purchase from them any other form of Adderall than the orange kind in the future. They have since always given me the Orange ones!

Wynton, I don't know much about Nuvigil. From your experience how have the effects been different for you compared to Adderall? (xr right?)

Any others who prefer another stimulant to generic or brand name Adderall?

[Wynton]

Thanks for the replies, Mishes.

I do appreciate that all this take a huge amount of effort! Personally I only write on the forum when I'm either on drugs or having a weak moment and really want to talk to someone else who knows what CFS is like. Right now is the former case: thank you Adderall

I have a tolerance for Adderall now particularly since I don't take "holidays" away from it...

Your approach is very different than mine. I take the Adderall probably 5 times a week, leaving a couple of days without it each week to just sleep and rest much of the day. The reason I do this is because already (I've only been taking it for 2 months now) I have noticed a significant degree of tolerance to the Adderall. I started out on 20mg, which was extraordinary for a while. Then it started to wear off and I began to take 30mg when I would take it - unlike you I don't really have much regard for the doctor's orders . (The way I would take half a pill was to pry the capsule open with my fingers and pour half of the contents into a cup of water... it would probably give my doctor a heart attack to know that but it worked and the Adderall is actually quite tasteless. FYI.) Soon I got the doc to prescribe me with 10mg capsules so I could take 30mg officially, but now the 30mg only gets me 1-2 hours of focus, so on occasion I've been taking 35mg...

Also unlike you I use caffeine heavily, more so than the Adderall. If I am to do ANYTHING in a day I at least need caffeine, so I have a bit pretty much every day. I also use it with the Adderall almost always. I find it enhances the effect of the drug, and also it helps me "ride out" the Adderall to the end of its effective life (I have the XR and so after 3 hours or so I start feeling sleepy again but the stuff is still in my brain. So I whip out the caffeine to try to put the Adderall leftovers to good use.)

I just get really worried about those with CFS who seem to be in denial mode and end up doing so much that they cause a major "crash"...

This fortunately (or unfortunately?) wasn't a problem for me. CFS came around the highschool/college transition for me, a time when my abilities were exposed enough for me to see my weaknesses. For example, exercise became much more difficult, but I could modify it according to my strength. Exended social time like parties were also taxing, but I would notice when I was overdoing it (I would become a limp rag) and go home of my own will. I would stop studying and go to bed because I simply could not do a single problem.

What I'm trying to say is that, for me, the tiredness restricted my activity enough because what I was doing required me to not be tired. That's in contrast to someone who works a routine 9-5 job every day, who I feel might be able to push themselves much longer before being forced to take better care of themselves. Was that your experience, Mishes: were you better at first but became worse due to overexertion? How old are you and what stage of your life are you in, if you don't mind me asking?

Generic Adderall orange tablet vs blue tablet.

As I mentioned before, I have 20mg and 10mg Adderall tablets so I can take 30mg. My 20mg tablets are orange and the 10mg ones are blue. I'm guessing that your doctor just lowered your dose..? If that's the case, I definitely understand why you weren't feeling the effects as much!!

Nuvigil

As I think I mentioned in the first post, Nuvigil was a lifesaver for me for almost a year, but I don't think it works nearly as well as the Adderall. It seemed to me that Adderall was more targeted at my mental capacity, while Nuvigil had more of a whole-body effect. For instance with Adderall I am happy to read or type or socialize, as long as it doesn't involve significant movement. (Fortunately, you can do a lot in this modern world without moving ) On the other hand with the Nuvigil I felt more like I used to - I wanted to get up and out. But the Nuvigil (even the XR) wore off much sooner than the Adderall does, and left me with terrible crashes almost every time. I feel like this was because it used up more precious energy in activating my whole body than the Adderall does just activating my mind.

So in conclusion my recommendation would be to stick with Adderall.

[jsmlauria]

I need some help..I cant find a doctor that will prescribe adderal fro CFS. I ma at the end of my rope and i cant take this anymore. They want to put me on provigil and nuvigil which reek HAVOC on my brainfog!! I live in Connecticut and would be willing to travel to find a doc who could help me. Any ideas would be awesome.
Thank you