Posted by laima on March 2, 2007, at 7:41:11
In reply to Re: generics, posted by jonathanupr on March 1, 2007, at 20:50:45
Hi, and thanks again!
I'm saving all of the very interesting and very useful information you've shared for my future reference.
So far I'm unclear how the new Barr version of brand adderall is working for me- there are some new effects- but most of it can reasonably be psychologically induced. Some not. Ie- appetite still vanished. 4pm yesterday, I realized I plain FORGOT to eat! And I had an impression that it was still late morning until I looked at the clock. That's pretty weird for me, didn't experience that sort of thing ever before I started the new version of the med Friday. I'm normally quite a food enthusiast. At most, I'd get VERY mild appetite suppression from stims, almost insignificant-but still feel like eating, and never simply forget. I wonder if this sort of severe loss of appetite, so severe I am forgetting to eat is possibly an l-amphetamine associated effect? I was starving for a few days, but now I don't even notice it so much. I also am increasingly suspicious that my perception of time is altered. Meaning, it seems to be vanishing. I don't feel speedy or anything, but large lapses of time are vanishing at lightning speed, and I can't explain how/why, or what I was even doing. I'm an expert procrastinator, but have always had a sense before of,"oh, I'm wasting time", or "oh, I'm taking too much time with this". Part of it could be I'm not getting hungry anymore, so there haven't been regular meals to mark passing of time. This is weird, and I will definately mention at my appointment next week. What do you think, do you know if this could be an l-amphetamine thing? But this didn't happen on Barr generic.
As for your Barr adderall/dex mix recipee- thanks- sounds like a good idea, but in reality, I have a hard time picturing getting those prescriptions together to do that! My prediction, if there is a switch, is that adderall xr will be suggested. But perhaps since I'm on Emsam, the regular versions actually last plenty long already, and I don't like the idea of a stimulant med that lasts even longer. What if I take it late one day? My 1pm dose of the IR, whether brand or Barr, lasts into the early evening. For me, the 1pm Shire lasted until about 5 or 6 minimum, and this new version seems to be lasting even longer- definately, 1pm dose lasting at least 6 or 7pm or so. (Actually, this part is an improvement!)
You mentioned another interesting thing, about l-amphetamine (speaking roughly) hitting norepinephrine more, and being felt more bodily; and dex hitting dopamine more, maybe being more mental. My doctor has mused that a number of my primary complaints are associated with dopamine abnormalities/issues: tiredness, cognitive sluggishness, spaciness/inattentive, sleep disorders, specifically sleep movement disorders. And I used to take ssris for a real long time- some people claim that their long term use can mess up dopamine, but I don't know if that's true or not. Still, lots to think about from what you write.
You know, the stim which gave me most drive was actually ritalin-but though I loved being so productive, it felt unnatural and at times, quite speedy. Literally rushing about at times, in addition to feeling a bit "wired". And I was very prone to fixation, and on higher doses, I could easily crash if if I didn't specificallly pep-talk myself out of it. The dexedrine, but especially the Shire adderall, by comparison, have felt very calm, smooth. "Unplugged" compared to ritalin. Zero crash on Shire adderall, no good recollection about dex- that was long ago for a short spell only. The Barr was somewhere in between, going through distinct periods of speedy-pounding as well as calmness--my worst complaint being that it ultimately induced depression and crashes after a couple weeks of use.
So- are you taking adderall for OCD, or other reason?
Thanks again for so much useful and interesting information.
I am extremely, extremely appreciative!Laima
> choices are definitely good
>
> you may have luck taking 1/4 to 1/2 of a Barr tablet and 1/2 to 3/4 of a Dexedrine tab to try and find the right ratio that worked for you in the Shire form (this could turn out to be much more cost effective for you in the long run as well). If Dex seemed to do the trick for you, and L-amphetamine doesn't do much good for you, then you may want to just give dex a try. What I know for me was that when I took Dex, I had some hellacious rebound, piss and vinegar (though it gave me a bit more drive).
>
> People definitely react differently to meds, given their make-ups. One individual could be more in need of dopamine and the other individual could be in more need of nor-epinephrine.
>
> From the research I've dug up, Dexedrine (also dextro-amphetamine) primarily triggers the release and re-uptake of dopamine, where as L-amphetamine primarily triggers the release and re-uptake of nor-epinephrine (which would give reason for the Barr winding one's body up more than one's mind....Barr definitely hits my body much more than Shire's form did). Other stims such as Concerta and Focalin seem to do much more towards the dopamine networks as well, the latter 2 seemingly more reuptake than catecholamine release (my main sign of this is when my OCD gets exacerbated greatly when on Dex & Concerta, and other dopamine agonists and reuptake inhibitors, versus NRIs and NE agonists).
>
> hope all turns out decent
poster:laima
thread:735411
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070302/msgs/737583.html