Posted by Peter on August 20, 2003, at 14:43:19
In reply to Re: REALLY need advice just once more, posted by Jasmine Neroli on August 19, 2003, at 15:13:00
Well, today I took my 10mg adderall bid along with my klonopin. For each dose, I took 0.75mg klonopin+10mg adderall. After the first dose, I felt a bit more clear-headed, did some exercise, relaxed, felt fairly even-mooded and ok for hours. It was very subtle-just gave me a bit more overall pep to compensate for the high-dose klonopin fatigue.
BUT, again, the problems arose from the second adderall dose, and I just cannot figure out why. I took it about 6-7 hours after the first. After I took it, when it started kicking in, everything was ok, and I felt fine. In fact, my creative juices started flowing and I composed some music; I did feel more energy than after the first dose, but maybe that's because my early-day exercise might have made the energy from the 1st dose less noticeable than the energy from the second.
But I felt active and my mood was pleasantly lifted. However, beginning 2 hours after I took the second dose, I felt a VERY SHARP SHIFT in my mood. I suddenly became very inert, my mood and energy shot way down, and I just began to feel a spacy, depressive, detached kind of feeling. How could there have been such a big mood change only 2 hours after the dose? Was it the klonopin 0.75mg kicking in and strongly counteracting the adderall? (even though, I took them both simultaneously, I know the klonopin takes longer to kick in). But if that were the case, wouldn't I have experienced a similar phenomenon 2 hours after the first dose of both meds?
It sucks, because I was active and talkative and in pretty good spirits throughout the early evening. Guests have visited and I felt social and well until the end of dinner, when I had to excuse myself 'cause my mood dropped so fast. Is it too high a dose of adderall? But if that were the case, why would it feel fine during the first 2 hours of the dose and then feel like a stimulant 'crash?' Is it not enough of a dose (but I used to take up to 40mg daily- 20mg bid)? I don't want to increase it without my doctor's consent (I did that once before and it got a bit messy).
What really sucks is that it's 9pm and this is when I'd usually play piano for the guests and socialize, etc. But I feel almost comatose I'm so spaced-out and low. Maybe it is what I had considered before - that when I take stimulants, my DP/NE levels are pushed up rapidly and then quickly fall to BELOW normal levels. That's good reasoning, if it is true, for me to take a stimulating AD like wellburtin or strattera - I guess they would raise the neurotransmitter levels gradually over time so the result is more stable and consistent. But, again, my pdoc is away and I won't be able to talk to him until sept. 10th.
I don't know if I should keep taking the 10mg adderall bid for a few days and see if things smooth over, divide the dose differently, switch to taking two 10mg adderall XR caps (which are 7 months past their 'discard date,' and which I believe my pdoc and I didn't conclude were any smoother-acting than the IR tabs anyway), or just AGAIN stop the adderall before going further with it and try to cope on 3.5mg daily klonopin alone with all the lethargy and emotional-dulling that comes with it. The positive thing about the last option is that at least the klonopin will be the ONLY med I'm taking so that my pdoc wouldn't have to factor in any other meds when assessing what to start me up on when he gets back.
I guess it thus comes down to what is most logical-sounding versus which way I'd FEEL better until he returns. I guess staying on just the klonopin ('less is more') is most logical, but adding and staying on the adderall might make me feel better ON THE WHOLE. I just don't know. If only the adderall didn't have these wierd moody effects on me, it wouldn't be so much of an issue; I'd just continue to take it without question.
AGH! HERE I GO AGAIN!ANY RECOMMENDATIONS?
Peter
poster:Peter
thread:251194
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030818/msgs/252500.html