Question about Adderall, not enough? Exhausted ALL THE TIME!!!

Hi Jenni,

You sound like you have adrenal fatigue. Go have your cortisol levels checked by a doctor who does a saliva test. I have used ZRT Labs for the saliva tests.  I've been suffering with adrenal fatigue for the last year and still trying to figure out what to do to get my energy levels back. It's a long process. Good luck!

Try taking your Adderall XR 10MG pill with orange juice. Wake up, take the pill, drink orange juice on an empty stomach. You may initially feel the effects are overwhelming you, but at that point just dump out the rest of the orange juice and drink some water or coffee. The orange juice is just a quick and easy way to get the pill started when you want it to. I'm a 19 year old college student who's been on Adderall for about a year and a half. I stumbled upon this fix accidentally when I drank a cup of orange juice after taking my pill. So let me give you this advice: only drink a few sips of the orange juice and then wait about 5 minutes to see if the Adderall is kicking in like it should. By the way, I'm not sure if medical practitioners would agree with this method, but I've done this a few times to get a kickstart to the day and I haven't experienced any negative side effects other than a little dizziness for about 5 minutes one time when I drank way too much Orange juice way too fast. 

Firstly, Phil's recommendation to take your dose with OJ would have the opposite outcome. The absorption (& excretion) of the particular medication at hand is affected by PH). Where, the higher PH (alkaline) environment in the body the greater the absorption and slower the excretion from your body. As for the XR's: half of the beads are designed to only "release" the medication under the expected conditions of a region of your intestines (based on PH). This consideration may be relevant to your experience, however there are many other reasons that could be the cause.

A delayed circadian rhythm could be causing your experience also, for which practicing consistent sleep hygiene may help & couldn't hurt.

GL.

I agree, sounds like adrenal fatigue. Build up those adrenals.

"Someone" who answered 11 months ago is correct. Drinking anything acidic anytime before or after taking Adderall will cancel out most of the effect of the medication. Most amps work best with a high pH in the stomach (most antacids will extend the duration of the med, but I don't think it will make it any stronger). Zantac works well for me in the a.m.. Makes my morning dose last longer. I wouldn't get into a habit of doing this all the time though, your stomach is acidic for a reason. Also, fatty foods will slow the absorbtion rate of the med and make it kick in later than usual.

I am in the same way, but diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome, check

http://m.steadyhealth.com/Long_term_effects_of_Adderall_for_Narcolepsy_t193869.html?page=3&post_submited=1#1366613 I have narcolepsy. Xr adderall kills me after the down peek of it. I was switched to fast release it doesnt usually last for more then 4 hrs so I take it twice a day or whenever I can tell its wearing off. Idk if that helps but rx worked at first for me for like an hour then between releases would drain every little bit of energy I had before releasing again I would pass out.

Hey . Incase this helps you or anyone , I'm adding some of my info on here despite it being an older post.

Depression can be a huge factor , I would consider clinical depression - it really doesn't have anything to do with "being sad" about anything in particular . It can just arrive out of nowhere, and excessive sleep/fatigue is just one of many symptoms .

Aside from that , a delayed circadian rhythm is definitely related to the part where you absolutely cannot get going until atleast after 2 pm , by the way this exact *EXACT* same issue I have been dealing with for three years now and still suffer, but have collected some info and a few strategies that help.

If you are going to take adderall, please don't bother with the XR. It nade me dead tired and it was GARBAGE. That's just my own opinion . However, the IR is much more predictable. I think it's good that you are starting out at a very low MG. I am prescribed 60 a day , but I try to only take two 20 Mg IR in the am and not need the extra 20 mgater in the day. It's not ideal though to take any amount of adderall unless you are okay with becoming physically dependent on it - WD is NOT painful at all you just sleep and eat constantly but it gets better but it's not like opiate withdrawal.

Also, if you put 1/2 teaspoon baking soda in cup of water and drink it , it WILL increase the adderall without having to increase your dosage. Adderall and other amphs absorb the most in more if an alkaline environment, so more of your medication is absorbed, is just getting more out of the dose. But i only take some baking soda if I'm feeling a little acidic already (like if I know i have been drinking acidic drinks the day before like cola , when I feel mild indigestion, etc )

What helps me : Adderall
WINDOWS uncovered completely- or somehow get bright bright light in your bedroom similar to sunrise . This is the most helpful for me . The sunlight is SO helpful for me in alll aspects .

A smart alarm clock !!!! An app that detects your movements and or sound to be able to roughly pinpoint when you are at your lightest sleep stage near your optimal wake up time that you set , and it will start during the lightest sleep stage around the timeframe you set it for .
Mine also has volume increase, so I choose a playlist of music I like and have it very gently rise in volume over the course of like 12 minutes . I would wake up so refreshed and MAJOR difference.

It sounds like aside from other possibilities, you may also be dealing with sleep Inertia - being awaken during deep sleep cycle / especially abruptly. This is the deciding factor in whether or not I'm going to have a good day -if I wake up naturally on my own or gently with my sleep clock
Or a sh*t day if I am awakened abruptly I feel like hell the whole day .

I know you mentioned it's not just having trouble waking up but also being up but in a zombie type of state. Read up on sleep inertia !!

And ofcourse all the other things people have mentioned (aside from orange juice helping your adderall dose)

Also, get a full blood work done and evaluated with your physician.

So although I acknowledge this is a super late reply I still wanted to "reply" even if original poster no longer sees it, if someone else with similar situation comes across this , even if it helps one person just a little.

Also I don't know everything and I'm not a doctor. Just offering my thoughts. Sleep inertia should be
Looked into !!!

I know this post is old, but I am having the same exact issues at the original poster. I started out on regular tablets 10 mg, then XR 10 mg, 20 mg, now 30 mg but I have been opening the pills and halfing them, but it's still awful. I have tried every blood test known to man. I don't know what else to do. Any other suggestions other than adrenal fatigue?

Thank you for posting this. I appreciate it very much. This is exactly me. What smart alarm do you use?

Tks!!
Some new info to me (cortisol) and will rethink other ideas Id forgotten about .
Your time was not wasted!
I take adderall at 6:00 8:30 and 11:30.
Not up all night not accomplishing anything.
Feel great in the afternoon.
I want to be awake early and work during bright sunlight. Can nap in pm if I want knowing work is done. Retired but want to have my daytime back. Imagine jumping out of bed anxious to hit the streets. That’s my hope and pray for it.

Alarm - I set 3.
Use your cell phone. Alarm can be set soft to loud. I put Adderall on top of it! Makes me sit up to reach it and turn off the alarm.
Back to sleep often until next alarm. then get up for the day. Not really focused or motivated but okay. Like others (darn) I get my two best hours in the afternoon. Go figure.?
Some say to take a “vacation” from Adderall for X weeks then go back on it

Hey! I use sleep as Android , and for 'y iPhone there is a free app as well I just can't remember the name. :)

I meant to type " sleep as Android" is the app I use on my Samsung tablet. 'y iPhone I have one I just looked up in the app store: smart alarm . I'm so sorry I'm just now seeing this