Do you remember what your dose was? Another unfortunately common practice among prescribers is over-medicating with stimulants. My doctor was saying the guidelines used to be to start high and reduce as needed, but in the last few years those guidelines have reversed. Not all docs have gotten the memo, though. I remember going up from 15mg XR adderall to 20mg, then back to 15mg after a month. I also found a huge improvement in mitigating the “crash” by switching from 2 7.5mg IR pills per day to 1 15mg XR. The extended release formulations are shown to decrease the crash and irritability dramatically. Vyvanse is the best for this IMO, but my insurance sucks and wouldn’t cover it (expensive af). It also lasts 12 hours instead of 8 hours like XR or the ER methylphenidate (Ritalin), so if you have had trouble sleeping on those other meds, Vyvanse might not be ideal.
The biggest thing you can do for yourself (on these meds and in general) is make sure to get adequate sleep. Not less than 8-hours. Exercise is number 2. If you can’t find the motivation to regularly exercise, I’d recommend joining a gym with a dry sauna. Sauna has a ton of physical and mental health benefits, many of which are similar to exercise. Work up from 5 minutes, to 10 minutes, to 20 minutes and up. Water intake is up there with exercise, maybe even as important as sleep. You should be drinking at least half a gallon of water per day on these meds, if not more. Just make sure you space water consumption throughout the day, not all at once.
As far as supplements go, ALA/ALCAR supplements reduce oxidative stress on the brain that can be caused by these stimulants. They work well taken with the meds and about 6 hours later. CoQ10 also relieves oxidative stress, and should be taken once in the morning (long half-life). Also, N-Acetyl Cystine with DHA in the morning and Uridine at night helps a ton. Low dose melatonin at night was helpful for me as well when I was having trouble sleeping with the higher dose adderall. Fun fact, it’s also a powerful antioxidant as well. If you do take melatonin, be careful with dose, as most supplements on the market are heavily overdosed and can fuck with natural production. 2mg max, sublingual. And of course, I can’t neglect to mention CBD. Vaping it during the day and taking 25mg orally in a tincture at night really helped keep me level headed and get to sleep when I was supposed to.
Diet is one thing you’ll probably hear a lot of talk about, but I didn’t find it helped me all that much. Results definitely vary though, so it would be worth looking into. Above all though (in terms of diet), just make sure you EAT SOMETHING. These meds are notorious for appetite suppression, but after working through it and forcing yourself to eat for a while, it becomes easier and easier.
I hope this information can help you mitigate the side-effects. I know what it’s like to not like the side-effects but have to rely on the meds to achieve your goals. But if it wasn’t for adderall, I likely would have never graduated college. Hell, if I got on it my freshman year instead of halfway through my junior year, I’d likely have a chemistry degree instead of this useless sociology degree just because I kept failing math miserably and got discouraged. Everything said though, it’s worth mentioning that stimulant meds aren’t a replacement for discipline and taking care of yourself. You seem motivated, and these meds can definitely help tremendously, but if you don’t take care of your body, it won’t take care of you. Your mind and body work as one, so be sure to help the meds help you. If not, it’s easy to end up having the side-effects outweigh the benefits.
