Important Adderall Question for us ADD folks

Factual Questions
1

So this question is for everyone who has taken Adderall for ADD/ADHD (yes, by prescription only!! :wink: If y’all took it so you could stay awake for 72 hours and finish that term paper, I don’t want to know.) I’ve tried Focalin, which is great except for the three-hour dropout every day, and Daytrana (the Ritalin patch) which put me to sleep. (Combining it with coffee REALLY reminded me of nothing so much as IV morphine without the painkilling effect. Clearly, I’m having the atypical response to stimulants!) My doctor wants me to try Adderall next.

My question is, is it better/more effective to take it with or without food? Yes, it says you can do either, but I found that Focalin worked much better if taken an hour before breakfast even though the package insert said it made no difference. What have people found to be the case here?

2

Adderall absorption is correlated with the pH of your urine. There are a few studies out there showing that absorption can vary significantly within the normal urine pH level - specifically a more acidic urine usually means less absorption. I am not a doctor, but the answer to your question depends more on what you ate rather than when. This website contains a list of foods and the rough idea of what effect they will have on your urine pH.

3

Thanks-- I really appreciate the info! :slight_smile: I did find a study that said eating any fat with breakfast and then taking amphetamines right afterwards really interfered with absorption, so I decided to take it an hour and a half before eating, and to have my Vitamin C supplement later.