adderall not XR

[beth]

My 20 year old son has been on Adderall XR since he was 15. He upped the dose from 20 mg to 25 a few months ago. He hasn't used it since he finished the semester. He is doing well at a full time job without medication. He is now taking an accounting class online and wants to know if he can have a short acting adderall. He says he doesn't need the XR.

He has never used medication on weekends or in the summer when he wasn't going to school.

Does anyone know how long the nonXR lasts? He is thinking 4 hours. Does it work the same way?

[healthy11]

Beth, as you know, everyone's metabolism is different, but basically, yes, I'd expect the regular Adderall to last around 4 hours. Note: if your son was taking 25 mg. XR, he'll probably need 12.5 mg. regular Adderall dosage.

My son has taken both Adderall XR and regular Adderall over the years (he began taking meds for his ADHD when he was 10 years old) but throughout college, since he was no longer in classes straight through the day, he's preferred regular Adderall. He would rather take two short-acting doses when he does need 8 hours of concentration, because it allows him to eat in between, whereas he has little appetite on the XR. (And since he has hypoglycemic tendencies, when he doesn't eat, his blood sugar levels get messed up, and then he gets even more moody/irritable...)