If you have mild symptoms of an allergic reaction, such as a mild rash, call your doctor right away. In general, symptoms of allergic reaction can be mild or serious. For some people, Adderall can cause an allergic reaction. See the drug’s prescribing information for the tablets and capsules. Learn more about serious side effects that Adderall may cause. While not common, serious side effects have been reported with Adderall.
What If I Miss A Dose?
A doctor may raise the daily dose by 10 mg each week if necessary. The recommended maximum daily dose (MDD) for adults with ADHD is 40 mg. If necessary, a doctor may then increase the daily dose by 5 mg at weekly intervals. For adults with ADHD, the starting dosage of Adderall is 5 mg once or twice per day.
Health Conditions
If you miss a dose, ask your health care provider what to do. Does interact with other drugs you are taking? This may not be a complete list of medicines that can interact with amphetamine/dextroamphetamine. Many other medicines may alter the blood levels of amphetamine/dextroamphetamine. In particular, make sure that you discuss if you are using any of the following before taking amphetamine/dextroamphetamine. Some forms of amphetamine/dextroamphetamine can be taken with or without food but may need to be taken the same way each time.
- You’ll usually take this amount once daily or in divided doses throughout the day.
- This includes some dietary supplements, prescription drugs, and black-market substances that impact serotonin.
- This article refers to both drugs using the name “Adderall” unless noted otherwise.
- In 1994, Richwood Pharmaceuticals acquired Rexar and began promoting Obetrol as a treatment for ADHD (and later narcolepsy as well), now marketed under the brand name of Adderall, a contraction of the phrase "A.D.D. for All" intended to convey that "it was meant to be kind of an inclusive thing" for marketing purposes.
- A 2018 systematic review and network meta-analysis of 50 trials involving 12 different psychosocial interventions for amphetamine, methamphetamine, or cocaine addiction found that combination therapy with both contingency management and community reinforcement approach had the highest efficacy (i.e., abstinence rate) and acceptability (i.e., lowest dropout rate).
For some medications, a child’s dosage is based on their body weight. In fact, stimulant drugs can make anxiety worse in a small percentage of kids with ADHD. Like all stimulant medications, Adderall is a controlled substance. For instance, high school and college students may use amphetamine drugs to help them study.
If you take too much of it, you could put your heart and your health at risk. If you take a generic version of Adderall, the two drug names (dextroamphetamine and amphetamine) will be on your medicine bottle. But like other medications, it comes with possible side effects. Adderall has been linked to serious side effects, including heart attack and stroke, in people with heart defects. Serious side effects of Adderall can include heart attack and stroke.
Most people taking Adderall XR do not experience any side effects. If you notice that your dosage is no longer controlling your symptoms, talk to your doctor to plan a course of action. For updated information about dosages, interactions, and precautions, see the Adderall XR drug monograph on WebMD. The optimal dosage of Adderall XR varies by patient and is not determined by age, weight, or height but rather by how a person metabolizes the medication. As with all medications, follow your Adderall XR prescription instructions exactly.
3 Recommended Dosage In Pediatric Patients 6 To 12 Years
Your doctor or pharmacist will give you the manufacturer's patient information sheet (Medication Guide) when you begin treatment with dextroamphetamine and amphetamine and each time you get more medication. On June 30, 2025, FDA issued a drug safety communication about a risk of weight loss in patients younger than 6 years of age taking extended-release stimulants for ADHD and will be revising the labeling for all these products to reflect this new safety information. ADDERALL is a federally controlled substance (CII) because it contains amphetamine that can be a target for people who abuse prescription medicines or street drugs.
Are ADHD Medications Safe To Take While Pregnant Or Nursing?
(With off-label use, doctors prescribe a drug for a purpose other than what it’s approved for.) But in some cases, doctors may prescribe it off-label for depression or anxiety that hasn’t got better with other treatments. They can help determine which treatment option is best for you. Adderall and other stimulants have some similarities and some differences.
These are not all the possible side effects of Adderall®. Your healthcare provider will decide if Adderall® can be taken with other medicines. It is not known if Adderall® is safe and effective in children with Narcolepsy under 6 years of age.
How Long Does Adderall XR Last? Adderall XR Dosages Explained
Adderall is a drug prescribed for the treatment of ADHD (attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder) and narcolepsy. Administer amphetamines during waking hours and avoid late evening doses to avoid insomnia. For some medications, the dosage is based on a person’s body weight.
Talk with your doctor if you have questions about your dosage. You can refer to the Adderall dosage section for details. If you’re having trouble opening medication bottles, ask your pharmacist about putting Adderall in an easy-open container.
Top 3 Reads On Stimulants
Certain cough medicines or diet pills contain ingredients that may increase heart rate or blood pressure when taken in combination with Adderall. You should not take MAO inhibitors while taking Adderall, or two weeks before treatment with Adderall, due to a serious and sometimes fatal interaction. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that nursing mothers not take any ADHD medication while nursing. You should consult with your physician right away before taking any medication – existing or new – during pregnancy. They are grouped based on information available from human and/or animal studies, and whether that information shows the drug is harmful.
What May Interact With This Medication?
For children ages 3 to 5, the starting dose is 2.5 mg, and the amount is increased by 2.5 mg increments per week until the desired dose is reached. For the treatment of ADHD and sleeping disorders, the adult starting dose of the instant release form is 5 mg to 10 mg, once or twice per day. Doctors sometimes prescribe Adderall with other medications to help someone lose weight. In addition, studies show that many students turn to Adderall and other performance-enhancing drugs to study. It is important to note that the research on the effects of Adderall related to anxiety has only been on people with ADHD.
Chemically, Adderall is a mixture of four amphetamine salts; specifically, it is composed of equal parts (by mass) of amphetamine aspartate monohydrate, amphetamine sulfate, dextroamphetamine sulfate, and dextroamphetamine saccharate. In 1994, Richwood Pharmaceuticals acquired Rexar and began promoting Obetrol as a treatment for ADHD (and later narcolepsy as well), now marketed under the brand name of Adderall, a contraction of the phrase "A.D.D. for All" intended to convey that "it was meant to be kind of an inclusive thing" for marketing purposes. The new formulation simply replaced the two methamphetamine components with dextroamphetamine and amphetamine components of the same weight (the other two original dextroamphetamine and amphetamine components were preserved), preserved the Obetrol branding, and despite it lacking FDA approval, it still made it onto the market and was marketed and sold by Rexar for many years. Amphetamine is eliminated via the kidneys, with 30–40% of the drug being excreted unchanged at normal urinary pH. When the urinary pH is basic, amphetamine is in its free base form, so less is excreted. The half-lives of amphetamine enantiomers differ and vary with urine pH. At normal urine pH, the half-lives of dextroamphetamine and levoamphetamine are 9–11 hours and 11–14 hours, respectively. Both active ingredients of Adderall, dextroamphetamine and levoamphetamine, bind to the same biological targets, but their binding affinities (that is, potency) differ somewhat.
Originally, Adderall was developed to treat narcolepsy; it should not be used to treat tiredness or other sleep-related problems without a doctor’s specific instructions and prescription. The statistical calculation called Effect Size that measures how well a treatment works is very robust. The benefits of Adderall XR are typically felt within an hour of taking the medication.
As noted above, misuse of this medication can cause sudden death or severe cardiovascular outcomes. It’s important to work with your doctor to consider the risks before you start taking Adderall if you are pregnant or breastfeeding. Additional research has found that dexamphetamine, one of the ingredients in Adderall, can transfer into breast milk.
