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Hi,
I was just wondering what other students who have ADHD have done in terms of medications while on-call. My third year is kind of weird in that half of my clerkships require overnight call and half dont (but you are there really late and early the next day, so it isnt exactly a cakewalk!) and my schedule happens to fall so that all of my overnight rotations are in the spring. I am also going to talk to my psychiatrist in the next week, but was wondering if others had ideas or suggestions.
I have been taking Adderall XR for a while which has been really great. I actually ended up dividing my dose (I was taking 30 in the AM, now taking 10 in the AM and 10 around noon which works much better for me - more effective with no side-effects). I used to take the non-XR, which worked amazingly well...for about 2-3 hours. (Yes, I know it is supposed to last longer, but it never did, even in fairly large doses which were too high for me.) Call nights, however, are hard as it wears off before my work is done. The last couple I took my second dose later (around 3 or 4 PM) which meant it lasted longer, but made the early afternoon harder. (And my next rotation I hear I will be up all night! Eek!)
Next question: Post-call. I take a dose in the AM, and then skip my noon-dose. But I have had a lot of trouble taking a nap, falling asleep really late (3 or 4 PM), not waking up (alarms are hopeless when I am exhausted!), and then have trouble getting back to sleep for the night. (Of course, I could just stay up, but I feel so bleck and really non-productive).
Anyone else have solutions or formulas that work for them?
NB: I do not want to debate whether or not ADHD "really" exists or whether it should be treated or anything like that. I really want an open discussion of what has worked well and hasnt worked for other students in the same situation!
I was just wondering what other students who have ADHD have done in terms of medications while on-call. My third year is kind of weird in that half of my clerkships require overnight call and half dont (but you are there really late and early the next day, so it isnt exactly a cakewalk!) and my schedule happens to fall so that all of my overnight rotations are in the spring. I am also going to talk to my psychiatrist in the next week, but was wondering if others had ideas or suggestions.
I have been taking Adderall XR for a while which has been really great. I actually ended up dividing my dose (I was taking 30 in the AM, now taking 10 in the AM and 10 around noon which works much better for me - more effective with no side-effects). I used to take the non-XR, which worked amazingly well...for about 2-3 hours. (Yes, I know it is supposed to last longer, but it never did, even in fairly large doses which were too high for me.) Call nights, however, are hard as it wears off before my work is done. The last couple I took my second dose later (around 3 or 4 PM) which meant it lasted longer, but made the early afternoon harder. (And my next rotation I hear I will be up all night! Eek!)
Next question: Post-call. I take a dose in the AM, and then skip my noon-dose. But I have had a lot of trouble taking a nap, falling asleep really late (3 or 4 PM), not waking up (alarms are hopeless when I am exhausted!), and then have trouble getting back to sleep for the night. (Of course, I could just stay up, but I feel so bleck and really non-productive).
Anyone else have solutions or formulas that work for them?
NB: I do not want to debate whether or not ADHD "really" exists or whether it should be treated or anything like that. I really want an open discussion of what has worked well and hasnt worked for other students in the same situation!
