Breakfast and Adderall IR Effectiveness

Since having RNY I have noticed the decreasing effectiveness with Adderall IR. However having a good breakfast has helped with it and I am curious how others here have dealt with it.

For a month or so I thought the Adderall was a bad batch or losing its potency. Thinking about it I have come up with the conclusion that I need a heavier protein for breakfast, which allows the Adderall IR to remain in the pouch and be absorbed longer. Eggs seemed to help a lot and I have been doing that, but you get bored with the same old thing. I have also noticed how the eggs just do not stick with me as long as they used to as well. I had been eating a cup of Greek yogurt pretty regularly for months as a breakfast and had noticed how the medication wore off or just did not seem to help me.

I need some breakfast ideas to shake up the same old same old. My typical breakfast consists of 2-3 eggs fried or scrambled 1-2 strips bacon, and some grated cheese. An alternative was a cup of Greek yogurt with a tablespoon of pecans and tablespoon of raisins. I miss that full, satisfied feeling I had after eating which seems to have slowly gone away, any ideas?

Hello,

Thank you for sharing and posting all you are going through. We did a search for "Adderall IR and found some other posts discussing Adderall IR.  We hope this helps you find the answers you are looking for.

I take adderall IR as well. Initially post op I was on vyvanse and I didn't think it was working well at all so I opted for adderall ir 20 mg twice daily. I was still having trouble and the 20 mg twice daily was the amount I was on when I was 270 pounds. I asked my psychiatrist and he said I should try breaking in half and take 10 mg 4 times a day. Eventually I have found the most effective dosage when I get 60 30 mg pills and I split them up and take 15 4 times a day. I wish I knew some other tricks to make it more effective. Try talking with your psychiatrist and see if he or she thinks taking smaller doses more often would be beneficial. 

It's funny because I actually find the exact opposite- I find it much more effective when I take it on an empty stomach. In fact, when I do so I find it hits me much harder sometimes than pre-surgery.

Empty stomach does give me a quick reaction, but also seems to dissipate faster. I was taking the XR 30 mg pre-surgery once a day and it was great. Had to switch to IR twice daily with 30 mg and have noticed ups and downs with it. I have found that I still need to full dosage to keep me going. I cant imagine lower the dosage, I will go nuts. This morning I had a sausage patty with a couple of eggs and cheese, then took the Adderall IR shortly after while still full. Better this morning than yesterday. What do you guys eat for breakfast?

It doesn't matter what you eat with it or how long it stays in your pouch because your pouch doesn't absorb the medication, your intestine does.  Some medications suggest NOT taking it with dairy products, and although Adderall isn't one of them, you might be seeing a slight difference if you are eating yogurt.  Other than that, there is likely no real correlation to the medication effectiveness and what you have for breakfast.

You should contact the prescribing physician and see what (s)he says.

Yogurt is a slider food that empties rapidly out of your pouch and so usually won't give you a very full feeling. 

Lora

This is why I brought it up here, as to hear from  WLS folks who take it there experience. I have heard both sides whether food helps or not. For me it has helped immensely to eat something before taking Adderall. I was told by my doctor that I needed to switch from the XR to the IR since it would no longer be absorbed in the intestines as well, thus needing it to be absorbed in the stomach to be effective. But that was the case for a medication that had time release, not instant. By that logic it makes sense that having it stay in the stomach longer will be more beneficial.

Even the IR does not get absorbed in the stomach/pouch, though.  It still gets absorbed in the intestine.  The difference is that the IR breaks down right away and starts getting absorbed as soon as it gets into the intestine right away whereas the XR breaks down little by little, getting absorbed little by little, and the problem is that, because of the bypass, we are missing part of the intestine, so we "run out of" intestine for it to get absorbed by before it is done dissolving.

So no matter what the formulation, it isn't getting absorbed in your pouch.  Your stomach was not designed to absorb nutrients, that is the job of the intestine.

Lora