Adderall after RNY surgery

Hi all. I take 30 mg of adderall 2x a day (instant release). It worked great before my surgery but now it has almost like I didn't take it. I even tried to take 45 mg once and it helped only a small amount. When the med does work, it lasts maybe 2 hours. I have ADD pretty bad and require a significant amount of focus for my job (social work). I had my surgery 3 weeks ago and the med worked great until then.

anyone else take adderall? If so, similar issues or have done anything to make it more effective?

thanks

I don't have experience with Adderal but you may be dealing with other issues.

Because of RNY - our absorbtion can be affected. When I take some meds, I know they get better absorbed if I take them without food, but just with water, or green tea.

Also, during a very fast weigh loss our body released a lot of hormons, some that were hold in our fat cells, or hormones that are released following a very serious surgery.

It may the hormons that interfere with the Adderall.

I hope it gets better for you. I would not hesitate and call the doc who prescribed them for you.

I would suggest calling your doctor. It could be that you aren't absorbing your medication like before like H.A.L.A.B said. I know that post-surgery birth control in pill form is not recommended because we cannot absorb the pills completely and therefor it is no longer an effective form of birth control.

I have never taken Adderall, however, it you have the immediate release formula, the absorption depends upon the pH of your gut. Basic pH increases its absorption through the lipid-rich cell membranes -- RNY causes malabsorption of lipids (fats) and we have very little acid in our stomachs (why we have to use citrate calcium, etc). Acidic pH changes the drug in its water soluble cationic (salt) form.

Additionally, this drug is metabolized in the liver which is already very taxed while we are losing large amounts of weight.

You may need to break your capsules open to increase absorption, titrate your dosage to find you new effective dose (with your doctor's help, of course), or consider a pro-drug form such as Vyvanse (which is very very similar but processes in the intestines because it's bonded with lysine.) --

I hope this helps put you on a track to find what works for you.

Hi I have not had my RNY yet I am scheduled for Jan 14 2019. I have tried Metadate 30 and 40 mg for ADD. It is similar to Adderall ... it usually only lasted 2.5 hours... I eventually was switched to Focalin long XR 30 mg and it lasts almost 12 hours. It may be that you are building a tolerance to the meds and it may have nothing to do with the RNY ... I have experienced building tolerance as well in the past.

Hi there! I has Roux-en-Y almost 19 years ago in NJ. I am now in Georgia, and facing Adult ADHD, and a search led me here. Can you, or anyone else in the same boat, let me know how Adderall is going for you? I just started on a super low dose and it's no help whatsoever, and my ADHD is CRIPPLING now. Zero functionality/progress on an everyday basis. I am just STUCK! All the Adderall has done (5mg) is give me a giant headache. So now I have a giant headache and cannot function. Fun times! Not! Please, please reach out to me if you hve had experience with ADHD drugs (long) after weight loss surgery, RNY specifically.

Hello Dee,

I am a little over 1 year post op from the gastric bypass and I have severe adhd. Before my bypass I was on Vyvanse 60mg and it worked great. After my bypass my Vyvanse wasn't working very well anymore (lasted maybe 4 hours). Vyvanse is considered an extended release medication and after doing research, I guess gastric bypass patients can't take extended release medications.

I talked with my doctor about switching my adhd to immediate release as well as my antidepressants. We started on 10mg of Adderall twice a day and it didn't help nor did it last 4-6 hours. Then my doctor increased my dose to 20mg twice a day which helped but only lasted 2 to 2.5 hours. When I told my doctor this he refused to increase my dose but did give me a 3rd dose of the 20 mg. So now I take 20mg 3x a day which helps my symptoms only 6 hours out of the whole day. I have read on many forums that immediate release Adderall doesn't last 4-6 hours like it's supposed to for Gastric Bypass patients.

I have been researching an ADHD transdermal patch called, Daytrana. It's like a patch form of ritilan.I haven't tried it but I am thinking about switching to this as it is not affected by our digestive system.

I have also been looking into supplements to take that will also help with adhd, memory, cognition, etc. I haven't tried them all yet but these supplements are supposed to help. I have tried ginseng which helps with energy but not nessessarily with focus.

Fish oil, Ginkgo biloba, ginseng, caffeine, bitter orange, lions mane, and more. I am taking this supplements 1 at a time for a week before adding another supplement to make sure it doesn't mess with my current medications.

Long story short, I felt a little hopeless as my adhd is really bad and my adhd medications don't work like they used to and no doctor is going to prescribe me 20mg every 2 hrs for 8 hours, sadly. I get it though but it hard for me because now I have to look elsewhere for help to supplement my current adhd meds and after a year post op I am still searching. Seriously though, look into Daytrana transdermal patch for adhd (prescription only). If you do take it, let me know how it goes.

I had the same experience. My time release 20mg Adderall worked just fine before my gastric bypass but afterwards was ineffective. My doctor switch me regular pills but thise wore off after a couple hours. My boss was not happy with my proformance, so I had another talk with my physician. The dose was changed to 2 - 10mg pills in the morning and a second in earlier afternoon. (Have to take it before 2pm or it can cause insomnia.) THAT DIDNT WORK EITHER. I discovered it didn't matter how much I take at once it will wear off in a short period of time. My body isn't absorbing the medication like it once did. It isn't sustained in my system long enough to be continuously helpful...my solution? I get the same prescription 3 -10mg pills per day...but I take it differently, only one pill every 2-3 hours depending on how long it last on any given day, or the business or stressful of my work day. If the morning has important meetings or deadlines I start the meds early, before work starts to make sure it's in affect first thing and 'wing it' the last couple hours of my work day. If the afternoon is more important, I hold out for the first hour of work before taking the first dose planning to take that last pill right at 2:00 and pray I have a good day and it's effect last til 5pm. When the entire day is important I wing it. I can really tell when it's worn off. I feel lost, stressed, can't remember what I was working on, get confused about the priorities, what is this excel spreadsheet I created earlier today even for? Is it suppose to mean something to me? Who said, what in the meeting? Did I take notes? Yes. Where are my notes? I have no idea ! Usually about the time I start thinking I'm going to get fired if I don't accomplish something today, I realize...Oh its past time to take my Addrell.

My HMO insurance won't cover taking a dose 3 times a day, so the instructions on the bottle remain 2 pills in the Am and 1 pill in early PM. (Even though your allowed 40mg per day of Addrell) I think it's really dumb, that everyone as to fit into a box and if your body doesn't work that way, then there's nothing we can do for you.

I hope this information is helpful to you, and if you discover any new solutions please feel free to share them with me.

Ps before my surgery I noticed that eating sugary foods affected the effectiveness of my addrell. I didn't concentrate as well after sugar even with the addrell. Lack of sleep also affected me even on medication. The medication can only do so much we still have to take care of ourselves and Help our bodies (and mind) out.