So far, I've tried Strattera, Ritalin IR and Concerta XR, and with each medication , I've had a harsh comedown. Strattera and Concerta both made me feel depressed when it wore off. I would start to think really negatively about everything, would get a "whats the point in life?" attitude and worry about everything excessively. Ritalin was the worst, because it gave me intense anxiety attacks when it wore off, like sweating hands, feelings of nervousness and panic, and would even crash more than once a day because I had to re-dose.

Ritalin and Concerta were effective while they were working, just the crash was the problem. All of doses were low so that can't be the issue and I don't get depressed/anxious when I'm off the meds.

So my questions are, is it common to crash? How severe is your crash? How do you deal with it? And do any medications work for you without a harsh comedown?

I've taken Adderall Xr and Vyvanse and the exact same thing happened to me. They worked great and heightened my mood a bit while they were in my system, but when they wore off it was like night and day. I also felt very socially anxious while I was on these. I've decided these aren't worth taking for me, at least regularly. For you, It could be a problem with the dosage. You may need an Instant release booster in the evening to avoid a crash. I dealt with a bit of depression before I started stims and the crash made me feel CHRONICALLY depressed and agitated - this has made me decide they're not for me. I'm gunna ask my doc if I can try one of the antidepressants that help with ADD like wellbutrin or norpramin to see if they help with my depression and ADD together.

I take an immediate release in the late afternoon, at about half my regular dose if I were taking IRs all day (so say 60mg XR = 3 x 20mg IR so the late dose would be 10mg IR).

That stops the crash from happening as early, and makes it less intense.

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Doubt it, I was taking 18 mg of concerta and 5 mg of ritalin, which is the lowest dose. Also, don't see how taking an IR would help. Think it would just prolong the crash and stop me from sleeping earlier.

I read that effexor is a good anti depressant to use instead of a stimulant, for ADD, because it increases noradrenaline levels, as well as serotonin.

I'm guessing that it's not common to have such a bad comedown from the medication, I just can't imagine people going through it every day.

I generally don't experience a day-to-day crash, but experience one if I take my ADHD medications for a week or so then abruptly stop. (I like to take breaks.) Those hurt.

Perhaps the fact that I am also on antidepressants has something to do with my lack of a daily crash? I was never aware of this before, but I'd believe it as a possibility.

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| Diagnoses : MDD | ADHD | ASD | BD-NOS | BPD |
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Medications:
Zoloft 150mg | Dexedrine SR 30mg | Lamictal 100mg
Miscellaneous:
Cymbalta 30mg BID | Ritalin SR 40mg | Remeron 15mg

Yeah, I heard anti depressants mitigate crashes or stop them completely, so that's always an option.

Maybe just move away from the methylphenidate family? With concerta and Ritalin I always crashed but with dex and adderall I don't.

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Is adderall way better? Ritalin just doesn't seem to last long

I've now tried dexamfetamine, and it's almost exactly the same as ritalin, for me, in effect and crash, so looks like I'll need an anti anxiety med.

Btw ritalin and dexamfetamine lasts 2 hours and concerta works for ages, like 10 hours, but that's just me.