I usually take 20 mg adderall in the morning anytime from 8-9:30 am. The therapeutic effects for the 4 hours that it’s sold as lasting. The problem is that I have difficulty falling asleep 1-2 hours past my bed time.

And I’m going to have to start taking it in the afternoon. I’ve heard eating citrus helps counteract the effects. I’ve tried melatonin, which has helped to a degree

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[–] NakedNateRollerSkate@lemmy.dbzer0.com 0 points 4 weeks ago

I've been taking adderall for about 20 years and my sleep is pretty excellent even with a newborn. Here's what I do.

Lower your dose to 10-15mg twice a day. I take mine around 8am and 12pm. Go easy on the caffeine throughout the day. Try to get some exercise. This next part is key: create a bedtime wind-down routine. I shower every night, floss, brush my teeth, and put on a moisturizer. I can still get to bed without the next two meds most of the time. I've been doing this routine the same way for a long time and it is the main contributor for why I sleep so well. Then I take .25 mg clonazepam and 10 mg dissolvable melatonin. Get into bed in a cool environment, don't fiddle with your phone, and just settle in. It helps even more if you have roughly the same bedtime every night.

One downside: long-term use of even low dose clonazepam can affect your memory. I've only needed clonazepam for about 5 years because I started having panic attacks at some point and then insomnia. I do take weekly breaks from both adderall and clonazepam for as many days as my productivity can handle. That's usually 2-3 "crash" days. I eventually plan to cut back on the clonazepam entirely.

Also, I forgot to mention, I take low dose Zoloft to help balance out the irritability of the adderall. That helps make me a much more patient person. I highly recommend it, but your brain chemistry may vary.