I was recently diagnosed with ADD and, frankly, Adderall has completely changed my life. I can remember the conversations I was having an hour ago, I can recognize people's faces, driving is safer now that I can pay attention, etc.

So that sets up my question: if you take a 20mg Adderall XR does that mean you get two doses of 20mg or two doses of 10mg? (One dose instantly then another +/- 4hrs. later.)

I'm currently taking one 20mg XR in the morning and then a 20mg IR in the evening, but from how I feel and from what I've read online that's actually coming out to doses of: 10mg, 10mg, 20mg. Am I right? Because I feel the best on 20mg IR but my psychiatrist seems reluctant to switch to a higher dose of the extended release capsules. I can't tell if he doesn't understand how Adderall XR works or if there's just something here I'm not getting.

The thing is, I'm so relieved that I can finally pay attention to anything that I'm pretty much willing to take what I can get. I feel like I should be maintaining a level dose throughout the day, and if that's an important enough issue then I'll switch to a lower dose of the instant release, but I would obviously prefer to stay at 20mg since that's been working great for a few months now.

Sorry for the lengthy explanation post but this is really bothering me and I don't know how to bring this up with my psychiatrist without sounding like I'm angling for a bigger fix or accusing him of getting my meds wrong. Any help would be really appreciated, thanks!