I just got prescribed Adderall for treatment-resistant depression and probably ADHD. I haven’t officially been diagnosed with ADHD yet but I have the testing scheduled for next month. I’ve thought for years that I had it, but I’ve been wasting my time at clinics for poor people, where they absolutely refuse to even consider prescribing any medication anyone might possibly want for nefarious purposes, even though I’ve tried everything else. It’s really maddening but there were very few regular psych practices that took my insurance. I finally checked again and found one. Then I almost cancelled my appointment when I saw that they had Christian stuff all over their website because I thought that seemed unprofessional, but I’m glad I didn’t because it’s actually a good place.
And it’s sooo much more pleasant than the poor people clinics. I love the lack of a packed claustrophobia-inducing waiting room with screaming kids and for some reason it’s like 85 degrees year-round. I’m so mad I wasted all that time, and eventually gave up for a while, thinking that no doctor would ever help me.
Anyway, now that I finally got it, I’m kind of nervous to start the Adderall. It’s 20mg which seems like kind of a high dose to start with? It’s XR though, so it’s not going to hit me all at once. I’m starting it tomorrow morning. People who have taken it, what was your experience? Did you have insomnia? What dose did you start with? Am I going to die?
Well, you guys are not very helpful! But I took it a couple hours ago and nothing bad happened. I feel more alert but certainly not high or anything (one psychiatrist told me yeah, it helps depression because you’re high all time…whatever). I’ve never taken any hard drugs and didn’t want to. But it seems fine. Now the only thing is to wait and see if I’m able to sleep tonight.
I’ve never been prescribed Adderrall, but lets just say I’m familiar with it and others. I can see where it would help with depression because of the reasons your psychiatric suggested. 20 is a bit of a high dose to start off with, but you’ll quickly adjust. Sleep will be illusive for a week or so but you should adjust to that too.
Side note: Amphetamines make me randy as hell, so hopefully you have an outlet for that.
My teenage son has been taking Adderall XR for years. He just got increased to 25mg but did take the 20 for a couple of years. He really seems to have no side effects- he does have insomnia, but that can be normal for a teenager, so we don’t know if it’s related, but melatonin helps him get to sleep very well. He doesn’t have any reduced appetite (unfortunately!) or any other side effects at all. You should be fine with it.
It doesn’t seem to be affecting me a whole lot in any way. I definitely feel somewhat more alert, but with it being a controlled substance and people calling it speed and all, I thought it might be some huge thing. I’m still just hanging out and not feeling compelled to do anything productive.
Appetite suppression is the one side effect I really wouldn’t mind (I guess I didn’t even want euphoria, because the addiction potential is so high). I don’t know if I have that or not because I often don’t eat until late in the day anyway. But food doesn’t sound repulsive or anything. Some people say they have to force themselves to scarf down any food while they’re on it and I want to be one of them. I was like that for a while once years ago (not due to any medication, I don’t know what it was about) and I was so skinny.
Foggy, your depression is extremely severe IIRC, so I guess it’s not surprising they let you try it. Then again, mine was extremely severe for a while a few years ago and they still were like fuck no. Anyway, I’m sorry to hear it didn’t help you.
I was diagnosed with ADHD by a neurologist this summer and my psychiatrist believes that I have it, but my therapist (psychologist) does not. She thinks my inattentiveness, procrastination, inability to concentrate or begin work projects, impulsive speech, forgetfulness, etc. are just a symptom of anxiety. I don’t think she’s right, but I don’t want to argue with her, so I’m not on any medication for ADHD now, just trying to use behavioral coping techniques.
My neurologist put me on 20 mg XR back in October, and although I couldn’t tell in the moment, it was basically making me manic. I felt fine and was really enjoying all the new energy, motivation, and focus (and the hundreds of great ideas I suddenly had), plus not having an appetite made me lose a few pounds. It took my therapist telling me that I appeared to her to be either having a manic episode or was under the influence of drugs for me to decide to stop taking it.
There are other, less potent, drugs my psychiatrist suggested (like Strattera, which is not a stimulant), but I feel like I’d be openly defying my therapist if I agreed to take them.
Now I do feel kind of weird. I’m a bit dizzy and have a dry mouth and I don’t think I would want to eat even if I had something really good (I got pizza last night for one final enjoyment of food in case this happened). I definitely do not feel more motivated to do anything productive though, unfortunately. Today I don’t have anything major I have to do, so I’ll have to wait and see how I feel on a work day. It’s normally very hard for me to get started for the day. I do need to do the dishes and I haven’t even done that yet, so that’s pretty lame of me. I thought I was supposed to be a flurry of getting stuff done. And I tried to watch TV and still ended up pausing it and doing something else every couple minutes (or less) like I always do.
Your reaction sounds kind of scary, gallows. That’s the kind of thing that made me nervous to take it. Did it happen right away when you first took it? I would think if anything big was going to happen to me it would have happened by now, but I don’t know that for sure. I was just talking to my mom (who is extremely concerned about me taking this) and she thinks I sound fine, so for now I’m pretty sure I’m not having any reaction that I’m just not realizing.
And yeah, you can never get anywhere arguing with healthcare professionals. Most of them seem to strongly hate being disagreed with at all. There was one time I managed to get some pain pills from a doctor who first didn’t want to give them to me, but then it was just Tramadol, which sucks.
The dry mouth is common. You may find yourself consistently more thirsty than before, so you might benefit from getting into the habit of carrying some water with you as a rule.
The best thing about adderall is the mornings are easier. Get some bottled water or something and keep it by your bed with your meds. If you need to be up at 9 - set an alarm at 8 - take your dose and go back to sleep. It’s like a magic alarm clock.
Any high you get off adderall usually goes away pretty quickly. I’ve felt no need to take more than I’m prescribed, but I’m on 60 per day. I’ve been taking it for over 10 years. It does help with treatment resistant depression, but isn’t a magic bullet - at least for me.
Dry mouth gets a little better, but hasn’t gone away totally.
There are several effects from adderall - at least that I’ve noticed. I think I can say there is the:
Morning effect
Focusing effect
Energizing effect
Anti Depressent effect
Euphoric effect (warm sunshine in your soul)
To me - 5 goes away 1st - as did 2&3 later. 1 & 4 are still there. 1&3 are NOT the same - I can’t explain why, but I just KNOW it to be true.
So - if you notice something not working as well - pay attention to everything - it is easy to think the drug isn’t working anymore - when it might just be one aspect of it.
I found that when the Adderall was wearing off, I was more inclined to drink, which is not good, especially since I was more inclined to feel down than I was without it. So be sure to watch out for that.
Already do I love drinking water but sometimes I try to limit it because I hate having to pee all the time. See? I have a slight motivation problem.
I did. Not just because of that, she just sucked in general. She made me come in every 3 months just for a Wellbutrin refill, and I think it was just for the money. And she was a bit short on common sense. Once she called me and said in a very alarmed tone, “Blackberry! I’m calling about your STD screening!” Of course I’m thinking, “Shit. Fuck. Goddammit. What the hell do I have?” Then she said she just messed up the test and needed to redo it. Like I was going to subject myself to that *again *anyway. So now if I have any asymptomatic untreated STDs that are slowly killing me, well, it’s all her fault. Oh, and when I was 126 lbs she told me to keep my weight below 125 (I’m 5’4).
Is the difference that the morning thing more of an unmotivated thing than an energy thing? Because I have a hard time getting up and going for both reasons I guess. Well, I’ve felt absolutely terrible lately because I wasn’t taking any medication including my thyroid medication, and I found out I’m severely deficient in Vitamin D. Now I’m back on the thyroid med and taking Vitamin D and I am SO ready not to feel like shit.
Will do. It’s probably not really a good idea to drink while getting used to any new medication. Not that that’s always stopped me.
We are all going to die. If you make a big thing out of taking this stuff it will have more effect than if you just take it and go on about your business. Insomnia at first, but as your tolerance builds you will get over that. Just remember it is not a miracle drug but it may help you make changes in your lifestyle for the better. Also do not share the fact you are taking this stuff, there are people who would befreind you to get some, it is very expensive on the street. And from what I hear it is also very expensive at the pharmacy. Good luck.
I’ve been taking it for awhile and the “morning effect” is pretty much as described above. It took me from a “fuzzy-headed can’t focus at work feel like I’ll face-plant on the keyboard at any moment” person and gave me much more clarity and focus to get me through the day. I’m totally exhausted by the end of the work day, however, but that’s better than being totally exhausted all the time. I only take one in the morning so I haven’t really noticed any sleep problems from it, and I don’t take it on weekends unless I really need to knock the brain-fog out.
I’ve been going to a free clinic for birth control for years now and yes, it is a “poor people clinic” and no, I did not see anything condescending or negative in what you said. It sometimes sucks to wait for what seems like forever around very sick people, sick children, etc. And of course it’s not their fault that they’re sick, or that everyone has to wait a long time, or that we’re all at a clinic meant for low income people, but that doesn’t make one a bad person to feel a twinge of annoyance sometimes- it’s human nature.
Funny anecdote. About a year ago I was waiting for my birth control shot and a pregnant woman was complaining about having to wait. Her husband said nothing then when she finally paused looked up from his phone and very dryly said, “We may be going to war with Syria.”
Unfortunately I have nothing to add about Adderall as I have never taken it, but my mom takes it for narcolepsy. It’s very helpful for her and I hope it is helpful for you.
Do you take the XR version or the immediate release one? My doctor said XR lasts 24 hours but the levels are lower by the evening. I think I slept okay eventually. I have no idea what time I finally went to sleep, but I didn’t wake up until noon. So of course I didn’t take today’s dose until noon so it might not wear off until late, and I do have to work all day tomorrow. We’ll see what happens.
Yes. One time I was sitting right next to a very obese man who seemed to be halfway into my chair, and he was snoring! Why was he sleeping in public? I don’t know. Maybe he had a medical condition and couldn’t help it. But it still made my wait very unpleasant. I didn’t know this, but the psychologist said sensory issues often go along with ADHD, and I definitely have a lot of sensory issues. Noises, smells, bright lights, and anything uncomfortable affect me a LOT. Sitting in a packed, loud, stuffy waiting room is like torture. I mean, boo hoo, first world problems and all…but it just makes it that much harder for me to motivate myself to go to these ridiculous appointments.
I love drinking water but sometimes I try to limit it because I hate having to pee all the time. See? I have a slight motivation problem.