Adderall (amphetamine mixed salts)

[GSH]

Originally Posted by mykefans

Does that mean you forget all you read after 3hours?

jesus, are these serious questions?

[peeps]

It feels wonderful the first few times you take it (confident, happy), but becomes less impressive over time. I also feel that it overworks my body so by the end of the day my muscles are tense; it also makes my mouth very dry. It might be worth a try for some people, but beware it can be very deceiving as a beginner, because it makes you high the first few times you take it, which might make you think you've found the ultimate treatment. Good for focus, but not so wonderful for mood/anxiety in the long run. It can also increase agitation, anxiety, and anger, especially when you come down.

I find that there is a lot of wishful thinking surrounding this drug,especially for people who have tried it a few times and felt so stimulated and wonderful on it. It definitely leaves a pleasant lasting impression, but in my experience, it's not a very effective treatment for social anxiety disorder and not so great long-term, I'm afraid.

I was diagnosed with ADHD, and, as treatment for that disorder, it's somewhat helpful but I think my anxiety is what ultimately impairs my concentration. I get tired of taking this medication.

But kudos to people who are willing to try something and keep their options open to fight SA; I think it's a strength when one strives for relief of mental issues whether it's through therapy, meds, etc. Just don't get too excited over stimulants as treatment.

[Xande]

Originally Posted by peeps

It might be worth a try for some people, but beware it can be very deceiving as a beginner, because it makes you high the first few times you take it, which might make you think you've found the ultimate treatment. Good for focus, but not so wonderful for mood/anxiety in the long run. It can also increase agitation, anxiety, and anger, especially when you come down.

I think it's a strength when one strives for relief of mental issues whether it's through therapy, meds, etc. Just don't get too excited over stimulants as treatment.

You make some very good points

[Chaplin]

I've taken Adderall for my general anxiety and depression for a number of years in conjunction w/ other meds. First, it did seem to calm me down, which seems counter-intuitive as it is a stimulant, and perhaps it helped me counteract the depression and general lethargy I was feeling at the time. I had tried many SSRI's with little benefit so the doc and I were willing to give this a try.

That said, Adderall did not give me extraordinary amounts of energy, pep, or focus .... but I didn't really expect/intend such results. However, the drug has some potentially serious drawbacks in that it can be addictive/abused, it made me sweat a great deal even just sitting around the house, increases heart-rate and blood-pressure, and causes insomnia if not taken correctly.

[The Professor]

anyone who takes this long term is f***ed

[jafka633]

I know medication is important as a stabiliser but adderall surely has to be the wrong answer. As an amphetamine it will literally put holes in your brain, killing of cells in the all important mood centres. If you take it long enough you won't have any dopaminergic neurons left in these areas that control mood i.e you'll never be able to feel good. The answer is to use it if it helps ALONG with dealing with your core emotional beliefs that are causing trouble that leads to SA i.e defectiveness etc..then come off the adderall all together as well as all other meds. You won't need them then.

[GD8]

I do online schooling and I was behind in one of my classes so I took adderall to help me catch up, I did half my web design class in one day and got so much other **** done but the side effects were ridiculous. I felt like a robot, couldn't get a boner until the day after (lol), and wanted to kill myself when I started coming down. I've been pretty depressed at times but never as depressed as when I was coming down from adderall, I just sat in my room in the dark staring at the wall for like 2 hours straight.

I would never take it regularly, especially not for social anxiety. It does nothing for social anxiety in my experience. I def wouldn't recommend taking it.

[RonM]

I've been prescribed Adderall for a while now and take it as needed.

For those talking about negative longterm effects- I'm curious to know where you're getting your information. As far as I know, not many studies have been conducted.

Could you cite some sources?

[Cub]

^ Err, the word "amphetamine" should answer your question, no source needed. O__o

Pretty much any drug long-term will come down on you in some form, though.

[RonM]

Yeah, no, still need sources on this specifically.

[Cassabell]

Originally Posted by RonM

Yeah, no, still need sources on this specifically.

hmmm I found something that doesnt sound so bad, how good the source is though im not to sure:

Brain: Some studies have shown that stimulant use in people with ADHD may increase the size of certain parts related to controlling focus, motivation and attention. This is very positive. Some studies we’ve looked at of students on long term use of stimulants showed improvement in overall academic performance as well.
On the other hand, some animal models have hinted at the possibility that use of stimulants can increase the build up of free radicals in the brain. Even if this is the case, it might be amenable by healthy consumption of anti-oxidants.

from http://healthlifeandstuff.com/2010/0...s-of-adderall/

[The Professor]

Originally Posted by RonM

I've been prescribed Adderall for a while now and take it as needed.

For those talking about negative longterm effects- I'm curious to know where you're getting your information. As far as I know, not many studies have been conducted.

Could you cite some sources?

I'm not going to search for sources right now. Take my word or do your own research. Believe me, I have done days and days of hardcore, legit research on adderall. You do NOT want to be on it long term (more than 1 or 2 years). Essentially, long term use downregulates your dopamine receptors and causes you to "have to have it" just to be normal, in terms of happiness, motivation, cognitive functioning, and just about everything dopamine is responsible for.

I'm not too concerned about it's neurotoxicity. It's physical addiction that's the problem. I'm sure you know the difference b/w mental and physical addiction, but just to be clear you can easily "choose" to stop taking it, but you realize that you feel like crap, aren't able to accomplish anything, and decide that you have to go back on it.

I'm not sure if the downregulation is reversible... it might be. I've heard 6 months to a year of being off of it and you will go back to normal.

[RonM]

That's a lot more helpful. I just got to wondering how much information was anecdotal and how much was legit.

I can see the addictive element being a problem as well as as dependance.

My doc only mentioned heart issues, but I'm going to have to ask about longterm effects.

[The Professor]

Originally Posted by RonM

That's a lot more helpful. I just got to wondering how much information was anecdotal and how much was legit.

I can see the addictive element being a problem as well as as dependance.

My doc only mentioned heart issues, but I'm going to have to ask about longterm effects.

If you have serious ADD then I think it can be easily justified for you to be on it. It is a miracle drug for inattentive ADD, and pretty much everything else that I have. I just think everyone needs to know the risks and know what they are getting themselves into when starting a long term treatment with this. It makes me sick to see parents have their young children put on one of the hardest, most dangerous drugs in the world. They'd be better off shooting them up with heroin (not even joking).

see my thread here on how it help with SA:
http://www.socialanxietysupport.com/...eat-sa-156331/

[jestech]

This drug makes you crash and you feel worse than you did before you took it. So, it's 4 hours of glee followed by feeling like a turd. Also, it is IMPOSSIBLE to find online, it's literally easier to find OC 120's than this stuff, so if you don't have a legit MD script....forget it.

[cleanv]

Adderall haha well this is one hell of a drug.

i got onto adderall for my ADD, and at first it did wonders. like everyone else stated it made me into a hole new person i was really extroverted and had so much motivation to do my work. but the euphoric effects of it went away really quickly, now i dred taking adderal. it makes me feel flat. i'm never happy, i'm never sad, i'm never excited. im mellow all the time. i only take it cause it makes me do better in school. i don't take it on Thursdays so it wares off by friday so i can actually go and hangout with my friends and family. i have also recently been disagnosed with social anxiety and have started taking prozac. all in all i don't recommend adderal at first it's great but the greatness goes away, definitely not needed for social anxiety

[teaza]

Originally Posted by drew

(copied over from old review system)

posted by noca

treatment experience
adderall xr is about as good as it gets folks for sa/depression/add treatment. One 30mg pill vanquishes my anxiety, turns me into an extrovert and makes me talkative beyond belief. I started using it 2 months ago and i still love every moment on it.

I've been crazy depressed and when this little pill gets in the way, it stops all suicidal thoughts and makes me feel alive again! It puts a smile on my face where one has not been seen in decades. I basically need this pill daily to stop my depression.

As for my add, it gives me superhuman concentration abilities and motivation from beyond. One pill makes me actually enjoy working!

Only cons of this medication is that you need to take it when you wake up or you wont be able to sleep. Its effects also only last 12 hours and when they are gone, you revert back to dr. Hyde.

This medication costs about $125 for a months worth of 30mgs xr. Its the best money you will ever spend. Talk about getting your life back geez!

the best drug evermade
.,my doc wont give it because i have vericose veins..talk about hard to get...i miss them over8mo. Want to jump off bridge

[GotAnxiety]

I agree with the professor here i was on Dexedrine long term as a kid it totally mess me up suicidal depression at a young age is not good Adderall isn't much different and actually i prefer just the Levo side too it and i think it safer then the Dex side, but then again i was never on Adderall xr long term so maybe the neruotransmitors of the levo side never down regulate like the Dex did too me, kinda counter productive giving ya a drug that can fry ya brain too make ya smarter in the long run you won't be so smart.

Something that enchances dopamine would be better in the longrun then something that releases, levo good stuff gets you up and moving i never really experience down regulation with that it's the Dex that causes the depression.

Adderall xr i thought it wasn't too bad actually i think it more useful then just the Dexedrine alone cause it work's on more neurotransmitters then just Dopamine it still causes depression and the crash can be worst then Dexedrine alone but it a shame you can't get single isolated Levo salt's too see if you can get by just on that would be better maybe for inattentive types where Dexdrine causes most of the euphoria and it seem's it causes most of the depression as well.

[AyGozal]

Based on my magnum experience [which I am not proud of], Adderall [TM] is a fomulation of amphetamine salts [I mean the current formulation, not the classic one], most of which cause nasty peripheral adv. effs.
Dextroamphetamine sulfate, a component of Adderall [TM], causes a stronger 'focusing' effect, in my opinion, and lasts much longer than Adderall [TM] with a more pronounced psychomotor stimulation effect as well - after having used Dexedrine [TM] and DextroStat for years, I was forced to switch to Adderall [TM] (no more TMs from now on, I promise) due to the stimulant crisis of New York, and found it to be impractical, and subsequently useless when I realized that 30mg tid {90mg QD} compared to my regular DASO4 tab aa 10mg; 2 tabs tid {60mg QD} was neither effective as a stimulant [I happen to be one of those who actually has something called EDS, excessive daytime sleepiness, therefore, I require a stimulant to promote wakefulness as well as clarity in concentration, AND mood elevation - yes I am a complicated case] nor as a mood elevating agent...in fact it worked for only a few hours [the IR formulation worked longer than the XR, has anyone experienced this amusing phenomenon?] and then I came plummeting down, desiring sleep, redosing and springing up again for a few hours, only to crash again...mood swings and anorexia partout along with GI discomfort.
I tried lower doses, they had less of a tendency to elicit prolonged states of emotional lability with marked rabid-dog-like aggression (to the point that I had to self medicate myself with some ancient risperidone and then start low dose Depakote), but I found myself sleeping incessantly and getting up to go use the WC a few times a day [number 2, mind you].
I can only compare 90mg of Adderall [IR and XR, IR being the more polite of the two] to a bad generic version of Cylert [which I never tried, but I can imagine]. In fact, Cylert, despite its infamous non-stimulating stimulant effects, actually worked...too bad it was so deadly.
15mg of DASO4 ER once daily would be far more useful [for me] than 30mg of Adderall TID. The jitters, the shakes, the confusion, the bouts of insane sleep, the GI problems with anorexia and the emotional instability it caused was just absurd....
I know most people are just fine with Adderall, and that's great. But I see it as an unnecessary blend of crap with only one therapeutically necessary ingredient. It seems like Adderall is more helpful for children as well, due to my observations [I know many a child on Adderall, and that many a child is super fine on it whereas Dexedrine and Focalin make him groggy]
My conclusion is; Adderal is to Ritalin what Dexedrine is to Focalin. Anyone agree? It's just not a social drug, primarily due to the tremor and the bursts of motivation followed by downfall into misery very quickly. This is not good for social anxiety in my opinion. I'd rather be stable and miserable than jump around like that.
[sorry this is so long. blame the Adderall...i'm not even kidding]

[luke1996]

was this drug that cause of my sa