Stimulants My adderall is making me depressed- I need advice!

[sarah123456]

advice please! Im 16. a couple of weeks ago I started taking adderall and zoloft for my add, anxiety, and ocd. when i first started taking the adderall i loved it, i felt smart for the first time in my life. making good grades and staying on top of all y schoolwork. my ocd and anxiety were worsening but i was told that was expected so i didn't sweat it. Ive always been over weight and had low confidence especially in the past year and when my adderall was taking away my appetite and i was losing weight i was thrilled. as time went on i realized i was developing symptoms of anorexia. i went from 156lbs to 136lbs in about a month or a little less. eating only 100-400 calories a day. a couple of months ago i made some new friends, they were popular and we partied together and talked in a group message everyday and recently I've been feeling like they are annoyed with me and don't like me anymore. that is my anxiety coming into effect. it was already bad before and i had a fear of missing out, if i wasny out drinking with my friends then they would leave me and no one would like me anymore. when i drank and hung out with them i felt complete and accepted because i don't have enough confidence to accept myself. I had finally felt like my life was coming together ands then crashed in a second. they started ignoring me and i found out they started a new group message without me and was crushed. now all i do is spend hours on end doing homework and still wondering what the point of anything is anymore. what is the point of my life? why am i here on earth? just so i can learn geometry and world history? with out people accepting me i am nothing. i am very irritable since i started with the 20mg of adderall, everything pisses me of so much. i want to hang out with friends but at the same time i feel like no one wants to be with me. i am scared of weekends because i don't want to spend my friday and saturday nights alone while my so called friends are all having fun together without me. i am scared that i am depressed because honestly what is the fucking point of anything. i mean why do i spend hours and hours woking on home work and studying for things that in the big picture don't even matter. before adderall i was so happy, embracing life and loving getting drunk and high with my friends. i thought there was nothing better, i still think that but it makes me so upset because i feel like I've lost everyone. i have lost motivation to do anything but school wok and its not even fulfilling. nothing completes the empty space in my life.i am never genuinely happy like i used to be. please read my story, i just want to talk to someone and get some advice on what i should do.

 

[kleinerkiffer]

Welcome to Bluelight
That's quite a wall of text. Could you add paragraphs, so it's easier to read?

So you want to ask what you should do, because the Adderall is making you depressed?
Iirc depression can be a side effect, so you could try something else, like Strattera.

Regarding the weight loss, 1-400 kcal is way to little, you can kill yourself with that. Loosing weight while taking stimulants is normal, but you will gain it as soon as you stop taking it. So the best advice is to eat between 1000-1500kcal a day and work out at least three times a week. That's the healthiest way to loose weight permanently.


If I skipped a question of yours or if you want me to elaborate, feel free to ask

 

[Zerwas]

You are way too young to take these two powerful drugs in my opinion. And Adderal/Stimulants for OCD sounds very counterproductive.
I would stop both meds as soon as possible and look into alternative therapy ways like cognitive behavior therapy etc.
You are 16 and still developing. Taking Adderal and Zoloft is a real overkill in that situation and the doctor prescribing that is an extremely bad one in my opinion.
Nobody should take these kind of drugs at such a young age

 

[Ksa]

Adderall is increasing your dopamine, but to reach happiness you need to know what you want. You cannot be confused about it. The idea that your colleagues have to like you may be standing in your way. It is not required for people to like you for you to be happy, where did you read that one from?

But if that bothers you so much, know that I, myself, like you. I like you.

You are way too young to take these two powerful drugs in my opinion. And Adderal/Stimulants for OCD sounds very counterproductive.
I would stop both meds as soon as possible and look into alternative therapy ways like cognitive behavior therapy etc.
You are 16 and still developing. Taking Adderal and Zoloft is a real overkill in that situation and the doctor prescribing that is an extremely bad one in my opinion.
Nobody should take these kind of drugs at such a young age

Adderall isn't taken for OCD it's taken for ADD. OCD is also co-morbid with ADD meaning treating ADD is the top priority to restore functionality. Also, for something to happen, dopamine is required. Without dopamine, nothing happens inside the head regardless of external stimuli. So for behavioral therapy to work and actually cause a change, the person needs to be sensitive to that stimuli by taking Adderall, otherwise all the therapy will enter by one ear and exit by the other.


And no, nobody should have your IQ, at ANY age...prejudicial, intolerant, narrow minded.

 

[PriestTheyCalledHim]

Talk to your doctor that prescribes you both the Adderall/Dexedrine, and the Zoloft about this.

 

[George27]

Taking Adderal and Zoloft is a real overkill in that situation and the doctor prescribing that is an extremely bad one in my opinion.

In the USA there is clearly an amphetamine fad. There was also in my european country, but that is 50 years ago. What is happening to Sarah is what is supposed to happen, a worsening of the symptoms.

In general in the USA they are more heavy-handed with psicoactive meds, for example Iknow of xanax prescriped at doses unheard ( and illegal) here. In recent years there was also an overprescription of opiates resulting now in a skyrocketing wave of heroin addiction.
Maybe the European school of psichiatry and me are wrong and the USA docs are right, but I think that is something to be said in HR forum.

Talk to your doctor that prescribes you both the Adderall/Dexedrine, and the Zoloft about this.

This is for sure the best advice to Sarah.

 

[electric moon]

First, if your "friends" started a group text without you then that's a slap in your face. So fuck them. Second, you should stop the Adderall. I know the p.c. thing to say here is "talk to your doctor". I can tell you what the doctor will say. He will say that its normal and maybe even increase the dose. Don't do it. If you have anxiety, stimulant drugs like Adderall will worse it. I remember high school. I felt just like you at times. I didn't have many friends and all kinds of anxiety and depression problems.

This is going to sound kind of "dad" like, but youre only 16. I know high school seems like the center of the universe for you now, but its merely a tiny drop in the bucket. High school doesn't matter, so hang in there. I would also suggest you don't drink or smoke pot either. 16 is too young to be fucking with any kind of mind altering substances. Your brain is at a very pivitol time, all kinds of neuronal connections are being made and will continue into your early 20s. A lot of research suggests that abusing drugs and alcohol at a young age can cause changes in the developing brain.

Im sure youre still going to party, I was told the exact same things when I was young and completely ignored it. In retrospect, I wish I would have waited until I was older to start drinking and drugging. I had really bad anxiety and depression problems too when I was young, and sometimes I wonder if I would have made better choices I would be in better mental health today.

 

[Zerwas]

And no, nobody should have your IQ, at ANY age...prejudicial, intolerant, narrow minded.

Yeah, because insulting someone because of his opinion is the much more intelligent way to go. You are just as intolerant and prejudical as you accuse me to be. You know, ad hominem attacks are left for those who do not have any arguments left.
OP is 16 and my opinion is that prescribing strong stimulants and antidepressants for a teenager is immoral and doing more damage than help.

You make it seem like Adderal is absolutely recquired like there is no Dopamine without it which is just not the case.

 

[Ksa]

Yeah, because insulting someone because of his opinion is the much more intelligent way to go. You are just as intolerant and prejudical as you accuse me to be. You know, ad hominem attacks are left for those who do not have any arguments left.
OP is 16 and my opinion is that prescribing strong stimulants and antidepressants for a teenager is immoral and doing more damage than help.

You make it seem like Adderal is absolutely recquired like there is no Dopamine without it which is just not the case.

There is dopamine sure, but half-ass performance doesn't fly in our competitive society. Also, if you regard drugs according to the condition that they treat, it does look like it's an immoral cocktail. Instead, look at drugs with respect to what they do:

An SSRI inhibits reuptake of serotonin...so ultimately, combining it with Adderall only lowers Adderall's selectivity, making it closer to cocaine. I also used to regard drugs according to what they treat, bad mistake, you'll get mixed up and you won't understand shit. Only look at drugs in terms of pharmacokinetics and nothing else.

 

[mike.vick]

Jesus christ, I hate adderall-people. Adressing yourself three times in a six letter title and then writing a wall of text driveled from the insane portion of your brain. And how did I know this was a women before even looking at the name?

Neverthless, Adderall will make you depressed because of it's action of "hijacking" your dopamine system- which derives it's characteristic effects.

Your dopamine system is involved in regulation of depression and reward-pathways.

 

[Znegative]

give it to me then. Give me the drugs.

and god damn mike.vick, women have hurt me too but fuck me I am not that bitter.

 

[mike.vick]

^ haahah

 

[tritonenneptunus]

Adderall made me lose a lot of weight too when I was on it as a child. Maybe you should talk to your doctor about Strattera which is a non-stimulant ADHD/OCD medicine as well as a mild anti-depressant. Zoloft is a terrible antidepressant, I'm on Wellbutrin and it works really well. I have bipolar II, ADHD, Depression, and OCD so I understand what you are going through. I also suffered from anorexia while using adderall and other "stimulant" OCD/ADHD meds until my grandparents got me drinking Ensure every day. It helps a lot! Hope you are okay, stay safe!!

 

[TrippyTrunk]

You should take vivance or synigen iq

 

[Zerwas]

KSA: That does sound like a much more friendly discussion

But I think that the brain of a still developing teenager could be affected very negatively by strong psychotropics. As it is the case with OP.
Whatever, lets go back to topic for OPs sake.

 

[electric moon]

You make it seem like Adderal is absolutely recquired like there is no Dopamine without it which is just not the case.

Totally agree.

 

[SS373dOH]

Sounds like the Zoloft is having adverse affects.. definitely consult your doctor about this. IMHO I don't think kids should be on those types of drugs, but there is a percentage that do indeed need it. Once you label a kid that they have add/ADHD, they start to believe it, and it manifests..

 

[Ksa]

"Without dopamine, nothing happens inside the head regardless of external stimuli. So for behavioral therapy to work and actually cause a change, the person needs to be sensitive to that stimuli by taking Adderall, otherwise all the therapy will enter by one ear and exit by the other."

Ba ha ha thanks for that.that made my day ��

 

[joe456]

sorry to hear your meds didn't work so well for you. Here's a few ideas that might be helpful, I'm no expert so definitely don't blindly follow anything I've said. Hopefully people who are more knowledgable can build on what I've said (or maybe tell you why something I thought sounded logical actually wasn't).
1. Seeing a counsellor would probably help. I think treating any mental health issue just with medication is extremely limited. Hopefully talking through your problems would help increase your self acceptance as well as hopefully make any maladaptive thought patterns or behaviours. Personally I'm lucky that one of my best friends (who I studied psychology at uni with) is happy to talk to me about my problems and can do so in a way that doesn't make me feel like my feelings are being belittled (even if we both know the feeling isnt "logical") or that I'm being spoken down to. Unfortunately some other people simply try and tell me what to do in that sort of situation which I really don't like or tell me they understand rather than demonstrating/ checking understanding during the conversation. I also have just started writting a diary that includes moods, meds and anything else I've consumed as well as any thought patterns/ behaviours I think are relevant to my mental health. Even after 3 days I already feel I have a better understanding of the thoughts that contribute to my anxiety/ depression.
2. Personally I'd probably reduce the adderall whether my doc told me to or not. In my experience doctors don't necessarily know anywhere near as much as they should about mental health problems (personally I think it would be better if doctors specialised early on in treating mental disorders or other problems, expecting some1 to be an expert on the body and mind is a bit much to ask in my opinion). Apparently animals given amphetamine end up displaying OCD like repetitive motions. Also I've occasionally had people tell me I can sometimes be "a bit much" if I'm on speed and they are just chilling out. If its also making you irritable that could contribute to social problems further.
3. I don't have an ADHD diagnosis but have difficulty concentrating without speed or modafinil and find them surprisingly easy to sleep on given that I have trouble sleeping anyway and also find that they can actually stabalise my mood when I'm manic (I'm bipolar type 2). However, having stimulants every single day doesn't seem useful to me. I've taken speed since I was your age and in my final year of uni I was most productive having just 20mg of nearly dry base (can only assume thats weaker than 20mg adderall) for 3 days followed by a day off. I would dose much higher if it was the night before a deadline or something but when I started increasing the dose I took regularly it didn't help long term.
4. Consider if the benifits outweigh the negatives. Some doctors seem to think people develop tolerance to negative effects before positive effects but I think pretty much every speed user finds it is the other way around. Sounds like it really isn't working out for you.
5. If you quit or taper remember your brain will take a while to adjust, so don't assume that after a week without it your mental state will represent what life will be like if you stay off it.
6. Mirtrazepine might be a better antidepressant (please remember I am not a doctor, I know fuck all about how to switch meds, but know you don't just start taking a diff antidepressant one day). I don't know much about zoloft either I know a reasonable amount about this med because I had to find an alternative to amiltriptyline (luckily my doc listens to my suggestions and respects my opinion). I'm proscribed it and find it helps me eat if I've had amphetamines and I've read a study (a while ago so can't remember details) that suggested it can help recovery from excessive amphetamine use. It could well help your ADHD as it increases noradrenaline (pretty sure zoloft doesn't). However, I find 30mg can make me more irritable (probably because of increased noradrenaline). It's also helpful for OCD and anxiety as well as depression. I find it easy to stop (found amiltriptyline extreamely addictive) and can start it again when I feel its necessary (its the fastest acting antidepressant I think). It also helps sleep (although this effect doesn't last too long).
7. Be wary of long term effects of antidepressants. You can experience emotional numbing.
8. Modafinil may be a better idea than adderall. It feels a lot more mellow so I can only assume it is less likely to make you irritable than adderall, I believe it is less bad for you long term as well.
8. Antidepressants can lead to increased risk of suicide in under 25s. I know very little about this but thought I'd mention it.
9. Having way too little calories is likely to be contributing to the side effects as well as likely making it harder to concentrate.
10. Remember there is no reason to assume you will stay feeling this bad (even tho it may feel like it). Depression usually occurs in episiodes even if you're not bipolar. Also the fact you have identified adderall as a cause of a lot of your problems suggests that you should feel a lot better once you have adjusted to not having it, having it at a reduced dose or swithcing to another medication like modafinil.
11. A gram of l-tyrosine with a bit of carbs in the morning (but no protein for an hour afterwards) really helps reduce the comedown. However, it could make it worse as it works by replenishing dopamine and high dopamine could be behind a lot of your problems from adderal. However, it may be very useful to take for a while if you stop or taper the adderal.
12. L-theanine increases concentration when combined with caffeine according to at least 1 study and I have found it useful for "smoothing out" stimulants.
13. Even if those drugs being proscribed was a bad idea, stopping them immediately could worsen your depression or make it harder to pull yourself out of it. Remember if you decide to stop the adderall it won't make recovery much longer at all to give it a week or so at a reduced dose, see how you feel and proceed from there.
14. I find I'm irritable if I don't meditate. After about two weeks without meditating I'm pretty much guaranteed to be irritable and depressed. It can take a lot of motivation to get started but I find it unbelievably helpful and if I had to choose between meditation or medication I'd choose meditation without hesitating (even though I find my meds very helpful as well). I focus on my breath and any other things I am experiencing and try to not judge the experience. When I notice myself thinking, which happens frequently, I calmly refocus on my breathing. Practicing dropping a thought without judging it or trying to push the thought away (which usually doesnt work) as well as not judging my mental state really helps my depression and is even more effective for anxiety, especially reducing anxious thought loops without having to make an effort to at the time. If you are interested I can message you the instructions I used for a study about meditation I did for my dissertation.

I hope some of these points are helpful, just remember that to think of these points as stuff to consider, do some research and speak to a doctor/ psychiatrist (or even better more than one so you have a second opinion). Good luck recovering