Stimulants Arguments for amphetamine treatment

[crOOk]

Arguments for amphetamine treatment of ADD instead of ssri treatment

Hi folks! Some might have read my last post about some clarification regarding purification of street amphetamine with acetone which received no helpful answers at all.


So I spontaneously forged a new plan. Went to the psychiatrist today and told her about my problems focussing attention (yadiyadiyada, all true actually) and how I finally decided to start treatment since I'm beginning to study medicine in Octobre and have always felt the impairments have that I've been vastly underachieving in my academical history.
Also told her how 4.5years of psychotherapy were very useful, but didn't get me anywhere near where I want to be by now (I'm a physiotherapist).

I revealed that there has also been some self medicating with both amphetamine and methylphenidat. While methylphenidate feels like emotional torture to me [like cocaine], the amphetamine worked wonderfully.

She told me that methylphenidate cannot be prescribed to adults in Germany, but I was assuming that's not the case with amphetamine which she didn't make clear at the time.

So her suggestion turnt out to be an ssri (after an eeg and mrt of course), which disappointed me a bit and apparently surprised me as well. citalopram - pretty lame. I went out and grabbed 100 pills. Popped 20mg on an empty stomach instead of her recommended 10mg post meal for a start and can't say I'm impressed with the drug. I actually have some very undesirable increase in muscle tension which causes minimal pain. I tried reading a relatively simple book and I'm still rereading paragraphs over and over and over (and sometimes more of those overs).

Fuck this shit, I want amphetamine sulfate. The pharmacists are selling their self mixed sirup, but it can only be prescribed off-label which the health insurance companies won't usually pay. It'd cost me around 30 euros per gram which I consider a fair deal for an uncut product.

The plan was to use the citalopram for three weeks to decide how to go on. I want her to switch it soon, within 2 weeks before med school starts actually. I won't have much time for doctor's visits in the weeks following, especially not with a kid.

So, does anyone have any idea what I should tell her? I'm sticking to as honest as possible ofc. while skipping the history of drug abuse. She said she would try tricyclics next, FUCK that!

 

[FlawedByDesign]

I just want to point out that citalopram, like most other SSRIs takes a couple weeks to build up in your system before the effects are felt.

 

[morphonorconic]

First of all, doubling up your prescribed dose the first day is pointless and counterproductive. Next, I'm not sure anyone is impressed with SSRI's. Finally, you shouldn't expect any immediate benefits/effects like you would from Amphetamine; this drug does not work that way. As the above poster pointed out, it will take weeks before any therapeutic benefits begin to manifest, if they do at all.

 

[crOOk]

First of all, doubling up your prescribed dose the first day is pointless and counterproductive. Next, I'm not sure anyone is impressed with SSRI's. Finally, you shouldn't expect any immediate benefits/effects like you would from Amphetamine; this drug does not work that way. As the above poster pointed out, it will take weeks before any therapeutic benefits begin to manifest, if they do at all.

Actually, while checking out reviews of various ssri, some people are in fact very impressed by the effectiveness of them, although I'm sure these aren't recreational users and they aren't impressed in an omg-i-feel-an-orgasmic-rush sort of way. I tried to get a feel for the drug and the whole plan was to settle at 20mg, I did not get an exact plan on when to increase the dosage. Given my experience with psychoactive drugs, I didn't expect much harm to come from this and it didn't. The "counterproductive" part would have to be explained though. I was assuming it is common practice to increase the dosage step by step to find the therapeutic range and decrease the side effects, but didn't expect this phase to have any relevance on the long term effectiveness of the treatment.

It came on strong and settled down for the most part by now. My mood was and is lifted in some way for sure. I believe I'll feel more evened out after a while, less side effects and all, less drugged up. I've seen this happen with a lot of recreational drugs as well when I keep a steady dosage, like reaching a plateau where you neither feel massively impaired by side effects and still get a lot of the beneficial effects that one was aiming for. In fact, I've seen the exact same thing happen when I was on illicit amphetamine (twice for 3-4months each time, ~15mg per day).

Most importantly though, there so far is barely any change in my ability to focus though which I was aiming for. I don't think I need citalopram is the thing for me. I guess I'll have to wait for that magical effect to kick in after week two... I just don't see the neurochemistry behind that phenomenom.

After all it just seems like a really crappy drug to treat add with compared to amphetamine. Things would have to change BIG time by the end of next week or so, should this really come remotely close to the effectiveness of amphetamine. But I guess if even bluelighters from the OD forum tell me to wait I won't be able to convince the psychiatrist to cancel treatment so soon lol.

 

[monoid]

If it's not possible to convince your doc to prescribe amphetamines, try to get prescribed another kind of antidepressant, like Bupropion, or if you're bold enough, some MAOI like tranylcipromine. They're a little closer in effects to amphetamines than SSRIs are.

 

[crOOk]

If it's not possible to convince your doc to prescribe amphetamines, try to get prescribed another kind of antidepressant, like Bupropion, or if you're bold enough, some MAOI like tranylcipromine. They're a little closer in effects to amphetamines than SSRIs are.

Now that's some really appreciated information, both of these sound promising at the first look! Have you tried any of them? Why would I have to be bold for the MAOI? Is the side effects profile less attractive or because of the well known dangers associated with MAOI's?
If you have been on both, some additional info on how they compare would be very much appreciated. I don't really feel like switching the doc anymore and if these are really useful and don't cause any of the emotional restlessness that cocaine and methylphenidate cause for me, I'm all for giving them a shot (though deep down I think the whole discussion is a bit absurd considering I have already found a working medication with very little side effects called amphetamine).

Edit: I've noticed some other negative side effects with the citalopram. My girl friend is pretty hysterical and starts fights over minor shit regularly (imho she should be on psychopharmaceuticals). While it is usually relatively easy for me to deescalate and stay calm, that is not the case anymore, the threshold of what I can bear is definitely a lot lower. :/ I just want to get off this crap and get some good old amphetamine lol.

 

[crOOk]

Here's a little update:

While I can't say my ability to focus is in any way improved (I managed to lock myself out of our apartment and forgot a shopping bag on the middle of the road), I am still heavily impressed by this substance. I feel like I have a major crush going, it's a beautiful summer day and I just got out of the gym from a heavy workout. Fucking amazing!!!
While the side effects are quite pronounced even at 10mg (took my fourth dose a few minutes ago, the first being 20mg), especially trouble sleeping through and teeth clenching, I am otherwise absolutely amazed by the effects of this drug. I can't say it feels right to constantly feel THIS good though.
I wonder how long this feeling can be held up... I fear a crash coming my way sooner or later. Until then, this stuff might save the relationship to the mother of my daughter, something 4.5yrs of psychotherapy (2-3 sessions per week) weren't able to do. Absolutely AMAZING!

Side note about sexual side effects: Slightly increased libido, it's slightly harder to achieve an erection, orgasms don't come as easily as they used to, but are much more intense and the weirdest side effect... Semen volume seems to have increased at least two fold. Go figure.

There's also a weird feeling in my throat, similar to when I take psychedelics along with a lot of yawning.