Stimulants To Speed or Not to Speed, That is The Question.

[verso]

Exactly. Then stick with the lowest effective dose and stay as healthy as you can

Over-medicating and under-eating is what cause a lot of people problems.. so if you can keep yourself in check you'll be much better off in the long run

To be fair, medications like Adderall will destroy your appetite, and under-eating is just something that comes with the territory. (Who is going to sit down and eat when they aren't hungry, and when that's just more time to be doing something more productive?)

And my experience may be unusual, but like I've said before, I have, for the most part and with just one exception, taken therapeutic doses no larger than 30 mg. So, for me, at least, over-medicating was not the issue and under-eating was a side-effect of the Adderall.

EDIT: But again, it is your call, and your experience taking ADD medications like Adderall may be much, much different from mine. But, you know, God help you if your experience is like mine... because it sucks, and it will take you a long, long time to recover from all of the nasty side-effects.

 

[Eyes On the Roll]

/\ yes eating on adderall and even while half life is still in effect can sometimes be very close to impossible.
With recreational doses, not only are you not hungry at all, but if you try to eat and swallow food your throat will just not let anything pass through, so it is very difficult to eat food. I have gotten used to it finally after 3 months of on and off script recreational doses.

but yes, the dead-appetite-effect is the most harmful side effect I think, because it leads to so much more problems - dehydration, hair thinning/loss, massive weight loss (140mgs in 24 hours i loose 5 pounds..), and muscle spasms/sores.

 

[Gormur]

Stims increase my appetite and keep my eating habits healthy - I used to just binge on food then go without it, in cycles...

To be brutally honest, i believe one of the main problems with AD(H)D meds is that they're over-prescribed.. So most people on them actually don't have genuine AD(H)D but possibly a significant dietary-imbalance that compromises attention, behavior &/or learning ability.. rather than a compromised reward system per se

I for one have cut out refined sugars and grains from my diet and notice a huge improvement in my cognitive functioning. What's more tho, sugar, caffeine and amps have never made me hyper but relaxed

So if stims get you spun maybe you don't have AD(H)D

 

[Jabberwocky]

two words
amphetamine pshycosis

try reading the whole first post and rest of thread before making an asinine conclusion such as that8)

 

[rollingstoned!]

I'd try other solutions before amphetamines. You'll want to avoid amphetamines at all costs. Withdrawing from them is not fun and they do cause damage to the brain, although the extent of which is unknown.

I reccommend trying piracetam or aniracetam first.

 

[Gormur]

I'd try other solutions before amphetamines. You'll want to avoid amphetamines at all costs. Withdrawing from them is not fun and they do cause damage to the brain, although the extent of which is unknown.

I reccommend trying piracetam or aniracetam first.

Good point

Many people just need to correct an imbalance with good food and supplements

 

[RainWater]

Another thing...and this is a very serious question...how bad on a scale of 1 to 10 is the 'erectile side effect'. That's a pretty big deal breaker. No pun intended.

 

[verso]

I'd try other solutions before amphetamines. You'll want to avoid amphetamines at all costs. Withdrawing from them is not fun and they do cause damage to the brain, although the extent of which is unknown.

I reccommend trying piracetam or aniracetam first.

I'm not yet convinced that amphetamines cause brain damage. But I am absolutely convinced that the down-time one experiences when coming off of amphetamines can definitely, definitely make one feel as though his or her brain has been damaged. It has been months, and even still, I do not feel fully recovered...

 

[Gormur]

Another thing...and this is a very serious question...how bad on a scale of 1 to 10 is the 'erectile side effect'. That's a pretty big deal breaker. No pun intended.

I'd guess pretty bad if one takes large doses daily and doesn't maintain their health with proper food and supplements..

I take small doses daily + eat well and take supplements (esp B-vitamins, magnesium, zinc, flax oil...) and have absolutely no issues with my libido..

However, i'm sure i'd be having thyroid & testosterone issues if i started taking much larger doses

Just speaking from experience... With amps, less is more

 

[Eyes On the Roll]

I also take high doses of adderall daily, and the erectile dysfunction side effect is only present while under the effects of the drug, and everything involving erection function is back to normal when "sober". At times it can also be extremely hard to stay hydrated, I will often find myself urinating in large amounts, every 10-30 minutes, all day; so I pretty much would have a water bottle in my hand 24/7.
To keep my weight stable while doing a week or so of high doses, I stick to nutella, cliff bars, muscle milk, boost drink mix, whole milk, 5-htp, fish oils, and pasta.

If your doing high doses and are sleeping barely at all, you may experience "microsleeps", where you briefly fall asleep sporadically for periods of 1 second to 30 seconds.

 

[sir_thizzalot]

I went to my doctor 4 months ago and just told him i had trouble focusing in class, and keeping my attention, and right away he says sounds like ADD! and prescribed me 20mg adderall IR's right off the bat.

I get 60 20mg IR's a month, supposed to take 2 every day. I'll admit, the feeling that recreational doses can give you is really awesome.

Well you're docter is a fucking idiot and a big helper to all the problems people have from amphetamine abuse from prescribed amphetamines. 20mg adderall IR is not a small dose and should not be a starting dose for anyone whos not 350lb. That prescription must have made you feel great durring the high for a little while there before your tolerance grew a ton.

OP, I would say DON'T do it, it sounds like you don't NEED them, you're just like me and have trouble getting yourself to do borring school work you find pointless or just so boring. What you need is better work ethic, which may sound stupid or insulting but it's not. Once you get yourself into the routine of making yourself do the work it's much easier to get yourself to keep doing it (unless you're smoking a lot or something).

(this isn't aimed at you)- SO MANY LAZY FUCKS ARE DIAGNOSED WITH ADHD BECAUSE THEY WOULD RATHER PLAY VIDEO GAMES THAN DO WORK SO THEY CHOOSE NOT TO. Then they get diagnosed with ADD and label themselves with that and use it as an excuse to not work. This is most people who "have ADD" in my mind, NOT ALL of them but most. Then they get prescribed amphetamines and they work a bit more for a while then stop getting anything from them they wouldn't have had if they'd stayed amphetamine free, but they have plenty of dopamine receptor damage along with other problems(like not eating enough that whole time with their metabolism raised, so they have no muscle and when they stop that have the worlds slowest metabolism and become very fat) so their old "problem" is now made horrible.

Your case I think is different, but I still think medication is a bad idea and you should try other things first. Addiction, dopamine receptor damage, heart damage, amphetamine psychosis, not eating enough, are all problems from amphetamines along with you not feeling right for quite some time(maby never as good as you would have) after stopping use.

However, if you are going to use them I highly recommend this: trying ritalin or concerta first. IMO it's the best for you(worst high, but I think it's better for you than amphetamines). If that doesn't work(personally it wouldn't for me), then try SMALL doses of Adderall, Vyvanse, or Dexedrine. Idiot docters prescribe 20mg all the time to everybody which is way too much and leads to tolerance/problems/damage. 30 or 40mg vyvanse to start out trying out, or 5-10mg adderall, or 5mg vyvanse would all be good to start out trying and raise your dose as little as needed to get to the point you need.

30mg vyvanse= about 8.5mg dextro amphetamine in a long time release.
Adderall is around 80% dextro amphetamine and 20% levo amphetamine(maby 87.5/22.5, look it up). Levo makes a worse crash, more tweaky high and I think more damage, it's just stupid, that's why I would recommend dexedrine over it, which is ONLY d-amphetamine.

 

[Gormur]

Idiot docters prescribe 20mg all the time to everybody which is way too much and leads to tolerance/problems/damage. 30 or 40mg vyvanse to start out trying out, or 5-10mg adderall, or 5mg vyvanse would all be good to start out trying and raise your dose as little as needed to get to the point you need.

Exactly. I spent so much time (almost 2 yrs) in frustration taking my scripted doses (70mg vyvanse + 30mg adderall IR daily) i was a complete mess... One day i just decided to take a really small amount (about 1/4 my scripted dose) and was surprised that it was much more effective. Not only that, but all the major side-effects i was having before (irritable mood, insomnia, anemia) virtually disappeared

 

[RainWater]

Wow, this thread turned out to be more helpful than I expected.

They're thinking about vyvanese apparently, or maybe something like adderall.

I know everyone reacts differently but is vyvanese, for lack of a better word, 'better' than adderall? As far as less side effects, effectiveness etc.

 

[NeighborhoodThreat]

sir_thizzalot has a point, if you have to go the amphetamine route, then go with dextroamphetamine (Dexedrine) only, not the levoamphetamine/dextroamphetamine mixed salts (Adderall) formulation.

(to answer Rainwater's question)
Vyvanse is hit-or-miss (I hate it and I love Dexedrine) but the good thing it has going for it is it gets turned into dextroamphetamine once its in your stomach and processed and all that good stuff...there's a Vyvanse megathread in Other Drugs somewhere, I'm pretty sure.

Most people who like Dexedrine at least partly like Vyvanse just because Vyvanse is a Dexedrine prodrug. I didn't like it because of how long it lasted, almost 15 hours the first time I took it, but that's a personal thing.

Try Vyvanse, and if that doesn't work, go for Dexedrine, again if you feel that amphetamines are the way to go.

 

[AmsterTram]

We can only speak to our own experienecs.

I about about double your age and was recently diagnosed with ADD. I am on dexadrine and it has been VERY helpful. I can focus, and it even helps with axiety.

ADD is real, anyone who says otherwise is full of shit. Whether it is overdiagnosed is irrelevant if its the right diagnosis for YOU.

I too was wrongly diagnosed with bipolarity, so I great sympathy for you.

For the record, the number one self-medication for ADD is cocaine, which is much worse for you than a doctor prescribed dosage of medical quality amphetamines.

Good luck!

 

[Feldais]

In total agreement

It's your call, man, but just know that there is an excellent chance you will experience side effects and that they're not pretty, certainly not worth what little benefit the medication might offer you.

I know that my cardiovascular system is not thanking me for the months and months I used amphetamines regularly, and not at unusual, untherapeutic doses, either. Likewise, I hate that my jaw clicks now all of the time. It hurts and it's annoying. So ask yourself, is being put at greater risk for heart attacks really worth writing a paper in record time? It was for me once, but not anymore.

My best friend was in the group of teens in the mid 90's who has moderate ADHD and they put her on Ritlan and it spun her out. Instead of leveling her out, it sped her up. She gave me one and it actually knocked me out. But knowing people who were put on ADD or ADHD meds that contain speed they all ended up using meth. I can say from experience that Adderoll and Ritlan are theruputic for some, but should not be given out like candy like it is. Concerta is a moderate med that I have experimented with and would be probably more effective and less tempting to get high on. So good luck.

 

[verso]

We can only speak to our own experienecs.

I about about double your age and was recently diagnosed with ADD. I am on dexadrine and it has been VERY helpful. I can focus, and it even helps with axiety.

ADD is real, anyone who says otherwise is full of shit. Whether it is overdiagnosed is irrelevant if its the right diagnosis for YOU.

I too was wrongly diagnosed with bipolarity, so I great sympathy for you.

For the record, the number one self-medication for ADD is cocaine, which is much worse for you than a doctor prescribed dosage of medical quality amphetamines.

Good luck!

I'm sorry, but I just do not believe that cocaine is the number one substance most sought after by those with undiagnosed ADD. It has got to be caffeine (coffee, tea, soda, energy drinks...)

The truth is that stimulants will, for the most part, result in similar damage with the exception being methamphetamine. (Long-term methamphetamine use appears to result in actual brain damage, something that, to my knowledge, has not been found with ADD medications at therapeutic doses.)

So, yes, I do believe that it is more appropriate for someone identified as ADD to take amphetamines; but as someone has already said before both very sarcastically and humorously, the amphetamines will not become more healthy for you based upon whether or not you're really ADD. It's still a stimulant, and it will still raise your blood pressure, rape your appetite, and eventually exacerbate many preexisting conditions.

I believe that ADD is a real condition, but experience tells me that ADD is over-diagnosed and that even those individuals appropriately diagnosed tend to be over-medicated. I would estimate that for every ten individuals living with ADD today, maybe two or three will need to be medicated. For those remaining individuals, I would recommend that they learn coping strategies.

It's something that I am passionate about both as someone who has gone the amphetamine-route once before and as someone whose profession allows insight into the new, over-medicated population. It's just not a pretty sight, and amphetamines should honestly be the very last option for those literally incapacitated by their ADD.

 

[PetSMiLE]

Years of (prescribed) amphetamine use/abuse has left me with pretty bad depression, and a general amotivational syndrome. The side effects are a big reason for my opiate habit, which came later.

Also, the side effects of the meds seem to get worse as time goes on... unlike most drugs where you can get used to the side effects. I wish i hadn't been so careless but now i am dependent on them.

Most people realize by their mid-twenties that "hard" drugs have the reputation that they do for a reason. Ya play, ya pay.

 

[verso]

Years of (prescribed) amphetamine use/abuse has left me with pretty bad depression, and a general amotivational syndrome. The side effects are a big reason for my opiate habit, which came later.

Also, the side effects of the meds seem to get worse as time goes on... unlike most drugs where you can get used to the side effects. I wish i hadn't been so careless but now i am dependent on them.

Most people realize by their mid-twenties that "hard" drugs have the reputation that they do for a reason. Ya play, ya pay.

It's like we're the same person. If you don't mind me asking, how much were you prescribed and about how much were you taking? Also, how long have you gone without taking the amphetamines?

It's scary because I know that even before taking the amphetamines I was depressed, but soon after kicking them my depression became incapacitating. I stopped attending classes; I found coverage at work every other day. It was a terrible, terrible experience, and I have not yet fully recovered, so it is still a terrible experience for me.

And like you, my experience with amphetamines is what I believe has led me to opiates. It's an awful thing to say out loud, and it cuts through me, but it's true. The opiates relax my muscles and puts me into such a nice spot that I forget all about the nasty side effects I am still experiencing from the amphetamines... clicking in my jaw, stiffness in my neck, lack of motivation, exacerbated depression, high blood pressure (which is just now starting to go back down)... It goes on and on.

 

[SpunkySkunk347]

It could be life changing for the better...right?

No. After about a month of taking them every day, you'll probably start feeling disconnected from reality (depending on what med you're prescribed and what dose).

Taking high doses of adderall every day can cause some very long lasting negative psychological problems.

I'd stay away from ADD meds (if you're not using them recreationally).