Adderall Information

Adderall

Adderall is a central nervous system stimulant. It affects chemicals in the brain and nerves that contribute to hyperactivity and impulse control.

Adderall is used to treat narcolepsy and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Adderall may also be used for other purposes not listed in this medication guide.

Do not take Adderall if you have used an MAO inhibitor such as isocarboxazid (Marplan), tranylcypromine (Parnate), phenelzine (Nardil), rasagiline (Azilect), or selegiline (Eldepryl, Emsam) within the past 14 days. Serious, life-threatening side effects can occur if you take Adderall before the MAO inhibitor has cleared from your body. Do not use this medication if you are allergic to amphetamine and dextroamphetamine, or if you have hardened arteries (arteriosclerosis), heart disease, moderate to severe high blood pressure (hypertension), overactive thyroid, glaucoma, severe anxiety or agitation, or a history of drug or alcohol addiction. Some stimulants have caused sudden death in children and adolescents with serious heart problems or congenital heart defects. Before taking Adderall, tell your doctor if you have any type of heart problems.

What's inside Adderall

Recent Adderall Side Effects

Posted by derrida 8 days ago
I love this medication even though it has some side effects: It saved my life. I felt like there was nothing I could do--like there was nothing I wanted to, like I didn't care about anything and that really reality was just something theoretical out there--under the haze of my foggy mind. Hopefully I will go on to help others now that I am headed toward Med School. Adderall has given me the ability to have conversations, interact in group discussions, and finish sentences without having to make up a new ending every couple of words because I'd forget what I'd originally intended (maybe that's where my creativity has sprung from) I would like to inform you of some facts that keep coming up over and over again. This might clarify some of the side effects you may have been experiencing (remember that not everyone experiences every side effect and that a lack of side effects is a good indication that you are not taking too high of a dose. Severe side effects may or may not indicate a dose that is too high) ADDICTION: Yes adderall is just like speed, and surely some idiots are addicted to it, and also to penzoil, computer duster, and glue. The fact that it can be manufactured in a home lab somewhere in Desert Hot Springs makes me wonder why people have scheduled this drug so high--it's not really Meth, it's just Amphetamine; and it's easy to make Meth, the real thing! So don't worry about addiction unless you've always been intrigued by street drugs. The bottom line is it's an old drug so it's well tested and well trusted, so that should be your main concern. Stay away from new designer drugs with lethal side effects and costly brands. DRY MOUTH: Adderall causes increase in concentration akin to the increase caused by stressful emotions (anger, fear, etc), and so you end up with the body shutting down or reducing it's non-essential uses. Saliva is not needed during a fight or a flight, nor is an easygoing attitude, a sense of humor, or hypothetical pondering. These are things that will be slightly more difficult on adderall, because normally your ADD self was better at them than the average person at large--that was just an ADD gift. So, you will find that on the medication you are going to be a bit closer to "tense" on the scale of relaxation. This is not a bad thing--in fact, you might find you actually enjoy not being a couch potato every now and then, and that a little ambition and motivation wasn't as impossible as it looked when you saw your non-ADD friends around you getting jobs and focusing so well in conversation. If you don't, there is always an alternative therapy, or your psychiatrist may recommend xanax or another benzodiazepam in order to combat anxiety during your Adderall use or afterwards, or if your anxiety is constant, a long acting alternative like paxil may be necessary) MOOD SWINGS: (for one tablet taken during a day--my experience is with the 15 mg because I have severe inattentive ADD but my research is on the effects in general) 0:00 Hours---You take your medicine, preferably sometimes during the day. 4:00 Adderall plasma levels remain high for the first 3-4 hours of its working action (this action begins within 20-60 minutes of taking it, depending on your metabolism and whether your stomach is full which slows the process) 4:15 Blood plasma levels begin to drop, and the drug starts to leave the body. This causes a lull, and a few minutes on the sofa. Sometimes one begins to feel agitated, because of the sudden drop in concentration which causes frustration, as well as the sudden loss of patience combined with a drop in dopamine. 9:00 The Adderall is almost completely out of the blood, though some effects continue, and generally by this point will not cause insomnia. However, the drug may have exhausted your brain's supply of Dopamine... Dopamine is stimulated by Adderall in the brain. Dopamine makes you want to do things, and it is the sister to serotonin, which makes you feel happy and content. Together these drugs create feelings of happiness both at rest(serotonin) and at work/play(dopamine). This is why us ADD people have a hard time enjoying life a lot of the time and seem lazy; we don't enjoy doing things naturally because we lack the chemical for it. Dopamine is essential to things such as completing goals, completing tasks, staying on subject, finishing a sentence or an argument, or answering questions. If you don't have dopamine, you become impatient, apathetic, and curt--this is a natural side effect of the decreasing plasma levels of the blood. The sudden jump will throw you off balance unless you adapt by realizing this is not your personality but a side effect. Taking in enough food and water will prevent your brain from becoming too drained (it isn't used to actually working like a normal brain--it's been lazy, not you) and will decrease this effect. Unfortunately adderall might make you feel less hungry and thirsty, or make you focused to the point that you forget to eat. Make sure you plan meals and snacks into your day so you don't forget to eat due to lack of hunger. VITAMIN C: If you drink vitamin C containing juices or take Vitamin C or Grapefruit Juice, it will have a negating effect on the adderall. Your stomach will break it down before it will be processed into your blood and the medicine will not work, so save orange juice for the evenings. THREE TIMES A DAY: I only recommend this if you're like me and tend to never get insomnia. I actually take adderall 15 mg (not the XR just the regular) 3x daily. I do not recommend suddenly starting and stopping this medication; too many side effects. 420 helps the most with both anger and depression, but wait at least 6 hours since last adderall dose if you are at all inclined to anxiety. For anxiety, the best answer is valium, xanax, or ativan. I have also had joint pain, but it isn't really new and the adderall is newer; I also have been diagnosed with HMS which might be the cause. SEX: sexual desire increases initially, then you will go back to normal, though of course you'll be a more attentive and better lover :D

Posted by eqmos about 1 month ago
I get head achey, from adderall? I just don't feel certain about this.. I've been on and off adderall my entire life, b/c I was diagnosed in Kindergarten...All those times when I wasn't on my medication, can be described as repeated failures... ADD, it is kinda' up to you and your environment. You cannot do well on medications if you believe you are addicted.. You can't stop people from putting these ideas in your head, but you can choose to stop freaking out and move on w/your life.. You are not helpless.. If you feel you need the medications, then chronic second guessing is even more dangerous.. I'm pretty sure that Adderall, over time, has had the best track record of any pharmaceutical grade drug..

Posted by alan2102 3 months ago
A brief note about "Adderall": this is the trade name of an amphetamines product. It consists of four different amphetamines, such as amphetamine sulfate and amphetamine lactate. However, the "sulfate" and the "lactate" parts are NOT important. The only thing that is important is AMPHETAMINE, regardless of which form. 100% of the effects of Adderall are because of its content of amphetamine, NOT the specific forms of the amphetamine (called, chemically, "salts"). You can get the same effects from generic amphetamine (typically dextroamphetamine sulfate) as from Adderall. The company that makes it claims that Adderall works quicker and lasts longer, but this is mostly bullshit. It is really not significant, and in fact plain old generic dextroamphetamine is generally considered superior to the other forms, including the forms in Adderall. (See the en.wikipedia.org writeup on Adderall for details.) Incidentally, the Adderall company, facing patent expiration on Adderall and thus more generic competition, is now heavily pushing its new "Vyvanse" -- another amphetamine product with very dubious if any advantages, and indeed probably MORE side effects than Adderall or other amphetamines, and, of course, a much higher price. More pharmaceutical company bullshit! Don't buy it. Anyway, to return to the main point: Adderall or generic amphetamine makes no difference, except this one big one: The PRICE! Adderall is ridiculously expensive -- typically $1-4 per pill, sometimes even more. This is a total ripoff, since amphetamine is a CHEAP old drug, and the actual cost of 10 or 20 or 30 mgs of it (as in one typical tablet) is negligible, well under a penny. In other words, they ought to sell for, say, $10 or $15 per hundred -- enough to cover the cost of the drug itself (perhaps 10 cents or so) plus all the costs of tableting, bottling, distribution and so forth, with room for the pharmacy's markup. The idea of paying $100 or $200 or even $400 for a dime worth of a cheap old drug is outrageous -- but it happens. It is the greed of the pharmaceutical company combined with the greed of the individual pharmacist that causes this. Pharmacies vary a great deal in pricing, but the producing company also grossly overcharges. Bottom line: INSIST ON THE GENERIC. Even if insurance covers it and you only have a $5 co-pay. Why? Because the health care system of the U.S. is driving the country bankrupt, and super-high drug costs is one of the reasons. This is one way you can make a contribution, however small, to solving the problem of a medical-academic-industrial-pharmaceutical complex that costs the U.S. well over $2 trillion per year (far larger than the military-industrial complex, and far more per capita than any other developed country). Part of the problem is prescriptions that cost $300 for 50-cents worth of a drug. Be part of the solution. End of rant. Be well!

Adderall in the News

The Highest Score - Tam News (blog)
The Highest ScoreTam News (blog)According to a January Tam News survey of 268 students across all four grades, 1.9 out of 10 Tam students used Adderall and/or Ritalin during finals week ...
Tue Feb 02 22:56:43 +0000 2010

Those Who Made a Difference - New York Times
Those Who Made a DifferenceNew York TimesYou may recall that Hartley was suspended for four games at the beginning of the season for taking the banned stimulant Adderall. ...Payton's faith in Hartley pays off for SaintsCBSSports.comPHS's Harper, Saints head to Super BowlPrattville ProgressHartley Kicks Saints Into The Super BowlKTULShreveport Times -Kansas City Star -The Canadian Pressall 6,276 news articles »
Mon Jan 25 17:24:28 +0000 2010

Pair Charged With Tenncare Fraud - The Chattanoogan
Pair Charged With Tenncare FraudThe ChattanooganWilbourn is charged with selling Adderall and Land with selling hydrocodone. Officials said 1118 people have been arrested and charged with TennCare fraud ...Two arrested in Tenncare fraudWRCB-TVSequatchie County Men Face TennCare ChargesWTVCall 3 news articles »
Thu Feb 04 04:16:39 +0000 2010

Adderall Chemical Information

dextroamphetamine sulfate - The salt of the dextro-isomer of amphetamine and sympathomimetic amine with CNS stimulating properties. Dextroamphetamine sulphate acts by facilitating the release of catecholamines, particularly noradrenaline and dopamine, from nerve terminals in the brain and inhibits their uptake. This leads to an increase in motor activity, causes euphoria, mental alertness and excitement and suppresses appetite. This drug causes dependence and may cause an increase in heart rate and blood pressure. It is used in the treatment of narcolepsy and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

amphetamine aspartate - The aspartate salt of amphetamine, a sympathomimetic amine with CNS stimulating properties. Amphetamine acts by facilitating the release of catecholamines, particularly noradrenaline and dopamine, from nerve terminals in the brain and inhibits their uptake. Physiological effects include an increase in motor activity, euphoria, increased mental alertness, excitatory behavior and appetite suppression.

amphetamine sulfate

dextroamphetamine saccharate - The saccharate salt form of the dextro-isomer of amphetamine, a synthetic substance related to natural sympathomimetic amines, with CNS stimulating properties. Dextroamphetamine saccharate acts by facilitating the release of catecholamines, particularly noradrenaline and dopamine, from its storage sites in nerve terminals in the brain, and inhibits their uptake within the mesocorticolimbic system, a major component of the brain reward system, thereby resulting in measurable behavioral changes such as euphoria. As a CNS stimulant, this agent may increase blood pressure and reduce appetite. Similar to other amphetamines, dextroamphetamine has a high potential for abuse, dependence, and addiction if used in large doses over extended periods of time.