Adderall and ritalin

I am almost 21 and i have been on Adderall XR since i was in 8th grade, and i was on Ritalin from 3rd grade to 8th grade. I was off of Adderall from when i graduated (because of lack of insurance, the med is expensive) to about a month ago. Before i stopped taking it, i weighed approx 125-130 and i am 5'7''. For the 2 years i was off, my weight skyrocketed to 155-160, and now i am in a constant struggle to get the weight off. The only side effects that i have ever had were dry mouth which leaves a weird taste in my mouth, and lack of appetite, which i dont mind since im trying to lose weight.
During the time i was off of the Adderall, i was LAZY. (which im sure also helped the weight gain) I wanted to do nothing but watch tv and play The Sims. I was easily excited, and i would blurt out sometimes inappropriate things that i should have thought about before saying.. I was a mess at work, always distracted and disorganized, and always forgot what i was supposed to do.
Now that im back on it, I have been cleaning at home a lot more, and going to the gym, im a little bit more quiet, which im sure my roommates don't mind. I have also noticed that i am little bit more grouchy, but i think that i just am a bit more serious, and i don't want to be pestered. ( for example, my roommate is watching Family Feud and hes yelling out all of the answers, and im about to strangle him as im writing this, but who wouldn't.) This medication may not work for some people, but for me, it absolutely helped 100% at school, and at home. And without it, i am a disorganized mess.

im 14 and take 50 mg of adderal a day for ADHD and Bipolar, and i am unsure of it. I weight 96 lbs.... and i am almost 5 1/2 feet tall... so i am very underweight... and i do notice that when i take it, after it kicks in i seem more aditated, and cranky, and i obvleisuly dont eat.. and my mouth is always dry. i am just unsure about the whole crankyness change after i take it... does anyone else seem more agitated when they take this meds and it kicks in.../ plz reply. thanks

My 9-yr-old daughter was just prescribed Adderall for a one-month trial period. The first day was incredible. She was such a joy to be around. It was like I had my little girl back. She has been so trying for so long that I was just ecstatic. Although she did suffer from a bellyache throughout the day, which I hope will subside. The next day was not as wonderful. She was still a little hyperactive but her concentration was still improved and she was on her best behavior all day. The third day was almost as good as the first day, but that night she came into our room saying she heard voices whispering. When I asked her what they were saying she couldn't tell me what was said but was very scared. I have been distraught ever since. Is this indicating she does not have ADHD or is it a side effect from the medication?

Please help, as I don't want her to continue on this medication if her mental stability will be sacrificed.

My son was diagnosed w/ ADD/ADHD when he was 7. My husband and I were not advocates of giving drugs to a child and avoided it for some time. But as I watched him struggle and become depressed because he couldn't focus, etc .etc, I remembered what it was like when I was his age. (I am also ADD). You can say what you want about drugs but when my little boy was looking up at me crying and pleading for help "please help me, please...please come to school with me and tell me what to do, remind me because I forget what the teacher says right after she says it".... To see him struggle like that at such a young age we had to do something. He was a very confident and happy kid prior to starting school and after being in school for a few years being the kid that was always getting corrected by the teacher or being called out more than others for not paying attention was taking it's toll on his personality.
He did not start out on Adderall, but another Ritalin type drug. But it made a drastic change in his life - he was happier, able to focus and his self esteem came back. Later he was changed over to Adderall. He said it didn't make him feel nervous like the Ritalin type drugs. I am also on Adderall and it has made such a positive difference in my life as well. I didn't realize how much I had to struggle to stay focused, how much I procrastinated and how overwhelmed I used to feel on a regular basis until I stopped having those issues...what a relief!!! I don't have the stress eating issue anymore because I don't feel as stressed. The only side effect I noticed was my eyes getting red and a some dry mouth.
Adderall has a calming effect on me, I don't feel nervous, I don't feel detached, or any of that stuff several other folks wrote about. My son doesn't either, he is calm and happy and is doing great in school. Neither of us have any issues when we don't take the medication - as far as craving it, etc. In fact, from the initial research I've done and my own personal experience,many who are truly ADD and not misdiagnosed are less apt to become addicted than those who are not truly ADD. When we don't take it we might be a little less apt to remember that important thing we were supposed to do because we got distracted! But we don't seem to have any other withdrawal symptoms or tiredness, etc. So far it has been positive choice.

So for all you people having social issues, hearing voices, having chest pains, feeling strong urges to take the medicine even when you don't want to - YOU PROBABLY SHOULD NOT TAKE IT! All medications effect everyone differently and not all people can take or tolerate the same medicine. And for all you folks that are able to spend 10mins w/ your kids and get good results...well good for you, but DON'T JUDGE those of us for which that technique didn't work. During the summers we usually don't make him take any medication and we spend a lot of time talking through the issues that arise, practicing focus without medication, etc. We spend a lot of time reassuring him that it's OK to make mistakes when you're trying to change your behavior and that we love him just like he is. We hope that eventually as he matures that he will find it easier to do this on his own with out medication to help. However, if he doesn't, then I would rather see him be happy on medication than to struggle and be depressed without it.

Peace.

I am a 34 year old make, who has recently decided to go back on Adderall. I had been diagnose with ADD when I was in high school. I was then placed on Ritalin. It worked pretty well for my focus at school. For the first time in my life I had actually finished a semester better than a C average. As time went on, while I was doing well with my studies, I felt it was kinda hindering who I was, and my personality. After a Little while, I took myself off the meds.

Now that I am working, and I am 34 years old, with kids a wife, and a responsibility to them not just to myself. I wanted to go back and investigate myself possibly going back on Ritalin, or at least something similar. I went to my primary physician, and he prescribed me Adderall. I was warned about the first week, and trying to see what dosages would work for me. I was excited to be honest. I had been going through quite a bit of depression, and was hoping the Adderall would perhaps be able to help me out of it. I know that there are no miracle cures, but at the place I was mentally at that time..I could have certainly used a little help. Weather that be in pill form..Or whatever.

So the Doc scripted me 5mg tablets. The 5 mgs are working well right now. It took a little while of feeling on edge during the first couple of days. I take them twice a day. I am trying to get the timing down. And I think the dose of the second tablet may be coming on a little too strong. Or maybe I am taking it while the tail end of the first dose is still in me? I take 5mg at 10am, and at 2pm. Right after that 2nd does I feel up a wall. Way too bugged out. I feel like I am almost ticking. I know that I need to get that 2nd does right (either in side, or timing). Plus I am thinking that eventually I will need to up my doses. 5mg doses sound pretty small

I'm on 240 mg a day and its no fun at all. I've built up a big tolerance to it, so much that even at this high of a dosage, I could fall asleep in no time at all. I've been at this dose fir like 4 years now. The good thing is that I have lost a lot of weight and managed to keep it off - going from a juniors size 11 to a 3 is the best thing thats happened though. Probably the only good thing. Otherwise, its made me different in many ways. I get to feeling that I just want to be left alone a lot so I can do my own thing, whatever that may be cause it varies. Some days I have a lot of energy, get lots done (cleaning, errands, some exercise classes, stuff like that), and other days I just feel like doing nothing. Mood swings are not uncommon for me, but I have always been that way I guess. Oh well, I guess if it works for you, take it. Its worked for me, but its about time I start to think about getting off of it as its effectiveness has run its course, at least I think it has. And I don't want to try anything else, its simply time to quit the ADD drug scene entirely. But like I said, if it works for you, then go for it. Just watch out cause it can build up on you fast like it did me, and you don't want to be taking as much as I do. (Its prescribed that way for me, BTW. I don't use it illegally).

I'm sorry so many of you have bad experiences with Adderall. My side effects went away in about two weeks.

The amphetamines in Adderall have been used for 70 years, so if they were that dangerous, they would not be around today and one of the top 10 most prescribed pediatric drugs in America.

To Spoiled Rotten,
Apparently you can't read all that well or don't know how to do research, maybe you should have been on Adderall as a kid. RITALIN, CONCERTA, FOCALIN, DAYTRANA are all Methylphenidate, which IS NOT AN AMPHETAMINE.

Be a Big BOY/GIRL and do your own research about these drugs. Real research, not a side-effects website where people who know nothing about the drugs themselves hear something from someone, who knows someone's sisters friend who ABUSED their medication.

ALL DRUGS can be bad. You can die of an aspirin overdose. It's how they are used. Adderall and Ritalin are "very safe" when used properly" (Driven To Distraction).

I'm sure 99 percent of you don't even know what ADDICTION really is. This is a huge health problem in America. Yes, the addictions, but MORE so the ignorance and stereotypes of people with them.

African American 47,
You DON'T just get addicted to a drug. You can BE DEPENDENT on a drug, and not an addict. Cancer patients take very large amounts of NARCOTIC pain killers and THEY ARE DEPENDENT on them. For pain relief and physical dependence. They DON'T crave the drugs though.

So with SPOILED rotten's philosophy, the 20,000,000 people on Adderall or Ritalin (NOT AN AMPHETAMINE, similar, but not the same thing) who's quality of life has been improved 100 fold just like mine. I would have benefited GREATLY from medication but did not get diagnosed until 3 months ago at the age of 24.

Medication IS NOT for everyone, as "it doesn't work very well for about 80% of people who take it." (Driven To Distraction, Dr Edward Hallowell).

IF anyone has questions about ADD read "Driven To Distraction". The Author(s) both have ADD themselves and are psychiatrists.

Too many people with ADD refuse medication because they think "oh no, I will get addicted", which is 99 percent of the time not the case for ADD. They miss out on at least an option that could help them immensely.

I am so irritated with the ignorance and lack of knowledge from people who bad mouth things they know really nothing about. It didn't work for me so I am going to demonize the drugs and spread lies that they turn kids into zombies and cause them to shoot up schools..........C'mon, you're how old? I'm probably 1/2 your age and I have twice the common sense.
I'm not saying your a bad parent Spoiled, but your NAME IS Spoiled....you seem to be on a high and mighty chair, and you seemingly have a very self centered mind. Doesn't work for you then it must be the work of the devil.

Learn how to do research, form educated opinions, maybe read a book. Use your rights as a patient to see a different doctor if you don't agree with one. Do something productive.

My son has been taking Adderall for about 4 and 1\2 yrs. and I will tell ya'll that it help him at first but as the yrs went by it is like he is not taking anything. He just got off of taking the Adderall XR and it wasn't even helping him any. It was like it was giving him a boost. I have read all of the storys that ya'll have put on here and they all sound just like what I am going through. There is one thing that I noticed about everyones and that is that no one put on here what was in Adderall. If you do some looking into it Adderall has amphetamines in it. That is why you only have so many days to get it filled. If you look it up in a PDR or in THE PILL BOOK it will tell you that it is pronounced ADD-ur-all and then under that it says "Generic ingredients: AMPHETAMINES" So if you are taking this I would say that it is time to get off of this med. I have taking my son off of it and he seems to bwe getting better. Adderall is just like Ritalin. Ritalin also had Amphetamines in it as well. I just thought that I would share that with all of ya'll. I am glade to see that there is a place to do this and share story's and just maybe keep someone that has not ever taken this med and that might just be thinking about putting a kid on it that just maybe this will change their mind.