Posted by christa johnson on July 31, 2005, at 19:03:04
In reply to Re: Anyone have any comments/stories about Adderall? , posted by Renee N on January 5, 2000, at 17:22:33
People need to understand that when you have ADD, you can't always "turn-on" your brain whenever you want. Many, many times I attempted to study, but all I ever did was daydream. It is important to understand that Adderall, when used as directed, is a tool, you still do all the work.
I was diagnosed with ADD when I was 16. At that time, my psychologist reccommended that I start on 40 mg of Adderall daily. (Most patients start at 10mg daily & increase dosage if neccessary.) Without any qustions asked, my doctor presribed that dosage. Everything went well for a couple of years. I considered Adderall as my "miracle drug". As time went on, I developed a tolerance & my medication was adjusted to 60 mg daily.
Problems didn't develop until I was a full time college student & full time manager at a busy retail store. I was in my 3rd year of college, things weren't getting any easier. I began taking Adderall when I needed it. That could be 4 or 5 doses a day. I slept on average about 3 or 4 nights a week. The longest I remained awake was 58 hrs. I think.
There was a time when my friends (w/o ADD) began taking Adderall. They acted like it was some great "buzz". Me being stupid, I wanted to experience what they were feeling. A couple of times, for social reasons, I snorted Adderall. Once a so-called friend stole my Adderall and I flipped out. My friend was taunting me, making it very clear that they had my drug and intended to use it for their own pleasure. I was pissed. I went to their house and asked for it back. To make the story short, I broke their glass door to take back my Adderall. He was a jerk anyway. But that was a red flag on my part.
Ultimately, my controlled substance was controlling me. I had no health insurance, so I would bounce checks b/c I was so driven to get my medication. One of my worst moments was when I overdosed and experienced amphetamine psychosis. It is a real thing & nobody wants to go through it.
After that I was pretty pissed at my doctors. They were the so-called experts, why didn't they see my warning signs? I was 19 or 20 and I could still shop for clothes in the little girls department. Size 0 was too baggy on me. That's not normal. Doctors have to open your patient file every month when you go back for your prescription, why didn't they see such an obvious side effect in my chart? I could have easily died that day. Besides, not too many people are going to give you an intervention when, for the first time in your life, you are accomplishing everything and getting good grades. Overall, you appear to be successful, so who is going to come to you and tell you that you have a problem? I'm kind of pissed off that my dr started me on 40 mg--that should have never happend. Here's a word of advise NEVER STOP TAKING ADDERALL COLD TURKEY!!! Yeah, I experienced that, too. You'll never see daylight again and you'll be really, really, depressed.
Let me just say that I stopped taking Adderall for 2 years, but I just couldn't get my life together. I started taking Adderall about 7 months ago. This time my dosage started at 10 mg. Now I recognize that I had an addiction to this medication, but like how people w/ diabetes need their insulin, I have ADD and I need my Adderall. I am very cautious about going down the wrong path again. When I have a tough day, I think "oh well. There's always tomorrow to get that done" instead of reaching for my bottle. In conclusion, Adderall can be very beneficial, but be careful, it can be your worst enemy.
poster:christa johnson
thread:18089
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050728/msgs/536121.html