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Comment by akarma | Hacker News Reader

As someone who also has it: have you tried medicine like Adderall?

I’m so torn on it. On one hand, it makes me so productive, but on the other, it makes me so unemotional and cold and abrasive.

It also makes me sweat, increases my heart rate, and has a terrible comedown when taken often.

I was diagnosed at 16 and was on it for years, eventually moving up to 4x the dosage as my body grew resistance.

I’ve stopped it for the past couple years, and now am back to the lowest dosage on rare occasions I take it, but still unsure how to feel about it.

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Yes, you pretty much summed up all. Don't forget sleepless nights if you took it after 11 am or later. Also: Heartburn, dry mouth, and severe dehydration, loss of appetite (yay for this one actually). And flushing (pee pee pee all day).

IF you are working from home with minimal contact, it works. Never EVER answer a phone call when you are on it (this is to whoever planning to use it in the future). God knows, how many times I argued with a client just because of Adderall.

It forces anyone using it to keep the communication to a minimum. And when a client calls (usually oblivious, but demanding), you will end up arguing at some point.

Adderall = never do anything social including phone calls. I am serious.

Looks like your dose is way too high...

Usually people take 20-30 mg pills. This happens anywhere after 10mg. I see lots of sleepless dudes in tech industry. All angry and intolerant :)

My prescription is 30mg of Elvanse daily, which corresponds to 12mg of Adderall _spread through the day_ (Elvanse/Vyvanse is an extended release form). Taking it all at once would surely lead to all that effects.

> Don't forget sleepless nights if you took it after 11 am or later.

Medication that keeps you awake for 16 hours leads to sleepless nights if taken late into the day, more news at 2.

Obviously. On the other hand, if you didn't take it before 11am for reasons (some of which may be bullshit!) you then get to make a Sophie's choice between being productive and sleeping.

Depends on the dosage, while he mentioned Adderall those are the exact side-effects I had with Ritalin, and that comes in all forms: "normal" (4 hours), long-last (8 hours), slow-release (also 8 hours-ish, different chemical implementation), and more I don't remember/know.

The shorter durations (4 hours) are more effective than the longer, but also require taking it several times a day. And I think neither 4 nor the 8 keep you awake for 16 hours. Occasionally I'd even get the side effect of making me drowsy, and I had to take a nap right there. Thankfully that usually happened when I would take Ritalin for studying at home later in the day, rather than at school.

True, 16 hours was over the top. I think my concerta bottle (methylphenidate, same ingredient as ritalin but extended release) says something around 12 hours.

My point however was that if you take medication which can keep you awake for X hours less than X hours before bed, you could have a bad time.

> Occasionally I'd even get the side effect of making me drowsy, and I had to take a nap right there.

I've read about this, for some taking ritalin actually helps them sleep since it makes the brain shut up and be quiet, instead of racing all the time

I think nearly all of us that aren't secretly abusing medication feel that ambivalence.

For me and I assume for others, it is not a fully adequate treatment. Some symptoms it fixes, some it helps with, some it does nothing for, some it actually makes worse. (In particular, impulsivity and inability to task switch accurately.)

Then there are the side effects, and the comedowns after tolerance builds.

Nevertheless you must still learn coping skills, still pursue other treatment (exercise, decent diet, sleep, CBT if needed), still struggle as the square peg.

I have used medication for roughly 5 years ish of 30 some years of life, intermittently. I'd say taking it is better treatment than not, but honestly, like you, I feel a deep ambivalence towards it. (Even resentment, sometimes.)

Work with a psychiatrist to try other meds. There are non-stimulant meds that work with ADD too.

Adderall is not the only option; it didn’t work for me. It took a bit, and I ended up with Dextroamphetemine. The physical side effects dulled down to the occasional restless leg, and the mental effects work well.

Personally, I was on methylphenidate (generic for Concerta) from eighth grade until very recently, when I switched to an Adderal ER. The difference for me was more what happened when I came off of it- on methylphenidate, I got super irritable right around the same time I got home, which was not good.

I haven't noticed anything weird with this one, but for anyone reading this, I would highly recommend "shopping around" for ADHD medicine if you can.

Adderall and Dextroamphetamine are almost the same. They're both amphetamine (speed) with just slightly different ratios of the isomers.

Dextroamphetamine is a pure enantiomer. Adderall includes levoamphetamine, which has stronger peripheral effects.

It definitely helps the day to day but I cant help but think it is a horrible idea long term

I don't have the research handy, but Adderall has been proven very safe for long-term use when taken at "normal" dosages and with oversight by a doctor.

I've been on it for 20 years and with the oversight of responsible doctors, and I have never had to increase my dosage (in fact I've reduced it 25% in the last 5 years). All my heart/blood/* tests come back good and I'm not a particularly health-conscious person. I regularly take week-long breaks to assess if it's still the right regimen for me. (Like the parent post says, the days off of it can be brutal but avoiding tolerance and assessing its true impact are invaluable.) I don't "like" Adderall but it is the only way I feel sane.

My point: don't be afraid to seek meds that help just because you may fear some long-term effects. A doctor can help you decide if the long-term effects are worth the gain, and there may not in fact even be the long-term effects you're worried about, especially if you talk about those worries with your doctor.

Nobody will ever admit it but memantine and/or dxm maintain effectiveness of amphetamines.

Even as much as fully resetting tolerance in some cases.

Not worth it for the potential brain damage

How does it cause brain damage?

I've never had Adderall because it's not for sale in .au for some reason. I've tried Ritalin and Modafinil and Dexamphetamines. Ritalin didn't help much and gave me headaches, but Modafinil is much better. It doesn't help with the ADHD quite as well as Dex does, but all the annoying side effects are far less pronounced as well. Unfortunately in .au you can't get it subsidised for ADHD, only narcolepsy, so I've stuck with Dex just because it's so much cheaper, despite it being way worse for you.

I have ADD and sleep apnea, a double whammy of conditions that society likes to mislabel as 'character flaws'. I took ADD for a few years; it helped at first but after a year or so I had to stop because I was becoming very angry when on it. I believe the exhaustion/constant jet lag of the apnea (even with CPAP treatment) and work/kids entirely depleted my patience and self-control and the adderall then exacerbated my temper. I'd much rather be foggy/forgetful than angry.

I was diagnosed with sleep apnea. I no longer need my machine Here are some of the things I tried: cut out wheat, cut out refined sugars, lift heavy things 3 to 5 times a week, do an elimination diet (whole 30 is a good one), get a good supplement stack (Standard Process has good stuff)...

I'm not sure what else I tried. I think the changes in my diet made the biggest difference.

Dosage could be off too. Try going lower and tone release.

Look up titration. The right doctor will help you dial this in and interview you to make the right call.

Try Vyvanse or one of the other high grade, extended release alternatives to Adderall. Lots of people have had issues with Adderall, especially after the patents expired and it started being made almost exclusively overseas as a generic.

Long term usage of those drugs will cause GERD. I know first hand

Even the first time does it. Addie or others are super strong and mess up the stomach acids fast.

How long is long term? I have a friend that had problems with GERD until he started taking Adderall. It seems that he is not alone. Something about stimulants seem to help digestive problems for some people.

After about 5 years is when I started noticing the side effects got worse than the desired effect.

It does nothing for procrastination and so proved useless to me.

Look into nuvigil, and if that fails - wakix (pitolisant/tiprolisant)

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