Comment by phaedrus | Hacker News Reader

Comment by phaedrus | Hacker News Reader

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This rigamarole is why I stopped taking ADHD medicine.

I waited too long to make an appointment once (because, you know, ADHD), and then ran into a problem that my doctor's office had reorganized duties to give the renewing prescriptions role to a newly hired nurse aid without considering that he can't refill controlled substances. I kinda wondered how that could work, but either because was new to the job or overconfident he assured me I was wrong about the legality of that and he definitely would get the prescription scrip for me.

By the time he / the doctor's office realized actually no, he can't refill my ADHD medication, my doctor was out and a four day weekend would soon begin. At this point I was already a few days off the meds and going through withdrawals, which got worse over the weekend. By the time Tuesday rolled around I'd essentially been forced to "quit" cold turkey, and so I was like, what is the point of re-starting this now I've gone through the hardest part of getting off it?

> what is the point of re-starting this now I've gone through the hardest part of getting off it?

For me, the point of re-starting would be because I have ADHD.

I've had to jump through the same stupid hoops, even going without for months, and I can say that the single hardest thing for me is not having the meds.

Same. it was always a nightmare. hated the way everything needed to be literally scheduled down to the very day. prescribers would get shit wrong all the time, there would inevitably days without. I was using an online service at one point (done, the worst of the worst) and they just straight up ignored my pleas for help for 3 solid weeks. when they finally came back and said sorry we fucked up I had basically decided to just quit, and quitting cold turkey is never fun. After years of being on/off I decided to say fuck this for once and for all and will never touch them again. Until they are available in vending machines - which I firmly believe is how they should be available.

People cry about the comparison to "legal meth" but that is literally what it is. There is no difference. Your dealer is replaced by a licensed psychyatrist but at the end of the day they are just a dealer with a nice office and a certificate from a university.

There is a difference. Adderall is a combo of amphetamine and dextroamphetamine, while "meth" is typically mostly methamphetamine (with other "enhancements" or impurities). They are chemically different.

While Adderall isn't the same as meth, there is a ADHD medication that is pure methamphetamine: Desoxyn, and it's significantly more difficult to get a prescription for, and comes with far more warnings about its use since it is pure meth. I've never tried it, nor have I ever had a doctor recommend it.

The doctor who I was seeing when I was first diagnosed with ADHD explained the differences between Adderall and meth by saying "Adderall is like a bright line painted on the ground helping remind you of where to go. Meth is like riding a bullet train. It'll lock you in tight and take you for a ride, hurtling at full blast whether you want to be a part of it or not until you and everything you love shakes to pieces and you die. And it'll tell you it's fun while it's happening."

I had a friend who'd been addicted to meth and is in recovery say "Adderall is like taking a comfortable stroll around the block, while Meth is like travelling to the moon and back. Yeah, they're both 'getting you somewhere', but they're not remotely the same activity."

I agree they are chemically different, but their effects are the same. Dosage is the most important thing here.

Weird, because in another comment, you said:

> it's literally the same thing. anyone who claims otherwise is uninformed.

That they are chemically different is a fact, but their physical effects have also been proven to be different as well. I've never tried meth, but I know people who have, and who have also used Adderall, and the descriptions of their experiences would suggest the two drugs have different effects, regardless of dosage.

But I can't prove those differences, so won't argue further.

Methamphetamine not only has a different volume of distribution, meaning it is distributed in tissues differently than amphetamine but methamphetamine also has much greater serotonergic activity which greatly impacts the effects.

> what is the point of re-starting this now I've gone through the hardest part of getting off it?

Wait, what? Withdrawal is the hardest part? Not, you know, untreated ADHD?

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