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Comment by htsh | Hacker News Reader

Be careful. I had a nightmare of a time with Adderall, which led to a manic episode and a year of my life lost to recovery. Whatever you do, don't ask us, ask your doctor.

Its a rare side effect but it happens for folks who are susceptible to depression or bipolar stuff..

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Absolutely correct - please consult with your doctor before you take any advice off of the internet. Messing around with your neural circuitry may cause more harm than good.

Because doctors know everything. I know a woman whose doctors took a year to find the broken pieces of bone swimming around her leg because they were sure her back was causing her leg pain and a man whose brother was diagnosed with MS because of exposure to a chemical known to cause MS-like symptoms (in a different order). Myself, I've been told by doctors that a joint problem would heal in a month - after it had already been six months. Then there's the story of how doctors failed to notice the absence of one of my male organs until I brought it to their attention at age 10.

Seems to me that most doctors are pretty much robots with a lot of institutionalized "knowledge".

I feel the need to caution the OP that the average doctor can't be counted on to know more about messing around with neural circuitry than random people you find on the Internet. We simply don't have the scientific knowledge at this point to make reliable predictions about the effect of drugs like adderall on a given person.

From what I've been able to tell, all drugs that act as neurotransmitter reuptake inhibitors (including amphetamines like adderall) have a strong potential to cause unpredictable and undesirable side effects. It seems wise to use such drugs only as a last resort to treat a debilitating condition. Lack of motivation suggests you might want to find something more compelling to work on.

I would say do NOT ask your doctor. I walked straight into an urgent care clinic and had a physician I had never had before. I said "I have a hard time focusing during class and doing homework, I think I'm ADD. Can I have some adderol?". That was it. He wrote me a prescription with refills for a year. Doctors are WAY too happy to write prescriptions and would rather do that then help you figure out the underlying cause of your health issues.

Adderol(and some of the other drugs) were a nightmare for me. I was uber-productive on them, but I'll never use any of that crap again. I'd rather be less effective than use amphetamines.

I've considered using nootropics (sp?), but I think getting good sleep and finding a motivational visualization to focus on before getting to work is pretty effective.

That's the exception more than the rule.

And frankly, what you say happened is illegal in America. Adderall is a schedule 2 controlled substance, which means no refills at all, much less for a year.

edit: I can't reply below so I'll do it here. Agreed -- there's a scary underside to this story and its that at most universities (especially the top-tier), its much too easy to walk in and get a prescription. Also, at both universities I've attended it was known that you could buy it in certain areas in the library.

Well, this was about 7 years ago so perhaps my memory failed me on the details.

All I know is it is _way_ too easy to get a prescription for adderol (and any prescription for that matter), and my experience is _not_ an exception at all. When I was in college I never knew anyone who went to the doctor to try to get a prescription that was turned down or required to take any sort of test.

I have to disagree here. I can't think of any incidents where anyone I know has gone to a doctor and requested a specific drug and not had it prescribed. All the doctor visit accomplished was to make it more expensive.

We'd probably be better off if the prescription requirement was removed from the vast majority of drugs and the advertising was restricted instead.

An old roommate of mine is a psychiatrist and he claims that 60% of his job is denying drug requests.

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