adderall

[Jj85]

can't find the thread that had this discussion, but...

just tried adderall for the first time yesterday. like laura said, i think it's amazing. i was able to study for about 4 hours straight... no symptoms. it also made me really confident, which is pretty rare these days, given everything. i even went out to a bar last night with my friends (didn't drink though). it's not a cure, obviously, as it only gets rid of the symptoms, but, man, it seems like it's going to be a great security blanket for when i really need it.

[Chronicfatiguetreatments]

thats good news that it works for you. Ive tried it and it ddnt really help.
But, if there are any side effects from the adderall, you should try another drug called provigil.
Its a newer stimulant that is supposed to have almost no side effects.
When i did adderal i wasnt hungry and i had insomnia problems. i think provigil isnt supposed to have any of those side effects.

Did you have a hard time getting a Dr. to give it to you?

[StarDust]

Hey Jj85, how much are you taking?
I know it's really nice to feel like you have the energy of a normal person when you're on adderall. What happened to me is I took it everyday, and I built a tolerance to it. If you don't want that to happen maybe you should only take it when you're having a bad day. But some people don't get used to it, so maybe you could try taking it every day at low dose, and if it keeps working, then fine, but if you notice you start getting used to it, then take it only when you really need it.

[Jj85]

Yeah, it's been a very bizarre past 36 hours. I only got one hour of sleep last night (mainly due, I'm sure, to the fact that I took an adderall at 8pm because I was so excited at the prospect of being able to go out). And right now I'm tired, but I still haven't taken another one, and the last adderalls have definitely run out of my system by now. The weird thing is that it's not a CFS-type tired I have. It's the sort of normal tired that you might feel after not getting a lot of sleep (obviously, a much better feeling).

I don't want to get too excited, obviously, but I feel 100% right now in terms of actual CFS symptoms. CFT, have you tried provigil yourself? My psychiatrist is pretty awesome. Though it's ridiculous that I have to have a psychiatrist for this disease to get certain meds, she is very liberal with the prescriptions.

Stardust, completely agree. Right now I'm on the 20mg fast release (which are supposedly out of your system in 5 hours or so). I'm really worried about dependency/resistance to anything, which is why I only take Klonopin when I really need it. I plan on doing the same with this stuff. Just gotta get through the next 3 weeks of school, and then a glorious month off...

I do worry, though, that long-term, stimulating my brain is the wrong way to go with this. For the Gupta followers out there, I had a thought: if I can feel good enough for long enough on this stuff, maybe the adrenal cycle will finally break as my amygdala calms down (right now, I'm not stressed about school or anything else at all, which in theory, should really help).

[StarDust]

Your first dose was 20mg?? I started at 5 or 10. Then I went up gradually till 25.

By the way the half like of adderall is about 12 hours, that means 12 hours after you took the pill, you still have half of it in your blood, so its better taking it in the morning. It depends on people though, some filter it faster, some slower.

[.Tom]

I popped a 200mg Provigil yesterday after being so frustrated that I couldn't play Modern Warfare 2.

When my fatigue gets bad I can't do stuff like play video games because my awakeness and alertness just isn't there to be able to play. It did help me play and enjoy it but unfortunately it also made me very shaky and my heart beat fast and also gave me a terrible headache. It also made my armpits smell like piss. I have no idea why.

I would like to try Adderall but unfortunately the state thinks we're stupid and can't handle buying drugs without the approval of state sanctioned doctors. Sorry to complain it's just a hassle and quite condescending to tell us that we need someone else's approval to put something in our own body.

But yeah, Provigil is good, and the side effects are nothing compared to most psych drugs. But they're still bothersome enough that I only take it when my fatigue gets unbearable.

[Jj85]

Well, I'm on the fast release version (IR, not XR) so I think mine filters out a little faster, but, yeah, from now on, no taking adderall after 4pm (I can feel the effects for about 4 hours when I take it). Just a thought, but maybe at some level dosage, it's high enough that you'll always feel the effects? My doctor told me that she prescribes 60mg pills (which are probably XR), and said that if I needed, taking 2 pills at once, for 40mg, would be fine.

[gregzky990]

Does anyone know if this has the same affect as ritalin cause I tried that and had no luck!

Gregzky990

[neil25]

does anyone know how i can get adderall prescribed by my doctor? I live in the uk where cfs is thought of as a mental illness it's going to be hard to persuade my g.p to prescribe adderall. can anyone give me any suggestions or advice?

[Jj85]

You have basically two routes, as far as I can tell.

The first is to just ask your current doctor, who may very well be willing to try it. I was prescribed Wellbutrin, for example, even though I wasn't depressed. Maybe try bringing in an article or something about how adderall has been found to help CFS (I think I read this on a few sites awhile back).

The second option is to find a new doctor, say you're having these symptoms, but stress most of all that you really can't concentrate-- that you basically seem to have ADD, and it's making school impossible. This is what Adderall is usually prescribed for, at least. Also, I've read that some docs prescribe it for depression, so if you're doc thinks you're depressed, he might be willing.

This is just my personal opinion, but I don't think that this drug is actually good for us in the long term. It releases adrenaline, for one, which I'm pretty sure isn't good for us. I'm just going to take it to get through finals, and then go off of it for the following month.

[neil25]

i appreciate the advice, i really want to try aderall even if i can use it once a week i would be happy.