Adderall miracle drug for my CFS symptoms

[laura]

I have been extremely ill with CFS for 2 1/2 years. Adderall enables me to function and work. I take 40 mgs extended release generic Adderall. If you try this drug try taking 20 mgs first, that might be enough for you. The generic works just as well and is much cheaper. It takes away my pain and gives me enough energy to get through the day. I take Klonopin 1 mg , Lunesta 3 mg, Trazadone 25 mgs and Cymbalta 60 mgs at night. I haven't been able to sleep since I got CFS, so I don't take the sleeping pills because of the adderall, I was taking them before the Adderall. But it seems that people who take adderall for ADD also take klonopin at night for sleep. Cymbalta is an antidepressant that helps pain. It has totally evened my mood and taken away anxiety. Adderall is an amphetamine given to people with ADD. It is a psychostimulant. Mayo Clinic's website recommends psychostimulants as one treatment for CFS. it is working for me. It is like a miracle. It takes away my painful lymph nodes, wrist pain, earaches, sorethroats, and gives me energy. Provigil did not work for me, but Adderall has. Please post if you try this and it helps you. I hope this info can help other people. I am a person who has always fought taking pills, but I have accepted that I need to take the above combination to function and most importantly keep working at my job and earning an income.

[misty]

Hi,i also feel tired all day long but have not addressed this to my dr as yet,i guess i'm scared as to what she will say,,you are taking adderall,,how easy is that to get and what chance have i got for my dr to believe in CFS..Thanks..

[Aggie11]

I have suffered with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome for over 10 years with NO help until very recently! I began taking Adderall and to date, it has been the only effective thing I have found. If you are like me and feel like you have been hit by a truck every morning when you get out of bed, then it might be worth a try. I still feel horrible when I first wake up, but I know that if I can just get up and take that little blue pill, I will be able to function throughout the day. Also, since it is an ADD medicine, it helps tremendously with the fog and inability to concentrate that many people with CFS (including me) suffer from. For the first time in over 10 years, I can think clearly again. The only problem is that it works so well that you forget that you have CFS and can begin to over work yourself. I have recently discovered that you can still "crash" even on Adderall, so don't push yourself because you feel good. But, the time you are down isn't as long or as hopeless. Stick to your limits and it will help. It is wonderful!

[laura]

To Aggie 11.......thank you thank you...for validating my experience with adderall... i want so much to help people.... i would be bed bound thinking about ways to kill myself if not for adderall....i just want to get the word out

[laura]

Hi,i also feel tired all day long but have not addressed this to my dr as yet,i guess i'm scared as to what she will say,,you are taking adderall,,how easy is that to get and what chance have i got for my dr to believe in CFS..Thanks

Misty, i sent you a private message, to try to help you, please read your private messages...laura

[laura]

I decided to put what I wrote to you here so that it might help others as well...in my private message to you i just added my email address if you want to contact me...

Dear Misty...I searched for a diagnosis for 3 years, was out of work for 5 1/2 months due to crazy symptoms... would still be out of work if not for adderall...i never found a doctor out of the 15 doctors i saw in southwest florida to dx. me with CFS...they did every test under the sun on me , everything was negative..that is one way to get diagnosed with CFS... I even went to the Mayo clinic in Jacksonville and that idiot dx'ed me with depression....but after that appt when i got home i looked at Mayo's website and there listed under CFS were all of my symptoms,
extreme exhaustion, swollen glands in my neck, dizziness, sore throat, joint pain without redness or swelling, sensitivity to noise and odors. I was outraged...a fellow CFS sufferer told me about adderall. it has saved my life...i take extended release generic adderall, i have to take 40 mg in the morning and i take klonpin at night to sleep. You should start out by taking 20mg extended release...that was what i was able to take last year. PROVIGIL, ANOTHER PSYCHOSTIMULANT, REC BY ONE DOCTOR DID NOT WORK FOR ME.

Regarding your situation....
1. have you had a complete battery of tests to see if there is anything wrong with your thyroid, or do you have any vitamin deficiences...have you been tested for Lyme's, HIV, epstein barr, mono and anything else the doctors can think of ?
2. what are your symptoms?
3. read Mayo Clinic's web site about CFS

I could not get my previous doctor to prescribe Adderall. i had to get it from a psychiatrist and he had to fudge my chart to say I had ADD to justify since CFS is still not recognized by doctors as a medical illness and there is no treatment protocol. Although, PSYCHOSTIMULANTS ARE RECOMMENDED ON MAYO'S WEB SITE AS ONE FORM OF TREATMENT!!!! adderall is a psychostimulant...

So to get adderall you can first talk to your doctor...describe your symptoms... if you just have fatigue...perhaps an antidepressant would help you? I also take an antidepressant that helps my energy, called Cymbalta it is the best antidepressant I have been on ... i take 60 mg, you start on 30 and then in a day or week go up to 60 depends on what doctor says. If your doctor will not give you the adderall and all medical tests are negative you can try to see a psychiatrist to get it.

[Jj85]

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).

anyway, if i were you all, i'd try to find a psychiatrist that's willing to prescribe it. 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.

[neil25]

does it get rid of the horrible tiredness and pain?

[Aggie11]

Neil and Laura,

This may have already been answered for you since I haven't been on the forum in a while, but it absolutely helps the tiredness! It does help somewhat with the pain but it isn't great for that. Again, I have been on it since September and I cannot describe to you how my quality of life has changed just from taking this drug. It is worth trying out to see if it will help you.

Laura-you are very welcome! I'm like you, in that, if Adderall can help others with CFS the way that it has helped me, I want to let them know so they can at least give it a try and see for themselves. I can't tell you how many days I have had that without it, I wouldn't have been able to get out of bed. At this point in my battle with CFS, I refuse to let this disease put me in a box for any more years of my life! Adderall has given me at least a resemblance of what my life, and I, used to be and I think everyone with CFS should at least give it a try!

[neil25]

Can i ask where you stay? i live in the UK and its really hard getting my doctor to prescribe drugs. i asked him earlier about medication and he wouldnt prescribe anything for cfs. How did you get adderall prescribed?

[Empty]

I found this thread and thought I would join up the forums and put in my 2 cents of experience.

I tested Dexedrine as treatment for my chronic fatigue syndrome, which is chemically very similar to Adderall. The only problem I found with using it, is that as with any Amphetamine, with a high comes a low. Dexedrine could get me up and going like nothing else and boost my productivity by unimaginable proportions in the beginning, but it isn't a cure.

As time went on, I would need a significantly higher dose to produce the required effects and without the drugs I was getting more tired than before. Eventually I decided to give it up because the "high" of Dexedrine, was only slightly more energizing than not taking it at all (before the prescription), however not taking it caused massive waves of depression and fatigue.

In addition I found Dexedrine to change my personality and feelings. I felt paranoid a lot more, I was feeling very "fiend-y" when taking Dexedrine and worst of all, chemical dependence was not a nice thing to have when you already have such a load to deal with.

It is a good medication to have for those sometimes when you have no other option, I still take it occasionally for those certain times. But from my personal experience however, I would not recommend it as a long term treatment plan for CFS.

[kaywood]

Adderall was a miracle drug for me to UNTIL..I built up a TOLERANCE. Try to not increase your dosage unless you absolutely need to. Also try to take a break for a day or more every now and then. This will slow down the build up of tolerance. I took Ritalin for 2 years and have now been on Adderall for 2 or 3 years and my dosage of 30mg twice a day does almost nothing. I am back to being chronically fatigued and bedridden 70% of the time. My Docter gives it to me for ADD and will not increase my dosage. I don't know what to do. Without it, I would become dangerously depressed, otherwise I would quit for awhile to reduce tolerance and then go back to it. Be careful. You don't want to end up like me. Today I took 60mg at once, and I'm still tired and in bed. Good Luck...the Miracle Drug will work wonders,...but not forever.

[maryalice40]

I was put on as high of a dose as 90mg a day of adderall. I used the regular and XR. It's speed, it's going to give you some energy. But I wasn't happy with the up I felt, just to crash hard afterwards, or the insomnia it caused. I also tried provigil, it's for sleep disorders, it would wake me up some, but was not helpful in getting rid of my fatigue.

[rysod]

I have been to my Doctor regarding CFS and I was tested for everything under the sun in case there was another issue.My doctor said that it could only be CFS after my results returned clear and had no signs of anything wrong with me at all. However the hospital (NHS) refused to believe that I had anything wrong with me that wasn't purely psychological, even though I have been complaining to my GP for 5 years now ever since having glandular fever diagnosed three times previous to my post viral fatigue. I am 22 now and struggling a lot with every day life and my practice and hospital refuse to give me any drug to help.
I am very strong willed and psychotherapy has not done a thing for me at all. Reaching the end of my tether.

I am reading now about wonder drugs kids are taking for exams, and Adderall, Modafinil and Provagil and all names that keep popping up. However my doctor refuses to give me them because he says they are addictive and unreliable.

I'm not sure what I can really do, and I'm weary about online pharmacies and their price tags on these drugs.

Any ideas ?

[Jonanne]

Adderall was a miracle drug for me to UNTIL..I built up a TOLERANCE. Try to not increase your dosage unless you absolutely need to. Also try to take a break for a day or more every now and then. This will slow down the build up of tolerance. I took Ritalin for 2 years and have now been on Adderall for 2 or 3 years and my dosage of 30mg twice a day does almost nothing. I am back to being chronically fatigued and bedridden 70% of the time. My Docter gives it to me for ADD and will not increase my dosage. I don't know what to do. Without it, I would become dangerously depressed, otherwise I would quit for awhile to reduce tolerance and then go back to it. Be careful. You don't want to end up like me. Today I took 60mg at once, and I'm still tired and in bed. Good Luck...the Miracle Drug will work wonders,...but not forever.

I've had CFS for 16 years. 1 and 1/2 years in bed and now pretty much remission unless I get sick or overdo it. Adderall does work. However, if you take it and it doesn't work, that means your body is so very depleted and fatigued that it overrides the drug. Also there is HUGE DIFFERENCE IN MANUFACTUERS. My hubby is pharmacist and I hear the " generic is same crap" all the time. Not true. Same with Ambien. I could blindfold myself and take one or the other and tell you which one it was by whether I slept for 7 hours or four or whether I took 5 mgs of real Adderall or 30 of cheap stuff. Nutrition is EVERYTHING Y'ALL. I know the only reason I am not still in bed is bc of researching nutrition. Don Colbert MD IN Florida sees CFIDS patients. Amazing guy. Has written books. Hope this helps. Don't keep adding more adderall if fatigue is overriding medicine bc you will burn out your adrenal glands doing it. Hang in there. Anne