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Avatar universal

adderall addiction, worried about long term effects...

About 4 years ago me and a bunch of my friends tried adderall (a drug used to treat add) for recreational purposes, basically to be able to stay up all night and party.  It was a great time and everyone loved it, back then i was kind of shy and this little pill really gave me the personality i've always wanted, all of a sudden i would get WAY more girls at bars, etc.  Since then we have all continued to take it on a regular basis.

Some of my friends are out of control with it, to the point where they use it to treat depression, perform better at work, party, socialize, and everything else it can be used for.  Some are taking several pills a day and have shown some side effects that they refuse to accept.

Now in my case i have kept it a lot more under control then they did, i never snorted it, never increased the dosage as all my friends did gradually, never took more then 1 pill (30mg is the most i've taken but its usually 15 or 20s) at a time.  I don't drink excessively while on it as i know that is extra dangerous but nonetheless the next day my heart beats like a 1000x per/minute for about 6 hours then it goes back to normal.

At this point i take about 2 pills per/week generally fri and sat night and on occasion i take a small dosage of ritalin (similar drug) to help study for big tests.  

The side effects i have noticed (and i don't know if all are necessarily associated with it ) is some increase in fatigue, i've wrestled my whole life and in the past couple years i have noticed some decrease in my conditioning.  I have no physical urge but there is a mental addiction to take it.  I mean i have gone months without it before and was fine but when i do go out it's still in my head that i feel like i would be having a much better time if i was on it.  I have a very weird almost suicidal impulse i get only when i drive by myself for a long period of time its like something tells me to crash the car, i have enough common sense not to do it offcourse but a couple times it got bad enough to where i had to pull over on the shoulder to chill out (again not sure if this is caused by the drug but i do not recall having this until a couple years ago.

Now i decided to finally do some research about the long term side effects and from what i've read there're definitely some very serious ones but from what i've seen people reporting them have been taking around 30mg 2x per/day now i am no where near that and i do have enough control to where i don't feel i will ever get there, again i never increased the dosage in the 4 years i've been taking it. With that said i do have some concerns after what i have read.

So anyone who has had experience with this or knows something about it please give me some advice on what this type of usage can cause later in life.

10 Responses
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473384 tn?1210206242
I'm not sure you're going to get what you're looking for here (endorsement for recreational use of amphetamine, or citation of a study or two telling you're ok with 2X/week use)...it sounds like you may need to do your own research to find the answers to your questions. this is not a medIcal or academic website -- just a support group for ppl trying to get off of dope.  :)
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
oh i'm just about the most layed back person you'll ever meet though so i don't think i'm getting that what does bother me is the loss of conditioning which effects my performance in wrestling which i have a scholarship for hmmmm
Helpful - 0
401095 tn?1351391770
I have also heard that an increase in worrying and obsessing is a side effect of amphetamines...not worth it
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
The effects of speed are a lot more unpredictable then pot or alcohol.  You might be fine on what you're doing but you really can't know.  The heart racing the next day doesn't sound so good.  You could always take your chances but I don't think you're going to get the kind of peace of mind you're looking for.  Perhaps you should consider yourself lucky for having gotten away with what you have for the last four years and hang it up.  This advice might not go over too well on this website but frankly you might be better off with alcohol and pot in moderation.    
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
this maybe irresponsible but i do have fun taking the damn thing so the way i looked at it is:
for example if you smoke pot once a month you can still be just as productive and not kill your liver but if you smoke 3x/day you will become slow, lazy, and damage your liver .. same goes for cigs, alcohol, etc i just want to know what the small dosage i take can do or what dosage i can personally take and be safe .. any way to find this out?
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
People vairy tremendously in their tolerance and vulnerability to drugs so you really can't talk about a "safe amount".  What's toxic for you could be completely harmless for someone else.  I've had friends who could take an entire bottle of adderall without a problem and others who have gotten rushed to the emergency room on a small fraction of that.  Chances are you have not done any significant long term damage with the amount of adderall you're doing but given the symptoms you're having it might be wise to lay off, atleast for a while to see if they go away.  Also I wouldn't be to eager to try and get the green light from a doctor.  Many doctors are pretty irresponsible when it comes to prescribing drugs.  
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
no they're not prescribed as i don't have add i know this isn't a recommended thing but neither is getting drunk or smoking people still do it though i'm worried about having really serious long term effects, a little recreational use i'm ok with as long as it doesn't cause serious harm later on
Helpful - 0
401095 tn?1351391770
Is your doctor prescribing these for you?   If not it is just not recomended for you to take them at any dose...
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Is there any "reasonably safe" dosage you can take and not have serious long term effects? Right now 2 pills per week or 40mgs per week on average is all i need if i took 1/2 of that or something is that safer? Is there any kind of study on this?
Helpful - 0
401095 tn?1351391770
Everyone is different so there is no way to tell...i have read alot on the dangers of this drug and it being prescribed so freely to children....the brain receptors do become dependent on it for stimulation and there was a study about how these children later had problems with depression...a big percentage of them but there is no way to tell if these childre would have been prone to depression anyway without the drug...the results were remarkable tho....overuse has alot of side effects such as weight loss, nervousness, heart problems etc...i am sure u know all of these...a couple of times a week I am not sure if u would have alot of side effects long term if u r not taking huge amounts at a time....trouble is your use can escalate and u will be one of the addicted people like ur friends may be....u r only one step away...it is a fine line....amphetamines are more mentally addicting like cocaine...but the mental part is the toughest part of narcotic addiction as well for many....maybe u need to think about quitting them all together
Helpful - 0
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