Aa
Adderall and other supplements?
Hi, I have a rather detailed question concerning the absorbance and/or enzymatic breakdown of the components of Adderall or its generic counterpart. Before I get to that let me tell you that I take several vitamin supplements, an amino complex pill, protein shakes, acai berry antioxidant, along with my usual dosages of Dexedrine that can vary from (30-60mg/day). My case of ADD/ADHD is quite severe (like right now I should be studying for an exam as I type this up..ugh hehe), anyway, I had it all my life but only been medicated for about two years. And it has done everything good up until I started to realize that I have become dependent and my tolerance is through the roof. Ok, the question I have is concerning the supplements I take and their effects on the active components of adderall. I already know that common acids like citric and phosphoric are detrimental to the effectiveness of adderall, but are there other such factors? Also, I have been noticing that either a certain combination or some other factor is causing me to be really irritable and quite anxious at times. I forgot to mention that I also take caffeine (100-200mg), ginseng, and NO (nitric oxide); don’t worry I drink like 2 gallons of water. Reason I do this is because I don't want to "wake-up" to adderall and have it not function properly when I actually need it on my endless studying hours since I am pre-med. Feel free to respond as you wish I would also be interested to hear what others may take (nutritional, chemical, other) that gives them optimal performance alongside the adderall. Sorry for the length.
It sounds like your problem wasn't really the meds, but your doctor -- though you do have good points about the overprescription of meds in the USA. In your situation, I'd highly recommend (though I am not a doctor) alternative naturopathic treatments based on things such as your blood type, your eating habits, and your exercise routine.
My story: I have Type O blood, ADHD, and bipolar disorder and recently in numerous places I have read that a high-protein, low-carb diet would help me with my mood swings, concentration, the whole bit. This was exactly opposite from my high-carb, nearly vegetarian diet on which I was using for years with no success. I am trying this new diet, and wow, I can concentrate better than I could in years. I am also engaging in vigorous exercise, which works so much more effectively than the meditation I used to do.
I'm still on meds, but my old diet didn't even give the meds the chance to work. I am really surprised and happy that my moods are *so* much better, that I am going to talk to my doctor next week about possibly reducing my medications in the future, as I don't need them nearly as much as I thought I did.
I wish you the best in your situation, and God bless.
My story: I have Type O blood, ADHD, and bipolar disorder and recently in numerous places I have read that a high-protein, low-carb diet would help me with my mood swings, concentration, the whole bit. This was exactly opposite from my high-carb, nearly vegetarian diet on which I was using for years with no success. I am trying this new diet, and wow, I can concentrate better than I could in years. I am also engaging in vigorous exercise, which works so much more effectively than the meditation I used to do.
I'm still on meds, but my old diet didn't even give the meds the chance to work. I am really surprised and happy that my moods are *so* much better, that I am going to talk to my doctor next week about possibly reducing my medications in the future, as I don't need them nearly as much as I thought I did.
I wish you the best in your situation, and God bless.
Please listen to me.... By the way, I can't believe that I’m actually on one of these discussion sites, I was just looking for solutions to my problem, and hope to stop you before you create one for yourself.
Regardless of the fact that I am anonymous, I want you to listen because I hope to save people from this terrible addiction one day; I hope to save lots of people. It’s such an unintentional addiction for the people that start taking it , and these people are the naive sweet and innocent, who are made to believe by society that we need to transform our lives to live up to a certain social standards, or ideals. These are also the people that are being suckered into the addiction by our nation’s ******* government’s lack of drug regulation. Certain doctor’s have corrupted their ability to utilize their educations in a way to harm people, and people need to take it upon themselves to do what you did EDUCATE YOURSELF, and ask questions before you believe that people’s claim is ultimately the truth. With enough information you can determine what’s right for you. The only reason I am here taking the time out is to inform those that if they are addicted they aren’t alone, and if you’re not, which I’m sure you are if you are on it for more than a month, to get the hell off!!
I am a 23 year old woman. When I was a child, I was tested over and beyond my intelligence range in comparison to the children my same age bracket, in turn, had a physiological chemical off -balance. I was diagnosed with OCD, ADHD, ABC, DEF, you name it!!! I had it. My mother wasn't for putting me on medications; she was afraid of the damage it would place on my liver. I was extremely young when I was diagnosed by the way. Growing up I was an amazing athlete with lots of drive, I played soccer, in addition to always party with my friends. I was also a great student; I practiced cognitive behavioral therapy, at the University of Pennsylvania, which promoted a Holistic approach of looking at typical disorders that children are labeled with. The majority of what they did for me focused on correcting problems that coincide physiologically and physically as opposed to taking a pill.
About 2 1/2 years ago, I started taking Adderral XR 10 mg twice a day; I am currently taking 30 mg of Adderral XR 2 times a day. XR stands for Extended Release. Sometimes, if I have that paper that I have been putting off due tomorrow, I’ll pop an extra. But recently whether it’s a paper, late night of drinking, extra computer time, , I’ll take one before bed and 2 the next day, note that is 150 mg in my body on occasion…”Where is my doctor in this picture?” you ask. Right, the one responsible for monitoring me, making sure that I am ok with the side effects and such, picture this.
I am currently a Business major, in school still, finishing up in may/June. I have now been prescribed 60 mg of adderral XR a day for the past 2 years. Maybe I’m in denial, or maybe I don’t know, but I have never been addicted to anything in my life, not drugs, not cigarettes, and now I’m stuck on both.
When I hit college I had just started seeing this new doctor. He was funny and energetic (probably b/c he was prescribing himself a thing or two) Well, naturally I liked him. He made me trust him. He started me off on Straterra , to correct my never dissolving issue of ADHD. I personally knew nothing would work, except me working on myself. According to everyone else, nothing had worked, as I’m sure he was already aware of, oh yeah, did I mention I didn’t and still don’t have health insurance, and he was charging a college kid almost a hundred dollars a visit, so that he could do “follow ups”,? **** ups is what he should have called all of those visits.
Next, came the big BANG!!!!!!!!!! This was essentially the biggest downfall of my life. I am emotionally mentally and physically crippled because of this man. He wound up hooking me into this addiction, made tons of money off of the college girl for himself and the Pharmacy industry of good ol’ America. I had to work an extra job in college just to pay for all the meds, and in the moment, thought truthfully that I needed it to make me better, but by the time I realized what it was doing to me, I was so sucked in that I didn’t have time to think or worry about what to do to make me better. “Where is he now”? You ask?
He began cancelling apts. To the point that I would have to just show up there, and the drive to his office, is in my hometown, 2 hours away. I never knew how crazy it was to have to drive all the way to his office to get him, because I never stepped outside of myself, or outside of my box, self centered is what I am, but not in a selfish non giving way, in a way that I worry so much about myself. This drug has created so many added problems with my disorder and with me that I absolutely cannot move out of bed without it. You have no idea what withdraw from this drug is like. I feel like a crack head, and yet I never asked for any of this. I have never voluntarily took this to get messed up, because I don’t have an addictive personality, but when a doctor prescribes you meds at 20 years old, you want to believe what he is giving you is legitimate.
This has been a growing issue in everywhere in my life. I don’t have the same feelings I did before this drug. I find it really hard to be happy. I used to always smile, and laugh, my last episodes of this behavior where before this drug came into my life. I have no interest in sex, boys, and by the way, I am good looking, I can say that, because trust me, it’s not a feeling of satisfaction, in fact, I have boys throw themselves at me, and don’t care, nor want to associate with them.
I think of suicide a lot, I mean at least like twice a day, the only reason I don’t do it is because I think of what it would do to the people I matter to. I mean the real people like my mom, my family, my friends, just because I can’t feel doesn’t mean they can’t.
I am crying while writing this letter right now, but that’s the only emotion that I seem to possess anymore, feelings of fear, worry, failure, and my future. I don’t care about things women my age are doing, I care about how I’m going to make the most money, have the nicest things, but really I have never been that way. The drug has made me manic, but subconsciously I know that, so I keep myself in check. If you don’t want Jeckle and Hyde to argue inside of your brain with you as the middle man in, then stay away from this ****.
I have to end this by telling you that this doctor refused to take anymore appointments from me. I felt like I was a drug attic whose drug dealer was running away from them. He would tell the secretaries in the office to say that he wasn’t there. I would be in bed for days on end waiting for my mother, who by the way was never aware of the severity of my addiction, nor the existence, to go to his office and pickl the prescriptions up for me, because he made me feel like a lunatic. I knew I needed the prescription but did not have the knowledge, courage, or dignity to go myself and tell him how I felt.
I am now with another doctor up at school, who just today told me that my doctor sent him a letter stating that I corrupted the prescription and he had to dismiss me as his patient. (Not in fact the truth) This is the news that I received about a half hour ago. So, I’m sure this is just another issue I need to deal with. STAY AWAY ANYONE WHO READS THIS….
Regardless of the fact that I am anonymous, I want you to listen because I hope to save people from this terrible addiction one day; I hope to save lots of people. It’s such an unintentional addiction for the people that start taking it , and these people are the naive sweet and innocent, who are made to believe by society that we need to transform our lives to live up to a certain social standards, or ideals. These are also the people that are being suckered into the addiction by our nation’s ******* government’s lack of drug regulation. Certain doctor’s have corrupted their ability to utilize their educations in a way to harm people, and people need to take it upon themselves to do what you did EDUCATE YOURSELF, and ask questions before you believe that people’s claim is ultimately the truth. With enough information you can determine what’s right for you. The only reason I am here taking the time out is to inform those that if they are addicted they aren’t alone, and if you’re not, which I’m sure you are if you are on it for more than a month, to get the hell off!!
I am a 23 year old woman. When I was a child, I was tested over and beyond my intelligence range in comparison to the children my same age bracket, in turn, had a physiological chemical off -balance. I was diagnosed with OCD, ADHD, ABC, DEF, you name it!!! I had it. My mother wasn't for putting me on medications; she was afraid of the damage it would place on my liver. I was extremely young when I was diagnosed by the way. Growing up I was an amazing athlete with lots of drive, I played soccer, in addition to always party with my friends. I was also a great student; I practiced cognitive behavioral therapy, at the University of Pennsylvania, which promoted a Holistic approach of looking at typical disorders that children are labeled with. The majority of what they did for me focused on correcting problems that coincide physiologically and physically as opposed to taking a pill.
About 2 1/2 years ago, I started taking Adderral XR 10 mg twice a day; I am currently taking 30 mg of Adderral XR 2 times a day. XR stands for Extended Release. Sometimes, if I have that paper that I have been putting off due tomorrow, I’ll pop an extra. But recently whether it’s a paper, late night of drinking, extra computer time, , I’ll take one before bed and 2 the next day, note that is 150 mg in my body on occasion…”Where is my doctor in this picture?” you ask. Right, the one responsible for monitoring me, making sure that I am ok with the side effects and such, picture this.
I am currently a Business major, in school still, finishing up in may/June. I have now been prescribed 60 mg of adderral XR a day for the past 2 years. Maybe I’m in denial, or maybe I don’t know, but I have never been addicted to anything in my life, not drugs, not cigarettes, and now I’m stuck on both.
When I hit college I had just started seeing this new doctor. He was funny and energetic (probably b/c he was prescribing himself a thing or two) Well, naturally I liked him. He made me trust him. He started me off on Straterra , to correct my never dissolving issue of ADHD. I personally knew nothing would work, except me working on myself. According to everyone else, nothing had worked, as I’m sure he was already aware of, oh yeah, did I mention I didn’t and still don’t have health insurance, and he was charging a college kid almost a hundred dollars a visit, so that he could do “follow ups”,? **** ups is what he should have called all of those visits.
Next, came the big BANG!!!!!!!!!! This was essentially the biggest downfall of my life. I am emotionally mentally and physically crippled because of this man. He wound up hooking me into this addiction, made tons of money off of the college girl for himself and the Pharmacy industry of good ol’ America. I had to work an extra job in college just to pay for all the meds, and in the moment, thought truthfully that I needed it to make me better, but by the time I realized what it was doing to me, I was so sucked in that I didn’t have time to think or worry about what to do to make me better. “Where is he now”? You ask?
He began cancelling apts. To the point that I would have to just show up there, and the drive to his office, is in my hometown, 2 hours away. I never knew how crazy it was to have to drive all the way to his office to get him, because I never stepped outside of myself, or outside of my box, self centered is what I am, but not in a selfish non giving way, in a way that I worry so much about myself. This drug has created so many added problems with my disorder and with me that I absolutely cannot move out of bed without it. You have no idea what withdraw from this drug is like. I feel like a crack head, and yet I never asked for any of this. I have never voluntarily took this to get messed up, because I don’t have an addictive personality, but when a doctor prescribes you meds at 20 years old, you want to believe what he is giving you is legitimate.
This has been a growing issue in everywhere in my life. I don’t have the same feelings I did before this drug. I find it really hard to be happy. I used to always smile, and laugh, my last episodes of this behavior where before this drug came into my life. I have no interest in sex, boys, and by the way, I am good looking, I can say that, because trust me, it’s not a feeling of satisfaction, in fact, I have boys throw themselves at me, and don’t care, nor want to associate with them.
I think of suicide a lot, I mean at least like twice a day, the only reason I don’t do it is because I think of what it would do to the people I matter to. I mean the real people like my mom, my family, my friends, just because I can’t feel doesn’t mean they can’t.
I am crying while writing this letter right now, but that’s the only emotion that I seem to possess anymore, feelings of fear, worry, failure, and my future. I don’t care about things women my age are doing, I care about how I’m going to make the most money, have the nicest things, but really I have never been that way. The drug has made me manic, but subconsciously I know that, so I keep myself in check. If you don’t want Jeckle and Hyde to argue inside of your brain with you as the middle man in, then stay away from this ****.
I have to end this by telling you that this doctor refused to take anymore appointments from me. I felt like I was a drug attic whose drug dealer was running away from them. He would tell the secretaries in the office to say that he wasn’t there. I would be in bed for days on end waiting for my mother, who by the way was never aware of the severity of my addiction, nor the existence, to go to his office and pickl the prescriptions up for me, because he made me feel like a lunatic. I knew I needed the prescription but did not have the knowledge, courage, or dignity to go myself and tell him how I felt.
I am now with another doctor up at school, who just today told me that my doctor sent him a letter stating that I corrupted the prescription and he had to dismiss me as his patient. (Not in fact the truth) This is the news that I received about a half hour ago. So, I’m sure this is just another issue I need to deal with. STAY AWAY ANYONE WHO READS THIS….
When I started taking the Adderall (40mg a day in addition to Welbutrin for the ADD as well) I found I became severly hypoglycemic. I would become extremely irritable, my legs would ache, I would get a headache and I would be incapable of any kind of focus. Often I would get sick to my stomach too. I have to eat every two hours to prevent this from happening (usually a handful of nuts, a veggie or something small). I would just make sure you're not having a hypoglycemic reaction (I know during those long hours of study it's easy to forget to eat). You might look into trying the Wellbutrin with the adderall as well. It seems to be a great combination and has helped with my anxiety in addition to my focus issues.
Instead of caffeine you may want to invest in some B-complex drops. Found a bottle at Wallgreen's. They're sublingal drops that have 1200% of your daily B-12 requirements. It REALLY helps. I fondly refer to it as my liquid speed.
Do you take your adderall between meals so you've got about an hour of buffer time between food being in your stomach? That might be the safest way to go. Also are you taking regular Adderall or Adderall XR? The XR has been a lifesaver for me, I take two at 7am and I only notice it start to wear off at about 1 am.
Good luck with your studies! Hope that helps :)
Instead of caffeine you may want to invest in some B-complex drops. Found a bottle at Wallgreen's. They're sublingal drops that have 1200% of your daily B-12 requirements. It REALLY helps. I fondly refer to it as my liquid speed.
Do you take your adderall between meals so you've got about an hour of buffer time between food being in your stomach? That might be the safest way to go. Also are you taking regular Adderall or Adderall XR? The XR has been a lifesaver for me, I take two at 7am and I only notice it start to wear off at about 1 am.
Good luck with your studies! Hope that helps :)
Have an Answer?
You are reading content posted in the ADHD Community
Fearing autism, many parents aren't vaccinating their kids. Can doctors reverse this dangerous trend?
Yummy eats that will keep your child healthy and happy
What to expect in your growing baby
Is the PS3 the new Prozac … or causing ADHD in your kid?
Autism expert Dr. Richard Graff weighs in on the vaccine-autism media scandal.
Could your home be a haven for toxins that can cause ADHD?
