Comments on: Adderall: Schools Respond to Abuse of ADHD Drug

By: Danielle

Danielle — Sat, 22 Oct 2005 16:18:47 +0000

I’m 18 and a first year student at Yale. I find a lot of my friends using adderall to lose weight and keep it off. It has amazing weight loss capabilities but it is also very addictive. They all take adderall and smoke cigarettes for their weight which is scary when you think of the long term consequences.

By: anonymous

anonymous — Thu, 15 Sep 2005 18:17:34 +0000

I am a college student taking Adderall, and I have experienced some of the negative side effects as well as positive ones. Paranoia is a big one for me, which includes feelings of fear and fear . . . It can help and it can hurt. It helps people like me with ADD to focus, but that isn’t necessarily productive. Sometimes you catch yourself focuing on the wrong things (aka neatness) and you start acting really O.C.D.

I definitely am not abusing the drug; I was on it for a while when I was younger (not my choice but my parents’) and it caused a lot of problems: depression, weight loss, inability to sleep, obsessive compulsive behaviors, bipolar behaviors, etc. But after I stopped taking it I could sleep better and had more of an appetite. However, the depression, bipolar behaviors, and OCD stayed and I have always wondered if I would have had that stuff if I had never been exposed to Adderall.

I went back on it because my first year in college I was pretty ADD and thought it would help me. But I think a different ADD medication would have perhaps been better. I was too afraid to try something new because with ADderall I’d “been there done that” all before. I think it is a damaging drug though.

By: jaide

jaide — Mon, 29 Aug 2005 13:54:09 +0000

i feel like it takes over a childs life and makes them feel like they have to depend on the drug. I have a younger sister and she thinks since she has not has her pill she is unable to comprehand every thing that people are saying.

By: Wendy

Wendy — Fri, 26 Aug 2005 13:52:51 +0000

Aderall has a stimulant effect. To someone who TRULY has ADD/ADHD it calms them down, i.e. it speeds up their body to catch up with their brain. In someone misdiagnosed with ADD/ADHD (A VERY COMMON OCCURRANCE) it works in opposite, like the narcotic it is, creating all or some of the issues listed here to present – addiction, bi-polar behavior, depression, weight-loss, hallucinations, paranoia.

I don’t understand why it’s not taken as a big sign of misdiagnosis and stopped as a treatment when the patient taking Aderall presents the counter effects of the drug.

As for abuse issues, one can abuse a can of whipped cream and get high if so inclined. That’s a treatable personality flaw — if you have an addictive personality, know it and stay away from things which you’ll be inclined to abuse.

By: Russ

Russ — Tue, 19 Jul 2005 18:55:17 +0000

I agree with JK, most of the problems start with the parents. As for you “upset”… I find it hard to believe all of the symptoms you describe. I’ve been using Adderall on and off for over two years. I have never felt anything like you describe. I think you have some other issues. Stop blaming all of your problems on the drug.

By: JK

JK — Sat, 04 Jun 2005 17:21:32 +0000

“Children in schools were put on this drug at the request from complaints from teachers that children were “hyperactive”, when really to me with my experience it was nothing more than the teachers’ inability to control her class, or should I say not wanting to take the time or the effort to deal with normal child behavior. What did teachers do years ago before ritalin.”

The problem is NOT the teachers – it’s the parents. Back in the day parents disciplined their children. When a child got in trouble at school, parents would respect the teachers’ authority and kids would be in trouble with mom and dad when they got home. Today, parents undermine teachers’ authority by defending their children whenever inappropriate behavior is pointed out. I see it all the time – parents with unruly kids at the grocery store, ASKING them to PLEASE behave, and then indulging them with presents when these useless requests don’t work. They think the kid is the boss, when it’s supposed to be the other way around. Instead, they just cater to their childrens’ every whim. You’re not doing your kids ANY favors by not setting firm boundaries for them, and by trying to be their best friend – in fact, you’re doing the opposite. Yesterday’s parents would never dream of permitting the kind of behavior kids get away with today, and THAT is the problem. It’s not the teacher’s job to raise your children.

By: upset

upset — Thu, 19 May 2005 23:51:25 +0000

first of all adderall, is the most addictive most euphoric and health damaging substance i have ever come across in my entire life. I took this drug hoping that I would improve my life. First day Euphoria o great euphoria (until it started to ware off) thats when the hallucinating effect started and the freaking out came along. I felt as if I were on another planet and everyone was out to get me. Then the withdrawl symptoms after i had started to adjust to the medication began in only 6 days. I felt as if my life were permantely damaged and that I had absolutely no hope. Then i took another pill and back to normal o feeling on top of the world + creative inventive social. Im currently weaning off this potentially dangerous drug which canada has outlawed because of its sudden deaths in 15 people . ex of side effects are What ive seen in myself Paranoia, Muscular Tension, Rapid Heart Beat, Hallucinations, Visuals while driving, Sweating, Obsessive compuslive behaviors, Depression, Eye Twitches and My tooth enamel is beginning to wear and chip from the amphetamine calcium loss also pains in my gut every day along with tasting the chemicals when i eat from the amphetamine specifically 4 amphetamines which chemically make up this schedulle II controlled substance. I hope parents think twice before taking a recommendation from there doctor to put there child on adderall. Also dont think the effect is the same on adults. its speed to adults Pure Speed] beneficial at learning but negative in alot of other aspects. I feel my life has worsened from the drug. If the drug works for a person great Im just explaining my personal situation from the narcotic drug named ADDERALL Ps. Check out some of the information on the internet concerning this miracle drug.

By: Ann C.

Ann C. — Fri, 22 Apr 2005 22:16:47 +0000

I would like to inform all who are taking adderal that it is a drug, a controlled substance, like ritalin. Children in schools were put on this drug at the request from complaints from teachers that children were “hyperactive”, when really to me with my experience it was nothing more than the teachers’ inability to control her class, or should I say not wanting to take the time or the effort to deal with normal child behavior. What did teachers do years ago before ritalin. Maintaining a quiet, orderly classroom, implimenting discipline when needed, therefor teaching as many teachers do not do today. They are subjecting our children to dangerous drugs that will leading to many serious health problems, including the possibility of causing an craving for other controlled substances as they grow. This, I believe is a major problem in society today with the attitude to give meds instead of dealing with the problem with other modalities of therapy instead of drugs! Please understand there is a place for meds at times, but we have become a society of pill pushing for everything and we will reap the rath with serior consequences. I do believe that is one of the main reasons why our youth are in trouble with drugs. This is my opinion from my experience.

By: Roy

Roy — Tue, 12 Apr 2005 09:44:24 +0000

I am 18. I have ADD. I used to HATE my medicine… The dampening of creativity, the loss of appetite, the inability to function easily in social situations. All of these were serious problems for me and I developed somewhat of a Jekle/Hyde complex… I loved not taking my meds, but I hated being the irresponsible guy who couldn’t pay attention to anything for 10 minutes or get anything done. This, let’s just say, caused me some issues. I said I HATED Adderall, until the 10th grade, when I started snorting it. It was amazing, energizing, mind expanding and all that trash… here’s the trouble… its awefully hard to stop. Its not so much a physical addiction as a psychological one. You’re feeling tired and you want to go out… You need to get some work done… Its seems the solution to so many problems. But it isn’t. Adderall is a seriously destructive drug and I believe that my life and my condition would have been much better served if my parents had NOT put me on speed since I was seven. PARENTS: PLEASE, please, please…. it will take lots of work (believe me, it will be one of the hardest things you ever do) but PLEASE teach your children COPING MECHANISMS instead of doping them. Because you can’t be on these pills all your life and its best to LEARN EARLY HOW TO COPE. My father has been diagnosed as having ADD; my grandmother is sure he had it as a kid and I can still recognize it in him today. But he was a successful lawyer for 30 years and is now a successful teacher and its because he knows how to deal with it, his whole life has been training himself to make lists, stick to them, keep busy. PLEASE PARENTS, do some research, consult some real experts, not just psychologists who see hundreds of hyper eight year olds every day! Find out about ADD and about what you can do to teach your child to LIVE WITH IT. It will always be a part of him/her and it is far better for a person to know how to regulate themselves than have Amphetamines doing it for them.

By: Harvey

Harvey — Wed, 30 Mar 2005 16:25:49 +0000

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It’s highly addictive and highly abused.

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I’ll have to take issue with Ben’s comment. Adderall is easily abused as most stimulants are, but it certainly isn’t addicting in the dosages administered for ADHD treatment. Abusers of the drug also snort it which gives the drug a more potent effect vs taking it orally.

I will say that Adderall does keep you from sleeping if you have enough in your system at the end of the day. Also from my experience it has a pronounced downer effect once you drop off of it.