new patient of Adderall

Adderall is great for depression in the begining. Its prescribed for treatment resistant depression. But it is addictive, and you will develop tolerance after taking it for a few months. As a result, you will need to take more in order to feel its effects. Life is not easy, I wish I could take adderall again, but i became really addicted to it, and delusional and paranoid. I am hoping that you will be able to take this pill and have all your problems solved without any of the side effects or developing addiction. But eventually, you will have to stop taking it, considering everything else is fine, when you reach old age. It increases blood pressure to a great degree, and I doubt you will find a doctor who will be willing to prescribe it to you in your old age. I hope this doesn't happen, I wish you the best of luck, with or without adderall. My heart goes out to you, I know how tough it can be. But maybe for depression you should try an antidepressant, like wellbutrin. I am on that now, and my depression has elievated some.

I have taken adderall for about 6yrs off and on (mostly on) and never have felt any symptoms of being addicted to it. The same goes for my son who has been taking it longer than me and sometimes he even says he is not going to take it today. For years he has been taking it everyday but since this past year, he choses to not take it sometimes on the weekends. I do encourage him to take it through the week only to help with school. He is on 40mg daily and most of the time only choses to take 20mg daily through the week. He started out on 20mg after changing from ritalin cuz it stopped working even after med increases of the ritalin. When we upped his dose of the adderall, he had grown quite a bit and put on some weight so I think that may have been the reason is he just needed more dosage due to his body mass. My son is 18yrs old, 6'2 and weights 190#. I take 40mg daily and I just upped my dose a couple of months ago. My insurance company made me switch from Adderall 20mg to the generic Adderall and I don't feel as though it's as strong as the name brand.
Adderall won't cure all of your problems and issues. What it does is help you be able to focus/concentrate enough to stay on task better. It helps you manage your symptoms of adhd better! Everyone is different so sometimes it's a try by error kind of thing! I remember how I felt when I first started on the adderall and it was like the fog was lifted! It was like I was seeing things differently than I ever had ever! Managing adhd is also figuring out how to live your life differently to be succussful in what ever areas that you are struggling with. I find that if I have a plan for my day, I do better. Having a routine and a little structure makes my life easier. I know what I am doing and I just do it without thinking too much. Good luck!

Why is everybody worried about being addicted. ADD and ADHD is not cureable. If you have it and can't cure it it seems to me you would always have to take medicine for it. So how can you know you're addicted if when you quit taking it you get the same symptoms you had before you took it? Isn't that basically not taking medicine for something that comes back when you don't take the medicine? If it makes you feel good and you can do your job and live you life like you want to life it. Why would you want to stop taking it. If you are a diabetic and quit taking your insulen and get sick without it does that mean you are addicted to you insulen?

I said the same thing exaclty to the psychiatrists that wouldn't give me my medication of adderall. I feel the same way you do.

Thank you to everyone for your insight.I do agree that this drug is like insulin or blood pressure medication that is a benefit to people's daily quality of life.I have suffered with depression for such a long time and have gone down the line with all the drugs that worked somewhat for a short time or didn't work at all as well as ECT,s that worked some but I lost a lot of my memory in the process.I researched my self and discovered that the MD was wrong with his dx of bipolar disorder and discovered ADHD and was tested at my instance and was correct.please cross your fingers for me that this continues to work as well as it is to date.good luck to all....

Thanks for sharing your comments about Taking the Meds IF you truly need them. No one questions the addictions of Blood Pressure, Insulin meds or other meds but it seems like all the ADD or ADHD meds are in question. I believe that if you have been on a Medication of ANY type for years, you will have some type of withdrawal.
I appreciate these messages because I am new to ADD and Adderall XR or Vyvanse and I am terrifed to take them because OF the fears of Addictions. Right now, I am in disputes with Insurance because they want to cover Generic, and Adderall XR Does NOT work at all from Walgreens Teva.
Thanks so much..

your welcome twodogs, but i have to speak from experience. Adderall and other stimulants for ADHD, can cause psychosis, delusions, paranoia, irritability, depression, etc. and furthermore, when taking this med, tolerance develops greatly. I remember when I was taking the most i could legally, and it did nothing for depression. It might allieviate depression in the begining, but in the long run, i dont think its worth it.

If you read the inserts in any medication you'll find a list of side effects that will scare you to death. Every body is different. Every mind is different. Underlying issues can make any medication affect people differently. If depression is the base diagnosis Adderall may not help. If the depression is an offshoot of the complications from ADD and the Adderall helps the primary issue (ADD) the depression should be less of a problem. According to every mental health professional I've ever talked with (and there have been many) any medicine can be adjusted upward or downward until it is right for each patient. If you know your body and pay attention you will be fine. YOU are the only one who knows YOU. Good luck. And don't question success. It may not be success for ever but it is success for now. You can always made adjusments.

Be very careful if you're using it to cover up your depression. I've been on stimulants for almost 6 years and antidepressants even longer. The first time I started taking the stimulants I felt amazing and nothing could bring me down. Eventually you get used to the doses and the doctors aren't going to keep raising them and changing the prescription for you just because your body tolerates it more. Once that happens you realize that the depression never actually went away, and you might find it hard to function to the point of even getting out of bed without the medicine. In the end it makes it worse. I'm only saying this because you said how much better it made you feel while depressed. Trust me, it comes back 100x worse if you use your Adderall for the depression. Once the dose wears off you'll be aching for more because you feel so bad. If you can learn to handle it, and possibly take breaks to maintain self control then great, you should be fine. I'm sitting here now though feeling terrible and I haven't slept in 2 days because I didn't want to lose the feeling of not feeling so bad. Welp, it's here and all I can do is wait for it to completely wear off or take something that will knock me out for the night and wake up and do it all over again. That is until my prescription runs out and I'm in bed for days recovering. Not trying to scare you, just trying to let you know what it may end up doing... which you could regret. I wish I remembered what I felt like before the medicine, because I'm no longer myself. Good Luck, and maybe try some alternatives for the depression as well so you can keep your adderall dose low.

Actually, as long as they don't think you're abusing it they will keep adjusting your dose. Or change the meds to something else. People who have mental health issues are really not the people to ask for advice concerning medication. Stopping or wanting to stop meds is very common for depressives. If you are really concerned you need to talk with your doctor. If you don't trust what he tells you then you need to find a doctor you do trust. The people having good experiences with Adderall are NOT on a support group forum.