Emaheevul07

judaith-- THANK YOU for posting that! Finally someone who gets it! I am in the same boat as you and at the moment unable to get my medication, and it is just terrible and nobody understands that it's not just like the birdy chirping outside distracts me from my homework for a minute. It is kind of a huge deal.

My mom has ADD too and her thing is that she will have something important in her hands, put it down, and have NO IDEA where it is-- it takes the whole family searching the house from top to bottom to find it again. I think her best recent examples were leaving her cell phone in the ice box while she was cooking and throwing her car keys in the toy box. I'd like to say I don't do the same sort of things but it would taste of a lie. >.<

UCLA2005

I just decided to join after reading these posts. I am in a tough spot studing for the bar exam. I am on my third attempt and not far from passing. It is very hard to study this time around especially because I am so bored of studying the exact same subject matter AGAIN.

I was first prescribed adderall one year ago. I took a break from it, but started taking it again to study once more. It was just as effective when I started again, but now, about 3 months into studying, my concentration is not as strong under my normal dose of 10mg-20mg. Today was the first time I took 30mg in the morning and 30mg in the afternoon. So 60 mg for the day. It scares me because it sounds so high! My general side-effects seem minor: trouble falling asleep and loss of appetite. But I am wondering if it is safe to take this kind of dose? What has anyone else experienced by taking about this much as far as health effects?

I have an appointment with my Dr. but it is a month from now, and the earliest I can get believe it or not...horrible. There is so much studying to do before then, that I have no choice but to slowly up the dosage just to hang in there. I am thinking of limiting the 60mg total to only a few days per week that I really need to...

What am I doing to myself? I feel like a drug addict, but I'm not! The worst I have done to myself is drink too much wine like twice in my life. I just can't concentrate on this incerdibly dry material and I literally have to drug myself to do it.

So what's the verdict? What would you do?

gogk2010

My closest "bowing up between B and Y" moment was when I left a boiling teapot on the stove when I ran out of the house to class. I was in the middle of making tea, left the kitchen and then realized that I was late for class and left!

One of my housemates came in to see a glowing red stove AND teapot. Thankfully, nothing was damaged.

When my housemates told me what happened, my attitude was "Woops!" and "Good thing nothing happened!" They felt I did not grasp the severity of the situation.
I wasn't diagnosed at that point. I had no idea that other people didn't do stuff like every once in a while!

BTW-I think my mom has it and I my brother has been diagnosed. Absentminded mistakes are a common occurrence at my house. My mom would put sticky notes in the car to remind her to "count the kids" before driving anywhere.

gogk2010

I am in my final semester of graduate school and some of the subject matter is dull and I am revisiting and polishing past assignments. The redundancy and lack of novelty is wearing me down. I increased my dosage by 5mg when I have to get down to the nit and gritty. You might be able to try and discuss the situation with your doctor... like call them and let them know that it isn't working??
Or have the first dose be an increase and the later ones be normal.
Have you tried learning the material in a different way?
Color-coding? Outlines? Using wall space (butcher paper, GIANT post-its) for material you learned the previous day? Voice recording? Sketching pictures to represent material? Post-its in your books for key words or summarizing? Music, no music?
This site has tons of information: Attention Deficit Disorder | ADHD Symptoms, Medication, Treatment, Diagnosis, Parenting ADD Children and More: Information from ADDitude

Good luck on your exam!

azngamer54

There is too many text on the first page. Can someone cliffnotes it for me!

Maybe I'm still using my ADHD as an excuse not to read all that, but I have no time right now lol.

Personally, I hardly feel the negative effects of my adderall. I can eat as often as a I want and never feel sick or have trouble sleeping. I actually sometimes forget I took adderall and fall asleep.

Shrinkrap

This is one scary thread.

g00dchild

I found out I had ADD about a year and a half ago. Im 26 years old.
When I first heard about ADHD from a friend, (don’t remember how we got on the subject), how every kid was diagnosed with it, I deemed it a joke and vain. A bunch of parents spoiling their kids while neglecting discipline and greedy doctors hungry for money.
I was against the whole theory from the beginning. (Never to really hear or think about it again)
Years later, there I am again, at the end of my road, crying and hating my life always striving for the best of life, only to be left with nothing accomplished and so much time waisted. (these episodes were frequent). I was so fed up with my emotions and the way my mind operated that I finally went to my computer and Google’d “What’s wrong with me.”
After hours of searching, everything continued to point towards AADD (Adult Attention Deficit Disorder). Each time my search ended at this point I would immediately leave the page thinking “nah, that’s not it” – but never really understanding the full depth of it.
Finally after I couldn't get anything to come up besides ADD/ADHD, I decided to take an online symptoms/diagnosis test for ADD/ADHD.
At the end of the test it said that those who were professionally diagnosed with AADD/ADHD/ADD scored anywhere from 60 – 120 points. My score? 172!
After this, needless to say, I decided to succumb to the notion that “ok, so maybe I do have ADD or whatever they call it” – and my research began.
When I found a page that explained ADD/ADHD it was as if I was reading a book of my own life’s story.
I was literally in tears while reading it, because I had finally found an answer that fit my life to a T.
I made an appointment with a Psych and he told me “You’re probably the most extreme case in an adult that I have ever seen.” And that “it was never spotted in your adolescence, because you were homeschooled so there were no teachers around that could spot the symptoms and bring it to the schools and parents attention for treatment.”
I was started on Adderall immediately.

here are some of the things that it's helped me with.
I don’t have to read forms or letters or applications, from front to back, then back to front, then front to back, until I’ve read all of it (even if it were two simple pages, I would lose focus 1/16 of the way down, so I’d have to have a change, so I would start from the back page forward, only to make it 1/16 of the way up, so I’d pick up where I left off from the front again and I would repeat this until I finished reading whatever it was, even if it were only a page long.)

I’ve had only one job this year. Not 3 – 5

I no longer have times where I’m in such a deep thought that it takes the unusual sound of the toilet to bring my conscience back to the front of my eyeballs, only to realize that I’m not even peeing in a restroom, but in my mom’s kitchen trashcan. If you think that’s bad, I’ve done it 3 times and one was in a church during a Sunday Service.

School is my next venture. While you guys take this stuff to concentrate on a test, I take it to even make it the second period.
This has nothing to do with stupidity or lazyness, its actually quite mind blowing, when your the one with it; those that have ADHD are usually very intelligent and creative at the same time with the ability to think on multiple levels simultaneously.
The list goes on and on and on. It’s a whole two decades of extreme untreated, undiagnosed ADD.

An addendum to all you fire fly's out there.
I don’t care if those who aren’t ADD/ADHD diagnosed are taking Adderall. I know what it’s like to be hungry for something and young without wisdom. And I also realize that if I said “You shouldn’t be taking it!” would only be a waste of my time, because no matter what I say, 9.99 times out of 10, you’re going to do it anyways.
Just remember, there are always consequences to everything. You might not see it right away, you might not ever see it (those are worse than the ones you can see), but no matter what, the consequences will show up, sooner or later, everything will have its order. So all I can say is, I hope we learn our lesson and move on with wisdom gained.
Peace,

drie921

I was so relieved to read your message, I have been looking for info on Adderall and it seems that all I can find is a bunch of "Struggling Students" using it illegally. I am 29 and was diagnosed with adult add a little over a year ago. I am currently taking 20 mg of Adderall XR and have found that in the beginning it seemed to work great but lately I seem so irritable. I can be so short sometimes that I feel terrible about myself. I am a mother of 3 and also work fulltime for the DMV of all places. I rarely ever have any anger issues at work but when I get home I feel like I turn into a screaming mimi. Anyway the reason for my response is I was hopeing you may have some advice on whether this is normal and a sign that I maybe am just nolonger benefitting from it and need to increase the dose, or if maybe I should ask the Doctor to try a different med.

LaurenD1058

I have ADHD! If You do your research properly you know that there is a WIDE range of issues one can have for a Dr. to say you have ADHD or ADD... It effects everyone differently! Its all about the persons chemicals or lack of in the brain. SO, for you to sit here and say she wouldn't have the side effects she has...means she doesn't actually have this problem?!!! (which was CLEARLY diagnosed by a doctor) is wrong of you AND wrongfully arrogant! Obviously this girl is trying to find a comfortable balance and seeking advice online and people like you are making it that much harder!!! If she or anyone else feels more focused on Adderall then so be it! I also don't like when people try and get high off it because it does make it harder to be properly diagnosed and treated BUt so many people are mis-diagnosed and untreated for this problem! This "disease" needs a lot more research done on it!!! Seriously, ADHD AND ADD could possibly be summed up as many different conditions if scientist where able to break it down better! If you think about it... no one is the same so doctors treat their patients the best way they know how! SO DON'T BE SO HARD ON SOMEONE SEEKING ADVICE/HELP!!!!

luckyfidi

LaurenD, I think my IQ just dropped 10 points after reading your post.

If someone wants help/advice/whatever about a DRUG they are taking, coming on here to ask is already a bad decision. Nobody on this forum knows anything about the OP's medical history or signs and symptoms. There is currently actually an OVERdiagnosing of ADD/ADHD and prescription of such anti-depressants and drugs that make you 'concentrate.'

lcg213x

I was just recently prescribed Adderall. Since kindergarten I've always had the attention span of a fish. From then to high school I was always tested. My mom knew I had adhd but the school never pursued it. 4 years later after high-school on adderall. It's my fourth day on it and its going to take some getting used to. I didn't have health insurance for two years. I went crazy. I am and was on buspar but was not able to get it for 2 years. Now all together I'm on buspar for anxiety, welbutrin and adderall. I did have the jaw clenching and the carters for the first two days but I seem to be ok with that. Only thing is, does anyone get bug eyed? Like they look like a deer in the heade lights? And possibly think your seeing things? I did read its a rare side effect. Thankfully I've been able to focus the past couple of days.

Texas210

Ok i got a problem with this pill i took 6 54 mg pillsnd one27mg pill i was told by the person i bought it from that it was aderall something similiar to vivansand i toolk one and didnt feel it si i took another one anf i started to feel it so thdn i took one more to feel really good i skipped lunch that day and took one more that following class period that one was the 27 mg one then that nxt class period after i took the 27mg one i tlked to a friend of mine that knows alot about pills nd i said i was on aderall and when i showed him the pill he said it wasnt aderall it was another upper pill i forgot wjat he said it was called well anyways he said ill b fine with em just not to exceed 450mg so i took one more that class then one im the next class and one as soon as skool was over i was feeling great txtin girlsallnighti skipped dinner but now my eye sight is blury similiar to that of when u get your eyes dialted and i know its from the pills what do i do plz help oh nd im only allergic to tylenol im a senior in highskool so im pretty worried bout my condition so somebody PLZ HELP ANDREAD!!!

Neenah040590

@Texassunshine and every other person who gets "mad" that people use it to focus better during school. *** do you use it for?? Isn't it supposed to help you focus more? You say you have so much going on and you take 60-90mg a day, otherwise you cant do it? But because we want it to do better on a test your gonna get mad? haha just because most of us are normal human beings and do better than you when on it, doesn't give you the right to tell us we shouldn't use it. I take 10 or 20 mg sometimes, helps me focus and to get my **** done, just like it helps you get your **** done. I'll do fine in school without it, but I do even better when I use it, so why not?? If i'm not abusing it, I have absolutely every right to use it, just like you. There isn't even a legitimate way to test for ADHD, and I could easily get a prescription if I wanted to. Would it then be acceptable for me to take it? We both use it to do better, I just don't suck when I'm not on it.

HEADHUNTER34

Look Neenah040590 clearly you don't understand the true importance of this medicine. You are one of the rare few who don’t abuse the medication and I congratulate you for that, But you aren’t everyone and the ones who abuse it are the ones who will screw it up for the rest of us who actually need it to survive. That’s why it upsets us. Because people use it for fun, to get high; those actions will bring things to a point where the government will say nobody gets it. That’s what we don’t want to happen. On top of that who are you to say that we would suck without Adderall or that you are normal and we are not? I didn’t know you were the judge of that. You don’t have ADD or ADHD so you don’t know what life is like to have all the potential in the world and more than some of your so called “normal people” but not being able to direct it in any direction. So before you go and get on your high horse why don’t you stop and think that maybe we do what we do to survive not to get an upper hand on the guy next to us in some class.

deanslist

Why do people use it... easy: to focus and to stay awake and lively. I have never heard of someone using it to get "high" directly. Sure, some people take it to stay up and lively for getting high on other drugs and partying, but even in that situation it is being used for its purpose. And its purpose is the same for everyone: to focus and stay lively. So, why should some people get it and not others?

Those of you who "need" it only need it because you're mentally addicted (that is the definition of addiction: needing something). You would be alive and well without it. And those of you who "need" it will experience the same biological consequences, whatever they may be, as those of you who are "abusing" it (its not like the drug itself is cognizant of whether the government thinks you should be able to use it or not: "hey this person doesn't actually have ADD, so I'll induce some heart disease or kill off some brain function!"). So, whether or not you "need" it (based on largely arbitrary diagnoses by doctors), does not give you any more consequence, nor any more right, to use it.

If its available to one, it should be available to all. We cannot leave the judgement up to the government, nor can we allow the socalled omniscient MD to determine who can use it, especially with such a multifactorial "disorder" with symptoms that elicit on a continuum. The most 'sensical' approach to dealing with this and other drugs is to let whomever can get it use it, and let natural selection take its course (because it will undoubtedly select against drug fiends, since drugs like adderall have such serious [sarcasm] side effects, right?).

The fact is: it is useful for its purpose, and no body uses it for other purposes (for using something presupposes a purpose: that you wanted to use it). No one would take it if it didn't do a thing. If it does something, and a person wants to have that something, it is his/her right to have that if it is available to others. I say "to each his own," and as the only sagacious presidential candidate Ron Paul might say: IF IT IS NOT ADVERSELY IMPACTING ANYONE ELSE, GO AHEAD, DO WHATEVER YOU WANT!

Although the direction of this conversation is peripheral to its purpose at inception, what-it-has-become, an argument of who should use it, can be summed up as follows: Nobody has any more the right to use Adderall, or any drug for that matter, than anyone else. The only logical argument disabusing the use of Adderall by those without scripts specifically, is that it is against the law. If you're like me, and you do whats fair and just while paying no mind to the antiquated and corrupt government legislation, go ahead, take Adderall!

Now to get back to my regression homework... wait, one more thing: (dammit I need an Adderall right now!)

Side Story: Its funny that my university has in their official code of student conduct that using drugs like Adderall is considered cheating (punishable with the same consequences as legit cheating) for those who are not prescribed. They also claimed in a pamphlet that the drug does not work on those people who are not afflicted with ADD or ADHD, so students would be wasting time and money using it. This is hilarious, because if they claim it has no effect, then why even make its "abuse" a cheating offense? Obviously it has an effect on everyone, which is why everyone in college uses it (helps keep you focused), which cannot ethically be regulated by some third party that has no way of telling whether one needs it or not. It should be deemed cheating, for either everyone who uses it or no one, regardless of what some subjective doctor says after being begged by some addiction prone-fiend, or some kid who sucks at school, or somebody who leaves the pot on the burner, or some person who forgets to count the kids in the car (borderline mentally retarded behavior). Diagnosing "disorders" like ADD are enormously subjective, since we don't even know what causes it, nor what defines it, and therefore a school cannot ethically allow certain students to take it and others not, because Adderall indeed helps.

Its also funny that by saying "the symptoms of the disorder are different for everyone," one effectively kills the argument that there is a certain disorder in the first place (since the definition of the disorder's symptoms is essentially "anything closely relate to X"). Disorders are marked by a cause and effect relationship, or rather, genetic/environmental factors that directly cause something out of the ordinary. A.K.A. we have no idea what were talking about, even more the reason to stop the exclusive privilege of use by some. ))))))))))))))