16 - hate adderall - you aren't supposed to feel like a zombie.

by LC
(los angeles)

YOU ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO FEEL LIKE A HOLLOWED-OUT ZOMBIE. IF YOU ARE EXPERIENCING ANY ADVERSE EFFECTS like the ones i will mention below, INCLUDING LESSENED EMOTIONAL EXPRESSION (zombie)..... IT MEANS YOUR DOSE IS TOO HIGH. lowering your dose seems like a scary thought but you might start to remember what happiness feels like. the simple tasks seem hard because you are accustomed to the easy route on adderall. if you understand what i'm talking about and you want to be happy in the future - start lowering your doses and training yourself mentally and physically how to learn from the habits when you're on adderall and apply them to sober-you. you can't let this control the rest of your life.

I'm currently 16 and as beneficial as Adderall is for my academics, the side effects are disgusting. While doing my research paper i came across the 2011 FDA Adderall Drug Facts Sheet (pdf file: http://www.adderallxr.com/). My jaw dropped when i saw the Central Nervous System ADVERSE Side Effects list (located on the fourth out of eight pages),

These are the side effects I've been experiencing, 10/14:

Overstimulation, Restlessness, Irritability, Euphoria, Depression, Tremor, Tics, Agression, Anger, Dermatillomania

My friends notice how cranky and mad I am when I'm on it. I never smile. People who see me in and out of school notice a huge difference, they tell me that in class I look so pissed off and mad and stressed and irritated. I never smile, I don't want to have fun because all I can think about is the amount of shit that needs to get done and how much I don't want to do anything despite the fact that I'm on adderall.

Winter Break was my first time being off adderall for more than a week in the past year. I forgot how happy I'm capable of being.

I've bought synaptol (a natural remedy composed of minerals/herbs/healthy shit), i know it works because i took a similar Focus Formula over the summer. The synaptol website mentions the need of a healthy lifestyle (i.e. proper diet, exercise). over the summer i was working out AND eating healthy balanced meals and i remember telling my friends of my newfound ability to focus which i attributed to the focus formula.

a friend of mine has a parent who's a therapist and has their own EEG Neuro-feedback machine at home which they have invited me to use for free - super excited.

Adderall is a temporary treatment that should be researched before planning on putting yourself on it for the rest of your life. I know this because of all the scientific journals and essays i read while doing my research paper on overmedication of children with stimulants in America.


i never went through any tests, i brought it up to my doctor and he said, 'okay let's try adderall.' the first two weeks i dropped 15 pounds, it felt like i was on speed for the first hour, but after a couple of weeks i went straight to calm and after a couple of months there were no side effects-- until later. when i asked my doctor why he didnt run any tests, he said, 'i did. when you first came in two years ago you said you had problems concentrating, you made careless mistakes, you told me you started things but never finished'

After doing an extensive research paper on ADHD I learned that there are no surefire ways to test for ADHD but a proper evaluation is needed. I still don't feel like I was properly evaluated by my primary care physician but there isn't anything I can do about it.

I believe there needs to be an entire reevaluation of this disorder. everything that doctors go by and know are from tests that were run a very long time ago. i understand that ADHD remains one of the most currently researched disorders and 9% of children (and rising) in America are diagnosed with it. But these children are being provided with psychostimulants which are intended only for a short period of time because the symptoms WILL come back the day you decide to discontinue medication. Doctors don't tell you that because they want the pharmaceutical companies to make money, when the pharmaceuticals are happy, the doctors are happy.

stop putting money into research that isn't coming up with any alternative *long-term* treatments. put money into further study into the brain or even use what we already have. like EEG Bio-feedback, the reason it isnt peer evaluated is b/c it's expensive and there isn't enough evidence to prove it works. go find the evidence and invest in the machines. stimulants aren't a cure and don't be surprised when you have a world of robots running around on chemicals whose benefits mask the adverse effects.