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Good and Bad Effects of Adderall

Adderall is a drug used to treat ADHD. There are both good and bad effects of Adderall. There is Adderall XR (extended release) and the other one taken multiple times a day.

****************************************************************I added a must see video about stimulant drugs on my website. Go watch it right now.
****************************************************************

I used Adderall for a month with great results. I was able to concentrate, I felt great, and I could function like a normal person.

It is a great thing to be able to focus and concentrate. I struggle all the time at work, in relationships, reading, driving, and on and on.

There are many people that feel the same way. This drug has improved their lives. They can function and do things like never before.

Comment on if you think Adderall is worth the risks, View other's comments.

For some that need it, they notice extra energy and weightloss. This extra energy keeps them active longer and they are able to burn off calories.

Most users notice a loss of appetite. They have to force themselves to eat.

Before we move to the Bad Effects of Adderall, I want to let you know about other options. You can find alternatives to medication. There is the video game treatment (Don't miss the video about this), music therapy, and other things like vitamin and mineral supplements.

A liquid vitamin and mineral supplement changed my life. I don't need to take adderall now. You should find out why vitamin and mineral supplements help ADHD. Make sure you view each of these items after you finish reading about the Bad Effects of Adderall.

Bad Effects

As I mentioned, there are good and bad effects of Adderall. Now to the bad effects.

To start, I want to mention that adderall is an amphetamine. It has the same classification as the illegal drug, cocaine.

All ADHD stimulant medications fall into this classification because of the chance of addiction and abuse.

One of the things that I hate about these medications is that there is not any long term usage studies. What will a child be like in their old age after being on a stimulant drug all their life?

We don't know. This leaves the possibilities of a short life for these children or severe health problems later in life.

Do not use Adderall if the following applies:

  • advanced arteriosclerosis
  • symptomatic cardiovascular disease
  • moderate to severe hypertension
  • hyperthyroidism
  • known hypersensitivity or idiosyncrasy to the sympathomimetic amines
  • glaucoma
  • agitated states
  • history of drug abuse
  • during or within 14 days following the administration of monoamine oxidase inhibitors

The drug companies are now required to use new warning labels. Make sure you read my blog about that. The side effects of Adderall can be very severe.

Warnings

Psychosis:

Clinical experience suggests that, in psychotic patients, administration of amphetamine may exacerbate symptoms of behavior disturbance and thought disorder.

Long-term Suppression of Growth

Data are inadequate to determine whether chronic use of stimulants in children, including amphetamine, may be causally associated with suppression of growth. Therfore, growth should be monitored during treatment, and patients who are not growing or gaining weight as expected should have their treatment interrupted.

Sudden death and pre-existing structural cardiac abnormalities:

Sudden death has been reported in association with amphetamine treatment at usual doses in children with structural cardiac abnormalities. Adderall XR generally should not be used in children, adolescents, or adults with structural cardiac abnormalities.

Precautions

Hypertension:

Caution is to be excercised in prescribing amphetamines for patients with even mild hypertension. Blood pressure and pulse should be monitored at appropriate intervals. (Especially XR)

Tics:

Amphetamines have been reported to exacerbate motor and phonic tics and Tourette's syndrome. Therefore, clinical evaluation for tis and Tourette's syndrome in children and their families should preced use of stimulant medications.

Effects on Weight:

Amphetamines have been associated with decreased appetite. Absolute weight increasses in treated children over time, but the increases are smaller than expected based on CDC normative values.

Adverse Reactions

The following adverse reactions have been associated with amphetamine use:

Cardiovascular:

Palpitations, tachycardia, elevation of blood pressure, sudden death, myocardial infarction. There have been isolated reports of cardiomyopathy associated with chronic amphetamine use.

Central Nervous System:

Psychotic episodes at recommended doses, overstimulation, restlessness, dizziness, insomnia, euphoria, dyskinesia, dysphoria, depression, tremor, headache, exacerbation of motor and phonic tics and Tourette's syndrome, seizures, stroke.

Gastrointestinal:

Dryness of the mouth, unpleasant taste, diarrhea, constipation, other gastrointestinal disturbances. Anorexia and weight loss may occur as undesirable effects.

Allergic:

Urticaria

Endocrine:

Impotence, changes in libido.

Adderall Adverse Events Case Studies on Children and Adults

Table 1 Adverse Events Reported By More than 1% of Pediatric Patients Receiving Adderall XR with Higher Incidence than on Placebo in a 584 Patient Clinical Study

Body System Preferred Term Adderall XR
(n=374)		 Placebo (n=210)
General Abdominal Pain (stomachache)
Accidental Injury
Asthenia (fatigue)
Fever
Infection
Viral Infection		 14%
3%
2%
5%
4%
2%		 10%
2%
0%
2%
2%
0%
Digestive System Loss of Appetite
Diarrhea
Dyspepsia
Nausea
Vomiting		 22%
2%
2%
5%
7%		 2%
1%
1%
3%
4%
Nervous System Dizziness
Emotional Lability
Insomnia
Nervousness		 2%
9%
17%
8%		 0%
2%
2%
2%
Metabolic/Nutritional Weight Loss 4% 0%

Table 2 Adverse Events Reported By 5% or more of Adolescents Weighing greater than or equal to 75 kg/165 lbs Receiving Adderall XR with Higher Incidence than on Placebo in a 287 Patient Clinical Forced Weekly Dose Tiration Study (includes doses up to 40mg)

Body System Preferred Term Adderall XR
(n=233)		 Placebo (n=54)
General Abdominal Pain (stomachache) 11% 2%
Digestive System Loss of Appetite (b) 36% 2%
Nervous System Insomnia (b)
Nervousness		 12%
4%		 6%
6% (a)
Metabolic/Nutritional Weight Loss (b) 9% 0%

(a)Appears the same due to rounding
(b)Dose-related adverse events
Note: The following events did not meet the criterion for inclusion in Table 2 but were reported by 2%-4% of adolescent patients receiving ADDERALL XR with a higher incidence than patients receiving placebo in this study: accidental injury, asthenia (fatigue), dry mouth, dyspepsia, emotional lability, nausea, somnolence, and vomiting.

Table 3 Adverse Events Reported 5% or more of Adults Receiving Adderall XR with Higher Incidence than on Placebo in a 255 Patient Clinical Forced Weekly Dose Tiration Study (includes doses up to 60mg)

Body System Preferred Term Adderall XR
(n=191)		 Placebo (n=64)
General Asthenia (fatigue)
Headache		 6%
5%		 26%
13%
Digestive System Loss of Appetite
Diarrhea
Dry Mouth
Nausea		 33%
6%
35%
8%
 3%
0%
5%
3%
Nervous System Agitation
Anxiety
Dizziness
Insomnia		 8%
8%
7%
27%		 5%
5%
0%
13%
Cardiovascular System Tachycardia 6% 3%
Metabolic/Nutritional Weight Loss 11% 0%
Urogenital System Urinary Tract Infection 5% 0%
Note: The following events did not meet the criterion for inclusion in Table 3 but were reported by 2% to 4% of adult patients receiving ADDERALL XR with a higher incidence than patients receiving placebo in this study: infection, photosensitivity reaction, constipation, tooth disorder, emotional lability, libido decreased, somnolence, speech disorder, palpitation, twitching, dyspnea, sweating, dysmenorrhea, and impotence.






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Is the Benefits of Adderall Worth the Risks?

There are many risks with Adderall. Are the benefits worth taking it? Share your ideas about Adderall with the visitors on this site.

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What Other Visitors Have Said

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am i crazy or is it the adderall  starstarstarstarstar
i been on it for two days now. i hate it .it makes me all paranoid. im hereing shit . the second day i did not even go to sleep. im still up writing this....

19 and Stopped Adderall  starstarstarstarstar
i took the drug since i was in 3rd grade its the worse decision i ever let my parents make me do. i have been off for 2 years and glad to be school is ...

adderall does it fry your brain?  starstarstarstarstar
i take adderall and i talk to a lot of people who take it, and i have had a few people tell me that after taking it for such a long time that they developed ...

Adderall: My Pro's and Con's  starstarstarstarstar
I was diagnosed with ADHD as a young child and I tried ridilin for about a year and then concerta for about another year. Neither of them did much good ...

sixteen year old on adderall.  starstarstarstarstar
hello, I'm sixteen years old & I've been on adderall since I was thirteen. The first two year that I was on it I did wonderful in school and didn't really ...

Emotional Affects of Adderall  starstarstarstarstar
I take 20 mg of adderall to help me in school, and before i was put on adderall i had concerta, concerta made me depressed so i tried something new, and ...

Adderall 1 Week, So far so good  starstarstarstarstar
I've been on Adderall for a week now and I'm amazed at the improvement its has made on my overall ability to concentrate. I am 43 and was diagnosed 3 years ...

Adderall is great.  starstarstarstarstar
When I take Adderall, I do so much better on everything. Instead of being lazy and doing everything half-ass like I normally do, I perfect everything around ...

On Adderall for 4 months now....  starstarstarstarstar
I take adderrall xr 10mg twice daily, although it is a low dosage I do feel the effects shortly after my first dosage. Like the article above states, there ...

My 14 year old daugther has been on Adderall fo 6 years  starstarstarstarstar
I am looking for answers really. It seems like adderall has caused more problems than helped. When she started taking the medication it seemed to help ...

Adderall its worth the risk  starstarstarstarstar
Hello I am 33 years old and I have had ADHD for over ten years and the Adderall that I take really helps me I can focus understand things that I could ...

Just Started Adderall  starstarstarstarstar
I have been taking adderall for 3 weeks and have seen a huge difference in my ability to focus, however, I have experienced an increased heart rate and ...

Help me get off Adderal   starstarstarstarstar
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Adderal Made Fiance Worse  starstarstarstarstar
I have had a relationship for about a year and a half now with my fiance. I have noticed a great change in her and her attitude 6 months after being on ...

Iv been addicted to adderall  starstarstarstarstar
Yes, i had a whopping two years of abusing adderall XR and i lost about 14 pounds and now iv gained it all back. When i became dependent on it i had extreme ...

concerned about the effects  starstarstarstarstar
My neighbor's daughter is ADHD. Her parents are going through a divorce. Since then, the mother took upon herself to start their daughter on medicine for ...

Adderall Makes You Disconnected with Life  starstarstarstarstar
This 'medication' will destroy you and consume your life. Rather than making you more able to function this medication will severely DISABLE you.

That ...

Adderall and what it did to me...  starstarstarstarstar
I have been taking adderall (or some other form of ADD medicine) since I was seven years old. I am now 20 years of age and have recently (last week) finally ...

started taking Adderall again  Not rated yet
Last year i was diagnosed with add at 28 and given Adderall. For me and my daughter it was somethign that was needed... She was also diagnosed with adhd ...

Adderall is NOT for everyone. It is only for very few.  Not rated yet
I took two years of tests before taking Adderall. I researched it on the internet. I saw numerous psyhologists and 3 psychiatrists about it. I read ...

15 yr old boy on adderall  Not rated yet
it helped my concentration better in class. it also did decrease my appetite but not to an unreasonable level. i enjoyed it b/c i didnt have to eat as ...

Adderall is great! And I have to have it!  Not rated yet
I ave been taking adderall for 4 months. I started taking 20mg of the XR however it was much to expensive at $160 a month. So I went to the generic tablet ...

Hooked on Adderall  Not rated yet
I am 37, and began taking 15mg of adderall a day in September. It really helped me focus on my work, which was my number one problem. I was increased to ...

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My 12 year old step-son has been on Adderall since he started school. Since we have switched custody arrangements and I see how this affects him...I am ...

Adderall helps ADHD With Caution  Not rated yet
I've had ADHD my whole life, and was not diagnosed until recently (my Mom didn't want to believe anything was "wrong" with me). I've been on Adderall ...

Adderall is Unpredictable  Not rated yet
I've been on Adderall for about a year now. First I took Concerta but then switched to Adderall for its time release. Or maybe the other way around. They'...

Adderall "happy pills" at first....   Not rated yet
I am 21 and I started taking adderall 2 years ago. I wish I haven't started in a first place.

I was diagnosed with ADHD at 18 when I got into college ...



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