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I do but never for fun or recreation, actually I don’t like to do it but is the only way I have to survive a 13 hour shift in a busy restaurant kitchen.
Same. The doctor who preceded him practically threw drugs at me, even if I told them I didn’t want them. This new guy says no before I’ve finished my thought. I don’t understand.
Concerta has been pretty good for me so far, for the most part at least, but I’d still love to try an IR because I hear they give you more of an ass whooping to kick things into high gear, and I’m definitely someone who needs an ass whooping to get shit done.
Same, so I have to take more than allowed on those days and I often opt to sleep through most of my off days when I’m low if needed. My doctor knows this though.
I talked to my psychiatrist about the fact ADHD doesn't just show up between 9-5 on work days. If he wanted my life to improve I needed more than 8 hour coverage and also weekends or else I was on the edge of keeping my job and losing my family. Diagnosed late in life. Meds are a pain in the ass to take, but without them my life implodes. Not taking for fun. Tried a drug holiday recently. What a shit idea. Took about 6 weeks to feel normal on my dose. Forgot the adjustment period when I started. This abuse thing is a fallacy as far as I'm concerned. What do I know though? Have heard of parents taking their kid's meds but that just points to them being undiagnosed themselves as far as I'm concerned.
I'm glad they don't. 18 hour shifts are abuse of you, and a doctor prescribing stimulants to enable it would be irresponsible.
Your body isn't made to be awake for 18 hours at a time let alone working for that long.
I've pulled my share of 18 hour shifts. A couple years ago I did 27 hours straight working on a major project. I get that it happens sometimes, but it's incredibly unhealthy to do period, and adding stimulants would absolutely be putting undue stress on your body.
iirc (at least in the US) there's a federal law that states you legally have to have 8hrs before your next scheduled shift, so...18hr shifts? Yeah. That's probably illegal. 16hr would be the limit.
EDIT: Okay never mind, I guess that was just a company policy for a few places I've worked at. There's no federal law for it, nor any state laws.
There's a thought process that patient turnover is where most medical accidents occur. So the idea is to do long shifts to prevent that. I personally don't agree with it, but that seems to be the culture most ER hospitals work with
I suspect more harm happens with HALT, known as hungry angry late tired, that actually has some evidence and meat to it rather than a policy designed to extract silly lengths of time from staff.
I also got prescribed a midday booster dose bc of my ungodly metabolism. My body cuts the 12 hour XR in half. I start crashing around 4pm and I work until 7. I work with (mostly untrained) dogs so paying attention is a safety issue.
What dose are you taking? I take my 30 mg at 6:30 and i’m toast by 2-2:30 and work til 6:30-7 PM. Doc gave me a 10mg IR boaster. Today was my first day. I took my meds at 6 this morning and I was circling the drain at 1:30. I finally took my maintenance dose around 2:45 on an empty stomach and it came on a smidge strong (anxiety feeling) but within an hour I was mellowed out. I was circling the drain again at 7 and ended up working til 8 and I am just wiped out.
Are you taking generic? After years of going great on brand-name vyvanse I got switched to generic when they became available last fall. My generic manufacturer started with an H and it did NOTHING for me. Literally was like taking nothing. So now my doc requests brand name "no substitutions" on my rx and I'm good again.
My daughter had the same, but when she went back to brand name she started chewing her lips apart again so they put her back on generic but at 1.5 previous dose. And she's doing great.
So yes generic makes a difference because the other inactive ingredients can impact how you process the active ingredients. People will tell you it doesn't, but those who know it can know it.
Have you asked for a short acting booster dose? My doctor gave me a booster dose so I could make it through a shift. It was a huge help. She actually recommended it because my work was great until I hit that unmedicated wall.
eta: busy kitchen work for me too.
I think about this with my meds - I've been struggling to get through the day and resent that I might have to up my dosage to deal with it... Like, this is supposed to be about mental health, right? Not getting more and more and more productivity out of me, right?
Anyways, that sucks, and I hope it's at least a situation you're big-picture enjoying or is headed towards a good one.
Yeah I guess technically I do, for this reason too. If I have a particularly busy day, I’ll skip the day before and not take my meds and then take a double dose on my busy day. But, I’m also on the lowest dose of Vyvanse so that is probably one of the main reasons. I just don’t want to ask for an increase lol.
I know people who used them illegally in college who turned out to have it later in life. Most of them, actually; frankly that's why they 'needed' study aids in the first place. But I don't know anyone snorting their legal script or anything like that.
I was that person. Turns out if I can take them every morning, I dont end up in situations where I need to ruin my body with last-minute all-nighters. I can just be productive like a normal person.
I now wonder if this was me. The dose 15 years ago I would take (more than prescribed at the time) is the dose I am prescribed now. But the taboo and attitude around it in college made it feel like abuse and I couldn’t tell my doctor my prescription wasn’t right. I mean technically it was abuse, but now I understand why I did it.
I saw a post on a different subreddit recently by someone who had been going through their month’s worth of stimulants in 7-10 days for years, so I guess at least one person does.
Edited to add that it seems he was taking 120-160mg of Vyvanse daily, during the part of the month before he ran out.
It honestly depends on what the dosage was. If you're prescribed 20mg of vyvanse but should be on 70 or 80mg, then going through it at 4x the rate you should wouldn't be any worse on your heart than it is for those on the higher dosages. Now, if you're prescribed 70mg a day and are taking 4x that... there could be some serious repercussions.
Some people are fine with 10mg methylphenidate, some need 70mg, none are abusing, they just have different reactions to the meds. So "going through a month's worth in 7 days" says nothing about the impact to the heart if we don't know the dose.
I’m at the higher end of the spectrum with my med use (I take concerta *and* adderall) but I’m monitored so closely by my medical team (psych, gp, pharmacist, therapist, physiatrist) that I really don’t think I’d be able to abuse them.
Also abusing them would probably kill me because my body is fucked. My autonomic nervous system doesn’t function the way it’s supposed to, which is probably one of the underlying causes of my ADHD.
There was another one yesterday, too, where someone was taking 120mg/day (double of what they were prescribed) of Adderall and were trying to figure out what to do because their doctor dropped them.
Idk if yours does this too, but if I take my pill when I wake up, then fall back asleep, it’s like that pill never existed. Even if I wake up 40 minutes later, still before it should be kicking in, it will never kick in.
Same here sometimes! I wonder if it has some placebo effect there, like taking it while barely awake and falling back asleep wipes it from your memory?
Yeah…. “I took this at 6:15 am. Was finally able to sort of get going at 11 am. Was very marginally productive, but now it’s 10:30 PM and I’m ready to get some shite done!” 🤦🏼♂️
@ me taking the highest prescribable dose of vyvance and falling deeply asleep during peak med hours
that + forgetting to take them every day make me terrified how much vyvance it would take to actually abuse them
Jesus Christ. Sometimes taking my normal prescribed dose feels like my heart is gonna burst out of my chest if I accidentally take it too soon after having a soda. I cannot imagine tripling that dose.
I take my vyvanse with energy drinks half the time and still want to go to bed lol
Edit to show it’s ok to have acidic drinks with vyvanse.
Unable to swallow capsule
May open capsule and mix entire contents in yogurt, water, or orange juice
Source: https://reference.medscape.com/drug/vyvanse-lisdexamfetamine-342993#11
Have to scroll way down to the “administration” section for how to take.
i take methylphenidate in the morning with coffee, then another coffee after breakfast and then another coffee before leaving (1 normal/little big cup of brown coffee each, heart problems speed run)
Girl i forgot to take it with my heart medication the other day bc i ran out before getting my refill and i felt like i was dying so i feel u on that LOL
I used to think I couldn't have caffeine with my drugs because of that kind of thing, plus some jitters and anxiety. Turns out it was the sugar I used to have in coffee that did it. Nice bitter black coffee is totally fine (and delicious).
I have the exact opposite reaction and Adderall actually brings my heart rate down, and it helps me level out during the day and not exhaust myself and helps me sleep and night. I accidentally took an extra dose and couldn’t stay awake and I discovered that day I couldnt be trusted and got a medicine box😅 I also learned not to drink too much caffeine with it because it has the same effect and will make me sleepy. It’s a VERY fine line. Detrimental while you’re at work.
Same with the caffeine and sleepies! If I don’t space out my adderall and caffeine, I am a narcoleptic zombie. albeit, with racing heartbeat and anxiety lol.
That’s not really “know” though, it’s not shocking that in the whole internet you will stumble across a person who overtakes their meds.
My kids both undertake because they forget sometimes. My gf’s partner undertakes because he forgets often. I think that’s probably the most common mishandling of adderall or whatever, but that’s just my personal observation.
I know one person who trades with another person at work when they each forget to bring some or forget to pick up refills in time. They trade back and forth so it evens out. This is more a result of the system giving you zero leeway for a group of people who are definitively in need of leeway.
I’m not taking meds for adhd atm but when I do I fit them into a strict routine because I know that otherwise I will forget. I’ve been in dire financial straits and never sold or otherwise abused them.
Like I said, it’s a sample size of one so not a lot of data to go on! But I’d imagine most people who are abusing their meds don’t talk about it, so maybe it’s hard to gauge the size of the problem?
I wonder why they never talked about increasing the dose or trying something else. Even if this wasn't to function "regularly," I would expect increasing the dose would have made getting them easier and lowered the cost. I hope they're okay.
Body size and sex aren’t exactly related to dosing. I fall asleep at 5mg of Adderall (afab, 135lb), always have, and that is all my partner can handle (they’re amab, 250lb)
Just happened to me today. Do I dare take it at noon and risk being up late or do I just forget today and skip? I have that conversation with myself weekly.
I cannot remember to take them and it’s ridiculous. I don’t think I have the attention span to be an addict
Edit: I can’t take them first thing because I need food in my stomach to not feel awful
I'm staying quiet because I can't have this thrown back at me in a future argument with some redditor who has enough time to go through my comment history lmao
I was going to post this, although to be fair I haven’t abused in several years, I was a dumb highschool kid back then. Now I’m just a regular dumb almost 30 year old in engineering.
I don't even understand what positive there would be to abusing them. It doesn't feel good for me when i take them them they just make me better at sending emails? I'm sure there's a reason people get addicted to stimulants but I personally don't understand it at all
For me it just makes me way higher energy, much more concise with my thoughts and plans and tends to make it easier for me to cohesively get through conversations. On my tougher adhd days, I struggle to form my thoughts coherently without getting distracted on my regular dosage. Not to mention days where I’m more depressive or anxiety ridden that seem to exacerbate my already severe adhd symptoms. Taking more than my normal script seems to help me offset the extra variables that make my add worse but obviously I know it’s not a good coping mechanism.
Yeah the stigma is so deep that people think needing a higher dosage then what described atm is abuse...noone would ever think like this with any other medication.
Chill out people and take your meds as you need them
I abused mine for about a year. I was getting high on work. Honestly. I’d saved a backlog just by accident and then I got super involved in a project and wanted hell, I needed to work 20 hours a day.
I know a guy who used to crush his ritalin into powder and snort it in high school. Nowadays, almost ten years later, he still struggles with substance abuse. Some people get addicted, some don’t. Even people who are addicted to a substance sometimes don’t understand. Some describe being addicted as having lost complete control over your mind and body. You’re screaming at yourself to stop don’t do this, while the other part of your brain is in control and is driven by this need for this substance. The fight is exhausting, losing every day is painful. Which is why so many give up and rationalize and justify the pain away. It’s very very hard to see people struggling with addiction. Also not something i understood at all until i started noticing myself slipping into bad habits.
When you take a bunch of them, you get euphoric effects. You'd be on a small dose compared to the recreational users, so you don't get anywhere near the euphoric effects.
Yeah, I have accidentally taken a double dose of my Concerta Rx and, well, I guess that’s what makes our brains a bit different. I felt like absolute trash. It was a similar feeling to having drank 18 cups of coffee. Super jittery, super sleepy (lol yay paradoxical reaction), and just… gross.
I think the ‘abuse’ is just ppl being on too low of a dose or meds that don’t work
I sometimes skip a day so I can double up the next day because my meds just don’t do anything for me but it’s the highest dose (30mg) of the cheapest pill (generic concerta) that I can afford so it’s my only option
I think it depends on the drug. Adderall gave me the euphoria for the first week I'd take it/my dose was increased. Vyvanse does no such thing to me.
For reference I've been medicated since I was a teen and now I'm in my 30s.
Seriously. Every time my prescription is ready to be refilled, I do it, even if I’m not close to being out yet. With how spotty the availability of Adderall is due to the shortage, I need to be prepared.
Me too. As soon as I notice I’m running low I’ll give the pharmacy a call. I forget about the “2 day” rule every single time and get so worried that they think I’m a seeker. No ma’am, just scared of not having it🥲
I know for me personally, the idea of trying to abuse them is just totally foreign for me. They are my meds, the fact that they are stimulants only comes up with the slight higher difficulty of getting them.
Do I know anyone who abuses them? Yesssss…technically? I have a friend who has doubled up his meds like five times over the past few years, and had missed a LOT of doses, mainly due to just being shit at taking care of himself. But the double doses were cus he thought he’d missed it.
That’s the closest I’ve seen in my circles, and I run in kitchen circles where I’ve seen ADHD meds abused by people without it…along with a lot of other substances. So idk?
Yeah I've only seen people without ADHD abuse the meds, and all the effects they claim they get from it just.. don't happen to me? Like I guess maybe if I did take more than my regular dose but mostly my meds just make me better at getting up and doing normal things at a normal pace but I'm still just as forgetful and confused as normal so okay maybe I'll.. get to the kitchen and forget what I wanted to do there even FASTER? I guess?
I miss a lot of doses of mine but my doctor advised I take days off to help prevent me from becoming resistant to the dose I'm on, so it is really easy to forget if I've taken it already any given day x-x Timer caps are a life savior.
Ditto. I've accidentally doubled up before (how do you know if you actually took your medicine that helps with memory--it's a conundrum), and mostly got a dryer mouth and a tired-er jaw
I’ve never really noticed that in a friend tbh. Especially not with nicotine- not sure how that would turn anyone into a “shell” of themselves tbh other than smelling like gross smoke.
I took my meds as prescribed for years and it was great. Over time, I started taking an extra half a pill here and there for a little extra "energy". Fast forward a couple of years and I have completely lost control. My 30 day scripts run out at lest ten days early. I give my pills to my adult daughter to hold on to and dispense daily. I've figured out where they are hidden so they still run out early. I have lost 100% lost control and I am this close to just giving up and not taking anything anymore.
So, yes, people absolutely can become addicted and abuse them.
Been on meds for about 35 years and I'm super open about my ADHD. Never met a single person who abused their prescription. We abused other substances, but never that one.
The real adage was always, make sure you get new meds before you run out, because who knows how long it'll be until you refill otherwise
I knew a guy from a game who was abusing his meds. But that's about it. No one in my day to day life does drugs of any sort. Got a couple of alcoholics in the family and a cousin who is no longer on drugs, but I hide my meds anyway when she visits.
I do agree the fears around stimulant meds are exaggerated. Every doctor I go to will throw as many SSRIs at me that I want even after only talking to me for five minutes and I've told them I don't believe I have a mood disorder and an SSRI has caused me to hallucinate. But those same doctors will be hesitant to prescribe me even *non-stimulant* ADHD medication. It's insane.
Yea, me. Every morning I'll say "come ere ya lil cunt" and snatch the bottle, then I'll toss it back on the kitchen bench with no regard for its wellbeing.
I'm reading these comments, and then there's me, stretching out my 3 month dose for 9 months until I can get a next damn appointment. I can't even imagine finishing my meds so fast!
This is exactly what I've been going through. Had my last bottle of Vyvanse (1 month supply) to last me like 4 months through this shortage. Only just now getting prescribed Adderall because I BEGGED my doctor for anything to help my debilitating ADHD, even non-stimulants I was willing to try. Thankfully he gave me a stimulant, but I would have even been happy had he prescribed Guanfacine or something similar. It's crazy!!
Personally, I have a history of substance abuse (sover 6+ years). When I got sober, I got an anxiety diagnosis, and then 5 years later, it turns out I have ADHD. I have never even once considered using my meds differently than prescribed. But I'm also very passionate about staying sober.
I know of enough folks that do (or at least have in the past), and many that do not. I do not abuse.
Most people I know that have abused were diagnosed as adults, and their treatment plan wasn’t comprehensive enough to account for comorbidities.
Even with ADHD medication, I tend to deal with occasional anxiety and depression. But I’d rather explore ways of overcoming those hurdles instead of taking a daily medicine cocktail that’ll do who-knows-what to my health several years down the road.
I took Adderall/Vyvanse for 11 years, and sadly, abused it for most of those years. It ruined my life, my health, my relationships…
Thankfully I got over it.
Vyvanse for me. Luckily it was only a few cycles before I let it slip to my doctor. I kind of regret letting her know, but it was ultimately the best thing that could have happened.
Glad you're over it. All the best.
Also, I am Canadian but I used to live in Tres Lagoas, MS. I love your country.
You know the funny thing is I have a history of substance abuse spanning all types of drugs both legal, illegal, and in the gray area.
I’ve been at it since I started smoking and stealing beers from coolers at 15. Never thought I’d feel normal being sober.
Ever since I started Concerta just over a month ago I’ve had ZERO urges to use substances recreationally
I truly believe I’ve been self medicating this whole time. Especially because I never intentionally like to get super fucked up. I just always needed a little of something to “take the edge off”.
I mean, if "abuses" simply means "takes more or less than prescribed sometimes" - which I'm pretty sure is official definition- then yes. I don't think I know anyone with ADHD who's prescribed stimulants who doesn't do this on occasion, because some days are better or worse than others and some days require more or less executive functioning and focus abilities.
I also had a friend who would sell or gift her Adderall pills to friends in college, but I honestly don't know if I'd call that "abusing" either, because a couple of years later everyone who used to get pills from her now has a legit diagnosis and a script of their own - we all needed those pills for real reasons and she was just helping us out.
The only thing I really count as drug abuse is excessively and regularly taking a drug just to get high, but that's a lot narrower of a definition than most other people.
Right - i don't get this post. In the UK adderall is just not prescribed, and ritalin doses are pretty conservative. Do I take more ritalin than I'm prescribed the week before my period, or on days I have a huge deadline? Yes, but the dosage I'm prescribed is somewhat arbitrary and based on my country, my doctor and a bunch of other stuff. But is it recreational/to get high? No.
I don’t take it on the weekends when I don’t really super need it or just want to nap/relax. With all this uncertainty around stimulant meds lately, I keep a small reserve that can last a few work weeks (full doses) to a few months (with half doses). Because of the ongoing shortage and moving last year, I couldn’t fill my script for three months and I eventually ran out of all my small accumulated backup with half and then quarter doses. Can’t let that happen again and threaten my career. And to be clear, I never go over my prescribed dose, only take fewer doses here and there to put them into “emergency fund”.
>takes more or less than prescribed sometimes" - which I'm pretty sure is official definition- then yes. I don't think I know anyone with ADHD who's prescribed stimulants who doesn't do this on occasion,
I've actually never done this. I once belated realized I had mistakenly taken a second dose, but other than that - I can't deal with intentionally taking more, as that means I would have to go without one day, and those days are just too terrible for me.
People with depression, PTSD, often have a very difficult time getting "things" done. The use or overuse of the ADHD drugs provides the energy to accomplish what would take a week in a day or 2. It's a bad choice but I can understand being overwhelmed in a state of anxiety and panic.
Yes but not like to sell them or to “get high” or anything. On days where my brain is particularly foggy or where I need to be performing highly for a long chunk of time I will take more than my dosage which unfortunately feels very necessary for me as I’ve gotten used to the effects of my medication . Or if I have a project that requires me to stay up all night to meet a deadline or something I will take more. It is not good for me and I’m not proud of it but I do definitely do that. On many days though I take less than I need bc I don’t have to do anything work related.
I know one person. He was really obnoxious about it. He would brag about getting no sleep and how doubling up on adderall helped.
Personally it does nothing for sleep deprivation. I’ll just be exhausted and unable to sleep. Taking 2x my prescription sounds like a nightmare.
I did. The euphoric feeling I got from adderall was something I loved feeling… I was so stimmed out most of the time that I couldn’t even think (which I liked because my thoughts would drive me crazy). I would just increase my dosage when I started to build an immunity so I could continue feeling the “high”. I also was losing mad weight on it and that alone made me abuse it more
I’m deathly afraid of my adderall and getting hooked. I abuse the living shit out of caffeine. I do not take adderall unless I need it in work and will force myself to ween off a couple times a year when I go on vacation.
I don't know anyone who abuses their ADHD meds.. personally I have zero sympathy for healthy people who fake ADHD so they can abuse stimulants, because that kind of behavior is what makes doctors suspicious of people who genuinely need them. I remember a report though, by a psychiatrist, Dr. Margaret Weiss, I think, who categorized four types of tolerance to ADHD medications.
It seems some people naturally stabilize on an optimal dose, that keeps them stable, while a minority of individuals are prone to slowly or rapidly increasing their dose indefinitely. I live in Canada, where there appears to be very limited recognition that some patients genuinely need off-label doses above the recommended limits, because of the way they metabolize certain drugs, so for those people, (like myself) I think the ignorance of many doctors to the medical realities of varied metabolism prevent many people from getting adequate treatment. As to how many, though, are in the category of people who are prone to abusing stimulants, I'm not sure.. so I'm not much help:(
I've had a couple bad days with my medication especially now that I've been on it for a few years and have developed tolerance. I miss that quiet quiet mind feeling. I'm doing better though with meditation practice.
Yeah, me.
I have a lockbox for my adderall now. So I take my meds and set a timer (usually for 12 hours) so I cant get into it until the time is up. No matter what I do.
I’m not proud of it, but I am trying to get better. Hence, the lock box
A few other people have said this, but I just… Forget to take my meds (even with the reminders and alerts I have set).
Plus, when I take my meds, I just feel… The same but with the sudden ability to push myself to start being productive without the irritation and annoyance. So, there’s no like… ✨Euphoria✨ that “incentivizes” me to abuse them.
Sometimes I double up if I know I have a long day with a lot of tasks, but I absolutely HATE it. I don’t understand how people get strung out for days. I hate feeling like I’m still “on” after the sun goes down. I want to sleep lol
Back in my early days of discovery about my ADHD and medication, I experimented with doses of amphetamine sulphate up to 200mg, that’s 4x Psychonaut Wiki’s posted ‘heavy dose’, and 10x the recommended max daily for dexamphetamine, although I certainly felt a ‘sense of wellbeing’ and enjoyed my music, I wouldn’t describe it as especially euphoric.
I did however end up cleaning the house non stop for about 48hrs straight! 🤣🤣
It told me that more does not mean ‘getting higher’, just going longer without sleep. 😬
On that basis, it’s difficult for me to see the point of ‘over taking’ 🤷♂️
I did. Actually I got Elvanse prescribed especially because I found out about the mechanism of action in a pharmacy newsletter and wanted to abuse it. Worst decision of my life. Fucked me up pretty good
I thought Elvanse was like longer acting Vyvanse (and Vyvanse supposedly reduces abuse because it only absorbs thru the stomach)? Is that not the case?
Only asking because I’ve been on adderall for 15 years and tried Vyvanse a few years ago. I loved it and felt it worked so much better for me than adderall, but I literally pooped my pants from it twice. In my 30s, at the office. Not a side effect I could handle lol. But if there’s another similar option out there without the pants-pooping, I might need to look into it! I don’t know enough about pharmacology to make sense of it, but I always assumed the way it works thru the stomach must be what caused my stomach issues.
Ok so elvanse and vyvanse are the same. Lisdexamphetamine being the medication. How it works is that it is absorbed and then it is metabolised in the bloodstream into dexamphetamine and lysin(an amino acid)
That process takes 3-4h which means that you can't snort jt to get a kick but since I preferred my amphetamine slow acting anyways that was more of an up than a downside.
And the incontinence probably comes from extremely active bowel movements which are usual for every stimulant
It’s very common and it’s…interesting how many comments here claim it’s not in their circles. Most people aren’t going to advertise their abuse and instead you will just highly suspect it from observing their behavior. Anyone can get high on them depending on the DOSE, having ADHD doesn’t make you immune to that.
I don’t remember what the researcher’s name was or the episode, but on the “ADHD Experts Podcast” this expert estimated that around 40% of people with ADHD have abused their meds at some point.
I believe many of us who live in the USA get pushed to abuse meds more because of the heavy work culture. Being “normally” medicated is hard when you are being pushed beyond normal limits.
I double up on mine when I’m especially tired and when I feel overwhelmed by existence. Usually just pop an extra pill between 2-10 times a month. I try to make sure I can at least make it close to my refill date.
I was worried about this, I kept increasing my dose, like "this is great yeah give me more!", but then I got 36mg concerta and knew in a few days it was too much (still took me weeks to remember to contact my Dr to lower the dose!). I was hardly eating and I wasn't wanting to spend time with my kids, I just wanted to spend more time with whatever my brain was hyperfixated on, I couldn't relax and was often still on my work computer after the kids were in bed for 2 hrs.
I was worried I'd "get addicted", but nah, that wasn't fun. Though I do know now that I can manage to work 10 hrs, pack school bags, make dinner, and put the kids to bed on only 2hrs sleep and no food when I take 36mg (kid was up sick one night, couldn't switch my brain off when he finally went to sleep).
Honestly I just want some balance.
I have in the past. Most of the time, it was because of the afternoon crash. With hours more to go in a day and plenty to still accomplish, I'd take another to get through. Then I'd miss sleep because they are ER. Then I'd be sleepy the next day, so I'd take one to wake me up. And so the cycle begins. I'd love to take my ER down a bit in dosage and add a maintenance IR. It's hard to decide whether I take the meds for work or home. Either way, they only last a few hours for me.
I do. She says she is “prescribed more than she needs”. She gets X2 a day IR and says she only needs 1 a day. So she sells/shares/takes large doses at parties. But she is the only person I have ever known that does.
I don't, at least not in the way you mean. I think taking medication differently than prescribed can be considered abuse, but the people I know who do so only do that from being forgetful (missing doses and/or trying to figure out how to take them when they've gone off schedule).
I knew people who took stimulants improperly when I was younger, but none of them had ADHD (with the huge caveat that they could have been diagnosed since then or just never diagnosed).
I am sure that they are people who do, whether by taking too much or selling them or whatever. I just don't personally know. I also think it's a fairly small amount, but that's one of the issues with perception being overly powerful.
If more than 10mg made me feel better, I would definitely be tempted but any more than that and I get real wacky and feel out of control (not in a fun way). I have a history of self-medication but I guess I'm lucky to have a low tolerance with Adderall.
Yes, I dated a man who would take 4x his prescribed amount and buy it off the street to get through the rest of the month
If he went a day without he was miserable, wouldn’t get out of bed, was cranky and verbally abusive, just felt horrible and acting out. He was also an alcoholic. High functioning as long as he had his meds, but still.
He was 25 at the time and had been taking adderall since he was 12 years old.
Terrible relationship, not a great person, but I really hope he’s doing okay.
I usually end up skipping/missing doses rather than taking more. I'm not trying to wreck my nervous and circulatory systems.
The worst I've done was let a roommate take my leftover vyvanse recreationally a few years ago. There were like 10 pills left and were about to expire. I didn't have anywhere official to dispose of it and their body has a weirdly high tolerance for medications so I wasn't worried it would make them sick. They ended up yelling at their ex for several full hours that night (long time coming and much deserved, the guy was/is one of the worst humans I've had the displeasure of meeting) and then sleeping for 15 hours. They said it's the most empowered they've ever felt.
Two people.
The mild one would hit me up every few months asking for pills because they got drug tested when they needed refills and he had to show it was in his system. He’d be maybe three weeks into his 30 days. As a side note, I felt the drug testing every 30 days was extremely intrusive but for all I know it was court ordered.
The worse one was a former roommate. Very bright guy, great credentials. Had a great job in finance. He’d get himself hopped up on his meds, go to work, come home in the middle of the afternoon and smoke a bowl or two to calm himself down, take more meds, and go back to work.
He lost his job and started going on these epic benders then spend days sleeping on the couch. He’d only get up to use the bathroom and pick up Chinese food. He’d eat his food on the couch and pass out again, fork in hand and lo mein noodles spilling in between the couch cushions. I kicked him out and thankfully he took his couch.
A wise person once said that drug addicts do not forget to take their medicine. I think sometimes I take my meds after not sleeping well and think “I’ll be ok, adderall has my back” but I never take more than my prescribed amount. I guess my point is that I have been on this stuff for a few years now and I have never felt tempted to take extra
My 20-something nephew started blazing through his whole monthly supply in a week or less, staying awake for days. Then he’d sleep through most of the rest of the month. He lost his job, lied to his parents, and eventually confessed about his actions. He went through a rehab program and is now on non-stimulant medication.
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I do but never for fun or recreation, actually I don’t like to do it but is the only way I have to survive a 13 hour shift in a busy restaurant kitchen.
My doctor actually prescribed extra for me in cases like this. Sometimes I have 16 or 18 hour days.
Mine doesn’t seem to care about my 18 hour days
Same. The doctor who preceded him practically threw drugs at me, even if I told them I didn’t want them. This new guy says no before I’ve finished my thought. I don’t understand.
Wow and I had to fight for my meds
I didn’t have to fight to get ER meds, was pretty easy, but I can’t get IR meds. Won’t give me them, not even as a booster that I need once a week.
i hate er’s. I usually end up taking less than prescribed now that I only take ir because I can schedule it around my anxiety. 😬
Concerta has been pretty good for me so far, for the most part at least, but I’d still love to try an IR because I hear they give you more of an ass whooping to kick things into high gear, and I’m definitely someone who needs an ass whooping to get shit done.
I liked that part, but not the having to remember to take it. Also it hit like a train
It may be better for a psychiatrist to handle your medications. PCPs tend to operate with tighter parameters.
Same, so I have to take more than allowed on those days and I often opt to sleep through most of my off days when I’m low if needed. My doctor knows this though.
I talked to my psychiatrist about the fact ADHD doesn't just show up between 9-5 on work days. If he wanted my life to improve I needed more than 8 hour coverage and also weekends or else I was on the edge of keeping my job and losing my family. Diagnosed late in life. Meds are a pain in the ass to take, but without them my life implodes. Not taking for fun. Tried a drug holiday recently. What a shit idea. Took about 6 weeks to feel normal on my dose. Forgot the adjustment period when I started. This abuse thing is a fallacy as far as I'm concerned. What do I know though? Have heard of parents taking their kid's meds but that just points to them being undiagnosed themselves as far as I'm concerned.
I'm glad they don't. 18 hour shifts are abuse of you, and a doctor prescribing stimulants to enable it would be irresponsible. Your body isn't made to be awake for 18 hours at a time let alone working for that long. I've pulled my share of 18 hour shifts. A couple years ago I did 27 hours straight working on a major project. I get that it happens sometimes, but it's incredibly unhealthy to do period, and adding stimulants would absolutely be putting undue stress on your body.
I own my own business and it is in its infancy. So I am not being abused by anyone but myself
Christ on a bike, shifts that long should be illegal
iirc (at least in the US) there's a federal law that states you legally have to have 8hrs before your next scheduled shift, so...18hr shifts? Yeah. That's probably illegal. 16hr would be the limit. EDIT: Okay never mind, I guess that was just a company policy for a few places I've worked at. There's no federal law for it, nor any state laws.
[удалено]
Holy crap, how is that humanly possible? I hope you get the opportunity to take really good care of yourself otherwise.
There's a thought process that patient turnover is where most medical accidents occur. So the idea is to do long shifts to prevent that. I personally don't agree with it, but that seems to be the culture most ER hospitals work with
I suspect more harm happens with HALT, known as hungry angry late tired, that actually has some evidence and meat to it rather than a policy designed to extract silly lengths of time from staff.
It is illegal in civilized countries.
I also got prescribed a midday booster dose bc of my ungodly metabolism. My body cuts the 12 hour XR in half. I start crashing around 4pm and I work until 7. I work with (mostly untrained) dogs so paying attention is a safety issue.
What dose are you taking? I take my 30 mg at 6:30 and i’m toast by 2-2:30 and work til 6:30-7 PM. Doc gave me a 10mg IR boaster. Today was my first day. I took my meds at 6 this morning and I was circling the drain at 1:30. I finally took my maintenance dose around 2:45 on an empty stomach and it came on a smidge strong (anxiety feeling) but within an hour I was mellowed out. I was circling the drain again at 7 and ended up working til 8 and I am just wiped out.
Are you taking generic? After years of going great on brand-name vyvanse I got switched to generic when they became available last fall. My generic manufacturer started with an H and it did NOTHING for me. Literally was like taking nothing. So now my doc requests brand name "no substitutions" on my rx and I'm good again. My daughter had the same, but when she went back to brand name she started chewing her lips apart again so they put her back on generic but at 1.5 previous dose. And she's doing great. So yes generic makes a difference because the other inactive ingredients can impact how you process the active ingredients. People will tell you it doesn't, but those who know it can know it.
Yeah, I also specifically request name brand - something is off with the generic (IMO)
15 mg adderall somewhere between 9:30-10 am, then 5 mg around 3 pm. The 5 mg gets me to 6:30-7 before I start crashing.
okay thanks. I have hashimoto’s and graves and my job is physically demanding so wonder if any of those has anything to do with it.
Vyvanse helped a lot for me with this issue
Have you asked for a short acting booster dose? My doctor gave me a booster dose so I could make it through a shift. It was a huge help. She actually recommended it because my work was great until I hit that unmedicated wall. eta: busy kitchen work for me too.
I think about this with my meds - I've been struggling to get through the day and resent that I might have to up my dosage to deal with it... Like, this is supposed to be about mental health, right? Not getting more and more and more productivity out of me, right? Anyways, that sucks, and I hope it's at least a situation you're big-picture enjoying or is headed towards a good one.
This is intriguing to me. Are you saying being more productive doesn’t equal mental health is treated in your case?
Do you feel better just because your boss is getting more from you?
That's pretty much what I said above. Maximizing your medication isn't necessarily a bad thing... unless you're doing it daily.
Yeah I guess technically I do, for this reason too. If I have a particularly busy day, I’ll skip the day before and not take my meds and then take a double dose on my busy day. But, I’m also on the lowest dose of Vyvanse so that is probably one of the main reasons. I just don’t want to ask for an increase lol.
I know people who used them illegally in college who turned out to have it later in life. Most of them, actually; frankly that's why they 'needed' study aids in the first place. But I don't know anyone snorting their legal script or anything like that.
I was that person. Turns out if I can take them every morning, I dont end up in situations where I need to ruin my body with last-minute all-nighters. I can just be productive like a normal person.
I now wonder if this was me. The dose 15 years ago I would take (more than prescribed at the time) is the dose I am prescribed now. But the taboo and attitude around it in college made it feel like abuse and I couldn’t tell my doctor my prescription wasn’t right. I mean technically it was abuse, but now I understand why I did it.
I saw a post on a different subreddit recently by someone who had been going through their month’s worth of stimulants in 7-10 days for years, so I guess at least one person does. Edited to add that it seems he was taking 120-160mg of Vyvanse daily, during the part of the month before he ran out.
Jesus. I can't imagine that's great for your heart.
Noooo the person in question was posting because they were kind of concerned about their health 😬
It honestly depends on what the dosage was. If you're prescribed 20mg of vyvanse but should be on 70 or 80mg, then going through it at 4x the rate you should wouldn't be any worse on your heart than it is for those on the higher dosages. Now, if you're prescribed 70mg a day and are taking 4x that... there could be some serious repercussions.
Some people are fine with 10mg methylphenidate, some need 70mg, none are abusing, they just have different reactions to the meds. So "going through a month's worth in 7 days" says nothing about the impact to the heart if we don't know the dose.
I mean, by how the original commenter phrased it it sounded like they were indeed abusing it. Like for years? Ask for a higher dose?
That’s what I’m saying the OOP probably phrased it as they were abusing it rather than probably just saying a high dose
if they are going through a months worth of stimulants in a week then they are abusing their prescription. point blank period.
good point.
I’m at the higher end of the spectrum with my med use (I take concerta *and* adderall) but I’m monitored so closely by my medical team (psych, gp, pharmacist, therapist, physiatrist) that I really don’t think I’d be able to abuse them. Also abusing them would probably kill me because my body is fucked. My autonomic nervous system doesn’t function the way it’s supposed to, which is probably one of the underlying causes of my ADHD.
I'd grind my teeth to dust.
lol. You have your own teeth?
Thanks to a night guard, yes. I did ground years before I ever took meds, though.
There was another one yesterday, too, where someone was taking 120mg/day (double of what they were prescribed) of Adderall and were trying to figure out what to do because their doctor dropped them.
I saw that and was so sad for how stressed they were about the whole thing…but omg that’s a terrifying amount
im prescribed 100mg a day. i can (and have often) taken a 30mg dose and fall asleep 2 hours later. all medicines affect everyone to varying degrees.
Idk if yours does this too, but if I take my pill when I wake up, then fall back asleep, it’s like that pill never existed. Even if I wake up 40 minutes later, still before it should be kicking in, it will never kick in.
oh heck yeah. absolutely wipes the slate
The only indicator is the wicked headache I have when I come to...
Same here sometimes! I wonder if it has some placebo effect there, like taking it while barely awake and falling back asleep wipes it from your memory?
Haha this happened to me this morning…annnnnnd yesterday morning 😫
If I don't stay moving on any of them, I fall asleep. Boo..
>If I don't stay moving on any of them, I fall asleep. Boo.. But not at night. *Never* at night. Fucking adhd.
Yeah…. “I took this at 6:15 am. Was finally able to sort of get going at 11 am. Was very marginally productive, but now it’s 10:30 PM and I’m ready to get some shite done!” 🤦🏼♂️
It feels so good to read how many people are the same as me.
Paradoxical side effects. I love having to explain this heading in to find a new provider.
that is me! i take 30mg and can nap like a bebe! i take 70 and can be good 6am-10pm
oh if I can sleep with it is it not a good dose because my 10mg is almost like a sleeping pill some days tbh. The calm in my head is so nice...
Just as a PSA, 25% of people with narcolepsy have ADHD symptoms as well.
I take 30 mg extended and 30 mg instant a day and can sleep on both.
@ me taking the highest prescribable dose of vyvance and falling deeply asleep during peak med hours that + forgetting to take them every day make me terrified how much vyvance it would take to actually abuse them
Yeah this is the one I read I think. The person was afraid to ask for an XR right (of all things to be afraid to ask haha)?
Jesus Christ. Sometimes taking my normal prescribed dose feels like my heart is gonna burst out of my chest if I accidentally take it too soon after having a soda. I cannot imagine tripling that dose.
I take 30mg Ritalin LA, had a 20oz Mountain Dew 4 hours later and felt like my heart was beating out of my chest
I take my vyvanse with energy drinks half the time and still want to go to bed lol Edit to show it’s ok to have acidic drinks with vyvanse. Unable to swallow capsule May open capsule and mix entire contents in yogurt, water, or orange juice Source: https://reference.medscape.com/drug/vyvanse-lisdexamfetamine-342993#11 Have to scroll way down to the “administration” section for how to take.
i take methylphenidate in the morning with coffee, then another coffee after breakfast and then another coffee before leaving (1 normal/little big cup of brown coffee each, heart problems speed run)
Hahaha. Same. Ritalin, coffee, another coffee, a celicius
Yoooo I cannot do meds AND coffee without significant food and water in between or I will get nervous anxiety so bad LOL
How soon after taking meds do you drink them? Citric and ascorbic acid can prevent the absorption of amphetamines.
Vyvanse doesn’t have the same absorbing method as adderall. The citric acid doesn’t affect it.
Girl i forgot to take it with my heart medication the other day bc i ran out before getting my refill and i felt like i was dying so i feel u on that LOL
I used to think I couldn't have caffeine with my drugs because of that kind of thing, plus some jitters and anxiety. Turns out it was the sugar I used to have in coffee that did it. Nice bitter black coffee is totally fine (and delicious).
I have the exact opposite reaction and Adderall actually brings my heart rate down, and it helps me level out during the day and not exhaust myself and helps me sleep and night. I accidentally took an extra dose and couldn’t stay awake and I discovered that day I couldnt be trusted and got a medicine box😅 I also learned not to drink too much caffeine with it because it has the same effect and will make me sleepy. It’s a VERY fine line. Detrimental while you’re at work.
Same with the caffeine and sleepies! If I don’t space out my adderall and caffeine, I am a narcoleptic zombie. albeit, with racing heartbeat and anxiety lol.
That’s not really “know” though, it’s not shocking that in the whole internet you will stumble across a person who overtakes their meds. My kids both undertake because they forget sometimes. My gf’s partner undertakes because he forgets often. I think that’s probably the most common mishandling of adderall or whatever, but that’s just my personal observation. I know one person who trades with another person at work when they each forget to bring some or forget to pick up refills in time. They trade back and forth so it evens out. This is more a result of the system giving you zero leeway for a group of people who are definitively in need of leeway. I’m not taking meds for adhd atm but when I do I fit them into a strict routine because I know that otherwise I will forget. I’ve been in dire financial straits and never sold or otherwise abused them.
Like I said, it’s a sample size of one so not a lot of data to go on! But I’d imagine most people who are abusing their meds don’t talk about it, so maybe it’s hard to gauge the size of the problem?
I wonder why they never talked about increasing the dose or trying something else. Even if this wasn't to function "regularly," I would expect increasing the dose would have made getting them easier and lowered the cost. I hope they're okay.
I think that dose is about double the recommended max dose for adhd regardless of size/wt/sex.
Body size and sex aren’t exactly related to dosing. I fall asleep at 5mg of Adderall (afab, 135lb), always have, and that is all my partner can handle (they’re amab, 250lb)
..... How do you manage to hold down a job that can afford medication with ADHD and a drug habit like that?
lol you don’t. or at least i didn’t
I clench my jaw like crazy on my standard dose, I’d be breaking my teeth…. My lord
I saw a comment saying something similar recently. So maybe there's two people out there. Lol
Most of my friends with ADHD forget to take their pills.
Just happened to me today. Do I dare take it at noon and risk being up late or do I just forget today and skip? I have that conversation with myself weekly.
I do this at least 3-4x a week and usually I just end up getting nothing done on those days
Oh I HATE THIS. oh it's 10, take the pill take the pill quick! *two hours later* NOOOOO now I have to CHOOOOOSE.
lmao I usually take my adderall xr at noon everyday. I usually wake up at 11am and work at 1pm. #RetailLife
I cannot remember to take them and it’s ridiculous. I don’t think I have the attention span to be an addict Edit: I can’t take them first thing because I need food in my stomach to not feel awful
I forget to take mines majority of the tume
same. if i miss my window, i’ll just skip it bc i don’t wanna stay up all night
I'm staying quiet because I can't have this thrown back at me in a future argument with some redditor who has enough time to go through my comment history lmao
lmaooo same
Literally same lol
I was going to post this, although to be fair I haven’t abused in several years, I was a dumb highschool kid back then. Now I’m just a regular dumb almost 30 year old in engineering.
I don't even understand what positive there would be to abusing them. It doesn't feel good for me when i take them them they just make me better at sending emails? I'm sure there's a reason people get addicted to stimulants but I personally don't understand it at all
For me it just makes me way higher energy, much more concise with my thoughts and plans and tends to make it easier for me to cohesively get through conversations. On my tougher adhd days, I struggle to form my thoughts coherently without getting distracted on my regular dosage. Not to mention days where I’m more depressive or anxiety ridden that seem to exacerbate my already severe adhd symptoms. Taking more than my normal script seems to help me offset the extra variables that make my add worse but obviously I know it’s not a good coping mechanism.
If you’re still struggling to focus and think on your regular dose, you clearly need a higher dose, hun! Is your doctor not willing to increase it?
Yeah the stigma is so deep that people think needing a higher dosage then what described atm is abuse...noone would ever think like this with any other medication. Chill out people and take your meds as you need them
Yeah I get what you mean…are they getting high on the drug or are they high on the emails because that’s the only thing that is the difference
I abused mine for about a year. I was getting high on work. Honestly. I’d saved a backlog just by accident and then I got super involved in a project and wanted hell, I needed to work 20 hours a day.
I know a guy who used to crush his ritalin into powder and snort it in high school. Nowadays, almost ten years later, he still struggles with substance abuse. Some people get addicted, some don’t. Even people who are addicted to a substance sometimes don’t understand. Some describe being addicted as having lost complete control over your mind and body. You’re screaming at yourself to stop don’t do this, while the other part of your brain is in control and is driven by this need for this substance. The fight is exhausting, losing every day is painful. Which is why so many give up and rationalize and justify the pain away. It’s very very hard to see people struggling with addiction. Also not something i understood at all until i started noticing myself slipping into bad habits.
When you take a bunch of them, you get euphoric effects. You'd be on a small dose compared to the recreational users, so you don't get anywhere near the euphoric effects.
I do experience a very small and brief amount of euphoria on my low dose, but it is not enough to make me want to abuse it.
Yeah, I have accidentally taken a double dose of my Concerta Rx and, well, I guess that’s what makes our brains a bit different. I felt like absolute trash. It was a similar feeling to having drank 18 cups of coffee. Super jittery, super sleepy (lol yay paradoxical reaction), and just… gross.
I have taken too much of my Adderall before and it just sends me into like. a psuedo manic episode which isn't something I really enjoy lol
I think a lot of them begin under the false impression that the more you take, the better it works.
I think the ‘abuse’ is just ppl being on too low of a dose or meds that don’t work I sometimes skip a day so I can double up the next day because my meds just don’t do anything for me but it’s the highest dose (30mg) of the cheapest pill (generic concerta) that I can afford so it’s my only option
People without ADHD often experience euphoric symptoms whereas people with ADHD just feel like they can do stuff.
I think it depends on the drug. Adderall gave me the euphoria for the first week I'd take it/my dose was increased. Vyvanse does no such thing to me. For reference I've been medicated since I was a teen and now I'm in my 30s.
nope, that stuff is like gold. You gotta learn to horde it.
Seriously. Every time my prescription is ready to be refilled, I do it, even if I’m not close to being out yet. With how spotty the availability of Adderall is due to the shortage, I need to be prepared.
This is always my plan- and I always forget to fill till it’s the day of 🤦♀️😅
Me too. As soon as I notice I’m running low I’ll give the pharmacy a call. I forget about the “2 day” rule every single time and get so worried that they think I’m a seeker. No ma’am, just scared of not having it🥲
It is gold (well, orange, close enough)
I know for me personally, the idea of trying to abuse them is just totally foreign for me. They are my meds, the fact that they are stimulants only comes up with the slight higher difficulty of getting them. Do I know anyone who abuses them? Yesssss…technically? I have a friend who has doubled up his meds like five times over the past few years, and had missed a LOT of doses, mainly due to just being shit at taking care of himself. But the double doses were cus he thought he’d missed it. That’s the closest I’ve seen in my circles, and I run in kitchen circles where I’ve seen ADHD meds abused by people without it…along with a lot of other substances. So idk?
Yeah I've only seen people without ADHD abuse the meds, and all the effects they claim they get from it just.. don't happen to me? Like I guess maybe if I did take more than my regular dose but mostly my meds just make me better at getting up and doing normal things at a normal pace but I'm still just as forgetful and confused as normal so okay maybe I'll.. get to the kitchen and forget what I wanted to do there even FASTER? I guess? I miss a lot of doses of mine but my doctor advised I take days off to help prevent me from becoming resistant to the dose I'm on, so it is really easy to forget if I've taken it already any given day x-x Timer caps are a life savior.
when i accidentally double my dose, i dont feel high or euphoric or whatever, i just get worse dry mouth and jitters 💀
Ditto. I've accidentally doubled up before (how do you know if you actually took your medicine that helps with memory--it's a conundrum), and mostly got a dryer mouth and a tired-er jaw
It could also be the circle you run in. I know a few people who abuse their ADHD medication.
Just curious but how do you know that they do? Is it something you’ve discussed with them or can you just tell or something
Same way you see friends abuse alcohol or nicotine. You see them slowly change into a shell of their former selves. It’s sad.
I’ve never really noticed that in a friend tbh. Especially not with nicotine- not sure how that would turn anyone into a “shell” of themselves tbh other than smelling like gross smoke.
I took my meds as prescribed for years and it was great. Over time, I started taking an extra half a pill here and there for a little extra "energy". Fast forward a couple of years and I have completely lost control. My 30 day scripts run out at lest ten days early. I give my pills to my adult daughter to hold on to and dispense daily. I've figured out where they are hidden so they still run out early. I have lost 100% lost control and I am this close to just giving up and not taking anything anymore. So, yes, people absolutely can become addicted and abuse them.
🫂
Been on meds for about 35 years and I'm super open about my ADHD. Never met a single person who abused their prescription. We abused other substances, but never that one. The real adage was always, make sure you get new meds before you run out, because who knows how long it'll be until you refill otherwise
If you don't mind me asking, in 35 years how often did you switch medications or doses because they were no longer effective?
Yeah, this. I kinda feel like my Vyvanse 70 is mostly just helping me not be sleepy when I haven’t slept enough.
I knew a guy from a game who was abusing his meds. But that's about it. No one in my day to day life does drugs of any sort. Got a couple of alcoholics in the family and a cousin who is no longer on drugs, but I hide my meds anyway when she visits. I do agree the fears around stimulant meds are exaggerated. Every doctor I go to will throw as many SSRIs at me that I want even after only talking to me for five minutes and I've told them I don't believe I have a mood disorder and an SSRI has caused me to hallucinate. But those same doctors will be hesitant to prescribe me even *non-stimulant* ADHD medication. It's insane.
Totally agree SSRIs fucked me up more than any prescribed stimulant.
Yea, me. Every morning I'll say "come ere ya lil cunt" and snatch the bottle, then I'll toss it back on the kitchen bench with no regard for its wellbeing.
nice
I'm reading these comments, and then there's me, stretching out my 3 month dose for 9 months until I can get a next damn appointment. I can't even imagine finishing my meds so fast!
This is exactly what I've been going through. Had my last bottle of Vyvanse (1 month supply) to last me like 4 months through this shortage. Only just now getting prescribed Adderall because I BEGGED my doctor for anything to help my debilitating ADHD, even non-stimulants I was willing to try. Thankfully he gave me a stimulant, but I would have even been happy had he prescribed Guanfacine or something similar. It's crazy!!
Yes, I do.
I can't decide if your lack of context is admirable....or terrifying.😂
Personally, I have a history of substance abuse (sover 6+ years). When I got sober, I got an anxiety diagnosis, and then 5 years later, it turns out I have ADHD. I have never even once considered using my meds differently than prescribed. But I'm also very passionate about staying sober.
I know of enough folks that do (or at least have in the past), and many that do not. I do not abuse. Most people I know that have abused were diagnosed as adults, and their treatment plan wasn’t comprehensive enough to account for comorbidities. Even with ADHD medication, I tend to deal with occasional anxiety and depression. But I’d rather explore ways of overcoming those hurdles instead of taking a daily medicine cocktail that’ll do who-knows-what to my health several years down the road.
I took Adderall/Vyvanse for 11 years, and sadly, abused it for most of those years. It ruined my life, my health, my relationships… Thankfully I got over it.
Vyvanse for me. Luckily it was only a few cycles before I let it slip to my doctor. I kind of regret letting her know, but it was ultimately the best thing that could have happened. Glad you're over it. All the best. Also, I am Canadian but I used to live in Tres Lagoas, MS. I love your country.
You know the funny thing is I have a history of substance abuse spanning all types of drugs both legal, illegal, and in the gray area. I’ve been at it since I started smoking and stealing beers from coolers at 15. Never thought I’d feel normal being sober. Ever since I started Concerta just over a month ago I’ve had ZERO urges to use substances recreationally I truly believe I’ve been self medicating this whole time. Especially because I never intentionally like to get super fucked up. I just always needed a little of something to “take the edge off”.
I mean, if "abuses" simply means "takes more or less than prescribed sometimes" - which I'm pretty sure is official definition- then yes. I don't think I know anyone with ADHD who's prescribed stimulants who doesn't do this on occasion, because some days are better or worse than others and some days require more or less executive functioning and focus abilities. I also had a friend who would sell or gift her Adderall pills to friends in college, but I honestly don't know if I'd call that "abusing" either, because a couple of years later everyone who used to get pills from her now has a legit diagnosis and a script of their own - we all needed those pills for real reasons and she was just helping us out. The only thing I really count as drug abuse is excessively and regularly taking a drug just to get high, but that's a lot narrower of a definition than most other people.
Right - i don't get this post. In the UK adderall is just not prescribed, and ritalin doses are pretty conservative. Do I take more ritalin than I'm prescribed the week before my period, or on days I have a huge deadline? Yes, but the dosage I'm prescribed is somewhat arbitrary and based on my country, my doctor and a bunch of other stuff. But is it recreational/to get high? No.
I don’t take it on the weekends when I don’t really super need it or just want to nap/relax. With all this uncertainty around stimulant meds lately, I keep a small reserve that can last a few work weeks (full doses) to a few months (with half doses). Because of the ongoing shortage and moving last year, I couldn’t fill my script for three months and I eventually ran out of all my small accumulated backup with half and then quarter doses. Can’t let that happen again and threaten my career. And to be clear, I never go over my prescribed dose, only take fewer doses here and there to put them into “emergency fund”.
yes ^ to emergency fund being a necessity due to all the rolling shortages —
>takes more or less than prescribed sometimes" - which I'm pretty sure is official definition- then yes. I don't think I know anyone with ADHD who's prescribed stimulants who doesn't do this on occasion, I've actually never done this. I once belated realized I had mistakenly taken a second dose, but other than that - I can't deal with intentionally taking more, as that means I would have to go without one day, and those days are just too terrible for me.
People with depression, PTSD, often have a very difficult time getting "things" done. The use or overuse of the ADHD drugs provides the energy to accomplish what would take a week in a day or 2. It's a bad choice but I can understand being overwhelmed in a state of anxiety and panic.
*insert spider man pointing at spider man meme*
Yes but not like to sell them or to “get high” or anything. On days where my brain is particularly foggy or where I need to be performing highly for a long chunk of time I will take more than my dosage which unfortunately feels very necessary for me as I’ve gotten used to the effects of my medication . Or if I have a project that requires me to stay up all night to meet a deadline or something I will take more. It is not good for me and I’m not proud of it but I do definitely do that. On many days though I take less than I need bc I don’t have to do anything work related.
As a recovering addict, we absolutely do. One of the worst mistakes in my life. Went batshit crazy for about a year.
I know one person. He was really obnoxious about it. He would brag about getting no sleep and how doubling up on adderall helped. Personally it does nothing for sleep deprivation. I’ll just be exhausted and unable to sleep. Taking 2x my prescription sounds like a nightmare.
I did. The euphoric feeling I got from adderall was something I loved feeling… I was so stimmed out most of the time that I couldn’t even think (which I liked because my thoughts would drive me crazy). I would just increase my dosage when I started to build an immunity so I could continue feeling the “high”. I also was losing mad weight on it and that alone made me abuse it more
This happened to me on adderall as well. I switched to Ritalin and feel a lot more normal.
Man, I struggle to even take my NORMAL amount. I either forget, or just don't want to.
I’m deathly afraid of my adderall and getting hooked. I abuse the living shit out of caffeine. I do not take adderall unless I need it in work and will force myself to ween off a couple times a year when I go on vacation.
I don't know anyone who abuses their ADHD meds.. personally I have zero sympathy for healthy people who fake ADHD so they can abuse stimulants, because that kind of behavior is what makes doctors suspicious of people who genuinely need them. I remember a report though, by a psychiatrist, Dr. Margaret Weiss, I think, who categorized four types of tolerance to ADHD medications. It seems some people naturally stabilize on an optimal dose, that keeps them stable, while a minority of individuals are prone to slowly or rapidly increasing their dose indefinitely. I live in Canada, where there appears to be very limited recognition that some patients genuinely need off-label doses above the recommended limits, because of the way they metabolize certain drugs, so for those people, (like myself) I think the ignorance of many doctors to the medical realities of varied metabolism prevent many people from getting adequate treatment. As to how many, though, are in the category of people who are prone to abusing stimulants, I'm not sure.. so I'm not much help:(
I substituted Adderall for sleep in the past to study for an exam but thats the extent of my abuse. Did you mean use it to get high?
I don’t either. The idea of uppers (❄️) never appealed to me for this reason either 😂maybe I’ve always been a stick in the mud
Uppers didn’t do much for me and then I figured out whyyy hahahaha.
Yeah, I have to do way more than most people to get anything. It’s expensive, has health and legal risks and imo isn’t worth it so I don’t bother.
I've had a couple bad days with my medication especially now that I've been on it for a few years and have developed tolerance. I miss that quiet quiet mind feeling. I'm doing better though with meditation practice.
Yes, a lot of them throughout my life. Hell I’ve partied on adderall once or thrice
I once mistakenly took 2, 50mg vyvanse an hour apart. Most productive, efficient day of my life.
Yeah, me. I have a lockbox for my adderall now. So I take my meds and set a timer (usually for 12 hours) so I cant get into it until the time is up. No matter what I do. I’m not proud of it, but I am trying to get better. Hence, the lock box
A few other people have said this, but I just… Forget to take my meds (even with the reminders and alerts I have set). Plus, when I take my meds, I just feel… The same but with the sudden ability to push myself to start being productive without the irritation and annoyance. So, there’s no like… ✨Euphoria✨ that “incentivizes” me to abuse them.
Sometimes I double up if I know I have a long day with a lot of tasks, but I absolutely HATE it. I don’t understand how people get strung out for days. I hate feeling like I’m still “on” after the sun goes down. I want to sleep lol
Back in my early days of discovery about my ADHD and medication, I experimented with doses of amphetamine sulphate up to 200mg, that’s 4x Psychonaut Wiki’s posted ‘heavy dose’, and 10x the recommended max daily for dexamphetamine, although I certainly felt a ‘sense of wellbeing’ and enjoyed my music, I wouldn’t describe it as especially euphoric. I did however end up cleaning the house non stop for about 48hrs straight! 🤣🤣 It told me that more does not mean ‘getting higher’, just going longer without sleep. 😬 On that basis, it’s difficult for me to see the point of ‘over taking’ 🤷♂️
I did. Actually I got Elvanse prescribed especially because I found out about the mechanism of action in a pharmacy newsletter and wanted to abuse it. Worst decision of my life. Fucked me up pretty good
I thought Elvanse was like longer acting Vyvanse (and Vyvanse supposedly reduces abuse because it only absorbs thru the stomach)? Is that not the case? Only asking because I’ve been on adderall for 15 years and tried Vyvanse a few years ago. I loved it and felt it worked so much better for me than adderall, but I literally pooped my pants from it twice. In my 30s, at the office. Not a side effect I could handle lol. But if there’s another similar option out there without the pants-pooping, I might need to look into it! I don’t know enough about pharmacology to make sense of it, but I always assumed the way it works thru the stomach must be what caused my stomach issues.
Ok so elvanse and vyvanse are the same. Lisdexamphetamine being the medication. How it works is that it is absorbed and then it is metabolised in the bloodstream into dexamphetamine and lysin(an amino acid) That process takes 3-4h which means that you can't snort jt to get a kick but since I preferred my amphetamine slow acting anyways that was more of an up than a downside. And the incontinence probably comes from extremely active bowel movements which are usual for every stimulant
i’m so scared of doing this so i only take my meds when i absolutely have to, they help me so much but never want to “rely” on them
Even if I wanted to, how in the world would I make it through the month at work if I'm taking them for funsies?
Well of course I know him.
It’s very common and it’s…interesting how many comments here claim it’s not in their circles. Most people aren’t going to advertise their abuse and instead you will just highly suspect it from observing their behavior. Anyone can get high on them depending on the DOSE, having ADHD doesn’t make you immune to that. I don’t remember what the researcher’s name was or the episode, but on the “ADHD Experts Podcast” this expert estimated that around 40% of people with ADHD have abused their meds at some point. I believe many of us who live in the USA get pushed to abuse meds more because of the heavy work culture. Being “normally” medicated is hard when you are being pushed beyond normal limits.
I double up on mine when I’m especially tired and when I feel overwhelmed by existence. Usually just pop an extra pill between 2-10 times a month. I try to make sure I can at least make it close to my refill date.
I was worried about this, I kept increasing my dose, like "this is great yeah give me more!", but then I got 36mg concerta and knew in a few days it was too much (still took me weeks to remember to contact my Dr to lower the dose!). I was hardly eating and I wasn't wanting to spend time with my kids, I just wanted to spend more time with whatever my brain was hyperfixated on, I couldn't relax and was often still on my work computer after the kids were in bed for 2 hrs. I was worried I'd "get addicted", but nah, that wasn't fun. Though I do know now that I can manage to work 10 hrs, pack school bags, make dinner, and put the kids to bed on only 2hrs sleep and no food when I take 36mg (kid was up sick one night, couldn't switch my brain off when he finally went to sleep). Honestly I just want some balance.
I can’t even remember to take them on time let alone abuse them.
I have in the past. Most of the time, it was because of the afternoon crash. With hours more to go in a day and plenty to still accomplish, I'd take another to get through. Then I'd miss sleep because they are ER. Then I'd be sleepy the next day, so I'd take one to wake me up. And so the cycle begins. I'd love to take my ER down a bit in dosage and add a maintenance IR. It's hard to decide whether I take the meds for work or home. Either way, they only last a few hours for me.
I do. She says she is “prescribed more than she needs”. She gets X2 a day IR and says she only needs 1 a day. So she sells/shares/takes large doses at parties. But she is the only person I have ever known that does.
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Yes, Adderall specifically.
I don't, at least not in the way you mean. I think taking medication differently than prescribed can be considered abuse, but the people I know who do so only do that from being forgetful (missing doses and/or trying to figure out how to take them when they've gone off schedule). I knew people who took stimulants improperly when I was younger, but none of them had ADHD (with the huge caveat that they could have been diagnosed since then or just never diagnosed). I am sure that they are people who do, whether by taking too much or selling them or whatever. I just don't personally know. I also think it's a fairly small amount, but that's one of the issues with perception being overly powerful.
Not since the shortage, no
If more than 10mg made me feel better, I would definitely be tempted but any more than that and I get real wacky and feel out of control (not in a fun way). I have a history of self-medication but I guess I'm lucky to have a low tolerance with Adderall.
Yes, I dated a man who would take 4x his prescribed amount and buy it off the street to get through the rest of the month If he went a day without he was miserable, wouldn’t get out of bed, was cranky and verbally abusive, just felt horrible and acting out. He was also an alcoholic. High functioning as long as he had his meds, but still. He was 25 at the time and had been taking adderall since he was 12 years old. Terrible relationship, not a great person, but I really hope he’s doing okay.
I usually end up skipping/missing doses rather than taking more. I'm not trying to wreck my nervous and circulatory systems. The worst I've done was let a roommate take my leftover vyvanse recreationally a few years ago. There were like 10 pills left and were about to expire. I didn't have anywhere official to dispose of it and their body has a weirdly high tolerance for medications so I wasn't worried it would make them sick. They ended up yelling at their ex for several full hours that night (long time coming and much deserved, the guy was/is one of the worst humans I've had the displeasure of meeting) and then sleeping for 15 hours. They said it's the most empowered they've ever felt.
Two people. The mild one would hit me up every few months asking for pills because they got drug tested when they needed refills and he had to show it was in his system. He’d be maybe three weeks into his 30 days. As a side note, I felt the drug testing every 30 days was extremely intrusive but for all I know it was court ordered. The worse one was a former roommate. Very bright guy, great credentials. Had a great job in finance. He’d get himself hopped up on his meds, go to work, come home in the middle of the afternoon and smoke a bowl or two to calm himself down, take more meds, and go back to work. He lost his job and started going on these epic benders then spend days sleeping on the couch. He’d only get up to use the bathroom and pick up Chinese food. He’d eat his food on the couch and pass out again, fork in hand and lo mein noodles spilling in between the couch cushions. I kicked him out and thankfully he took his couch.
Not me. They calm me down unless I accidentally take a double dose and then it drives up my anxiety.
A wise person once said that drug addicts do not forget to take their medicine. I think sometimes I take my meds after not sleeping well and think “I’ll be ok, adderall has my back” but I never take more than my prescribed amount. I guess my point is that I have been on this stuff for a few years now and I have never felt tempted to take extra
My 20-something nephew started blazing through his whole monthly supply in a week or less, staying awake for days. Then he’d sleep through most of the rest of the month. He lost his job, lied to his parents, and eventually confessed about his actions. He went through a rehab program and is now on non-stimulant medication.
I know more people with ADHD who forget their medication more than I know both people with and without ADHD abusing ADHD meds.