March 18, 2024

I was just reading an article about the Adderall pill in Details magazine on the weekend. Adderall is an ADHD drug that is being prescribed instead of Ritalin to try to dull the effects of ADHD. The article however showed another darker side to using the drug.

What is an Adderall Pill?

An Adderall pill is a combination of amphetamine and dextroamphetamine and there are four reasons that it is used for patients with ADHD:

  • Improve a patient’s attention span.
  • Increase his ability to follow directions.
  • Decrease distractibility among children ages three and older.
  • Decrease impulsivity, stubbornness and aggression.

These are good reasons to take an Adderall pill if it is warranted but more and more professionals are now taking this drug to work more hours and have a better concentration span. The effects are really profound and people have the ability to work a really great 16 or 18 hour day where ususally they could not be very productive after 10 or 12 hours. On the outside it may seem to be a good idea to take Adderall to increase productivity as many people get overloaded with work and have no way to keep up with greater and greater workloads. One of the reasons that this is becoming the drug of choice is that you can get a prescription for this and therefore no have to worry about failing a company drug test.

Side Effects of Adderall Pills

Adderall Pill
Adderall Pill

All good right? But there are some real and dangerous side effects of a simple Adderall pill.

The Adderall pill, because of its composition is very addictive and because of its results it’s the reason that people may want to use it makes it psychologically addictive as well as physically addictive. The more that you use and like the effect of Adderall the more you would like to use it. There are some other very serious side effects such as Heart palpitations, tachycardia (racing heart), elevation of blood pressure. There have also been reports of heart disease associated with chronic amphetamine use. One bizarre but quite possible side effect is psychotic episodes. Mostly however the shakiness and paranoia that are associated with amphetamines are irritating and uncomfortable to the user.

One interesting side effect of an Adderall pill which is kind of like the story of the limitless pill, is the lack of real objectivity. In the article that I read there was great evidence that people that use Adderall think they are doing outstanding work but afterwards realize that maybe it was not quite so great.

This is an issue that we will see more and more of over the next year or two as the popularity of Adderall becomes more and more ingrained in our society. We have seen many of these drugs before and they become very popular as this one has until a few people drop dead at work which forces people to become a little more objective about the danger of Adderall pill.

10 thoughts on “Adderall the new pep pill

  1. this is a horrible article. first off, who is the source for the heart disease alligation? was it made up cause no scientific source was cited? …i don’t wanna get into it but this is an increadably horrible artical.

  2. I have recently stopped taking adderall xr. I took it for 2 years before I started to abuse it.For me it was an “easy out” of many problems. I liked that it took away my appetite and I was finally thin. I felt like I had energy and motivation to do things in my life that I had never been able to do before. I graduated college with honors, and got a great job. I then realized that I had somewhere along the way lost most of my friends. I started to drink wine and smoke pot more than I ever had before- they “took the edge off” so that I could sleep and sit still to watch a movie. I identify with Addicted Mom who spent many hours cleaning the house. And I mean DEEP cleaning. I would organize my office supply drawers down to putting all the paperclips on a string so they would not be tangled. I became anorexic, eating less than 200 calories per day. Eventually this combined with the pot smoking led to anorexia/bulemia. I became depressed and began to isolate. I felt my whole value in life was from taking the adderall. It made me feel like I was better than everyone, instead of feeling like I was worthless. In college I’d worked as a waitress and had some nightshifts, so the pills also helped me stay awake for long periods and still have the energy to get my homework done. I used to love to take an extra pill and then do my homework for hours. (after a while, I began to redo assignments after finishing because they weren’t “neat” enough…) I slept around 4 hours a night, and I never slept without drinking or using pot to get to sleep. My hair started to fall out and my fingernails wouldn’t grow. I’ve had many problems with my teeth. Sometimes my mom would plead with me to eat, but I wouldn’t. I felt the adderall finally made my will strong enough to be able to resist the temptation of food. I worried that if/when I ever stopped taking it, I would turn into a fat slob – like everyone else. You see, I thought I was better than everyone – but I was never HAPPY. It was never ENOUGH. I always wanted more – another pill… mix it with an energy drink… maybe try it with a shot of whiskey… never enough, never satisfied.
    I’ve found when I’ve stopped taking the adderall, my life has improved drastically. I feel empathy for others now, and I can relate to people again. I have gained a little , but I am healthy now where I was too thin before. I do find that my work is more productive than it was while I was taking the adderall. I feel like with the adderall, I was working very hard- but I had no direction. I would hop from one project to another, or else get dragged down in the details- spending hours organizing paperclips without getting the big picture of cleaning the whole office supply drawer. My work is much more focused now- although I do have ADD, I have learned through meditation to focus my attention, and if it does wander to draw it back kindly and gently to the task at hand. I have much better relationships with my friends and family, I am healthy and I can finally say I am happy. I do not look outside myself for happiness or personal fufillment. I realized that only someone who knows when enough is enough will ever have enough to be satisfied.

    1. you go girl! I have also recently got my life back on track after sobering up from an adderall addiction. I share a lot of similar qualities to you. The eating disorder, and lack of friends mostly. I am so proud of both of us for having the NATURAL will power to start putting effort into work again.

  3. I AM RELATING TO THE MOM WHO LEFT THE COMMENT ABOUT HER TAKING AND BECOMING ADDICTED TO HER SONS ADDERALL ABOUT TWO YEARS AGO THE DR PERSCRIBED ADDERALL TO MY SON AND SAME AS HER I WANTED TO SEE WHAT IT DID I TOOK ONE AND THE ENERGY WAS GREAT KNOW TWO YEARS LATER I AM ADDICTED AND MY HUSDBEN ALSO THE ADDERALL HAS TORN OUR FAMILY APART ME AND MY HUSDBEN HAVE BEEN SEPERATRED FOR 6 MONTHS KNOW HE HAS LEFT AND NOT WORKED OR HELPED ME WITH HIS KIDS IN 6 MONTHS HES VERY BAD ON THEM HE STAYS AWAKE FOR 6 7 DAYS AT A TIME AND TRUTHFULLY I BELIEVE HES LOST HIS MIND IM SO SCARED MY FAMILY IS HELPING ME GET OFF OF THEM SO MAYBE WHEN I GET BETTER I CAN TRY TO GET HIM HELP IVE LOST MY HUSDBEN AND FATHER OF MY CHILDREN OF 15 YRS TO ADDERALL HES NOT THE SAME PERSON HES PAROINOID HES AGGRESSIVE AND JUST DOSNT CARE ABOUT ANYTHING BUT WHERE TO FIND HIS NEXT PILL I JUST HOPE ITS NOT TOO LATE FOR HIM TO GET BETTER AND BE HIMSELF AGAIN ADDERALL IS THE WORST THING THAT HAS EVER HAPPENED TO ME AND MY FAMILY IM SO LOST WITHOUT MY HUSDBEN AND IM SADDENED TO THINK IT HAS PERMANENTLY MESSED HIM UP

  4. My son takes Adderall for ADHD and it is mostly effective for him. It slows him down, makes him pay attention to detail, helps him remember stuff. It also makes him cranky when it wears off, keeps him from eating and I pray it does not hurt him otherwise. It is hard being doctor mom.

    I (yes, me mom) am only recently not addicted to my son’s Adderall. You would never guess, I am not a drug user, not an alcoholic, not a strange person at all. One day I wanted to see what Adderall was about and took a pill. Got a lot done that day. I will admit to a fondness for “speed” in college but that was a long time ago. Must have stuck. After 4 years of increasing my usage and becoming more and more cleaver about obtaining my meds “for my son” I have finally stopped. It was hard at it could have killed me. Really. Rapid hearbeat, shallow breathing, constricted chest, lost appetite, lying, covering up, stealing, paranoia, loss of friends, depressiong, lots of cleaning of the house…slow doctors who could have caught on but didn’t, hurting my sons routine and mood, thinking I was going to have a heart attack or a stroke and die. For Real. This is a dangerous drug. Low doses need to be monitored. Abuse is not that hard. Middle class moms all over the country are doing this. I am not unusual, I am ordinary. It sucks. Thank god it is over…I can only hope I have no long term affects. As for my son I will continue to evalute the affect it has on him. To be honest at the moment I believe that it helps him. Still I worry about the side affects. If you ever saw the episode of the “Desperate Housewives” where one of the mom’s takes her kids ADD meds and manages to get all of the costumes made overnight…well I was cringing and I’m sure many other mom’s were as well. It is not funny, it is not sitcom material, it is a real and present danger. I am proof that it can happen to anyone. Thanks for letting me share my experience and for telling other mom’s that in the long run it just does not help at all.
    -–
    COMMENT:
    I was just put on Adderall by my psychiatrist for exactly what you write about in your post; inability to focus. I’ve read your article, and I’ve taken note of its darker side.

    -Zoe
    -–
    COMMENT:
    I am 17 years old and have been taking adderall xr for 3 years now and up till now it has been great for me! But recently i have experiencing headaches when i dont take the medicine. Also i’m having heart palpitations when i am on the meds also when i’m not on the medication. My parents have also noticed that i am alot moddyer and angry when i’m not on the medication. Some side effects i’ve experienced in school while taking adderal xr, is the innability to think of certain words i draw blanks and cant say what i’m thinking and that has never happened before i started taking the meds also when i’m asked to stand up in front of people to talk and present something i get dry mouth and am not very able to say what i’m sposed to say due to my meds. I believe the reason for this is due to my addernalin going because i’m nervous to speak and then the adderall going through me and making my addernalin go crazy! I’ve also experienced feeling like i’ve done really well with my work while i’m on it and find out later i really didnt do as well as i expected.
    -–
    COMMENT:
    I am severely ADD and adderall does help me. I take 25 mg a 10 at morning and noon and 5 at 5. As far as doing work and thinking it is great, and it not be, is VERY subjective. The sense of accomplishment one has just doing the smallest things. I will tell you though, the work they THINK is great is MUCH better than what they would have done off of the medication. There is a natural high associated with being able to focus for more than 20 min. You truly have to have add to understand
    -–

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Clicky