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Amphetamine use in America's workforce

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Re: Amphetamine use in America's workforce

#71

Post by forloop »

ta_339393 wrote: post #42
eridius wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People with ADHD react to amphetamines differently than people without it (at the correct dosages at least; I've never read anything about what happens to people with ADHD that take more than the correct dosage).

This is false and a common myth. If this was true then we would have the perfect test for ADHD, just give someone some stimulants and see how they react.

It's a myth that it's a myth.

"Correspondence (letter to the editor): Paradoxical Reaction in ADHD":

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3163785/

Re: Amphetamine use in America's workforce

#72

Post by Vraxx »

dcosson wrote: post #52
Vraxx wrote: post #9

I think this is a little bit sensationalized at the very least. This excerpt in particular caught me off guard. "Abuse by young professionals is distressingly common—Wall Street traders, software engineers, dentists, nurses, and lawyers, all cracked out of their minds trying to keep up with the competition." Yes, I was diagnosed with ADHD as a child, and yes I have an Adderall prescription. But I'd hardly call myself…

Another bit of sensationalism I noticed, the article mentions people have died after mixing adhd meds and alcohol. But the link was to an article about a person who died after mixing adhd meds, narcotic painkillers, and alcohol. It's well-documented that mixing narcotic painkillers & alcohol on its own is very dangerous. There may also be dangers of mixing adderall and alcohol, but it does everyone a disservice to ca…

Seriously. I worried about the potential interaction between my prescribed adderall and alcohol for a long while, and usually deferred to not taking them anywhere near at the same time, but I found no evidence to suggest that the two had any particular interaction.

Re: Amphetamine use in America's workforce

#73

Post by ta_339393 »

Lewton wrote: post #46
ta_339393 wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is a myth, the effects are the same regardless of whether or not you have ADHD otherwise we'd be able to test for ADHD by simply giving someone amphetamines and seeing how they respond. Almost anyone who takes low-dose amphetamines will experience enhanced cognition. It just happens that this enhancement also alleviates symptoms of ADHD. As you pointed out the problem with the article is that it makes no distinc…

I thought giving people adhd meds and seeing whether it relaxes them was a pretty good (not perfect) indicator? Am I wrong?

That's not true, I have ADHD and I still feel stimulated when I take my medicine just like anyone else would. The difference is that it also gives me symptom relief as well.

Over time you will develop more of a tolerance to these stimulating effects, at least to a degree, but the therapeutic benefits will continue for as long as you take them.

Re: Amphetamine use in America's workforce

#74

Post by eridius »

6stringmerc wrote: post #36
llamataboot wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd love to see some sort of double-blind study that bears this out, as I have serious doubts as to its veracity as ADHD is a huge spectrum of ambiguous symptoms. No doubt there are some people that have a lot harder time focusing than others, and there's no doubt stimulants help you focus, so in that case someone that has a harder time focusing might find them more beneficial, but the oft-repeated canard that stimul…

Thanks for writing out this thorough overview of perception versus what we're able to quantifiably identify. I think you touched on a lot of things I was going for, but didn't expound upon, which leads people to think I was being glib or something. I'm actually genuinely appreciative because while I have a testable, physiological medical condition, I think the ADHD 'testing' without a biological marker that can be se…

> I suspect I also get hositility from pointing out a lot of people think their medication is helping them but they really don't know about long term effects, but don't want to hear that they might be, you know, bad.

Except it appears as though it's actually pretty good. Long-term treatment with amphetamines appears to decrease abnormalities in brain structure and function in people with ADHD and improves function in several other parts of the brain. Wikipedia provides 3 citations for this, but only one study appears to be available online: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3801446/

Re: Amphetamine use in America's workforce

#75

Post by Houshalter »

Yet sadly these drugs are still heavily regulated. You need to renew your prescription every month, which is expensive. Doctors look at you skeptically. In some countries they don't prescribe them at all, or only prescribe less effective versions to prevent abuse.

And then there are articles like this that appear every so often, telling us that we aren't really sick. Or that people who take these drugs are abusing them like they are just trying to get high or whatever.

Re: Amphetamine use in America's workforce

#77

Post by eridius »

ta_339393 wrote: post #67
eridius wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Speaking as someone who's wrestled with ADHD all my life, as has my spouse, this is definitely not false. And your claimed test makes no sense; if you haven't exhibited symptoms of ADHD, how can those symptoms be erased?

Perhaps I misunderstood your comment, you said that people with ADHD react differently and I was assuming you meant they do not respond in the same manor as someone else who just took a stimulant. Often you hear this saying that people with ADHD feel relaxed when they take a stimulant and don't feel any increased energy or mood lift, which of course is false. That's what I was referring to.

People who are already energetic may not notice increased energy at therapeutic doses, though I certainly noticed. I don't think anybody feels relaxed, but it does quiet the hyperactive impulses and behaviors, which can easily be mistaken for being relaxed.

Re: Amphetamine use in America's workforce

#78

Post by joe_the_user »

ta_339393 wrote: post #54

As one who takes methamphetamine (generic Desoxyn) for ADHD, I can't help but take issue with the sensationalism in this article. If someone takes the same low dose I do but doesn't actually have ADHD, how could they be considered "cracked out?" simply because they are faking a diagnosis? We know that low-dose amphetamines improve cognition in healthy individuals regardless of whether or not you have ADHD. We also kn…

If someone takes the same low dose I do but doesn't actually have ADHD, how could they be considered "cracked out?" simply because they are faking a diagnosis?

"Cracked out" or not isn't quite the question.

Amphetamines in low doses have measurable benefits in terms of increased ability to concentrate and work longer hours and definite drawbacks in terms of longer term health effects and risks of actual serious addiction.

When the job market creates such pressures that a significant portion of workers are working 12 hours days, not receiving particularly higher compensation, and using amphetamines to manage the situation, it seems that employers are repeating the benefits while the workers only get the drawbacks.

Re: Amphetamine use in America's workforce

#79

Post by aznpwnzor »

The comments in this thread seem to suggest a reasonable subset of people here partake. Is there any reason you feel the need to?

I went to a pretty rough college where I had standard 24 hour straight homework sessions once or twice a week. And I used caffeine maybe once a week at most. I work at a startup where the work culture isn't as competitive as what I feel is the norm, but even listening to friends at there does not seem to be such a ridiculous need for overclocking yourself.

I just seem to have never done work that was hard enough to push me to require drugs, and it's not because I haven't done hard work. Most work seems to be either you just put in the 40 hours it takes to solve it or it hasn't been solved.

Re: Amphetamine use in America's workforce

#80

Post by xenihn »

JohnBooty wrote: post #56
inDigiNeous wrote: post #16

I can't be the only one thinking that this can not be good in the long run. I still remember my friend who had a prescription for ADHD -medication, and they cut off this medication, and he couldn't do nothing but sleep for 3 weeks almost. What kind of state does prolonged use of amphetamines put the user ? Constantly being pushed to focus on one task, what kind of thought patterns does that create in the long run ? I…

I was prescribed approximately 25mg daily Adderall for 7 or 8 years, so here's my anecdotal answer to your questions... > I still remember my friend who had a prescription for ADHD -medication, > and they cut off this medication, and he couldn't do nothing but sleep > for 3 weeks almost. Wow. That is really irresponsible of them to cut him off so suddenly. I wouldn't wish that on anybody. I definitely had a "crash" i…

Mind if I ask why you stopped using it? And do you plan to start again?
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