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Amphetamine use in America's workforce

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Re: Amphetamine use in America's workforce

#91

Post by kernelbandwidth »

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…

Agreed.

There's a recurring theme with drugs that mixing X and alcohol is dangerous.

Don't get me wrong, I like good wine, craft beer, and liquor. But the common link is generally the "and alcohol" part. It seems pretty clear alcohol is a remarkably dangerous drug, just normalized by social use.

Re: Amphetamine use in America's workforce

#92

Post by mthoms »

tcj_phx wrote: post #41
yarou wrote: post #19

This article is pretty poorly written. First off, methylphenidate is a phenethylamine - not an amphetamine. Its chemical structure doesn't resemble amphetamine. Secondly, Adderall is not simply dextroamphetamine, it is a racemic mixture of both amphetamine salts. There have been studies showing that amphetamine leads to definitive cognitive improvement in the general population. Why restrict it? Human beings have a s…

> There have been studies showing that amphetamine leads to definitive cognitive improvement in the general population. Stimulants cause people to become psychotic. Some are more vulnerable to this effect than others. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Substance-induced_psychosis#Su... There are better, safer ways to cause a "cognitive improvement in the general population".

Based on your citation - I could also say "alcohol, marijuana, cough medicine, antihistamines and (possibly) caffeine cause people to become psychotic".

While technically true, it's a bit disingenuous to make blanket statements like this without qualifying the risk don't you think?

Re: Amphetamine use in America's workforce

#93

Post by ta_339393 »

viewer5 wrote: post #64
ta_339393 wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually Adderall is not racemic, since that would mean a 50/50 mix of the dextrorotatory and levorotatory enantiomers. Adderall is 75% dextroamphetamine and 25% levoamphetamine in four different salts.

What's the purpose of including both? Does each one serve a different purpose in the medication?

Levoamphetamine is more active on the PNS, while not that active on the CNS, which causes more side effects but some people swear by it as being the best medicine. It made me feel anxious while pure dextroamphetmine did not.

However these days I take methamphetamine which feels more subtle and has even less side effects.

Re: Amphetamine use in America's workforce

#94

Post by xorcist »

yarou wrote: post #40
ta_339393 wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually Adderall is not racemic, since that would mean a 50/50 mix of the dextrorotatory and levorotatory enantiomers. Adderall is 75% dextroamphetamine and 25% levoamphetamine in four different salts.

I could have sworn there is a formulation of 1:1 (50/50 dextro/levo), but I could be mistaken.

You made me Google it! I bet you did it on purpose!

Re: Amphetamine use in America's workforce

#95

Post by sevensor »

6stringmerc wrote: post #3

So glad that as I was growing up, my ADHD tendencies were seen more as just an individual issue I'd have to learn to control myself rather than a physiological condition in need of medication. Granted, in my street-wise years I've found stimulants and I get along really, really well, but there's a nagging feeling that I simply don't want to be on amphetamines daily. It might turn my writing into delusional drivel lik…

> Ayn Rand, a noted speed addict for decade

Didn't know this. Googled it:

http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/features/2013/...

Re: Amphetamine use in America's workforce

#96

Post by Unklejoe »

aznpwnzor wrote: post #79

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 d…

There are a few reasons why someone would abuse Adderall.

One of the first reasons that sticks out to me is that it motivates you to get things done, especially things that would otherwise be boring and repetitive. For example, something like fixing formatting errors in 100,000 lines code.

As for why you never felt the need to use it, my guess is that maybe you're more secure with yourself than some other people.

There's an incredible push to become "successful" these days (partly due to social media I guess), so I can see why some people resort to Adderall to give themselves a leg up.

Of course, I’m talking about people who don’t have ADHD and are taking it simply to augment their performance.

Re: Amphetamine use in America's workforce

#97

Post by huac »

WalterSear wrote: post #35
Havoc wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>bit sensationalized...This excerpt..."Abuse by young professionals" I don't think so. I'm in one of those environments where long hours are common and it definitely does happen. There are also people using a mix of uppers & downers (need the uppers to be wide awake but then can't sleep when at home hence downers). Hell I'm doing a vaguely similar thing (just with coffee and melatonin). Add a bit of anti-depressants…

I'd also not recommend melatonin, but not for the reason that the other poster gave, which suggest that they are taking melatonin in the amounts that it is formulated at pharmacies, which is usually orders of magnitude that of the recommended dose, and probably too late in the evening (>Don't However, after taking it for several years on most days, I developed heart palpitations and other strange sensations. They dis…

Agree with your use case/pattern - taking the pills n hours before when you want to sleep. Cut the pills in half if you can.

Everybody has a different reaction to sleep medicine. You might also consider environmental changes (blackout curtains, earplugs, or meditation before going to sleep - seriously) to address other possible sleep problems.

Re: Amphetamine use in America's workforce

#98

Post by Vraxx »

lfowles wrote: post #85
Vraxx wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not trying to disregard this sentiment present in the thread, but I could easily see it having the same physical effects, but how exactly do they quantify how it affects your brain processes and how you feel. Anecdotally, I knew some people who took adderall in college that were not prescribed it and it seemed to cause them to have different behavior than myself. A similar situation, I would imagine, is how alcohol a…

It's probably all about dose. Just takes more for an ADHD individual to be affected the same.

Maybe, maybe not. My education is not in biology or medicine, so I cannot really speak well on the dominant factors in how a drug affects any given person.

Re: Amphetamine use in America's workforce

#99

Post by WalterSear »

Havoc wrote: post #89
WalterSear wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd also not recommend melatonin, but not for the reason that the other poster gave, which suggest that they are taking melatonin in the amounts that it is formulated at pharmacies, which is usually orders of magnitude that of the recommended dose, and probably too late in the evening (>Don't However, after taking it for several years on most days, I developed heart palpitations and other strange sensations. They dis…

>I'd also not recommend melatonin Yeah I'm aware that its not ideal. Come to think of it I actually told myself I'd stop once peak season is over so I guess thats now. First need to get rid of the coffee though then the falling asleep will be fine. >take it ~3 hours before going to bed I thought 1 hour?

Closer to 2-3, but you may have to find the right time for you.

If you have ever gone on an extended camping trip, think about the time between sundown and the time you naturally start wanting to fall asleep.

Re: Amphetamine use in America's workforce

#100

Post by tcj_phx »

mthoms wrote: post #92
tcj_phx wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There have been studies showing that amphetamine leads to definitive cognitive improvement in the general population. Stimulants cause people to become psychotic. Some are more vulnerable to this effect than others. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Substance-induced_psychosis#Su... There are better, safer ways to cause a "cognitive improvement in the general population".

Based on your citation - I could also say "alcohol, marijuana, cough medicine, antihistamines and (possibly) caffeine cause people to become psychotic". While technically true, it's a bit disingenuous to make blanket statements like this without qualifying the risk don't you think?

From my position as an observer of someone who has struggled with substances for a long time, Amphetamines are the worst of that list. My friend recovers from Alcohol and cocaine fairly quickly once she stops taking them. Cannabis (CBD, specifically) calms her down - it would be a great help if she could get it regularly.

Cough medicine is bad, but it's not nearly as potent of an addicting substance as the others on the list. She's used antihistamines as a hallucinogen before, but is not really tempted by them.

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