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Adderall Addiction: The Last All-Nighter

opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com

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Re: Adderall Addiction: The Last All-Nighter

#101

Post by [deleted] »

catshirt wrote: post #89
systematical wrote: post #35

There is a smart way to do this and not be a complete moron like the author. I take adderall a few times a year and have been doing so since my senior year (2003) in high school and have never come close to this trainwreck. It's a simple approach: know exactly what you have to do before taking it, eat a meal before (since you will have no appetite), take them in the early morning (so you can sleep by night), and fina…

abusing unprescribed drugs makes you a "complete moron", but abusing unprescribed drugs in moderation makes you well informed. note taken.

[deleted]

Re: Adderall Addiction: The Last All-Nighter

#102

Post by cmelbye »

systematical wrote: post #35

There is a smart way to do this and not be a complete moron like the author. I take adderall a few times a year and have been doing so since my senior year (2003) in high school and have never come close to this trainwreck. It's a simple approach: know exactly what you have to do before taking it, eat a meal before (since you will have no appetite), take them in the early morning (so you can sleep by night), and fina…

IR or ER? How much?

Re: Adderall Addiction: The Last All-Nighter

#103

Post by mrb »

X-Istence wrote: post #23
danso wrote: post #5

How do people who've taken it for most of their adult life cope with adderall usage? I mean, how necessary of a drug does it seem to be -- or, to put it another way, how bad are the withdrawals, compared to antipsychotics, painkillers, etc? And if you've lived with adderall usage, do you chronically feel like you have a reduced appetite and all the other kinds of symptoms? I've heard that happens for people who take…

I have taken Adderall now for about a year, and while I have reduced appetite it is not all that bad, I still eat the necessary amount of food, in reality it has been helping me lose weight healthily since I stopped eating while bored ... since I am bored less and can focus on the task at hand. I take 10 mg twice daily. I can go on and off Adderall with minor issues. The only issue when I go off Adderall for a day or…

If you need to take Adderall daily in order to keep your job, then the job is not for your or your employer is pushing you too much.

(However, I can understand why Adderall is necessary occasionally to meet certain deadlines.)

Re: Adderall Addiction: The Last All-Nighter

#105

Post by throwaway54-762 »

JohnBooty wrote: post #90
throwaway54-762 wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> However small the chemical difference, there is an enormous practical difference. Meth can produce an intense high. Adderall, not so much. This just isn't true. Adderall is several amphetamines and the drug definitely produces a high. The medical application of the drug is this rush of dopamine and seratonin allows users to focus and ignore distractions. The high is an amphetamine high, much like meth, actually. Yo…

Your body acclimates itself to just about anything - the weather, sugar, MSG, even frequent shampooing or Chap-Stick usage. That doesn't mean those things are comparable to meth. Nobody I know feels that Adderall provides much of a high. Anecdotal, sure, but it seems like a heck of a statistical anomaly. Then again, I don't know anybody that's experimented with unsafe doses of Adderall. I'm sure that at dangerously h…

> Your body acclimates itself to just about anything - the weather, sugar, MSG, even frequent shampooing or Chap-Stick usage. That doesn't mean those things are comparable to meth.

Yes, of course, tolerance isn't indicative of meth.

> Nobody I know feels that Adderall provides much of a high. Anecdotal, sure, but it seems like a heck of a statistical anomaly.

I would respectively disagree. Yes, typical therapeutic doses of adderall are smaller than typical recreational doses of meth. But that is comparing small apples with bigger apples ;-).

> Then again, I don't know anybody that's experimented with unsafe doses of Adderall. I'm sure that at dangerously high doses, the effect isn't unlike meth.

Or even just at non-dangerously high doses ("normal" meth doses). In other words, if the doses are similar, the effects are similar. You seem to be arguing that because meth is typically consumed at higher doses, it is different.

I agree that typical meth use is very different from typical medical adderall use.

Re: Adderall Addiction: The Last All-Nighter

#106

Post by cwzwarich »

myko wrote: post #91
adrianbye wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

your parents did you a favor. this is a diagnosis which is politically motivated. here's an example: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drapetomania

What does this have to do with the OP and ADHD?

Many critics of institutional psychiatry hold that the construct of mental illness is often used to medicalize nonpathological behavior that doesn't meet social norms, putting a scientific stamp of approval on judgements regarding human behavior, morals, and ethics.

Given the uncertain pathophysiology of ADHD, the degree to which symptoms resemble moral judgements, the dramatic increase in diagnosis following advocacy in the psychiatric community, and questionable improvement of long-term outcomes for patients treated with medication, ADHD is seen by them as a good example of this point of view. I assume that's what he was alluding to.

Re: Adderall Addiction: The Last All-Nighter

#107

Post by lhnn »

catshirt wrote: post #89
systematical wrote: post #35

There is a smart way to do this and not be a complete moron like the author. I take adderall a few times a year and have been doing so since my senior year (2003) in high school and have never come close to this trainwreck. It's a simple approach: know exactly what you have to do before taking it, eat a meal before (since you will have no appetite), take them in the early morning (so you can sleep by night), and fina…

abusing unprescribed drugs makes you a "complete moron", but abusing unprescribed drugs in moderation makes you well informed. note taken.

Is it abuse if it's in moderation?

(hint: No)

Re: Adderall Addiction: The Last All-Nighter

#108

Post by JohnBooty »

throwaway54-762 wrote: post #105
JohnBooty wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your body acclimates itself to just about anything - the weather, sugar, MSG, even frequent shampooing or Chap-Stick usage. That doesn't mean those things are comparable to meth. Nobody I know feels that Adderall provides much of a high. Anecdotal, sure, but it seems like a heck of a statistical anomaly. Then again, I don't know anybody that's experimented with unsafe doses of Adderall. I'm sure that at dangerously h…

> Your body acclimates itself to just about anything - the weather, sugar, MSG, even frequent shampooing or Chap-Stick usage. That doesn't mean those things are comparable to meth. Yes, of course, tolerance isn't indicative of meth. > Nobody I know feels that Adderall provides much of a high. Anecdotal, sure, but it seems like a heck of a statistical anomaly. I would respectively disagree. Yes, typical therapeutic do…

Haha. I'm afraid to look like I'm asking for my own recreational purposes, but what doses would that be?

Again, this is anecdotal and doesn't prove anything, but when I've taken too much Adderall at once I haven't found it very pleasant at all. It wasn't fun and nothing about those dosages made me want to repeat the experience, much less experiment with even higher dosages.

(For me, "too much" would be taking 15mg in a single dose. I know that's not a huge amount in the scheme of things.)

  > I agree that typical meth use is 
  > very different from typical medical adderall use.
I don't mean this rhetorically at all... what do you feel is the reason (or reasons) for this?

Re: Adderall Addiction: The Last All-Nighter

#109

Post by Volpe »

smoyer wrote: post #68
MartinCron wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I drink coffee every day. Does that give me an advantage over those who don't drink coffee? If there is an advantage, is that advantage unfair?

Good point ... I drink coffee every day too, but I'm no longer addicted (I mean that in the literal sense) like I was when I drank three to four pots.

I think you mean your addiction is no longer outside the social norm. Caffeine is addictive, regardless what you rationalise or not. The only way to not be addicted is to severely limit supply...

Re: Adderall Addiction: The Last All-Nighter

#110

Post by AnIrishDuck »

nikatwork wrote: post #79
michaelochurch wrote: post #34

This made me sick. I don't know what's worst: the author's self-absorption, the victimization tone, or the fact that her colleagues had to do similar unhealthy shit in order to compete with her. It stinks the whole way. Using drugs to gain an unfair advantage over other people at work has unhealthy emotional side effects? Am I to be surprised by this?

> the fact that her colleagues had to do similar unhealthy shit in order to compete with her You are asserting that the law firm's long working hours were caused by her med use. Do you think you might have that backwards? > the author's self-absorption, the victimization tone She had a substance abuse problem. She's warning others that it's a slippery slope. Show some compassion.

> You are asserting that the law firm's long working hours were caused by her med use. Do you think you might have that backwards?

It probably becomes a vicious cycle / race to the bottom. You take more drugs to work longer hours and compete with your colleagues, who start taking more drugs so they can work more hours to have the edge over you...

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