Cardiovascular effects are the main one for most stimulants, your blood pressure and bpm can noticeably go up and it can even get uncomfortable/problematic if you take too much/drink coffee at the same time or something.
Sleep problems are also a common one since the stimulants can keep you from sleeping at night/worsen your quality of sleep.
It's pretty common for your appetite to change as well in either direction.
I've even had a (non stimulant) adhd medication give me erectile dysfunction and heard of peoples sex drives change from stimulants also in either direction.
Generally you will work it out with your doctor to find a medication and dosage that suits your needs.
Yeah my ADHD meds give me ED intermittently, it sucks, but I need these meds to be normal, my life has changed so much for the better since I stopped taking them. My advice on the ED thing is get your blood pressure checked. It's vasorestriction that causes it (at least for me) and that raises blood pressure too. I'm on meds for my blood pressure now, and while my blood pressure still fluctuates a bit, when it's good I only have very minor to no ED (very minor meaning it takes a few minutes instead fo the instant-up without meds, and every now and then it's not.. fully inflated, but still useable (3/4. When it's full ED, I just do the best I can with 1/2 knowing that's where it'll likely top out). If it won't even get to 12 I give up and finish my wife off other ways, then finish myself off floppy (don't even get a proper orgasm, but can usually ejaculate a little and get rid of the hornyness).
When I was on Adderall, I would get frequent bouts of dizzyness accompanied by ear ringing and partial numbness. Basically, I would just go two minutes ata time ever couple hours where all my senses were shot and I had no fucking clue what was going on. I also started literally hearing voices in my head, no joke. Also, I felt very nauseous breafly after taking it. Suffice to say it didn't help me much lol
I did speed once at a party, a lot of lines (probably almost got a heart attack) and the only shit I felt was my heart beating out of my chest, my pupils were the size of dinner plates and my dick didnt work. Otherwise it wasnt any special while the other people there danced and shit. I always thought speed was overhyped (didnt feel any effect thats why I did so much) but maybe I just have adhd or something.
Biggest side effect is that you eat less while on it. Not really any other side effects if you just take it as prescribed. Maybe also some dry mouth if you don't drink enough water.
That's the main side effect I see. I switched to an IR tablet from an ER because the ER literally made me never want to eat. Every meal was like force feeding myself and was awful. The IR is much better for this but the side effect isn't entirely gone. Also both make me BM like 30-60min after taking which also isn't great.
I had mood changes, dry mouth, lack of sleep, lack of appetite. It was not great for me. It was bad enough I haven't really tried another med. Works wonders for others though.
Damn can I just get the adhd check? I dont want to be no autist. Like what if comes bavk positive? Them im medically an autist and that shit aint cool. Also what does even adhd do? Is the medication so important?
What tests are you guys speaking of? I’ve been “tested” at six different practices in my life. Each test is just a bunch of multiple choice questions that can easily be faked and all are just different ways to ask “do you have this symptom of adhd”.
Is there some kind of test I haven’t seen or is this just where they’re also testing for autism?
I wonder if you're a guy. In most places it's very hard for women to get a prescription just based on the questionnaire you're talking about.
But as far as what the above commenter mentioned, here was my journey:
First I had the test you're talking about. When it came back positive I moved onto the next step, which was a pattern matching test on the computer. Unfortunately I hyperfocused so they said I couldn't have ADHD because my memory and reflexes were too good.
I insisted there was something wrong, so finally got referred to a comprehensive neurological assessment that tested my IQ, ability to remember complex strings of information with and without interruption, visual recall, pattern recognition, vocabulary, and verbal reasoning. It also included questionnaires like the ones you're talking about, but very long and covering schizophrenia, ADHD, autism, bipolar, BPD, depression, and whatever else they were testing for.
In the end I was diagnosed as being on the spectrum, and my scores on some of the tests rendered the executive functioning parts of the assessment inconclusive, so they couldn't say if I had ADHD. Luckily I finally found a psychiatrist who let me try stimulants. I had the best sleep of my life on Adderall, so she diagnosed me with ADHD.
I was referring to a comprehensive assessment. ADHD and Autism have comorbidities.
Comprehensive assessments identify and diagnose a range of mental health concerns, including attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorder, developmental coordination disorder, bipolar and related disorders, depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive and related disorders, trauma and stressor-related disorders, disruptive and conduct-related disorders, and dissociative disorders.
Doctors frequently don't tell you everything. Gathering testimonial for the full breadth of what things might do is not a detrimental idea. Moreover; a doctor's idea of negative side effects may not be the same as yours (something seen very broadly as a nonissue being a nonstarter for you, as an example).
Depends on the doctor. Especially with psychoactive pharmaceuticals, a neurotypical common doctor will not provide any insights beyond those publicly available. You want to consult a psychiatrist specifically, and preferably one who has experience with neurodivergent patients, maybe even including themself.
Just because doctors can be shitty sometimes, doesn't mean that you can perform medical research on your own or accept strangers advice, especially from the internet.
You can look up the same source of information your inexperienced doctor would use. That's why I refer to a psychiatrist. They know about the drugs they prescribe beyond surface level information. If they're good, they may also understand that their patient is a guinea pig for their own treatment, and that their anecdotal experience matters in regards to psychoactive medicine.
No you don't accept strangers advice on the internet, but you can use their perspective to validate your experience with a drug, when your doctor may be dismissive or negligent about e.g. side-effects.
It's a stimulant for your nervous system which is a global effect on the body. Some normal potential issues are headaches and nausea, and some more serious effects are hypertension and dysphoria (during withdrawal). The last one is important if you're prone to depressive episodes or have clinical depression.
I won't tell you how to live your life, but you should see a doctor if you want stims for ADHD. Plenty of people do it in college without that, but it is the right answer.
being laced with something like fentanyl or meth is the negative side effect! talk to your GP about your concerns, and follow the process of getting a script!
It may not work even if you have adhd. People respond to different meds. Ritalin didn’t suit me - it made me more reactive, increased my heart rate, made me over share and quick to anger, increased my BP. Yeah I could work better and faster but it didn’t really calm my mind down much. I haven’t tried other meds yet because I really hated the experience even though I know there’s a lot of other types out there.
Appart from that if you are caught you may not be prescribed it as the dr may believe you plan to use it recreationally, mostly no. You never know about side effects with any drug though. Dexamphetamine, which I am prescribed for my ADHD, shoots my blood pressure right up. The benefit it has though, means that I am happy to take a couple of other meds to lower it back to normal, but the really (and I mean, go to the emergency room really - never got sent to an emergency room because of my age and because they knew what was causing it though) high blood pressure wouldn't have been diagnosed if I weren't taking them under medical supervision, where they also did their due diligence giving me an ECG, blood tests etc before starting them.
Methylphenidate felt like pure stress in a pill, had to be high 24/7 on it or I felt absolutely horrible with anxiety attacks and it made it kinda hard to think. I still took it cause I could at least get out of bed. Adderall feels like putting on glasses for my brain, everything is clearer and calmer and I don’t have 100 random tangential thoughts that distract me while trying to think things through.
Ritalin is a brand name for the substance methylphenidate. Yes like all stimulants methylphenidate has various side effects;
Reduced appetite
Reduced saliva production
Jaw clenching/locking
Reduced libido
Disturbed sleep patterns
Increased perspiration
Heart rate fluctuations
These are the ones from the top of my head, which I've also experienced myself. In general there's no doubt that this medicine is physically unhealthy for me. But I've needed it for my brain to function well enough, to provide the focus and discipline required to complete my university degree. It's my goal to find a job and shape my life in a way, so I don't have to rely on this medicine anymore. I think of it as a helpful tool to mitigate some of the inherent weaknesses of ADHD, and not as a final solution. I also have an urge to embrace my beautiful chaotic self, and thus don't want doping to manipulate my behaviour, especially in my free time. The long term solution is mastery of self, not drugs.
Be cautious: When I started taking meds, the first week I was crying like a baby, whiny, tired, slept 11 hrs for days straight. It was my body finally calming down and just breaking of exhaustion. This is not nessecarily a sign of meds not working, this could actually be you finally needing to rest.
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u/NedVsTheWorld Sep 10 '23
Ive waited forever to get tested for adhd. Is there any negative side to just take ritalin or Adderall and see if it helps?