Adderall and Depression Side Effects

My 12 year old daughter was diagnosed with ADD and was prescribed some meds but as the time passes by she became depressed. She is now prescribed adderall and I would like to hear of some adderall and depression side effects as well as some general info about adderall. The thing is that I've heard that this med is actually used in diet control and weight loss and I wonder now how it could help my daughter in dealing with ADD and depression.

It could help a lot at first place for it is well known to have much less side effects than other med. And you are right it was used in weight loss but today adderall is one of the most often meds prescribed in treating ADD or ADHD that usually comes along with depression. I know that for my 10 eleven year old child was on adderall and still is on it occasionally. Adderall is actually amphetamine that at first place might cause weigh loss and appetite loss as well as the insomnia. Also one of the possible side effects might be dizziness and headaches especially when the adderall dose is high. My son is occasionally prescribed adderall but after a while his doc prescribed him some other medication and the reason is he might develop high tolerance if taking adderall for longer period of time. And also there's a possibility that someone might get adderall addicted if adderall is being taken for some prolonged period of time.

This is mostly anecdotal, but I take dextroamphetamine (it's essentially just one of the base ingredients of adderall) and I'm not really sure how I lived life before it. Actually, I didn't really. I was too tired and too worked up constantly to enjoy or do anything; ADD medication's given me motivation, alertness, and an overall sense of calmness sufficient that I can actually get things done and have a normal life. Medications can have all different sorts of effects on people though based on their make up.

There's more scientific places than an anonymous internet user to get this information that I'm sure you'll be able to find, so the biggest thing I think I should say is that depression or ADD is a description of symptoms, not a cause. It's not 'I don't feel happy because I'm depressed' it's "I don't feel happy, therefore I'm depressed'. Your daughter's depression is as unique as your daughter. If she wasn't depressed before the add medication, chances are it's all a chemical thing, in which case you *might* try prozac (this is the only SSRI I know of approved for children because it's less potent and doesn't have such bad side effects if you fail to take it). From what I understand (i.e. look for yourself) raising levels of one chemical can lower others in the brain and so she might just need a boost that way.

At the same time, adderall works by releasing more dopamine, not creating more of it, which is what causes the crash after it wears off. If your daughter's on the XR version, her brain may just not have enough dopamine and the add medication can't help release what's not there. Backing off on the adderall in that case might help her reach a happy medium.

Personally, I think diet and lifestyle have caused the spike in all sorts of mental issues these days; I recommend looking into over the counter things such as St. John's Wort (a plant which is actually prescribed in some European countries) that might help if her symptoms are relatively mild. Probably ought to discuss it with the doctor if he's willing to listen also, because over the counter things can interact with medications just like prescription medications.

Oh wow. I could just write on this forever with my armchair psychology, but I hope any of this helps. Just keep learning as much as you can about it for yourself, don't rely on *anyone* except yourself and your daughter of course to figure out what's going to work for her and what won't.

i wouldn't give adderall to my worst enemy. i've taken adderall xr for almost year the year before this. it causes deep depression. one that forces the consumer to consider drastic releases, i.e. self-mutilation, suicide. the overwhelming feeling left me with the sense that i needed to complete something, and that sensation could never be satiated. the loss of appitite left my personality dull and zombie-like.

I was searching for an answer, which I found thank god. For a second, I truly believed i was going out of my mind.
I used to take adderall for classes about umm .. a year and a half ago. The doctor i got it from was no longer on my insurance plan so i didnt get it for a while. When i was on it though, i lost drastic wieght. I felt on top of the world, it always made me happy and i loved being on it. I loved being on adderall so much that i considered taking more when i felt it wearing off, thats when i realized this may be a problem. I guess it was meant to be the doctor was no longer on my insurance and i stopped taking adderall. A lot of things happened and i moved for about 8 months. When i came back home, i reenrolled in school and began looking for doctors on my new insurance plan to prescribe me adderall [not only did i used to feel wonderful but my scores were wonderful as well]. I found a doctor on my plan and went to see him. Previously on adderall rx, i was taking 40 mg a day but i was also thinner then. This doctor prescribed me 6o mg a day, i dont know if its because of age differance, wieght differance, whatever. Getting that prescription, i was beyond excited to digest my 2 wonder pills. Little did i know...

I no longer feel like i used to taking it. The first couple of days back on it, i was extremely shaky, anxious, could not sit still or stop talking and thinking about everything and nothing. The first day back on it, the insomnia let me have not 10 minutes of sleep! i was up for 32 hours with it letting me get a 2 and a half hour nap. This was last week, its now week two and its much worse. It's literally been 10 days back on adderall and bye bye 10 pounds and my sanity. For the past three days, when i awake in the morning and take it i will be decent. About three hours in, mood swings and irrability out the ass [my boyfriend had to stop me from getting out of the car the other day, on the highway, in the middle of bumper to bumper traffic, from ripping this guy out of his vechile through his window by the face because he cut me off]! Worse yet, like the person above me, for the past three days, at night when the adderall is truly wearing off i slip into a crazy kind of depression. Yeah, we have all made mistakes that thinking back on can make us sad but this adderall. I will dwell on things from years ago, to the point that i am so depressed i feel completely hollow break down and cry. Non-stop, on and off, for hours. This depression is also starting to get so bad that in the midst of breaking down into tears, suicide is a constant thought. How to do it, when to do it, what way will be least painful while still, in tears. My boyfriend told me ive been a ''zombie'' for the past week.
i was never the happiest apple in the tree BUT NEVER LiKE THiS EiTHER!
i dont think adderall is for me anymore and as nice as it may seem for a little while. Nothing ''that amazing'' lasts forever and there has to be a point where you do things on your own without ''assitance''.