adderall makes acne bad and emotional

Hello! I have been on Adderall for 7 months now, and I have noticed that my face is becoming oilier and I am starting to have zits all over my face. I didn’t have zits when I was in puberty and I am having them now. Another thing I have noticed is that I get too emotional about some things. This is really annoying especially later when I think about it and is driving my girlfriend crazy. Is there anybody else with similar problems while on adderall?

Hi there! I wouldn’t know about zits, I myself haven’t experienced them, but adderall does crazy things to different people. I often get too emotional and have been dumped for that a couple of times. I don’t blame the girls, they just couldn’t understand what this drug is all about. Anyway, maybe you can visit a dermatologist about this acne problem, maybe you can find a solution for it. As for the emotional stuff, I don’t know, I am still fighting with it myself. If I make a progress I will definitely let you know. Good luck mate!

Yah, Ive been on adderall for..I dunno, around 2 years now and I started getting much oilier about 6 months or so into using it! My big thing was breaking out on my back..as a result of tanning. But I tanned before adderall and didnt break out. I dunno but i sincerely believe that adderall and oily skin/break outs are intertwined in some way. Being emotional is def result of adderall. Its a stim..its purpose is to make you focus on things that would normally lose ur interest...so it only makes sense that you would focus more on an emotional level as well and have a more difficult time just letting go of something.

Almost 40 and rarely ever had a pimple. Have been on adderall for almost a year for ADD and as I type looks like I'm getting over chicken pox (mostly forehead thank goodness, so can cover w/ bangs). Have always had great skin w/out using any special face regimen. Never really ever had to wash my face before bed either. Started to chalk it up to hormonal changes maybe because of age, but maybe it's the adderal. Another guess, is that the side effect of appetite loss tends to make me really careless about what I eat. I really only eat for flavor, because am never really hungry, wh/ usually means junk, wh/ is bad for skin, esp if not taking in much good. Also, hyper focusing on stupid things instead of what i really need to be doing tends to stress me out a lot, so that could add to bad skin. It was hard enough to not pick at a pimple before meds, but trying staying away from them when you're hyper focused on it and there's a ton of them on a normally clear face! Skin is definitely changing. Last year was always told I look like in my 20s on a regular basis, and since this year started hearing 30s. Again chalked it up to nature and figured was gonna happen sooner or later, cuz already buying time, but if looking older and getting major pimples to boot has to do with meds, than would rather be unfocused, especially considering tending to focus on what's not important anyways.

I am 30 and on the advice of my LMHp (Licensed mental health practitioner) andtried to use adderal, dextroamphetamine, and ritalin on and off for a couple years due to add. I found that at first it did calm me, and that I was able to function better. However, after being on them for a few months, my weight would drastically drop although my appetite and food consumption increased (Not complaining - I loved this side effect) BUT I would also start to get large pimples on my face and back that resembled chicken pox blisters and start to have paranoid feelings. I always hated the euphoria feeling too that would occur when first starting it (but that goes away the first week). My friend, who is also add, had the same symptoms and would also become paranoid and pimply. I also had to take a medication at night to sleep, if I didn't I would be horribly irritable. Honestly, I just could not take it anymore, the sleeplessness, being overly skinny (5' and 80lbs), and especially the paranoia. My LMHP is not happy w/ me and makes comments about me refusing to take my meds or that I am being defiant in my medication regimine. I just don't know what to do. Currently, I am on xanax, and that seem to be the only thing that calms my overly active mind.

I have been on and off adderall for the last 2 1/2 years. I have noticed a significant change in my complexion when taking the drug for a fair amount of time. I have an increase in oiliness and a tendency to break out in large red pimples.

Although prone to acne I feel the break outs are directly related to the side effects of Adderall.

First of all, Adderall makes me smoke a chimney. - I RARELY indulge in cigarettes when NOT on the medication. The sudden overload of toxins clogs my pores and stimulates my skin to retaliate by producing huge, angry pimples.

Adderall can have me running around all day trying get things done with a sense of urgency. This can result in stress - which promotes break outs.
And breaking out may cause additional stress that leads to even worse skin.

Adderall is extremely dehydrating. If one does not drink enough fluids to make up for the depletion in water the skin will suffer. If you choose to drink caffeine, a diuretic, its supposedly bad for the skin (and may increase the absorption and reduce effectiveness of the adderall).
Though a lack of appetite may occur, try to eat healthy to help the skin.

I am not an expert -
I am making thoughtful observations and suggestions -
And since the adderall just kicked in its time for a smoke and a good scrubbing of the face.

the main reason for dehydration is that adderall is made of salt..which causes your body to be thirsty all the time. I'm just starting my adderall meds tomorrow so we'll see how it works as I have naturally oily skin.

I am looking forward to the curb in my appetite as the last medication I was on made me eat like crazy and I gained 75 pounds in 6 months.

Adderall's salt character actually has nothing to with the fact that it makes you feel dehydrated. 30mg of a salt is not going to have much of an effect on your fluid levels... and the term "salt" used to describe adderall is not that kind of salt you are thinking of (ie; table salt).
With that cleared up, I will explain the reason for the dehydration.

You are all well aware that adderall is a stimulant. It's action, among others, is to stimulate your sympathetic nervous system. This has a few implications, most of which ca be explained by the fact that your sympathetic nervous system is active during times of stress. One way to observe this is to observe your pupils when on adderall compared to when you are not. You will notice that they are more dialated when you are on adderall. This is because pupil dialation is a sympathetic response )(to allow more light in to your eyes when a stressful stimulus is present.. ie; being chased by a lion). The increasd sympathetic activity overrides the parasympathetic pupil constriction. So simply put; sympathetics initiate 'fight or flight' while parasympathetics mediate non-stressful ties (often referred to as food, sleep, and sex activities). When you sympathetic nervous system activates:
- Heart rate increases
- GI motility decreases
- Oil secretion (sebaceous glands) increases
- Persperation increases
- Saliva secretion decreases
- GFR decreases ---> Increase water reabsorption / decreased urination

So the reason you feel dehydrated is because your mouth dry. And also possiby because you a breathing at a high rate and losing more water through your breath.

I came across this blog as I was searching for answers about the emotional side effects caused by adderall. I am a 19 year old female and I have ALWAYS had issues concentrating, and so my father who is a psychologist finally thought I should try adderall. The dry mouth I noticed IMMEDIATELY, it was terrible, I constantly had a losange or drink in my mouth or else I was unable to speak my mouth was so dry. But this actually went away within a month. I have been on adderall for months now and I also did notice that my skin is worse, I have always had very healthy skin and right now it seems like I can not get it back to what it used to be. My main issue is that I have the oddest mood swings. I'll just be sitting in a lecture at school and all of the sudden a thought or movement (not necessarily a bad thought/movement) triggers me into being depressed. I absolutely HATE THIS. I was wondering if anyone knew how serious this is. I have an appointment with my Psychiatrist very soon, but it's finals time and these swings are very distracting(imagine that..)

Thanks for any help!

Hello,

I have been on concerta 27 mg for about 5 years. I am switching to adderall xr tomorrow (20 mg). I tend to break out when I eat anything but a very healthy, organic diet. I have a feeling many of the above people eat next to nothing when they start ADD drugs- this is what is causing bad skin! I went from about 123lbs to about 107lbs when I started taking concerta. I am female and about 5'4". Im going to try to continue to stuff myself with salads to see if I can maintain my clear skin.

I went to a dermatologist and had very mild acne my whole life. The skin doctors will just sell you drugs and lotions. The will never tell you to stop eating sugar and white flour. I had acne for 15 years. The same week I went on the Atkins diet, my faced cleared up perfectly.

I'll let you know how it goes!