Is using adderall the same as using meth?

My friend has been taking adderal for years, as well as several of my friends going on and off it. It's undeniably addictive, arguably highly. People that have prescriptions for it  sometimes literally trade adderal pills directly for other drugs, usually pot. My friend thats been on it for years has noticable problems controlling his temper somtimes, which sounds unrelated, but I can tell when a friend is mad or strung out. It's almost impossible to get a regular amount of sleep while taking aderal, although you won't need it. Appetite is noticably diminished. My other friend just recently stopped taking it because he said it was qoute, "turning him into a zombie". I never quite understood this as adderal makes u bounce off the walls, but several friends that have taken it for years at a time have said this. Word for word everytime, they say it turns u into a zombie, and u let people walk over you and don't react to anything as much. It's very close to street meth, while the effects aren't as severe, they are noticable. If u look at the chemical structure of Adderal, it is almost identical to meth. I'm no doctor, but I see little reason why this drug is even legal let alone as popular a prescription as it is.

 

Essentially, the differences are:

1. Methamphetamine has a methyl group in its structure while Adderall doesn’t have any.

2. Methamphetamine is a drug group while Adderall is a brand name of a drug classified under the group amphetamine.

3. Because of the methyl content, methampehtamines are able to penetrate into the brain faster and deeper than other stimulants including Adderall

From what i have experienced first hand adderall is like meth but only when taken by someone who dose not have ADHD. My younger brother has really bad ADHD and he takes 2 30mg tablets every morning for school it dose help him but it doesn't cut his appetite or growth which i have read on other sites (maybe hes just a lucky one). Now me on the other hand have tried adderall also, using only 40 mg of my brothers medication to see if all this nonsense ive read was true. i do not have ADHD and using it defiantly put me on the same "high" that you get off of speed. i was very energized (almost like drinking a lot of coffee), sweating even though i wasn't hot, extreamly talkative, contently need to do something earthier mental or physically, and i had a loss of appetite and the inability to sleep that night as well (its 1:42 AM and i did it today and i want to sleep but can't). My point to this is if you don't have ADHD it is a "form of speed", but from what i told you about my brother it is a very effective treatment for ADHD. As you also saw my brother takes more then i took and hes normal. So yes adderall is a form of speed if used when you don't need it. P.S DO NOT DO ADDERALL TO GET "HIGH" THERE IS NO NEED TO, `so please be safe and use prescription drugs only when approved by your doctor with a prescription.

Quote:

anonymous wrote:

My son a former athlete and ADHD student was prescrided 20mg adderall, when my son complain it wasnt strong enough I was concern but our doctor said ok. I trusted his judgement so I allowed it. After several months and his unusal behavior we found out my son is addicted to Adderall, and marijuana. He's tried cocaine, meth and ecstacy. I could not believe this, and when I read the side effects to adderall and its compared to meth I was shock!!
I learned that with high doses of adderall can lead to addiction to the drug as well as other drugs!!
So don't let your child take this stimulate drug. The risk isn't worth a better grade. There are other non-stimulate ADHD drugs out there.
Now my son is in drug rehab his senior year in high school.
His other drug friends are there and we may need to change schools.
So I wonder, if he didn't take Adderall, would he had started the other drugs.

He's in rehab doing well, but keeps bugging me for the adderall which I wont do. He doesnt care about the other drugs, just adderall!!

If your son's brain needs Adderall to function correctly and override his ADHD then he needs Adderall to function correctly and override his ADHD, and no amount of wishing will change that. Denied access to the substance that makes his brain work better, he'll continue to look to dangerous, unregulated things such as meth to compensate. As the poster above me mentioned, his marijuana use may have enhanced his need for attention correctiveness, but if he's diagnosed ADHD then his brain will continue crying out for it. If you don't have ADHD, be grateful. It's like living in a frustrating fog, and when you happen upon something that'll help, you want it. Moreover, IT HELPS.

In addition, "trying" things is something kids simply do. Trying a drug once to check out its effects has nothing to do with addiction to a drug. If your son was honest that he'd tried those other things, I'd be grateful for the honesty. You're telling us you didn't try anything - drug or otherwise - that was somewhat countercultural when you were in your youth?

your are so ignorant for saying that if he needs it to function then he needs it to function.... iv been dealin with adhd for 8 years... iv takin adderal a few times and i dont like it.... i never fellt the need to take this "legal meth". my brother took adderal for 5 years and he was completety different.. and he was addicted to coke... im not sayin he got it from the adderal but it is a high poossibilty... adderal is pretty much the same thing as meth just in a lower dose clean form.. not the nasty sh*t u find on the streets. they refine it and take some of the chemicals out. theere not doing it in some kitchen in a cabin out in the woods they have labs and all that good sh*t.. which is why they are allowed to sell it.. they say it helps ppl .... but hey guess what.. coke was legal one time and so was heroin. both used for medications.. and now they have adderal. and they get away with selling it to all these people cause their kids dont pay attention in school. sh*t school is borin as sh*t anyways. let them figure out on their own that they need to get sh*t done. they dont need a drug to tell them they are gonna be homeless... adderal is just a drug the goverment made to get kids hooked on other drugs so they can make more money..

Obviously you're right. Oh! And stay away from food and fun activities because there are so many obese adrenaline junkies out there...you can never be sure what the next thing you should be afraid of will be! Prescriptions are the devil, and so are all those things that you will ever learn about in college. Stay home and anorexise! Like me!!!

Oh my!

I've heard that people will also trade money, and, sometimes, even elicit sexual favors for pot as well.

Come on mom. Get off the forum. I'm sure your kids are WAY TOO SCARED to start doing drugs.

Seriously though, how many of you are posting replies as if you were your kid? Don't be shy...

Obviously you can determine efficacy of drugs by viewing your brother with his coke addiction while on amphetamines. Who wouldn't trust your empirically unfounded opinion.

Adderall has helped a lot of people, including myself. I believe symptoms of ADHD can be brought on not only by natural phenomenons, but by society as well. In a utopian society, every healthy human being has the potential to become a walking encyclopedia. Educational discipline must be distilled into a child as early as possible. I'm not talking about military discipline.. I mean an actual thrill in gaining knowledge and understanding for their own good. The sooner our children can comprehend the importance of knowledge, the better. It starts with the family. Sometimes society will have your children placing faith in materialistic things, rather than the priceless path to happiness. Ignorant stupidity spreads like cancer throughout society which becomes commonly misdiagnosed as ADHD. Other ADHD related symptoms can be experienced through frequent drug abuse; brought on by society.

Whether or not Adderall is the proper prescription for patients with ADHD related symptoms brought on by society is not for me or anyone without a Ph.D to administer. However, I do know that I once was lost, but now I see.

I am an adult and I have been on adderall for YEARS!! The people who have been on adderall and aren't abusing it, it works very well for!! I know many people who have been on it for years and it has helped them tremendously. But for people that AREN'T perscribed this medication or abusing this I can see that it would be addicting or a problem. Otherwise, I never heard of ANYONE taking 3 30mg in a day... WOW!! That is pretty heavy!!

Maybe it's not more exposed because what you're saying is simply untrue.

Quote:

anonymous wrote:

Actually studies show patients with ADHD who are left untreated are more likely to abuse illegal drugs to unconsiously compensate. Also, patients with ADHD are more likely to try illegal drugs, treated or untreated, because of their impulsiveness and risk-taking tendencies.

ud be surprised how many people on adderall have regularly consumed, or still consume cannabis. They are on drugs (adderol) because they are on drugs (pot). Pot is well known to cause attention problems. Of course those people wont consider that pot is /was the root of their add/adhd in the first place. This problem shoudl be exposed more

You'd be surprised at how many people not on adderall have regularly consumed, or still consume cannabis. You statement has no scientific basis and is not helpful in this conversation at all.

Wow - your information is wrong. I agree that shame shouldn't be felt for taking this drug but it IS NOT SAFE. Yes it is similar to meth!! Look - I understand what the drug can do but it is HIGHLY addictive and is often a gateway drug because people look for the same effects. MOST people (the vast majority) could control their "ADHD" with appropriate diet, sleep and exercise... but that would actually require some effort - easier to just take the pill right?

You are very ignorant.

I've been on and off Adderall over the years. I recently started taking it again. The difference is crazy! I can focus, I'm not forgetting basic things all the time, and I feel better about who I am. I wish I hadn't stopped, school would've gone much better.

If you take too much Adderall, it absolutely can turn you into a zombie. With or without ADHD, it can burn out your dopamine receptors (like meth, but less severely), at which point you are incapable of caring about anything. It can be hard to get the dosage right; too little, and I feel a little sluggish. Too much is scary - I'm completely rational, logical, capable, and I think very clearly. But I also don't feel any compulsions at all - I'm a gamer, and it freaked me out the first time I realized I didn't actually care whether I was at work or at home playing a video game.

If the dosage is exactly right though...if you haven't had ADHD, the best way to explain it is to have you imagine the last time you had a day where you were on top of everything. You didn't miss details, you did all the things right, you're communicating with people without screwing up sentences or leaving out important relevant facts, you're just "on the ball" as it were. As someone with ADHD who has dealt with frequently missing important details, deadlines, and has had serious focusing issues, Adderall's been a positive addition to my life.

I've learned to compensate for the side effects - I can't take it 7 hours before I plan to sleep. I can't take 3x20mg two days in a row. I must chew gum for at least 6 hours after my last dose, or my mouth can dry out (a symptom lovingly called meth mouth). I have to keep on top of brushing my teeth, because even with chewing gum, there just isn't enough saliva in my mouth, and it's very easy to develop cavities that way. If I've taken 3 doses, I can't have any caffeine because it will keep me from having a restful night of sleep. In fact, I've stopped drinking soda altogether, and lost 20 pounds. I've got to be careful with salty foods, because that can worsen the dry mouth.

I don't like the idea of putting kids on adderall - low doses maybe, but it causes some serious changes to your brain and your body. You need to know what they are, how to compensate for them, and so on. It just seems like a bad idea to burden a child with all that.

You should be careful to watch for signs of addiction. Because of the massive improvements in your life that result from taking the drug (assuming you're taking it legitimately as an ADHD patient), it's easy to feel that you -need- Adderall to be who you are; that without it you're not valuable or that you're otherwise incapable of functioning without it. Keep focused on the fact that the drug is there to help you; without it, you would be exactly the same, just less focused and more impulsive.

Constantly evaluate if the drug is worth it to you - don't be afraid to stop taking it if you feel like you need a break from the side effects. I've done it once or twice - your body is chemically addicted, so when you stop, you won't feel so awesome. For me, it wasn't severe - I had headaches for a few days, and I felt very fatigued for most of those two days (caffeine helped.) After that, it was smooth sailing. If you have a really high dosage, you should probably talk to your doctor before quitting - I'm on 2-3 doses of 20MG a day. I've seen numbers thrice that, can't even imagine what would be like.

i use to be addicted to other drugs and i had a problem with adhd and the doctor gave me adderall and it made me feel great and i dont do any street drugs and have no feeling to do them , without my adderall i feel like i need other drugs because one thing about adhd is that people will go to drugs because it makes them feel normal and the aderall takes my symptoms away and im street drug free so i would probly give him aderall if the doctor gave him it thats why he is a doctor and you are not, without it i would go get other drugs so not giving him his pills for his problem your making him worse same with my parents you dont realize how hard it is to live without it beccause it makes me feel like a person so he may be wanting them because he really needs it it really does help really really does :) i did drugs for 8 years and quit and they help adhd and keep me away from other drugs plus doctors will drug test him for levels or you can ask them to then you will know hes on that drug and how much so in reality not having it is making him crazy and making him want other stuff to calm him and its probly making you crazy also thinking about why he wants them