Some types of ADHD medication are more likely to be misused compared to others. For example, short acting stimulant medications are abused more often than longer acting or non-stimulant medications.
While taking stimulants would cause most of us to become hyperactive, they have the opposite effect on those with ADHD. While stimulants can cause children with this disorder to have difficulty sleeping and can cause them to feel uncomfortable, it actually quiets their hyperactivity and improves their attention.
Intoxicants are risky business if you have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). A recent survey found that more than 15 percent of adults with the disorder had abused or were dependent upon alcohol or drugs during the previous year. That's nearly triple the rate for adults without ADHD.
Tolerance, dependence, and addiction are much more common among people who abuse ADHD medications. Stimulants increase dopamine and can cause feelings of euphoria when taken in high doses. However, your brain may adapt to the excess by altering your chemistry to counteract the drug.
ADHD medicines are also being used to curb appetites for weight loss. Some also use them to get high. But although these medicines are considered safe when taken as prescribed, they can cause health problems and addiction when not taken as they were intended.
The most commonly abused stimulants are medications used to treat ADHD, such as Ritalin, Adderall and Vyvanse.
Stimulants are believed to work by increasing dopamine levels in the brain. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter associated with motivation, pleasure, attention, and movement. For many people with ADHD, stimulant medications boost concentration and focus while reducing hyperactive and impulsive behaviors.
As mentioned earlier, the fact is that untreated ADHD is a significant risk factor for substance abuse in adolescence and adulthood.
If your medication is working, you'll notice less impulsivity — both physical and verbal. You will interrupt people or jump out of your seat less often. You'll notice that your thoughts are less impulsive, too.
Consuming large amounts of caffeine can cause jitteriness or a feeling of nervousness, headaches, and upset stomach, and make it hard to sleep. Doing so in addition to taking your ADHD medication can result in dangerously acute jitteriness or out-of-control impulsivity.
If you have ADHD, prescription stimulants can make you more alert, increase your attention, help you focus, and give you more energy.
When the dosage is too high, stimulants can cause children or even adults to seem “spacey” or “zombie-like,” or to be uncharacteristically tearful or irritable (a condition known as emotional lability). In general, the best way to rein in these side effects is simply to lower the dosage.
If you have ADHD, you may notice an improvement in your attention span. It can also help control hyperactivity and impulsiveness and improve concentration. It's also used off label for treatment resistant depression and narcolepsy. It may improve depression, fatigue, sleepiness and wakefulness.
It is the brain's reaction to the ADHD stimulant medication leaving the body, and it can result in an intense reaction or behavior change for roughly 60 minutes at the end of a dose. It occurs most often with short-acting stimulant medications, but can occur with long-acting stimulant medications, too.
Bipolar disorder and ADHD. The most difficult differential diagnosis for doctors to make is between ADHD and bipolar disorder. These two conditions are often hard to distinguish because they share several symptoms, including: mood changes.
ADHD was the first disorder found to be the result of a deficiency of a specific neurotransmitter — in this case, norepinephrine — and the first disorder found to respond to medications to correct this underlying deficiency. Like all neurotransmitters, norepinephrine is synthesized within the brain.
Children on stimulant medicines can also develop side effects that could look like changes in personality. They may behave more excitedly or become more withdrawn. They may act more inflexible or develop obsessive-compulsive behaviors.
As long as the dosage is correct, the medication should not affect your personality or sense of humor. What it will do is curb your hyperactivity, inattention, and impulsivity. An excessively high dose could temporarily “flatten” your personality, causing you to seem unusually quiet or withdrawn.
Some adults with ADHD find that caffeine doesn't wake them up or make them sleepy.
Since Dexedrine is more stimulating than Ritalin, it's often used when Ritalin has been proven ineffective. Registered as a Schedule II drug according to the Controlled Substances Act, while Dexedrine has a recognized medical use, it also comes with a high risk of both abuse and addiction.
Because Vyvanse is a stimulant, a person may feel depressed or fatigued when it begins to wear off. This is known as a Vyvanse crash. A person who takes Vyvanse in the morning may experience a midday crash as the drug begins to leave their system. The crash may make a person's symptoms challenging to manage.
Many high school and college students begin to abuse Vyvanse and other stimulants for this reason. However, research has shown that when students who do not have ADHD take Vyvanse and other stimulants, they actually have a lower GPA.
The most common side effects are loss of appetite and trouble sleeping. Other ADHD medicine side effects include jitteriness, irritability, moodiness, headaches, stomachaches, fast heart rate, and high blood pressure. Side effects usually happen in the first few days of starting a new medicine or taking a higher dose.
One clinical study showed that 24.7% of patients developed tolerance to stimulants in the time of days to weeks; another showed 2.7% developed tolerance over 10 years. Long term follow-up studies demonstrate that medication response may lessen over longer durations of treatment in a high percentage of patients.
It is unlikely that all symptoms will disappear completely, but most ADHD medications can help to make physical and mental symptoms more manageable. Medication may be working if a person is: feeling less anxious. consciously controlling impulsive behaviors.