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No they don't. Adderall is speed it just floods your brain with dopamine. Everyone feels more focussed. It's all propaganda pushed by the drug companies. With

No they don't. Adderall is speed it just floods your brain with dopamine. Everyone feels more focussed. It's all propaganda pushed by the drug companies. With all due respect, I am baffled at how people can believe this.

spdustin 10y ago
Yes, they do, because the baseline availability of dopamine and noradrenaline (it affects both of them) as well as 5-HT is considerably lower in someone with ADHD than without, though 5-HT doesn't have much of a role to play in attention disorders. It also has a sympathetic serotonergic effect (edit: that is to say, that the increase in 5-HT is similar to taking an SSRI. 5-HT is serotonin.) The fact is, there are proven anatomical changes that are strongly correlated with attention disorders, and the efficacy of the dopamine/noradrenaline systems in the brain is significantly impaired by someone with such a condition. And, as someone with such a condition, I can attest to my baseline being very different from someone without an attention disorder. Further, the effect that I experience from taking Adderall is one of calmness and focus, while friends who have taken diverted pills say they feel "edgy" and focused, because its effect on me is to increase a low-baseline of the relevant neurotransmitters, and someone without a related attention disorder would have their baseline availability increased far above the therapeutic levels I experience. Self-reports from recreational users on web sites devoted to nootropics or to recreational drug use seem to agree with that assessment with considerable frequency. Maybe that helps explain why people persist in saying that someone with ADHD has a different experience with stimulants? Edit: I'll also add that my level of focus on stimulants still requires me to be somewhat interested in what I'm doing, and that doesn't seem to be the case with non-affected users, who seem to hyperfocus on whatever catches their attention first. Almost as if taking the drug gives them an attention disorder because they have too much dopamine and noradrenaline.
- lyssa17 10y ago
  It effects people without ADHD the same way it effects people with it. The only difference is that people with ADHD have a lot more to gain from taking them then someone without it. (Keep in mind that stimulants can have negative effects to performance such as focusing excessively on specific tasks, or as someone else in the thread mentioned - causing you to lack discretion in choosing what to spend your time on.) What you're saying regarding neurotransmitters is speculation since we don't really know how levels of neurotransmitters affect performance in concrete ways. Edit: punctuation
Fordrus 10y ago
Possibly because they're molecular biologists, geneticists, and bioinformaticians who study the specific interaction of amphetamines with specially bred mice and observe markedly different responses in the amphetamine dosed knockout mice vs. the amphetamine dosed control mice? With all due respect, I am baffled at how strongly you're exhibiting the Dunning-Kruger effect.
- whenwillitstop 10y ago
  Scientists who have a monetary incentive to prove that the drugs feel different for people with ADHD. Ever hear about how most depression drugs don't beat the placebo? But we're still told all about the "science" of chemical imbalance. We've got a population here that is drugging themselves...
Houshalter 10y ago
I read an amazing theory of this on reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/Nootropics/comments/4z8znn/can_one_realistically_use_adderall_daily_for/d6udj1m https://www.reddit.com/r/Nootropics/comments/4z8znn/can_one_... >As far as I know, when ADHD individuals are treated with amphetamine(s) even long-term, the dopamine D4 receptor in the prefrontal cortex does not down-regulate. This means that the pro-cognitive benefits of the amphetamines, namely executive function improvement [ability to organize thoughts, plan your day and exhibit sustained attention] are all improved. >However, what most people experience when they first start Adderall or any amphetamine is the massive surge of motivation and in particular energy. This energy can be massively addictive as it is basically anxiolytic first time around while simulteanously giving you big bouts of motivation and pro-sociability. Neuropsychopharmacologically speaking, these effects are due to dopamine D2 and D3 receptor stimulation in the nucleus accumbens (and effects in the ventral tegmental area, accounting for some of the motivating experience, most likely), however, what is important to note, is that after somewhere around 1-3 weeks, these receptors down-regulate and dose-escalation is needed to retain the pro-social, pro-energetic, pro-anxiolytic effects. >In other words, while amphetamines may be a piss poor choice of drug for sustained energy production long-term, the pro-cognitive benefits for individuals with executive function deficit (whether diagnosed ADHD, drug abuse, or traumatic brain injury) do exist in long-term. I think this is one of the reasons that some ADHD individuals are capable of staying at the same dose for a long period of time and still reap the benefits. In other words, the 'high' that drug users get from doing speed once, is very different than the effect that benefits people with ADHD. While the high tolerates over time and requires higher and higher doses, the beneficial effects don't seem to tolerate and last long term.

spdustin 10y ago

Yes, they do, because the baseline availability of dopamine and noradrenaline (it affects both of them) as well as 5-HT is considerably lower in someone with ADHD than without, though 5-HT doesn't have much of a role to play in attention disorders. It also has a sympathetic serotonergic effect (edit: that is to say, that the increase in 5-HT is similar to taking an SSRI. 5-HT is serotonin.) The fact is, there are proven anatomical changes that are strongly correlated with attention disorders, and the efficacy of the dopamine/noradrenaline systems in the brain is significantly impaired by someone with such a condition. And, as someone with such a condition, I can attest to my baseline being very different from someone without an attention disorder. Further, the effect that I experience from taking Adderall is one of calmness and focus, while friends who have taken diverted pills say they feel "edgy" and focused, because its effect on me is to increase a low-baseline of the relevant neurotransmitters, and someone without a related attention disorder would have their baseline availability increased far above the therapeutic levels I experience. Self-reports from recreational users on web sites devoted to nootropics or to recreational drug use seem to agree with that assessment with considerable frequency. Maybe that helps explain why people persist in saying that someone with ADHD has a different experience with stimulants? Edit: I'll also add that my level of focus on stimulants still requires me to be somewhat interested in what I'm doing, and that doesn't seem to be the case with non-affected users, who seem to hyperfocus on whatever catches their attention first. Almost as if taking the drug gives them an attention disorder because they have too much dopamine and noradrenaline.

lyssa17 10y ago
It effects people without ADHD the same way it effects people with it. The only difference is that people with ADHD have a lot more to gain from taking them then someone without it. (Keep in mind that stimulants can have negative effects to performance such as focusing excessively on specific tasks, or as someone else in the thread mentioned - causing you to lack discretion in choosing what to spend your time on.) What you're saying regarding neurotransmitters is speculation since we don't really know how levels of neurotransmitters affect performance in concrete ways. Edit: punctuation

Fordrus 10y ago

Possibly because they're molecular biologists, geneticists, and bioinformaticians who study the specific interaction of amphetamines with specially bred mice and observe markedly different responses in the amphetamine dosed knockout mice vs. the amphetamine dosed control mice? With all due respect, I am baffled at how strongly you're exhibiting the Dunning-Kruger effect.

whenwillitstop 10y ago
Scientists who have a monetary incentive to prove that the drugs feel different for people with ADHD. Ever hear about how most depression drugs don't beat the placebo? But we're still told all about the "science" of chemical imbalance. We've got a population here that is drugging themselves...

Houshalter 10y ago

I read an amazing theory of this on reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/Nootropics/comments/4z8znn/can_one_realistically_use_adderall_daily_for/d6udj1m https://www.reddit.com/r/Nootropics/comments/4z8znn/can_one_... >As far as I know, when ADHD individuals are treated with amphetamine(s) even long-term, the dopamine D4 receptor in the prefrontal cortex does not down-regulate. This means that the pro-cognitive benefits of the amphetamines, namely executive function improvement [ability to organize thoughts, plan your day and exhibit sustained attention] are all improved. >However, what most people experience when they first start Adderall or any amphetamine is the massive surge of motivation and in particular energy. This energy can be massively addictive as it is basically anxiolytic first time around while simulteanously giving you big bouts of motivation and pro-sociability. Neuropsychopharmacologically speaking, these effects are due to dopamine D2 and D3 receptor stimulation in the nucleus accumbens (and effects in the ventral tegmental area, accounting for some of the motivating experience, most likely), however, what is important to note, is that after somewhere around 1-3 weeks, these receptors down-regulate and dose-escalation is needed to retain the pro-social, pro-energetic, pro-anxiolytic effects. >In other words, while amphetamines may be a piss poor choice of drug for sustained energy production long-term, the pro-cognitive benefits for individuals with executive function deficit (whether diagnosed ADHD, drug abuse, or traumatic brain injury) do exist in long-term. I think this is one of the reasons that some ADHD individuals are capable of staying at the same dose for a long period of time and still reap the benefits. In other words, the 'high' that drug users get from doing speed once, is very different than the effect that benefits people with ADHD. While the high tolerates over time and requires higher and higher doses, the beneficial effects don't seem to tolerate and last long term.