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> ADHD patients calm down when they take Adderall because they’ve been on it for years and have a tolerance. Speaking of myths, this is wildly incorrect. I've

by Doxin 7y ago

> ADHD patients calm down when they take Adderall because they’ve been on it for years and have a tolerance. Speaking of myths, this is wildly incorrect. I've now been on methylphenidate -- AKA ritalin -- for a couple months. I do not and have not ever experienced a high or otherwise any euphoria. Partially this is indubitably because of the relative low dosage and low bioavailability. But partially it's because ADD makes me react differently to it. There's roughly three effects I experience. Primarily it's way easier to stay focussed. The only side-effects I've been experiencing is some feelings of stress towards the end of the effective time of a dosage and some slight muscle twitching in my leg. Anecdote aside, one of the possible side-effects of these sorts of medication is "a rushed feeling". Most people do not get this side effect, and if they do it's a cause for looking at different medication. It's definitely not the case that that's just something you build a tolerance to. Tolerance building is a thing, but it applies to the beneficial effects just as much as it applies to the side effects.

OGWhales 7y ago
Agreed. I have built a tolerance to it before but know that I do not have ADHD. My friend who certainly does reacts to adderall differently than I do. We have discussed it in detail and seem to be effected differently despite taking similar doses daily. This far beyond my understanding, but ADHD patients appear to have an imbalance between dopamine and norepinephrine in the mesocorticolimbic dopamine pathway and the locus coeruleus-noradrenergic system. There is more to this of course and I'm sure I botched even that part. Regardless, the point is that these medications actually treat their underlying issue instead of overdriving the same systems. Tolerance is mostly irrelevant in this regard as people without ADHD do not have these same differences which means they do not react to the drug in the same manner. Simply put, these medications tend to make ADHD patients more calm and focused and normal people tend to feel "tweaked".
- vonseel 7y ago
  In a way, calm and focus are the same thing as tweaked, but I guess you'd have to be on it to understand what I mean by that.

by Doxin 7y ago

OGWhales 7y ago

Agreed. I have built a tolerance to it before but know that I do not have ADHD. My friend who certainly does reacts to adderall differently than I do. We have discussed it in detail and seem to be effected differently despite taking similar doses daily. This far beyond my understanding, but ADHD patients appear to have an imbalance between dopamine and norepinephrine in the mesocorticolimbic dopamine pathway and the locus coeruleus-noradrenergic system. There is more to this of course and I'm sure I botched even that part. Regardless, the point is that these medications actually treat their underlying issue instead of overdriving the same systems. Tolerance is mostly irrelevant in this regard as people without ADHD do not have these same differences which means they do not react to the drug in the same manner. Simply put, these medications tend to make ADHD patients more calm and focused and normal people tend to feel "tweaked".

vonseel 7y ago
In a way, calm and focus are the same thing as tweaked, but I guess you'd have to be on it to understand what I mean by that.