7 ms·

Maybe you mean Adderall? I've read methamphetamine is sometimes prescribed, but my understanding is it's extremely rare. There is a real problem with some drug

by asxd 5y ago

Maybe you mean Adderall? I've read methamphetamine is sometimes prescribed, but my understanding is it's extremely rare. There is a real problem with some drugs that become physically addictive. A person can fairly easily drink alcohol or take adderall regularly without suffering physical withdrawals. I'm not so sure this would be the case with heroin, for instance. I don't think in those instances the drugs were demonized to quell social movements, but because they were substances that too easily consumed people's lives.

gavinray 5y ago
No, they mean "Desoxyn", literal D-Methamphetamine. GoodRx hilariously has great meth coupons: https://m.goodrx.com/desoxyn https://m.goodrx.com/desoxyn
- asxd 5y ago
  Oh my, that's hilarious, in a twisted sort of way. I was aware that meth was prescribed, but I guess I had no reference point for how prevalent it might be.
  - bshipp 5y ago
    I knew I was taking an amphetamine derivative but I had no idea my ADHD prescription was literally the same as meth. of course, I'm taking a tiny daily amount. No wonder they give me such a hassle about filling my script when I'm traveling!
  - loxias 5y ago
    I'm on a very similar one, which also has a GoodRx coupon. In case you're not familiar with the details of psychopharmacology, or are lucky enough to have a more "normal" brain, it's quite common for one to spend a long time with their doctor, doing trial and error with different compounds that are variants on the same structure, even different isomers can have a noticeable effect for the patient. At one stop on my journey, I was prescribed dexedrine, which I previously had only heard of in the context of the great Paul Erdos. Sadly, despite my hopes and dreams, there was no noticeable increase in the proliferation of my math output.
    - asxd 5y ago
      I was in a similar boat, and spent a decent chunk of time during adolescence going through that trial-and-error process. At one point we tried Ritalin, which ended up just giving me horrible headaches and causing my grades to plummet. Dexedrine, on the other hand, was much more effective for me, even more so than adderall for some reason. I know Ritalin works for a lot of folks, and I find it pretty fascinating that the same medication can affect different people in such drastically different ways. Completely tangential, but regarding Paul Erdos, I recall hearing about a story where a colleague of his was concerned about his amphetamine use and offered to pay him a sum of money to go cold turkey for a month. Erdos was pretty adamant that amphetamines were a boon to his math research, so he went cold turkey for a month to prove he could, took the money, and then promptly resumed his usage. Not sure if it's true or what lessons are to be learned there, but it's a fun story :)
      - loxias 5y ago
        > I know Ritalin works for a lot of folks, and I find it pretty fascinating that the same medication can affect different people in such drastically different ways. Same!! (Ritalin doesn't work on me either). On my "journey to what works" the least pleasant, and most amusing in retrospect, was Strattera. Somehow, that medicine cranked up the "impatient asshole" knob in my brain to 11. I was cursing out people on the street for no rational reason, and carrying myself with more confidence than I've ever felt in my life. Things where I would normally have a patience of minutes became seconds. I found myself getting pissed off at dear friends for talking too slowly, interrupting them "can you fucking speed up please?". I quit after 5 days. :) At the time, my doctor seemed skeptical of the side effect, but a decade later I found documented evidence of it in others. Curiously, the medicine works quite effectively, no side effects, for someone who shares half my DNA. Brains are weird! Tangentially, I've heard a variant of that Erdos story too! Clearly it must be true. ;-)
    - Nursie 5y ago
      > even different isomers can have a noticeable effect for the patient Case in point - L-methamphetamine is or was used in Vicks inhalers in some countries, notably the US, as it has none of the euphoriant effects of D-methamphetamine but it does still cause vasoconstriction, which can help with a blocked nose!
hn_throwaway_99 5y ago
Prescription meth goes by the trade name Desoxyn, and it's not the same thing as Adderall.
Lazare 5y ago
Methamphetamine is much less frequently prescribed than other forms of amphetamines for ADHD, but I wouldn't say "extremely rare". And there's very little evidence it's any more addictive or harmful than normal amphetamines. I also think you're conflating addiction to dependency or withdrawal symptoms. Physical withdrawal symptoms are extremely common with stimulants - then again, they're common for basically all other drugs too. Adderall, caffeine, hell, even Tylenol all have withdrawal symptoms. If you're a daily coffee drinker, going a day without will likely cause a splitting migraine and some personality changes for a day or two! Many OTC nasal sprays for hayfever are known for having ferocious withdrawal symptoms, but they aren't addictive or abusable. People who abuse stimulants take a dose vastly higher than any therapeutic dose. The effects end up being very different. You mention heroin, but heroin itself was originally marketed - for years! - as a non-addictive alternative to morphine, and was sold as a cough suppressant. Many people used it; most didn't get addicted. Cocaine was a fairly common additive to drinks for years; Thomas Edison was famously a fan of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vin_Mariani https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vin_Mariani (as were two popes and numerous other famous figures). There's nothing magical about heroin. Prescribe a therapeutic dose of a strong opioid, and maybe 1% (the data here is bad, but most studies cluster around this point) of your patients will get addicted and start abusing it (by taking a vastly higher dose); the other 99% will not. We keep demonising drugs, seemingly almost at random, but it doesn't seem to have much to do with the nature of the drugs.
- qwerty456127 5y ago
  > And there's very little evidence it's any more addictive or harmful than normal amphetamines. Well, I won't say "just try and compare" because recommending to try that would be a devil's advice but the difference is huge and I don't need any scientific paper to confirm that. For a person having actual ADHD amphetamine can be a reasonable tool to manage it sustainably, at the same time meth would at least cause rapid tolerance build-up leading them to increase dosage very fast and face all sorts of health issues. You also won't be able to return to amphetamine soon after having tried meth, the former is going to have almost no effect until your brain chemistry actually recovers.
  - 5y ago
quantum_solanum 5y ago
> A person can fairly easily drink alcohol or take adderall regularly without suffering physical withdrawals though alcohol is notably one of the few common drugs (along with benzos) where withdrawal can actually kill you.

by asxd 5y ago

gavinray 5y ago

No, they mean "Desoxyn", literal D-Methamphetamine. GoodRx hilariously has great meth coupons: https://m.goodrx.com/desoxyn https://m.goodrx.com/desoxyn

asxd 5y ago
Oh my, that's hilarious, in a twisted sort of way. I was aware that meth was prescribed, but I guess I had no reference point for how prevalent it might be.
- bshipp 5y ago
  I knew I was taking an amphetamine derivative but I had no idea my ADHD prescription was literally the same as meth. of course, I'm taking a tiny daily amount. No wonder they give me such a hassle about filling my script when I'm traveling!
- loxias 5y ago
  I'm on a very similar one, which also has a GoodRx coupon. In case you're not familiar with the details of psychopharmacology, or are lucky enough to have a more "normal" brain, it's quite common for one to spend a long time with their doctor, doing trial and error with different compounds that are variants on the same structure, even different isomers can have a noticeable effect for the patient. At one stop on my journey, I was prescribed dexedrine, which I previously had only heard of in the context of the great Paul Erdos. Sadly, despite my hopes and dreams, there was no noticeable increase in the proliferation of my math output.
  - asxd 5y ago
    I was in a similar boat, and spent a decent chunk of time during adolescence going through that trial-and-error process. At one point we tried Ritalin, which ended up just giving me horrible headaches and causing my grades to plummet. Dexedrine, on the other hand, was much more effective for me, even more so than adderall for some reason. I know Ritalin works for a lot of folks, and I find it pretty fascinating that the same medication can affect different people in such drastically different ways. Completely tangential, but regarding Paul Erdos, I recall hearing about a story where a colleague of his was concerned about his amphetamine use and offered to pay him a sum of money to go cold turkey for a month. Erdos was pretty adamant that amphetamines were a boon to his math research, so he went cold turkey for a month to prove he could, took the money, and then promptly resumed his usage. Not sure if it's true or what lessons are to be learned there, but it's a fun story :)
    - loxias 5y ago
      > I know Ritalin works for a lot of folks, and I find it pretty fascinating that the same medication can affect different people in such drastically different ways. Same!! (Ritalin doesn't work on me either). On my "journey to what works" the least pleasant, and most amusing in retrospect, was Strattera. Somehow, that medicine cranked up the "impatient asshole" knob in my brain to 11. I was cursing out people on the street for no rational reason, and carrying myself with more confidence than I've ever felt in my life. Things where I would normally have a patience of minutes became seconds. I found myself getting pissed off at dear friends for talking too slowly, interrupting them "can you fucking speed up please?". I quit after 5 days. :) At the time, my doctor seemed skeptical of the side effect, but a decade later I found documented evidence of it in others. Curiously, the medicine works quite effectively, no side effects, for someone who shares half my DNA. Brains are weird! Tangentially, I've heard a variant of that Erdos story too! Clearly it must be true. ;-)
  - Nursie 5y ago
    > even different isomers can have a noticeable effect for the patient Case in point - L-methamphetamine is or was used in Vicks inhalers in some countries, notably the US, as it has none of the euphoriant effects of D-methamphetamine but it does still cause vasoconstriction, which can help with a blocked nose!

hn_throwaway_99 5y ago

Prescription meth goes by the trade name Desoxyn, and it's not the same thing as Adderall.

Lazare 5y ago

Methamphetamine is much less frequently prescribed than other forms of amphetamines for ADHD, but I wouldn't say "extremely rare". And there's very little evidence it's any more addictive or harmful than normal amphetamines. I also think you're conflating addiction to dependency or withdrawal symptoms. Physical withdrawal symptoms are extremely common with stimulants - then again, they're common for basically all other drugs too. Adderall, caffeine, hell, even Tylenol all have withdrawal symptoms. If you're a daily coffee drinker, going a day without will likely cause a splitting migraine and some personality changes for a day or two! Many OTC nasal sprays for hayfever are known for having ferocious withdrawal symptoms, but they aren't addictive or abusable. People who abuse stimulants take a dose vastly higher than any therapeutic dose. The effects end up being very different. You mention heroin, but heroin itself was originally marketed - for years! - as a non-addictive alternative to morphine, and was sold as a cough suppressant. Many people used it; most didn't get addicted. Cocaine was a fairly common additive to drinks for years; Thomas Edison was famously a fan of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vin_Mariani https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vin_Mariani (as were two popes and numerous other famous figures). There's nothing magical about heroin. Prescribe a therapeutic dose of a strong opioid, and maybe 1% (the data here is bad, but most studies cluster around this point) of your patients will get addicted and start abusing it (by taking a vastly higher dose); the other 99% will not. We keep demonising drugs, seemingly almost at random, but it doesn't seem to have much to do with the nature of the drugs.

qwerty456127 5y ago
> And there's very little evidence it's any more addictive or harmful than normal amphetamines. Well, I won't say "just try and compare" because recommending to try that would be a devil's advice but the difference is huge and I don't need any scientific paper to confirm that. For a person having actual ADHD amphetamine can be a reasonable tool to manage it sustainably, at the same time meth would at least cause rapid tolerance build-up leading them to increase dosage very fast and face all sorts of health issues. You also won't be able to return to amphetamine soon after having tried meth, the former is going to have almost no effect until your brain chemistry actually recovers.
- 5y ago

quantum_solanum 5y ago

> A person can fairly easily drink alcohol or take adderall regularly without suffering physical withdrawals though alcohol is notably one of the few common drugs (along with benzos) where withdrawal can actually kill you.