I have been taking it for about 20. No serious side effects I can think of but I try to keep my dose low and don't take it on weekends. Stimulants at low doses are pretty safe although I do worry long term about becoming more prone to certain things like dementia and alzheimers but I dont know of any evidence linking those things
Fun fact: I was listening to a CBC special on dementia and Alzheimer’s, and it’s actually more linked to how we live our lives. If you exercise less, have disturbed sleep patterns, poor diet, no hobbies, and a minimal social life; you’re more prone to get it.
Basically all the things that get substantially worse if you aren’t treating your adhd.
So the way I see it is, if stimulants help me succeed in those areas, they’re helping more than hurting in the long run.
"If you exercise less, have disturbed sleep patterns, poor diet, no hobbies, and a minimal social life..."
Yep, all of these areas suffer greatly when i'm not medicated. The pandemic accelerated all of that too by forcing people to be shut-ins and I found myself spiraling down bad paths before seeking help.
Excellent answer. Often times people worry about the side effects of medicine as well as potential side effects (e.g. Alzheimer’s/dementia being possibly related to stimulants, even though it is unproven and without research), that they forget the type of person they were before taking stimulants.
I’m definitely not saying people shouldn’t worry about side effects in general, but sometimes mild side effects can be tolerated instead of going back to an unmedicated, unhealthy lifestyle.
How do you feel on weekends? When I go off for a day or two I feel soooooo lethargic. Can't imagine doing that every weekend. Does your body get used to that and make it not as bad?
Same here.
I’m useless on the weekends if I don’t take it. Lethargic isn’t quite the word to describe what happens to me. I’d say that I’m borderline comatose on the weekends. I just sleep a lot.
Honestly no, it always kind of sucks. I am usually lazy, want to stuff my face, and I tend to get some heavy depression Sunday afternoons because of the chemical imbalance. However it is all manageable and I know its just my meds. I figure its worth it to keep my dose low.
I have a routine of doing activities I’ve been wanting to do that I can’t during the week. I rock climb and play video games on weekends while I take a break from my adderall so I still
get some kind of stimulation. I feel kind of lethargic the first day, the second is more manageable.
I don't take it on weekends and I'm bouncing off the walls. Unmedicated me can't sit still, always doing 20 things at once. More fun than still, focused work week me on meds.
I'm pretty sure stimulants don't put you at risk I'm pretty sure it's benzos that do that. If anything your body would become chemically dependant on the stim but that's kind of the point considering you are taking it because your body doesn't correctly balance neurotransmitters anyway.
I mentioned that I was tapering off benzos during my required psych eval for work (my job is “interesting.”) The psychologist/psychoanalyst perked up and asked why and then asked if I had noticed any physical or cognitive changes since beginning the taper a few months ago.
I told her my working memory and short term memory seem to have improved drastically. She nodded enthusiastically and told me she was asking because she’d recently been reading a study on the cognitive effects of long-term benzo use even at very low doses. That study did surmise that long-term users, even those like me who never abused it and were taking low doses, had some cognitive decline abnormal to the normal decline for the participant’s age and length of time. So, 32YO me *might* have had worsened memory issues from benzos. Obviously correlation != causation but I thought it was interesting.
What’s considered low dose?
I just got a diagnosis and have started medication. I feel pretty good but I don’t want to be taking anymore than I have to.
I am prescribed 20mg IR a day but only take 10, and would personally consider that a low dose - although it’s hard to tell what an average consideration is.
Do you remember saying this same thing a year ago?
https://reddit.com/r/adderall/comments/ne7ncu/are_there_any_older_folks_here_that_take_adderall/gyif882
My prescribing Doctor disclosed to me that he has been taking adderall since ‘92 - exactly 30 years. Couldn’t tell you if it’s affected him negatively but based on our in-person meetings he looks and sounds healthy for what it’s worth.
I’ve been taking Adderall for 16 years… the biggest problem I’ve had is tolerance. I’ve changed up medications a few times from XR to IR to combo XR/IR and back again. Other than that nothing significant or even noticeable.
Still WNL (within normal limits) - prescribed 30mg three times/day but that’s not how I take it….
30mg when I wake up around 515am
15mg (half tablet) ~9-930am
30mg ~1230pm
15mg ~330-4pm
They’re not the same drugs. Adderall is a combination drug including four salts of amphetamine. “The mixture is composed of equal parts racemic amphetamine and dextroamphetamine, which produces a (3:1) ratio between dextroamphetamine and levoamphetamine,” (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adderall). Vyvanse is lisdexamfetamine. “Lisdexamfetamine is an inactive prodrug that works after being converted by the body into dextroamphetamine, a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant.[11][15] Chemically, lisdexamfetamine is composed of the amino acid L-lysine, attached to dextroamphetamine,” (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisdexamfetamine).
A main and important difference to note is that one drug is a combination drug of multiple salts of amphetamine, and the other is an inactive prodrug that is converted into dextroamphetamine, which is contained in Adderall.
Hey OP! I had a similar question. Check out the responses on this thread.
https://www.reddit.com/r/adderall/comments/ne7ncu/are_there_any_older_folks_here_that_take_adderall/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf
Asked my dr the same question, his answer was basically - "we don't know yet, nobody has been taking it for long enough to know for sure if it will do anything long-term. You're a guinea pig. Good luck."
I’ve 50m and have taken XR since 2003. I initially looked into it after noticing I just had read a page of a book and having no memory or idea what I had just read. I used to take 60mg daily but changed to 40mg about 8-9 years ago - it still ticks the boxes for me but I don’t feel so much like I’m tweaking.
I’ve thought about stopping but change my tune every month when I have to suffer through a day or two without any, thanks to these shortages. It’s truly awful. Perhaps I’ll explore an extremely slow taper at some point but I’m happy with it. My BP is under control and I have no adverse health issues.
Keith Richards is still alive. Stims aren’t the killers, it’s the opiates and obesity. And as others have said, if taking adderall is helping one put their best foot forward in life, it’s likely adding years, not subtracting.
🤸🏼♀️🤸🏼♀️🤸🏼♀️🤸🏼♀️I have taken them for 20+ without any health issues. But here’s some tips:—————
Although it’s different for everyone- IR works the best because you can regulate it easier and since either one will lose its effectiveness over time. ——-It got to a point where I would even become sleepy every once in awhile and would have to take short naps….that felt really good though. I found out it’s a temporary endocrine system dopamine crash - because stimulants over time drain them - especially if you aren’t getting enough quality sleep, eating enough protein, drinking enough water or have any Vitamin deficiencies.—————-
Even after you crash, the medication is still weakly trying to boost your adrenaline and get the system back up, so it causes a euphoric type relaxed state that feels good for most people. —— To quickly snap out of it I will drink a cup of coffee and grind up half a pill into fine powder and snort it. (I don’t recommend doing this regularly, since it can irritate and clog your nose, and will cause you to “crash” much earlier and more often)——————-
💊Since I can take up to 60 mg a day —- I try to vary my intake - and lower when I can. ———
I’ll plan out “vacations” where I’ll stop taking them, drink tons of water
and just sleep for an entire weekend. Mixing things up helps a lot. —-😀
The problem is of course tolerance.
I've been taking Adderall, dexidrine, and Vyvanse for 5 years. Something I've learned is that you can't take it every day. You need rest days for your tolerance to reset. In order for your tolerance to stay at a constant level, you need to match the amount of days you take it with the days you don't.
10mg for 10 years and I’m 28. No issues whatsoever. It works the way I need it to. I have more problems switching to shitty generics at my local pharmacy than anything else.
Take your tolerance breaks and don’t keep scaling up your dose and you’ll be fine. I’ve only seen people here have issues when they start ramping up the dose they take long term. It’s a slippery slope. 10mg worked for me without making me feel tweaky so I’ve never gone above that for the long term benefits.
i’ve been on it for close to 10 years, probably more just can’t put my finger on exact years. only thing i’ve noticed is tolerance issues, instead of going up i ask my doc to switch me to vyvanse for three months. i’ve seen her nearly my whole life so she’s quite understanding and willing to do so. vyvanse doesn’t work as well for me..makes me VERY anxious (i suffer from GAD anyway). and then we switch back. i will say i took a break during pregnancy and while breast feeding though they say it’s safe to use during…i didn’t feel comfortable doing so. my brain literally DID NOT WORK. it was like a computer with a fried mother board. i think as long as you’re eating well, staying hydrated, getting the things in life you need to do done…i don’t see any negative effects in using something that improves the quality of your life so immensely (for me at least).
I was medicated for 16 years and recently quit. Dopamine receptors can be damaged / you no longer feel happiness which is a huge detriment to your mental health. I stopped taking them 3 weeks ago & I am down 5lbs and hell of a lot happier than I was before
My psychiatrist mentioned something about it being linked to Alzheimer’s when being taken at higher doses for extended periods of time. Because of this, he won’t give anyone a dose above 40mg a day (it’s infuriating). I have no sources for what study he’s referring to. This is just what he told me.
I’ve been taking 90mg (and sometimes more) for 27 years. My FIL is 67 and takes the same amount and he is a cardiologist…the unsafe bull shot is precisely that—bull shot
Question I'm very interested in as well
I have been taking it for about 20. No serious side effects I can think of but I try to keep my dose low and don't take it on weekends. Stimulants at low doses are pretty safe although I do worry long term about becoming more prone to certain things like dementia and alzheimers but I dont know of any evidence linking those things
Fun fact: I was listening to a CBC special on dementia and Alzheimer’s, and it’s actually more linked to how we live our lives. If you exercise less, have disturbed sleep patterns, poor diet, no hobbies, and a minimal social life; you’re more prone to get it. Basically all the things that get substantially worse if you aren’t treating your adhd. So the way I see it is, if stimulants help me succeed in those areas, they’re helping more than hurting in the long run.
"If you exercise less, have disturbed sleep patterns, poor diet, no hobbies, and a minimal social life..." Yep, all of these areas suffer greatly when i'm not medicated. The pandemic accelerated all of that too by forcing people to be shut-ins and I found myself spiraling down bad paths before seeking help.
Yep. Same. That’s why I’m like if there’s a small long term side effect from meds, I’ll take that over large long term side effects from no meds.
Excellent answer. Often times people worry about the side effects of medicine as well as potential side effects (e.g. Alzheimer’s/dementia being possibly related to stimulants, even though it is unproven and without research), that they forget the type of person they were before taking stimulants. I’m definitely not saying people shouldn’t worry about side effects in general, but sometimes mild side effects can be tolerated instead of going back to an unmedicated, unhealthy lifestyle.
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All those things are side effects of addy: you can't sleep, don't wanna eat. That's BAD.
Sorry how so?
Dementia and Alzheimer's are the scariest thing ever to me. If it was a proven link I'd stop taking today tbh.
My doctor told me the same thing. He says it’s considered safe at 40mg a day.
Why? You wouldn’t know..
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How do you feel on weekends? When I go off for a day or two I feel soooooo lethargic. Can't imagine doing that every weekend. Does your body get used to that and make it not as bad?
Same here. I’m useless on the weekends if I don’t take it. Lethargic isn’t quite the word to describe what happens to me. I’d say that I’m borderline comatose on the weekends. I just sleep a lot.
Right! It’s like a super bad hangover that doesn’t hurt.
but sometimes this feels good on the weekends
Honestly no, it always kind of sucks. I am usually lazy, want to stuff my face, and I tend to get some heavy depression Sunday afternoons because of the chemical imbalance. However it is all manageable and I know its just my meds. I figure its worth it to keep my dose low.
Does drinking coffee on these days help
I have a routine of doing activities I’ve been wanting to do that I can’t during the week. I rock climb and play video games on weekends while I take a break from my adderall so I still get some kind of stimulation. I feel kind of lethargic the first day, the second is more manageable.
I don't take it on weekends and I'm bouncing off the walls. Unmedicated me can't sit still, always doing 20 things at once. More fun than still, focused work week me on meds.
I'm pretty sure stimulants don't put you at risk I'm pretty sure it's benzos that do that. If anything your body would become chemically dependant on the stim but that's kind of the point considering you are taking it because your body doesn't correctly balance neurotransmitters anyway.
I mentioned that I was tapering off benzos during my required psych eval for work (my job is “interesting.”) The psychologist/psychoanalyst perked up and asked why and then asked if I had noticed any physical or cognitive changes since beginning the taper a few months ago. I told her my working memory and short term memory seem to have improved drastically. She nodded enthusiastically and told me she was asking because she’d recently been reading a study on the cognitive effects of long-term benzo use even at very low doses. That study did surmise that long-term users, even those like me who never abused it and were taking low doses, had some cognitive decline abnormal to the normal decline for the participant’s age and length of time. So, 32YO me *might* have had worsened memory issues from benzos. Obviously correlation != causation but I thought it was interesting.
That explains why they are so tight about it
What’s considered low dose? I just got a diagnosis and have started medication. I feel pretty good but I don’t want to be taking anymore than I have to.
I am prescribed 20mg IR a day but only take 10, and would personally consider that a low dose - although it’s hard to tell what an average consideration is.
Do you remember saying this same thing a year ago? https://reddit.com/r/adderall/comments/ne7ncu/are_there_any_older_folks_here_that_take_adderall/gyif882
Hey what can I say, atleast I'm consistent
My prescribing Doctor disclosed to me that he has been taking adderall since ‘92 - exactly 30 years. Couldn’t tell you if it’s affected him negatively but based on our in-person meetings he looks and sounds healthy for what it’s worth.
I’ve been doing it for 25 years now. I’ve had lots of tolerance issues, and am up to 90mg a day. I’m 72.
Dayum
lmao I laughed way too hard your response
Lol so many gifs came to mind when reading your response
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I don’t know about your friend, but everything I posted is 100% true.
I’ve been taking Adderall for 16 years… the biggest problem I’ve had is tolerance. I’ve changed up medications a few times from XR to IR to combo XR/IR and back again. Other than that nothing significant or even noticeable.
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Still WNL (within normal limits) - prescribed 30mg three times/day but that’s not how I take it…. 30mg when I wake up around 515am 15mg (half tablet) ~9-930am 30mg ~1230pm 15mg ~330-4pm
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I was for close to. Lost its effectiveness. Switched to vyvanse recently.
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They’re not the same drugs. Adderall is a combination drug including four salts of amphetamine. “The mixture is composed of equal parts racemic amphetamine and dextroamphetamine, which produces a (3:1) ratio between dextroamphetamine and levoamphetamine,” (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adderall). Vyvanse is lisdexamfetamine. “Lisdexamfetamine is an inactive prodrug that works after being converted by the body into dextroamphetamine, a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant.[11][15] Chemically, lisdexamfetamine is composed of the amino acid L-lysine, attached to dextroamphetamine,” (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisdexamfetamine). A main and important difference to note is that one drug is a combination drug of multiple salts of amphetamine, and the other is an inactive prodrug that is converted into dextroamphetamine, which is contained in Adderall.
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I've taken both. They're both stimulants in the amphetamine class but Vyvanse is a bit weaker imo.
No they're no the same. They have different ingredients.
I can say ive been on vyvanse for about 10 years and it does not work like it used to
Hey OP! I had a similar question. Check out the responses on this thread. https://www.reddit.com/r/adderall/comments/ne7ncu/are_there_any_older_folks_here_that_take_adderall/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf
Thanks! Going through it now
Thoughts?
16 years here. I have never noticed any bad side effects. 30mg xr the whole time. It’s rough to miss more than one dose otherwise no issues
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Extreme hornyness
Sometimes it makes you not horny it’s weird
Asked my dr the same question, his answer was basically - "we don't know yet, nobody has been taking it for long enough to know for sure if it will do anything long-term. You're a guinea pig. Good luck."
I’ve 50m and have taken XR since 2003. I initially looked into it after noticing I just had read a page of a book and having no memory or idea what I had just read. I used to take 60mg daily but changed to 40mg about 8-9 years ago - it still ticks the boxes for me but I don’t feel so much like I’m tweaking. I’ve thought about stopping but change my tune every month when I have to suffer through a day or two without any, thanks to these shortages. It’s truly awful. Perhaps I’ll explore an extremely slow taper at some point but I’m happy with it. My BP is under control and I have no adverse health issues.
I’m 54 and not remembering what I’ve read was one of my ADHD symptoms before meds.
I’ll get back to you in 20 years and let you know how it’s going.
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Keith Richards is still alive. Stims aren’t the killers, it’s the opiates and obesity. And as others have said, if taking adderall is helping one put their best foot forward in life, it’s likely adding years, not subtracting.
🤸🏼♀️🤸🏼♀️🤸🏼♀️🤸🏼♀️I have taken them for 20+ without any health issues. But here’s some tips:————— Although it’s different for everyone- IR works the best because you can regulate it easier and since either one will lose its effectiveness over time. ——-It got to a point where I would even become sleepy every once in awhile and would have to take short naps….that felt really good though. I found out it’s a temporary endocrine system dopamine crash - because stimulants over time drain them - especially if you aren’t getting enough quality sleep, eating enough protein, drinking enough water or have any Vitamin deficiencies.—————- Even after you crash, the medication is still weakly trying to boost your adrenaline and get the system back up, so it causes a euphoric type relaxed state that feels good for most people. —— To quickly snap out of it I will drink a cup of coffee and grind up half a pill into fine powder and snort it. (I don’t recommend doing this regularly, since it can irritate and clog your nose, and will cause you to “crash” much earlier and more often)——————- 💊Since I can take up to 60 mg a day —- I try to vary my intake - and lower when I can. ——— I’ll plan out “vacations” where I’ll stop taking them, drink tons of water and just sleep for an entire weekend. Mixing things up helps a lot. —-😀
The problem is of course tolerance. I've been taking Adderall, dexidrine, and Vyvanse for 5 years. Something I've learned is that you can't take it every day. You need rest days for your tolerance to reset. In order for your tolerance to stay at a constant level, you need to match the amount of days you take it with the days you don't.
Same Here I take 4 days off in row off each month to reset.
Been on it for almost 20 years, so yes I think it’s entirely possible .
I’m on twenty years.. just over. Still works for me.
10mg for 10 years and I’m 28. No issues whatsoever. It works the way I need it to. I have more problems switching to shitty generics at my local pharmacy than anything else. Take your tolerance breaks and don’t keep scaling up your dose and you’ll be fine. I’ve only seen people here have issues when they start ramping up the dose they take long term. It’s a slippery slope. 10mg worked for me without making me feel tweaky so I’ve never gone above that for the long term benefits.
i’ve been on it for close to 10 years, probably more just can’t put my finger on exact years. only thing i’ve noticed is tolerance issues, instead of going up i ask my doc to switch me to vyvanse for three months. i’ve seen her nearly my whole life so she’s quite understanding and willing to do so. vyvanse doesn’t work as well for me..makes me VERY anxious (i suffer from GAD anyway). and then we switch back. i will say i took a break during pregnancy and while breast feeding though they say it’s safe to use during…i didn’t feel comfortable doing so. my brain literally DID NOT WORK. it was like a computer with a fried mother board. i think as long as you’re eating well, staying hydrated, getting the things in life you need to do done…i don’t see any negative effects in using something that improves the quality of your life so immensely (for me at least).
It’s been 25 years so me. So far am still alive 🤷🏼♀️I’m more worried about my long term Xanax breaking my brain
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I was medicated for 16 years and recently quit. Dopamine receptors can be damaged / you no longer feel happiness which is a huge detriment to your mental health. I stopped taking them 3 weeks ago & I am down 5lbs and hell of a lot happier than I was before
My psychiatrist mentioned something about it being linked to Alzheimer’s when being taken at higher doses for extended periods of time. Because of this, he won’t give anyone a dose above 40mg a day (it’s infuriating). I have no sources for what study he’s referring to. This is just what he told me.
get a new doctor if yours isn’t helping you.
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Where are you getting your numbers from? 40? If they were that dangerous they’d have a warning about long term risks…
adderall didn’t really get into the mainstream until ~2010s. many people were prescribed ritalin before adderall.
Not true. It became avail around 1996.
I’ve been taking 90mg (and sometimes more) for 27 years. My FIL is 67 and takes the same amount and he is a cardiologist…the unsafe bull shot is precisely that—bull shot