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Nate Jones
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Member Since: Sep 2018
Location: Salem, OR
Posts: 7
5 yr Member
Default Sep 30, 2018 at 10:47 AM
 
Both myself and my daughters have diagnosed ADHD and we are all on Adderall. I'm fairly severe, and need to take 60mg per dosage, up to three times per day.

Neither myself or my kids have withdrawal, cravings or experience any sensations of euphoria as a neurotypical brain physiology would. The only side effect we have, was when first taking them having some stomach issues for about 1-2 weeks and then if we don't take them (usually because we forget and don't have cravings) we get sleepy feeling, due to the dopamine uptake being deprived of the higher levels it was getting and thus it thinks you are trying to sleep or super bored.

Now with all that said, ADHDers are dopamine seeking. We crave various feel good foods and activities that excite us. This is why ADHDers can develop bad eating habits, become thrill seekers, are often hyper-sexual or develop addictive habits around certain activities or self-medicating through drug/alcohol abuse. So, if the cravings are feel good food for him, then it could be dopamine his brain is after as the meds are working through his system. If he does have ADHD, the dosage could be to low. When both me and my children (different doctors btw) diagnosed us, they titrated the medication. You start at 10mg on day one, then go up 10 mg each day. Once you get to a dosage that feels like you drank to much coffee (where your nerves have the shakes), you step back down 10mg. Then that is taken as many times a day as you need based on when it burns out of your system (usually 6-8 hours) and how long you are awake and need to function. Typically, standard Adderall someone would take twice a day. If you work long days, you might need it 3 times a day. Extended release some one might only need to take once per day.

It should be noted, different medications react to different brain chemistry. You may need to try a verity of stimulants and dosages until you find the one that doesn't make him feel "off" or have extreme side-effects.

Likewise, bi-polar disorder and ADHD have very similar symptoms and get misdiagnosed for one another due to primary care doctors not understanding how properly screen or treat these conditions. You want a psychiatrist or neurologist who specializes in atypical brain conditions and understands the latest research on ADHD and executive function disorders. Watch lectures on youtube.com by Dr. Russell Barkley to get up to speed. He is the leading world expert for ADHD. Essential information for ADHDers and their loved ones to have.

One more thing, ADHD is reactive to external stimuli (i.e. events and interactions with people around the ADHDer causes them to get distracted or overreact or have an outburst), while bi-polar is based on internal cycles that shift between manic and depressed states and are not altered by external stimulus. The ADHDer will also hyperfocus on things that highly interest them, while having to focus on something that doesn't interest them will be maddening trying to get them to stay engaged. Bi-polar doesn't constantly seek dopamine like that, but instead goes into highs and stays high until it cycles into the lows and then stays low.

If your child seems to behave like the bi-polar description, stimulants won't work for them and you shouldn't up the dosage but find another doctor and get on mood inhibitors as the doctor deems best.

Good luck!
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