I just started taking Adderall last week. A couple of nights I've had a drink or two, nothing too crazy, and I feel drunk after just a little alcohol! Most things I've read about Adderall say the effects of alcohol seem LESSENED while taking it. Anyone else feel it backwards like I do?
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Washington, D.C.
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Re: Alcohol & Adderall?
Wed, April 25, 2007 - 10:54 AMYes.
"Most things I've read about Adderall say the effects of alcohol seem LESSENED while taking it." I would say you are reading the wrong things. Adderall is an amphetamine, like speed, street wisdom tells one not to mix the two. Something I learned the hard way. Careful reading of the product insert (from the manufacturer, not the pharmacy where you got the medication) will reveal that alcohol effects how the body deals with the medication - basically it prevents absorption, and flushes it out of your body leading to instant withdraw plus all the normal effects of alcohol. Oh yes, one other thing amphetamines increases one's sensitive to stimulation - alcohol is a downer, amphetamines make one more sensitive to the downing effects of the alcohol - thus the street wisdom that one doesn't mix the two.
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Re: Alcohol & Adderall?
Wed, April 25, 2007 - 2:30 PMbad, mkay.
even if it won't kill you, it's just not a good idea to mix drugs. if you take your adderall for a good reason, what purpose does drinking alcohol, regardless of amount (since it is a drug) serve in your treatment of ADD? even a glass of wine or a beer, etc. it's just smarter to avoid the combo, and not view it as getting twice the bang. -
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Re: Alcohol & Adderall?
Wed, April 25, 2007 - 8:06 PMWell I'm in the wine biz, so I will definitely be drinking wine. I don't think I like this Adderall, though. It makes me feel kind of spacy all the time. Ritalin lost its effectiveness, so my doc gave this a try.
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Re: Alcohol & Adderall?
Wed, April 25, 2007 - 8:18 PMSo then what about Ritalin? Are you not supposed to drink with Ritalin? I don't think I was ever told that & I never noticed any weird effect. -
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Re: Alcohol & Adderall?
Thu, April 26, 2007 - 7:25 AMIf you are having an unpleasant time with the adderall anyway, talk to your doctor about trying something else.
Ritalin is another amphetamine based drug so one can have the same problems. But it is a different drug, so the interactions can be different.
"Are you not supposed to drink with Ritalin?" Truthfully, you are not supposed to drink with any of them. However if one is careful and limits the amount one drinks on can get away it occassionally. My problem with drinking while taking dexedrine (similar to adderall) was that 1 drink was like 5 or 6 drinks when I wasn't taking the medication, and that I would become severely depressed. Also, I would have these problems with drinking for up to 3-4 days after I stopped taking the medication.
BTW: Both ritalin and adderall effect, to different extents, norepinephrine and dopamine levels in the brain. Some people respond well to only ritalin, others only to adderall and some people can use both. To complicate matters, when one becomes tolerant to one, there is a good chance of one becoming tolerant to both - because they work in a similar manner. Unfortunately, the only way to know is to try them. -
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Re: Alcohol & Adderall?
Thu, April 26, 2007 - 10:14 AMI'd like to try Strattera. As soon as I get my new insurance that's the plan. My doc said it's really expensive, so we tried Adderall first. -
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Re: Alcohol & Adderall?
Thu, April 26, 2007 - 4:45 PMHave you ever tried anti-depressents? I'm not suggesting that you try them, just wondering because strattera effects both seritonin and norepinephrine. If you have problems with anti-depreesents you need to be alert to possible problems with strattera.
Outside that issue and its more common problems, strattera probably is a better choice for you than adderall (based on what you have said). -
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Re: Alcohol & Adderall?
Thu, April 26, 2007 - 8:45 PMYes, I've taken many a SSRI, but from what I have read, Strattera does not produce the particular side effects that made me stop taking SSRI's. I know it has some of its own, but I'll give it a try. -
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Re: Alcohol & Adderall?
Thu, April 26, 2007 - 11:36 PMIn the very fine print Eli Lily reveals that Strattera is an SSNRI (often just written as SNRI to make things confusing). SSNRI = Select seritonin norepiniphrine re-uptake inhibitor. To be, fair Strattera is much more effective at regulating norepiniphrine than seritonin but if does effect both.
Strattera is very closely related to Prozac, see the following links for the structures of both:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prozac
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strattera
I'm not saying you'll have a problem with Strattera, just that you should be aware of the possibility of them.
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Re: Alcohol & Adderall?
Thu, April 26, 2007 - 1:32 AMWorst of all is if it DOES lessen the effects of the alcohol (does for me); that usually leads to drinking MORE alcohol, as it will do with almost any amphetamine, which often leads to taking more (exceeding standard dose) of the stimulant, which leads to more drinking, can you see where this is going? It ends with your hands covered with ink in a booking room, and that's one of the less onerous outcomes. -
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Re: Alcohol & Adderall?
Thu, April 26, 2007 - 6:56 AMHaha... I'm really not much of a drinker at all, but I do like to have a glass of wine occasionally.
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Re: Alcohol & Adderall?
Thu, April 26, 2007 - 7:29 AMJohn, I've heard of a few others that react like you do (most of those being alcoholic tweakers). Most stories I've heard are of people who react like Samantha and I. -
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Re: Alcohol & Adderall?
Mon, April 30, 2007 - 8:17 AMWell I was a tweaker in the 80s, after my pharmaceutical connection OD'd on his own qualuudes and before I figured out I'd been self-medicating for ADD, but I was sober for 5 years, then 'normal' for another five before finally finding out about the ADD and being introduced to the concept of a 'therapeutic dose'. But I never really did drink alcoholically, though I often drank a lot throughout the day. What I mean is, I never got in any trouble from alcohol, no DUIs, no arrests, etc. It was strictly street drugs that brought me into AA for those 5 years.
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Re: Alcohol & Adderall?
Mon, December 24, 2007 - 9:18 AMi've sipped some red wine at the end of the day since I started on Adderall and I find that I need less wine to feel "chilled out" and so on ...
