I’m concerned with the long term effects of ADHD medication. Has anyone had any side effects or been given any tips to counteract potential negative effects? Am I just being paranoid?

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Fellow ADHD associate checking in! I’ve been on medication since I was diagnosed at 13. Per my doctor’s advice, I take the lowest dosage that works for me & only as needed (i.e workdays). I’ve been on 10mg Adderral ER (the lowest dose) for severalll years now & haven’t developed a tolerance. Unless you have specific concerns/pre-existing conditions, I would encourage you to try a starter dose of medication (under your doctor’s guidance, of course) if you think you need the help. Personally, I couldn’t keep up with my litigation practice without it - way too many deadlines to manage, etc.

I’ve never had any notable side effects, but I do have a few tips I find help the medication work better. Get a decent amount of sleep, drink plenty of water & eat a protein-rich breakfast before or shortly after taking your medicine. Since recent research suggests that ADHD may be linked to dopamine pathways, I’ve dabbled with taking over the counter supplements intended to work alongside stimulant meds & boost the building blocks used to produce dopamine. Those seemed to help a bit, but it may have been a placebo effect and it wasn’t quite enough to justify the cost IMO.

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Im on 25mg extended and 10mg instant as needed. I recently switched to just taking the 10mg instant so I could eat and sleep better. I definitely need a lower dose of XR. Thankfully I haven’t built up too much of a tolerance

I don't take meds daily, only when I need and extra boost of focus. I don't build a tolerance to them for this reason, so the same meds and dosage have worked for me for years.

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I take breaks on the weekends but find when I try to take a break mid week I throw off my entire productivity

GREAT question! Thank you for posting. 🙌🏼

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I’ve been on for 15 years, was able to go to a lower dose by taking it daily (doctor’s advice) as well as dropping IR. Tolerance is addict language and isn’t something those taking it for its intended use, as medically needed, have to be concerned about.

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I do know it ages our organs at a faster rate. Ever since I started taking it, I began having stomach problems and pretty bad anxiety. I try to only take it when I really need to focus so I don’t build a tolerance. 7 years on it, and I’ve kept my dose at 10mg 🙏🏼

Also, my friend who is a phd and did research on adderal said the long term effects are already known by big pharma, they just don’t want to share this info with the public because it will mess with their pockets.

It literally kills brain cells :( try to keep the dose as low as possible, and eat very healthy!

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Yes! I also wake up and force myself to have a protein shake or a healthy breakfast before I take the medication. I’m not always consistent, but as long as we’re aware and try to be better, that’s what’s important.

I also started forcing myself to go on a walk after work and it helps with the crash. I crashed pretty bad today and have an adderal headache atm 🤪🤪🤪 tomorrow will be better

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Being medicated for ADHD actually reduces many risks. You should do more research, as should many of these responders. Yes, there is a risk of side effects, but those affect everyone differently and you could experience nothing. I have some dry mouth at times from mine. That’s literally it. The great thing about stimulants is that if you don’t like them, you can just stop them. There’s really no harm in trying them.

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There is a risk of incident psychosis. Not in many cases and the data is varied based on the main ingredient. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39262211/

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I was on 90mg Adderall IR/day for 10 years and was anxious and neurotic like others mentioned. Switched to 18.8mg Adzenys and 0.2mg Clonidine (non-stim) and no side effects whatsoever.

I take it every day, no breaks. I felt like days I used to take breaks led to more side effects in the past. Brains like stability 😉

90mg! Wow. Is adzenys stronger per mg to be able to have similar effects as your 90mg dose?

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