So I was recently diagnosed with ADHD (because the clinical depression totally wasn't enough to deal with on its own), and was prescribed Adderall. Has anyone else taken it or is otherwise familiar enough with it to tell me anything about what I should look out for?
I take Concerta, not Adderall, but this should apply to stimulant ADHD meds in general: They might give you a racing heart sometimes. This is pretty normal! If you feel poorly otherwise take note and rest as needed, but the racing heart in and of itself isn't a bad sign, even if it's kinda freaky. Taking them with or shortly before some sort of food, even if it's just a bit of juice or milk, can be a really good idea. I've given myself some really bad stomachaches by taking my meds when I wasn't going to have breakfast any time soon. They will probably suppress your appetite, so remember to eat! Even if you'd welcome weight loss, not-eating isn't a great way to go about it. If you get regular exercise that's good, but if you're like me and tend to fall into "What body, I'm just a floating head" mode and not move around much, it's a good idea to get exercise on the days you take your medication if you can. I notice it kind of... distributes better? if I get some moving around, whereas if I'm doing the 'body what body' thing I end up getting a bad headache halfway through the day. Check in with your breathing every so often and make sure you're breathing normally - stimulants can suppress breathing to some extent. It's not enough to be dangerous, but it will affect how well you feel (which, come to think of it, is probably why the exercise helps). One thing I totally didn't realize until I saw someone else mention it, but made a lot of sense in retrospect - what you're focusing on/the kind of mood you're in when your medication kicks in will have a big effect on what you'll end up focusing on throughout the day. So like, if you're constantly reloading tumblr when your medication kicks in, you're likely to be really focused on fucking around online... for the entire day. If you're in some kind of getting-things-done mode when it kicks in, though, you're likely to stay focused on the getting-things-done. I'm pretty sure Adderall is a take-as-needed kind of thing, so your doctor probably has mentioned you should take days off of the medication to prevent tolerance. This is true and necessary! Depending on how you react to them, you may not even want to take them five days a week with two days off, but more like M-W-F with Tuesday, Thursday and weekends off, or M-T-Th-F with Wednesdays and weekends off, or whatever. On the flipside, don't skip them too often - I've noticed my mood really takes a nosedive if I keep not taking my ADHD meds because I woke up late or didn't have breakfast to eat or I need to refill my prescription or whatever. If you travel to a different country, make sure you know the rules and regulations before you bring your meds with you. In some places stimulant meds are flat-out illegal.
I don't recall the psychiatrist saying anything about skipping days. Just "once a day in the morning for one week, then twice a day every day afterward". He did mention that he was putting me on a relatively low dose (I think ten milligrams?) to start with, though, so that might be why.
