re: Why is Adderall legal?

My insurance is the exact opposite. They made my wife use Adderall first because it's cheaper.

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See, because I actually need it, I don't understand the high some people get from it. Adderall is a downer for me, it puts my mood on the floor, I almost get depressed when I'm on it.

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That's how it's supposed to be for people that actually need it. It's so easy to get a prescription for it that it's just a speedball for most people

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First of all, teachers can't make their students get on meds. Secondly, try spending the entire day locked in a room with with your step nephew. Now add 32 more just like him! I have two words for that scenario - frick That! You are right though...it's the teachers fault. FWIW, I think that we over-prescribe as a society. That being said, for the card carrying ADD peeps, drugs like these are a gift from God.

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Nail on the head. Being prescribed stimulants for ADD/ADHD treatment requires input from the teacher, but also from a child psychologist who has observed and worked with the child personally, and then the pediatrician as well.

My son started on Vyvanse, but it made him lethargic and he had no appetite on it. Was also very emotional. We took him off of that pretty quickly and moved to Concerta (a long-acting variant of Ritalin). It made an immediate difference and did not produce the side effects that the Vyvanse did. We did eventually try Intuniv (one of the non-stimulants), but it was not terribly effective by itself. We are now using Kapvay (another non-stimulant) as we really want to limit the use of stimulants and it seems to do well at taking at least some of the edge off and puts things in a controllable area for him. The only times we use the Concerta now are when we know he will be in a situation where he needs the extra calming/focusing effect, i.e. standardized testing days and other similar instances. We have always avoided using any stimulant on the weekends, summer and spring breaks, etc to give his body time to just be normal and not constantly interfere with his growth. Since taking him off the Concerta and going strictly with the Kapvay we definitely have noticed an uptick on the growth rate.

Vyvanse has been a god send for me. I'm so productive with it my wife doesn't even want me to take it on the weekends because I'm so productive on it I won't sit down. There's no high for me or euphoria just clarity and quietness in my head to where I focus on the task at hand.

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That's what I was saying. Adderall is much cheaper

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Yep. Both made by the Shire group. Adderall went generic and they wanted to capitalize on the DEA crackdown on Addy abuse at the same time. Voila!
Vyvanse has several of th same active ingredients as Adderall but it's more difficult to abuse(can't easily half a powder in a capsule and it won't work snorted) and it's VERY similar to an Adderall XR.
Oh and it's about $240 a month for 30 without insurance versus $50-60 for 60 generic adderall 20mg.


To give perspective on how it's abused for fun:
All day tailgates are perfect fit for a Vyvanse 50-70mg about noon for a 6pm kick.
Then, on a random hungover day at work or if you're friends are going out on a Wednesday night and you're sluggish, you might indulge in half of an Addy 30mg at 5pm. Still be able to sleep by midnight.

I would never do such things. These are just examples.

Speed has been used by school kids for decades. I remember Dr's would prescribe so-called Diet Pills to girls and also thyroid pills so they could lose weight

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I remember Dr's would prescribe so-called Diet Pills to girls and also thyroid pills so they could lose weight

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Bingo. This was doled out to housewives and truckers since post war when Doctors realized pilots didn't die from daily doses of Amps.

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post like its 10 years ago?

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Good point. This is nothing new AT ALL. 20 years out ot college and it was popular then. My ex was in law school 15 years ago and they were abusing the shite out of it. The Student Infirmiry was beginning to crack down on the nearly automatic script for it to students.

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fortunately they are slowing starting to develop non narcotic ADHD medicine but like everything else Big Pharma hates to lose money. See weed still being schedule 1

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Starttera and Intuniv have been around for quite a while.

I had a script for Concerta back in college and felt depressed in the evenings and on the weekends when I was coming down off of it.

Quit taking it for several years because of the side effects and eventually paid for it.

Sought medical help as an adult because of the level of anxiety I was having from not being able to focus. It took several weeks but I no longer experience the anxiety I was having. I'm still impulsive at times but I can now manage my behavior.

If adults weren't so mentally weak, they wouldn't need to be prescribed Adderall to function or focus


ETA - what I'm saying is that you do not need pills to control how your mind works. You control what you think about, you control your thoughts and your actions. Having trouble focusing? Try harder. If that doesn't work, more persistence. Prescriptions shouldn't be necessary for adults to sit down and do the work that they're supposed to do

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If adults weren't so mentally weak, they wouldn't need to be prescribed Adderall to function or focus

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True, they would also never be depressed, get addicted to stuff, have anxiety, become paranoid, or have any other issues.

The brain is very complex, and I will never understand this cookie cutter mentality. We all experience and respond to things differently. The notion of "I don't feel that way so no one else should" is wrong.

Not every problem needs a pill to fix it, but it's sad that people are so quick to dismiss things that seriously effect others.