Hi there. I'm new here. I had/have ran across your forum several times over the last week as I've been researching Adderall XL and realize after reading some of your posts that you may be able to help me (and maybe the reverse in time).

I am a 35 year old female just recently diagnosed with ADHD and my dr put me on short release Adderall. These seemed to work fine except when they started to wear off (5-6hrs later) my personality seemed to fluxiate some days I was fine other days I had no patience, anger, etc. I did some research and found out this was called "rebound reaction". Basically I was coming down from the meds. So I saw my dr and we decided to put me on Adderall XL because from what I found the key was to not have to come down until night time when I was least likely to be around anyone.

The XL seemed to be working ok, I was taking 20mg. I felt that I needed just a little bit more and I'd be fine but then IT happened.

A few days after starting I smelled something burning. It smelled like a campfire. I searched around my bedroom trying to figure out what was burning ... nothing. The next day I noticed it again at work. It was so strong I thought maybe what I smelled the night before was because something was burning at work and it was in my hair. Nothing was burning at work. That night I'm in bed again and I SWEAR I'm in a burning bed. I realize we had the electrician over the weekend before, maybe something he did was causing a slow burn somewhere. I get out the ladder and look into the attic. Nope, nothing smells funny there. I call the kids into my room, "do you smell anything?", "nope". Hummmmm. Something is fishy here.

So I emailed my sister who is in mental health and she said this was called "Olfactory hallucinations" and some medications can cause them. So I called my dr and he is out of town but his partner tells me to stop the stuff ASAP. So now I'm worried. What bugs me the most is that this stuff seemed to be working if I didn't start smelling things. And the more research I do, it looks like these smelling side effects can happen on most of the meds for ADHD. So I'm feeling like I don't have a lot of options for relief WITHOUT the burning smell.

So I see my dr tomorrow and wonder (the whole point of this point), is it abnormal to have something like this happen? I would love to hear if anyone can relate, I know it will make me feel better.

Thanks so much!
Gillianerinn

I'm taking 80mg regular release Adderall and can relate, except I don't smell something burning, I just occasionally smell ANYTHING much more strongly. Mainly candles, room fresheners, anything that already has a fairly aggressive scent but is normally much more subtle.

It drives me CRAZY when it happens but it occurs only very randomly for me.

I had the same reaction as you the first couple times and searched ALL OVER the house for the repugnant source of stench that seemed to be glued to the inside of my nostrils every time I entered the house. It turned out to be the vanilla room freshener in the guest bathroom that had ALWAYS been there. Well, maybe not ALWAYS, but you get the picture. ;)

I would mention it to your doc, follow his advice on the matter, mine said not to worry about it as it doesn't happen to me all the time.

I think what it boils down to is amphetamines can heighten all our senses above and beyond what we're used to. In fact, sometimes I could swear the cat's brushed against my leg, but it was just the breeze from the A/C coming on.

Epileptics often claim to "smell" things before seizures. Maybe you should stay away from stimulants because you might have just uncovered a pre-existing problem. I mean if it happened once i'd just say its a random hallucination but if it happens twice...theres something weird going on.