Hey guys... new to the forum. I was diagnosed with ADD in high school and like many people I quit taking the meds upon "adulthood" thinking it went away. Of course it didnt go away, i've just learned that after almost four years of failure at a community college due to inattention and procrastination.

I finally went to see a psychiatrist again, and he prescribed me 10 mg of adderall in the morning, 10 mg in the afternoon. After being on it a couple weeks now, I have been doing so much better! I have been taking it exactly as prescribed and everything. By the way, I am also on 300 mg Wellbutrin and 10 mg ambien (at night).

The only thing is I have been experiencing minor chest pains. They are really not pains though, more like little twinges or cramps. I got worried and went and had an EKG and everything was totally normal. My blood pressure was normal as well. The only thing that worries me though is that I was not on the adderall at the time of the EKG and what if that screwed up the readings? The other weird thing is even on days when I am not on adderall, the twinges and cramps are still there in my chest. Even though the doctor said my heart was totally normal, im still worried of course (and that probably makes it worse!)

I just wanted some reassurance to see if this happened to anyone else, and to see if what I am experiencing is normal. I dont want to hurt my body at all, I am very healthy and I want to stay that way!

Thanks!

It could be from a vasospasm.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasospasm

Stimulants are vasoconstrictors.

I get a type of vasospam at rest (not on stimulants). Which maybe
Prinzmetal's angina. Its very mild in my case but obviously noticable.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prinzmetal's_angina

Acetylcholine is normally release by the parasympathetic nervous system (PSNS) at rest, and causes dilation of the coronary arteries. While acetylcholine induces vasoconstriction of vascular smooth muscle cells through a direct mechanism, acetylcholine also stimulates endothelial cells to produce nitric oxide (NO)

In dysfunctional endothelium, less, or even no, NO is released by the endothelium upon stimulation with acetylcholine. Thus, acetylcholine released by the SNS at rest will simply cause contraction of the vascular smooth muscle. It is potentially by this mechanism that Prinzmetal's angina occurs.

Which means stimulants could cause the "vasoconstriction of vascular smooth muscle cells" and dysfunctional endothelium makes little are no nitric oxide to
relax the muscle cells.

Check these other thread where I talk about it:

http://www.addforums.com/forums/showthread.php?p=602325&highlight=Prinzmetal%27s+angina#post602325

http://www.addforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=53203&highlight=Prinzmetal%27s+angina

Personally I try to eat a few cloves of raw garlic daily(garlic pills might have the same action with less odor). I took pycnogenol 180 mg daily before I ran out. I've taken a few grams of l-arginine but some studies I read the other make me question its effectiveness(normal diet may supply ample).

1: Clin Exp Pharmacol Physiol. 2002 Jan-Feb;29(1-2):84-91.
Links
Garlic and its active metabolite allicin produce endothelium- and nitric oxide-dependent relaxation in rat pulmonary arteries.
Ku DD, Abdel-Razek TT, Dai J, Kim-Park S, Fallon MB, Abrams GA.

Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Alabama 35294, USA. DavidKu@UAB.EDU

1. The aims of the present study were to investigate the effects of fresh garlic and one of its active metabolites, allicin, on rat isolated pulmonary arteries (RPA). 2. In endothelium-intact and phenylephrine-precontracted RPA, the addition of a water or a 5% ethanol extract of fresh garlic (1-500 microg/mL) resulted in a dose-dependent relaxation reaching a maximum (mean +/- SEM) of -91 +/- 3 and -93 +/- 2%, respectively, with an ED(50) of 113 +/- 12 and 106 +/- 10 microg/mL, respectively. The vasorelaxation was readily reversible upon washing and no tachyphylaxis was noted. 3. An extract of the external garlic storage leaf produced a significantly greater relaxation than the inner stem. Microfiltration of extracts with a 10,000 molecular sieve did not attenuate relaxation. Inactivation of alliinase and allicin formation, with either boiling of the garlic clove for 30 min or 100% ethanol treatment, completely abolished relaxation. In contrast, similar treatment of crushed garlic with formed allicin retained the relaxation response. 4. Pure allicin produced a similar relaxation as garlic extract, with an EC(50) of approximately 0.8 microg/mL. Disruption of endothelium or N(G)-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester pretreatment attenuated the relaxation, whereas indomethacin had no effect. 5. Prior garlic (500 microg/mL) treatment enhanced acetylcholine relaxation by shifting the response curve to the left, but had no effect on nitric oxide (NO) donor-induced responses. 6. These results demonstrate that garlic and the active metabolite allicin are capable of eliciting a NO-dependent relaxation in RPA and that this response is likely to be mediated via garlic activation of NO formation rather than its stabilization.

PMID: 11906464 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Vasoconstriction from phenylephrine(a drug with a stimulant like action on the body) was reduced with garlic. Note it mentions cooking destroyed the efficay of garlic.

Hi Junebug!

Theta has given some very complete and excellent information above about possible issues you could be experiencing. I am also on Adderall, and when I started with 10 mg in the AM, the first day was great! The second and third day, though, I had severe chest pains. I cut back to 5 mg, then to 2.5, then titrated back up. I'm currently on 10 mg 2x a day, 5 mg in the PM, no chest pains.

Here is what I found helped me:


Stress always gave me a tight feeling in my chest and a sick tummy. I realized the 10 mg Adderall when I was starting out was right as I was working on a very stressful work project. I waited till that project was over befroe trying to increase the dose.
I took an EKG while ON the Adderall 5 mg. That came out completely normal, as did my blood pressure. My mother has heart problems, so I was very worried about the palpitations and chest pain, but the exam made me feel a lot better.
In my opinion, you should take another EKG, just to be safe, and talk with your doctor about changing your dose and adding on smaller increments of meds. If there is something wrong, you want it found so you can treat it. If there is nothing, you want that found so you feel calmer and don't worry. You might also want to think about finding things that help you relax, such as yoga, meditation, long walks, warm baths, etc.

I found my anxiety decreased overall once I started the medications, but the energy increase was hard to deal with, and I overexerted myself! I feel better now after being on a stable dose for about a month or so.

I hope that helps!