I used to be an avid wine drinker...love red wine. Im kinda not sure if I should drink any on the adderall....anyone drink a few glasses on this stuff? I have only been on two days so I dont know if there are effects of drinking a glass of wine with this med.

I've been on Adderall instant release for about 15 months now, and I have found that my alcohol intake has gone way, way down. Before being diagnosed, I would have 2-3 drinks per day (usually beer, bourbon or scotch). After starting Adderall, I really only had a single beer every Friday night, without consciously thinking about cutting down on the alcohol. I also inexplicably stopped destroying my finger nails -- a habit that I have had for more than 30 years...

As for the effect of alcohol while taking Adderall: I don't think that normal, moderate drinking is going to be a problem -- though I'd love to hear what others say. I know that my doc (both general and psych) think that I have two drinks a day and think that that is fine. As I said, I actually drink quite a bit less.

One thing that I do think you might want to keep an eye on is that Adderall, like coffee, will tend to blunt the feeling of intoxication from alcohol. So, you might actually have to keep a bit of an eye on yourself so that you don't end up having that extra glass of wine (or three) without realizing that it actually does have an effect. In fact, that's why some people take Adderall before hitting the bars -- it helps them stay out longer.

I don't really feel the need for alcohol when I am on adderal, generally. If I go out I try to get a glass of wine, not liquor, though; if I have a strong drink and down it fast it feels like I've had my head smashed with a brick, I can feel the effects about ten times as much.

Adderal is kind of hard on your body and your liver, so you should be cautious and probably not make drinking a regular thing, especially not large amounts.

Thanks to both of you, these posts are very interesting to me because even when I posted last night I was feeling like maybe having a glass of wine (I usually have one every night maybe up to 3 or four glasses) but I never did have a drink. I have noticed a huge decrease in my craving for the drinks...I never considered my moderate drinking of wine a problem since most of my family is Italian lol....but its surely noticeable that I havent had a drink or even a sip of wine in now 3 days. I was mainly wondering about social drinking, as when out with friends for dinner and whatnot....thanks so much to both of you for the info. Captain...I really hate all the bad effects on the liver of all my meds in the past and would never go crazy on the drinking just for that reason alone..I always think about my poor liver lol :-( TY AGAIN!

I'm on Adderall XR and it really dries me up. I have dry mouth and I have to drink lots of water all day on Adderall. That day I started drinking and in about 4 hours of drinking (2 beers and 2 glasses of red wine), I was done. I got home and had a HUGE headache... The feeling I had was like the morning after with a bad wine hang over. I rehydrated myself, took 4 advils and was fine in about 2.5 hours. So I'm guessing if I want to drink like I used to one night, I'm going to have to skip the Adderall for that day.

demoez....it dries me out totally as well...constant dry mouth. I will keep that in mind also....;)

I'm on adderall 30mg XR now, and it has drastically reduced my tolerance for alcohol. Two beers feel like at least six. Same thing happened to me while on Concerata years ago. I don't know why the adhd meds do this for me.

I played guitar in a working band for several years and did my fair share of lines. My experience mixing coke with alcohol was the exact opposite, as in instant perceived sobriety afterwards. Maybe differences in environment and adrenaline have a significant effect?

98th....thanks for the input. I still havent even had any desire to drink anything now in 4 days (which is NOT my norm lol) and I don't plan on doing anymore coke anytime soon - my life was pretty chaotic when I did it in the past so it fit in well lol... ;-)

I also noticed a reduction in desire to drink alcohol while taking adderall.

Personally I try to avoid alcohol within ~4 hours of taking my last dose.

BobC

PS. The standard warning:
Drinking in excess can be very dangerous with amphetamines. Amphetmines counter many of the effects of alcohol. Also amphetamines have a shorter duration then alcohol. It is possible to drink more then normal without feeling the effects. Then pass out and die as the amphetamine fade.

My doctor told me that no more than 2 drinks a day, about 4 or 5 days a week, was fine. I was having far more than that before the Adderall, I guess a form of self medication for the anxiety I felt.

Since going on it (IR), I find my desire for it is less, and I don't notice the effects of alcohol as much when I am on it. I am very careful because of this: as bobc mentioned, it can be dangerous because you don't recognize how much you are drinking.

I took XR for a short time, and did not drink AT ALL. I was never quite sure when it was out of my system, and so i got very nervous about it. WIth IR, I feel like I am okay if I skip my 5 PM dose of 5 mg. Then I can have a Guinness and watch the Red Sox. :)

charley.gardel, I am still destroying my nails and cuticles...if you ever figure out the secret to stopping, would you let me know?

Hey thanks everyone who has replied, I have not had but only ONE glass of wine since Adderall XR which is WAYYYY LOWER than my normal and I didn't even enjoy that. I find this to be a very interesting aspect of my medication and I think I may have surely been self medicating. This is great - I am so glad and now I know that this is at least working for me to some degree ;-)