Last night I experienced an overdose of Adderall XR, which was totally my fault, and spent hours trying to find help online regarding whether or not I was actually "overdosing". I'm posting this in an attempt to help others learn from my very stupid mistake.

Let me start out by saying I had taken Adderall before out of curiosity though it had been a while, so please don't assume you are immune to putting yourself in serious danger just because you've taken it before.

Anyway, I got my hands on about six, 20mg Adderall XR. Last night at around 7pm, I took two and was surprised to not feel a thing after a while (like I had remembered from the past). About an hour-and-a-half after the first two doses, I took three more with the ignorant assumption that if two was doing nothing, three more will probably just get it started.

Another 90 minutes after I took the next three doses I began feeling a slight effect. Extremely disappointed I decided, what the hell, just take the other two. All together, I took 180mg of that stuff. From what i've read of people who use it "for fun" on a regular basis that isn't "a lot", but to the standards of those curious it is FAR too much. As I later realized my past experience with Adderall was just that - Adderall, not Adderall XR.

Over the course of the next 24 hours I went through complete hell. I should point out once again that this was 180mg, and i'm a big guy but a healthy guy. Here's what I started experiencing:



Panic attack after panic attack.
Irregular heartbeats, ranging from very fast to very slow, constantly.
An overwhelming sense of loss of control of everything around me.
Extreme paranoia.
Throat swelling
Tongue swelling
Dry mouth
Hot flashes with sweating.
Cold flashes with sweating.
Hard to breathe.
Random numbness at all parts of my body.
An overwhelming desire to want to sleep, but fear of doing just that.
Shivering.
Twitching.
Bad repercussions from trying to smoke a cigarette. Made my heart worse!

The list goes on and on. The worst of it lasted a good twelve hours. I spent the first six hours, as I said, online trying to find reassurance that I was going to be okay and rightfully found none. Once I hit hour seven I began to realize that this feeling was not subsiding and only getting worse every minute. I did not want to call 911 because I was so embarrassed, but I was by myself and had no choice. By the time the ambulance arrived I was white and blue.

The paramedics checked my blood pressure. It was very high. My heart rate was over 200bpm. The paramedics wasted no time sticking me in the ambulance and making me lie down, telling me I was not allowed to go to sleep. Worst ride ever. Once I got there, I was pumped with some kind of substance that I'm assuming was to help slow my heart rate and had the very pleasant experience (sarcasm, obviously) of having my stomach pumped. After a long lecture, well deserved, I got to come home about twelve or so hours ago.

Though my stomach was pumped, I still as of right now, have a very unpleasant feeling in my chest. I feel like crap. My body is exhausted and i'm unable to sleep. The doctor told me had I not called 911 at all it was pretty likely I would have suffered a heart attack or stroke. Talk about a reality check.

I never experience with drugs "for fun". This Adderall XR stint was simply a "retry" of something I had done a long time ago. Obviously I didn't get the same results.

So, please, if you want to play with that drug: DON'T. As I said I took my first dose last night at 7pm. It is now 11:30pm of the next night. I have been awake since yesterday morning and still cannot sleep, my heart is still beating oddly but not in an alarming way, and my throat is extremely sore. Although I don't feel like a certain death is on it's way anymore thanks to the paramedics and the doctor, I still feel the repercussions of the stupid mistake I made and I urge anyone curious to just back away. This is a very dangerous drug and you should not underestimate it. Unless you are prescribed to it, leave it alone, and if you feel the way I described earlier as you are reading this - CALL 911.

good post, im glad you were ok.

I applaud your honesty. At first my thought was why admit this on a board that might not take that the way you intended. But then i finished reading your post, thanks for sharing. I have found myself taking an extra dose here or there, and once i have some effects you did. I work 20 hour days some times..i thought an extra dose would help... not in all cases i suppose.

good post, im glad you were ok.

I applaud your honesty. At first my thought was why admit this on a board that might not take that the way you intended. But then i finished reading your post, thanks for sharing. I have found myself taking an extra dose here or there, and once i have some effects you did. I work 20 hour days some times..i thought an extra dose would help... not in all cases i suppose.

Thanks. Yeah, keep in mind, too, though, that I don't take any medications on a regular basis. I was just assuming that since I didn't feel automatic results from the drug taking more wouldn't harm me. Big mistake, obviously. I actually wrote a quick note about five or six hours in and posted it right by where I was sitting that said in very bad hand writing "If i'm dead, I overdosed on adderall". Scariest thing to have to do. Looking back I don't understand why I didn't call 911 sooner but I assume it was an extreme sense of denial. I knew I wasn't "okay" but I refused to accept that I would actually die.

Never touching that stuff AGAIN!

As much as I hate to ask, has anyone taken anything to help the symptoms of the "coming down" that I'm still feeling over 24 hours later? I have over-the-counter sleeping pills as well as Soma's. Are either of those if i might still have adderall lingering in my system?

You must have a pre existing heart condition for 120MGs spread out over 24 hours to induce that sort of tachyardia.

You must have a pre existing heart condition for 120MGs spread out over 24 hours to induce that sort of tachyardia.

The doctor mentioned to me that 120mg's having the kind of effect on me that it did suggested that, too. I told him I was a heavy smoker (a pack a day) and he said that might have something to do with it. He also said everybody reacts differently to drugs and that it could be anything.

Fortunately i'll never have to find out because i'm not touching that stuff anymore.

Ok, first THANK YOU for posting this.

I haven't even read the replies.
I got half way through your post .. to the point where you said you got COLD and tired ... and I thought I hope to God he called 911. I finished reading and was very happy to see you did!

I JUST watch an episode of 'Dr G Medical Examiner' in which a man died from something similar ... that was the end all, the man had gotten in the bath tub to 'warm up' because he got a cold sweat and suffered a heart attack in the bath tub.

I have had that ambulance ride ... on my prescribed dose of ritalin ... it was my first week taking it and for weeks prior I had been taking ephedrine (self-medicating) I told my doctor I was taking that and of course stopped as soon as I began the ritalin... what my Doc didn't know and the ER told me is that ephedrine stays in your fat cells for up to two weeks after stopping and that I should have been clean from that before taking ritalin ... this happened to me on my third day of taking ritalin.

I've had panic attacks and know to stay calm but my body was doing it's own thing. My BP was through the roof when they got to me and my heart rate was about 170 ... I was experiencing hypertension ... clenched fists and jaw (I could barely talk to them). I got an IV of fluids and Lorazapan and 'nap' in the ER for about 4 hours.

You scared the crap out of me with your comment on yours being over 200 ... I'll never forget what they said to me ...
'If your not working out and at total rest, your in trouble once your heart rate goes over 180' ... once it hits the rate you where at, essentially your heart can't slow itself down.

I am so glad you called! Forget being embarrassed!!

So, the only thing I will add is even if you are on your prescribed dose and feel really 'wrong' or sick, BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY!

The doctor mentioned to me that 120mg's having the kind of effect on me that it did suggested that, too. I told him I was a heavy smoker (a pack a day) and he said that might have something to do with it. He also said everybody reacts differently to drugs and that it could be anything.

Fortunately i'll never have to find out because i'm not touching that stuff anymore.

Yep, obviously everyone reacts differently ... they say I have healthy heart and I was on my dosage.

Oh and let me add ... (aside from my experience above on my 'normal' dose) Soooo many things come into play ... here's my list:

- I still had ephedrine in my system
- I had gone out the night before and drank quite a bit ... (so, dehydration, and all the other lovely effects of alcohol)
- I was smoking back then, and a lot when I went out for drinks
- I had not eaten at all that day (it was 5pm)
- As soon as I started feeling 'weird' I tried to eat something and drank a beer ... stupid you may say but I thought it would bring it down ... and for someone who wasn't eating on a regular basis that alone, oddly, can immediately raise you heart rate and body temp (whole other issue there)

As you can see I had JUST been diagnosed and was getting all kinds of bad 'coping mechanisms' under wraps. I did not see all these things at the time ... writing them down, I think wow, I sounded like a mess!
But nobody around me was the wiser ...

So, I suppose my point is that there are SO many extenuating circumstances that you may not even realize or see ... It's never happened again to me but I pay close attention to how everything interacts ... smoking, drinking, caffeine, supplements, diet, sleep ... on and on.

Again good reminder & good post ;)

I was an amphetamine addict before and I experienced severe episodes like this, quite a few of them actually. I even got them on doses as low as 20mg, in the later stages of my addiction (past the 1 year mark).

After an episode where I felt my heart changing rthyms (but not to the extent that the OP writes), I went to the doc's office the next day. It's a family doctor so I didn't feel right explaining what I did. I just said I was experiencing panic episodes, etc.

I was seriously worried something was wrong with my heart. Well they did an ECG and found that my heart was working just fine. I was *shocked.* I couldn't believe it was normal.

I'm no medical expert but this is my opinion: I actually think that these episodes are more about amphetamine-induced paranoia WITH panic attacks (which cause heart attack symptoms for many people). Your body releases a massive amount of cortisol when this happens, along with many other changes.

(However in the OP's case, the high blood pressure probably has more to do with the high dose of amphetamines than the psychomatic effects and he was right to seek medical attention.)

And of course a warning to you all, these drugs are not anything to fool around with, my addiction was causing life threatening symptoms and I was so "out-of-whack" by that point, that I decided to keep using anyway.. one example of the insanity you can get from this addiction.

I'm on 120 mlgrams a day.
....and I hardly feel it.

I was a street speed freak for many years..

I thought if I dropped dead, if you put a shard in my mouth I'd stand up and walk.
....that's why I did'nt see why, suddenly when I turned 40, I'd eat a big capsule full of speed, and
my left arm would go numb, so, I could'nt draw, I'd get tunnel vision, like it was dark in my parifial,
....my hands were ALWAYS FREEZING COLD.
I used to keep one hand behind my back, in my pants to warm it up.
...I felt dead to touch.

BUT, I DID NOT EVER GUESS IT WAS THE METH THAT WAS MAKING ME LIE DOWN!!
....SO, I'd lay on the bed, head hanging off the bed upside down to get blood in my brain, and put my feet up the wall....

my cat knew when i was trying to calm myself.
....he'd jump on the bed, and try to drop my blood pressure, purring, and presenting himself for petting.
listen to pink floyd.
.......and talk myself out of a stroke.................for about four hours....

"you are gonna be just fine suzie, no brain bubbles can get me will my head upside down"

then I'd get up, feel ok...
....take another capsule of speed, and go lay down.

I could 'nt grasp it was SPEED making me lie down, at all.

my blood pressure was 185/90 ...I finally went to a quack, got BP pills, and kept doing speed.
...by the time I found out I was ADD, I had stripped my amphetamine screws.

my cat knew when i was trying to calm myself.
....he'd jump on the bed, and try to drop my blood pressure, purring, and presenting himself for petting.
listen to pink floyd.
.......and talk myself out of a stroke.................for about four hours....

"you are gonna be just fine suzie, no brain bubbles can get me will my head upside down"

then I'd get up, feel ok...
....take another capsule of speed, and go lay down.


That's an excellent example of what tweaking can do to a person. I would feel like I was close to getting a heart attack (there were a few extremely scary episodes I had, which I believe caused a mild PTSD that I still have), I would be panicking and try to "talk myself out of it" for hours on end, and wait for the scary symptoms to go away.

And then I'd go ahead and use speed again, the next night. Once you're all whacked out, your thinking becomes slightly psychotic in the longterm, and you become dangerous to yourself and others.

...IT WAS MY BEST FRIEND FOR 20 YEARS.
I just could'nt BELIEVE she turned on me!

I jumped thru hoops like a trick poodle, I was loyal to my drug.
......and in the past, I got to feel fantasic, radient, focused, I could'nt draw without it.
now it was making my left arm go numb.
..the one I write with.

*sigh*

....I got screwed by the same con artist that got robert downey jr and eddie van halen
they just had better karma.

LOL!

...my meds wore off. *smiles*

my blood pressure was 185/90 ...I finally went to a quack, got BP pills, and kept doing speed.
...by the time I found out I was ADD, I had stripped my amphetamine screws. Jesus Christ. BP of 185/90, and people with pulse rates of 200!!! I thought my normal BP, and quick pulse were worrying.
This is seriously MKD-UP.
I had a similiar experience using powered amphetamines, a few times, but my pulse was 120bpm at highest and no high BP, just anxiety and the worst dehyrdation in the world! With arthimia, and depression, they said I was fine but I thought I would die.
Also had panic attacks because of it, I no longer use those amphetamines as I can't tell the dose, there's zero control with those white powders.
My brother has said that last time he was in hospital recgarding drugs his pulse was 160bpm!!! I thought that was insane.

I was seeing dead relatives, everything sounded shrill, tunnel vision, wheem wheem wheem noises.....like a little helicopter?? lol!
..my arm was numb, my hands were freezing.....I would'nt recommend it.

Well no, amphetamine hallucinations are not nice.

Im glad you made it through your scary episode. I really appreciate the post. If I ever manage to get diagnosed it would be tempting to abuse my meds. I don't think after reading the above that is as likely a possibility.