I know that one of the side effects of Addy is weight loss...but is it possible that for some people they *gain* weight? I am also on an AD - Zoloft (for panic disorder) and take 20mgXR + 10mgIR to boost in the afternoon.

My sister is diagnosed with ADD (I have ADHD) and after taking Adderall for awhile she lost weight as it suppressed her appetite. I feel as if Adderall suppresses my appetite a little bit but not really - I still eat normal amounts and regularly.

I am (or was) a thin girl, and I realize aging will slow down the metabolism (I'm 32), but I feel like I've noticed increased rate of weight gain with all things remaining pretty equal since starting Adderall. It's definitely not enough to make me consider not taking it, as the benefits outweigh (ha) the negatives, but...I've just never heard of anyone gaining weight on Adderall. I'll just have to make sure exercise is a regular part of my life, as I'm trying to do anyway.

Thoughts?

Theres a good chance your dosage isnt hi enough! MED!

Wait - how does that work? If I feel like at the dosage that I'm at that it is helping? Then again, the doc that prescribed it to me hasn't tried to titrate me up - he just told me that most adults work well with 20mgXR + 10mgIR booster in the afternoon (which made me feel very annoyed that he wasn't taking my individual circumstances into account, just generalizing me to the entire ADHD population that he treats). So, how does gaining weight figure into whether the dosage is high enough or not?

Theres a good chance your dosage isnt hi enough! MED!

Typically loss of appetite is a sign that it's working, that's probably where MED_GENIUS was coming from. If you feel it's fixed your ADD symptoms then obviously don't take more.



1) I've never heard of adderall making people gain weight, but it's possible that it's making you obsess slightly, and the target of this obsession has, by chance, become one of two possible things: either eating food (not likely given your observation) or paying attention to your body more.

-You can rule out the psychological factor with a scale.

2) It's possible that with the pills you're moving you're body around less, and therefore you're getting less excercise than you were before. Are there stairs in your house you're frequenting less?

-Set 15 mins aside for excercise every other day or so and things will be right back on track if this was the case.


wikipedia had something interesting to say about weight gains in placebo groups.

"Over more than six months of sertraline therapy for depression, patients showed an insignificant weight increase of 0.1%.[128] Similarly, a 30-month-long treatment with sertraline for OCD resulted in a mean weight gain of 1.5% (1 kg).[129] Although the difference did not reach statistical significance, the weight gain was lower for fluoxetine (Prozac) (1%) but higher for citalopram (Celexa), fluvoxamine (Luvox) and paroxetine (Paxil) (2.5%). Only 4.5% of the sertraline group gained a large amount of weight (defined as more than 7% gain). This result compares favorably with placebo, where, according to the literature, 3–6% of patients gained more than 7% of their initial weight. The large weight gain was observed only among female members of the sertraline group; the significance of this finding is unclear because of the small size of the group.[129]" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sertraline)

Kinda cool, but as they say the procedure may be flawed but I found another reference to the effect.

http://resistancetraining.wordpress.com/2008/01/03/placebo-effect-and-weight-loss/

Very cool --I think i'll try the 'sit around and eat chocolate' diet for a while ...If only we could get the surgeon general to recomend it.

I gained weight on adderall at first. The medication suppressed my appetite throughout the time it was working... made my mouth really dry and everything tasted pretty strange, and then after it started to wear off, I got my appetite back full force and I'd eat all at once. I used to eat little bits throughout the day.

I just make sure I drink water or milk through the day to help the 'rebound' appetite effect, so I'm not SO hungry at the end of the day !

Not everyone gets the same side-effects. We're all different. It could simply be other changes in your lifestyle and routine that's causing you to gain weight.

Zoloft may cause weight-gain too.

I know Zoloft causes weight gain - I have gained weight on it for sure, but I started taking Zoloft way before taking Adderall, and I felt that I started gaining at a more accelerated pace on Adderall. I have been exercising and am losing the extra weight I gained, which I am happy about. Pre-Zoloft, I was 111 lbs (probably too skinny b/c of the panic attacks making me lose my appetite all the time). Now, I am 136 lbs. Trying to get down to 120-something. I am 5'4".



Not everyone gets the same side-effects. We're all different. It could simply be other changes in your lifestyle and routine that's causing you to gain weight.

Zoloft may cause weight-gain too.

I know Zoloft causes weight gain - I have gained weight on it for sure, but I started taking Zoloft way before taking Adderall, and I felt that I started gaining at a more accelerated pace on Adderall.

I see. In that case, I took wiki with 'not enough salt.'

Adderall can cause intestine bloading or something, I notice it with myself. Is this where you're noticing the most weight gain?

(I never looked into it propperly, but I remember reading that it may have to do with temporary IBS caused by stimulant use. Also, could have to do with retained water due to dehydration but I have school =0 )

My appetite came back 2 months after taking adderall. At first, like everyone else the thought of food was non existent, and it was hard to eat at all because I just had no desire too Then in or around two months I started to notice that even with Adderall I still started to feel small pains of hunger and that it was not supressing it like it had before. So maybe that is just how it's going to go for you. Adderall still does supress hunger don't get me wrong, but wanting to eat comes back sooner and I definetly do not feel like I cant eat food.