I am so scared that adderall is causing my aggrivation, emotional distress and sever anger!
I was diagnosed in 2005 with ADHD, and never really believed it... my mom however wanted me to go on meds... so i started taking strattera. With in a very short amount of time, like a couple of weeks, i had huge amounts of rage and agitation (I'm normaly easy going). I felt everyone was out to get me, I kicked the dog... it was bad. After doing some research I discovered that if you are bipolar, you could have terrible reactions like that. Again, not convinced that I had either at this point, I worked with my theripst to get my depression/anger under control.

I went on effexor and was told that if i was bipolar it would send me into a manic phase (my therapist not convinced i had bipolar as well). I did start feeling better, happy, bubbly, almost excited about life again. Not crazy manic like, but good.

I decided to give meds another shot after 3 yrs off them. I started taking adderall, 15mg at first and then moved myself up to 30mg. Well in conjunction with this I felt traped in a job I wasent enjoying but felt compelled to stay due to the family business.

I would experience panic attacks, uncontrollable crying, irrational discust with people.

I have left said job, and now act out in anger often to my mother (only my mother). I am scared that it is a repeat of the stratera episode. I've also come to find out about bipolar2, which i seem to fall into.
I've seen posts hinting at this, but if anyone has some info on it, it sure would be helpful.
Obviously I'm going to talk to my theripist about this, but I cant see her right now, and you all have been super helpful in the past!
Anything helps
Thanks

PS: sorry about the rant, i know how tough it is to get thru long posts!

my daughter went into a manic state once she started on adderal but in her case she was taking more than she should and wasnt sleeping at night didnt bother to tell mum though...she has not been back on meds stimulants i should say for the add... she is taking vitamin and mineral supplements and some mood stabilizing med... She is doing better than she has in over 10 years... pretty stable and enjoying life again without the benefit of adderal

katts

thanks, i actually was taking more than i should, infact, i only decided to go on this med because i had a friend who let me try some of hers first. I did like the benifits, but now i feel as though the benifits dont measure up to the negitives.
I took my meds late yesterday, so I woke up at 2am and could not get back to sleep. So even though I usualy take 15mg, I decided to take 30 becuase I wanted to stay awake.
I know thats my fault, but it just increased the feelings I have been feeling for a while, THATS what makes me scared about the adderall. Could all my anger and agitation really be solved with the abstintion of this med?
I have decided to stop taking them, I've missed a day before, feels crappy, but I'll get over it.
I HATE feeling so helpless and angry all the time.

I find the irritability factor comes in pretty sneakily if i take more than i should, and ive learned for myself that too much adderall kinda.. backfires and throws my add out of control, along with a healthy dose of riding amphetamines. Hence irritability, anxiety, general ****ed-off-ness, cloudiness and mild confusion sometimes.

Bring it up with your doc though.. i mean theres different types of ADD meds a reason.. and even between ADHD to ADHD.. people may respond differently.. it sucks but it can take a try or two more than you would like it to.

I myself, when i get a chance, want to check out other options aside from adderall. Im not sure its what i need anymore, and y'know its probably only contributing to my percieved problems right now.

I_DTour

when you start taking the adderal to stay up for long periods of time i do believe this will send you into a manic state... getting you a diagnosis of bipolar and making it very difficult for you to try stimulants in the future,,, My daughter was hospitalised and diagnose bipolar and has been on so many meds but not adderal and curiosly she has not had a repeat of the manic state since over twelve years ago... just be cautious as it could happen to you

katts

First, if you haven't been prescribed 30mgs, stop taking that and go back to the 15. Stimulants can affect your heart rate so its very important that your dr be aware of exactly what you are taking and how it is affecting you. Its also illegal for your friend to give you her medication even if you have the same exact prescription. You could both go to jail for that. My aunt shared 1 pill with a friend who was taking the same exact thing and the only reason she didn't go to jail is her dr said it would kill her. She ended up having a ton of community service instead.

I get angry more easily on adderall and I'm not bipolar. I'm able to control mine though. If you are having problems with it possibly your dr can prescribe a different med. For some reason, even though they are all derivatives of ritalin, different meds affect people differently. If that doesn't help, you could see if they would give you a mood stabilizer along with the adhd med.

I believe Shire has either just come out or will soon come out with a new adhd med which isn't ritalin based. You could try that also. I don't know if it would make a difference or not but vyvanse metabolizes in the intestines rather than the liver so its a smoother delivery and drop off. Its made to last 13 hours (doesn't always though) so it has a slow release rate. That may help also as you won't have any time when there is a sudden release of a larger than average amount in your system.

Really talk to your dr about all the options you may have. Often, finding the right med is a long process of trial and error.

Well an update if anyone is still reading this. I talked to my dr. She agrees that I might be irritable due to adderall. I also started taking Geodon, she feels its too much and might be reacting poorly with the adderall. At any rate Im happy that she agreed I stop taking both, for a month. And then reevaluate my antidepressent, Cymbalta, to see if we want to adjust that.
Thanks again to all of your helpful responces... it means alot to have a group of people willing to share thier experiences and insite. Thanks
Nellie

Before taking the adderall, I was seeing my dr for mood swings and anger management.. he had me on 10mg Lexapro and im also on Lamictal.. they work fine for the anger / mood issues but then comes the ADHD.. So I go on the adderal xl 10mg, it does nothing so i go to 1 10mg adderall twice daily, nothing, go up to 1 20mg twice a day, better but not there yet, now im on 1 30mg 2 times a day.. its good but stil not 100 % but then again, i really dont know what 100% is as i wasnt diagnosed untill age 44. Anyhow, it seems fine to me, like someone finally turned on some switch in me that has gotten me off my butt.. I am feeling good, sleeping better and doing more stuff and actually finishing them.. although i can get kinda anal now like weeding the garden untill my fingers are raw and its almost too dark to see what im doing.. but no mood swings unless the other meds are preventing them.

amphetamines make one more irritable and angry... however they also give you better impulse control most of the time, so even though you might feel angry inside, you'll exercise good judgment way more often and not react as such.

i'm on dex, when i started it i felt like a raging ******* all the time, but this was really just me being dissatisfied when i wasn't doing what i was supposed to be doing. i never acted out on the anger unless it was justified and in those cases i tended to be more assertive and less hostile than normal.