Adderall and Probiotics

[cillianred]

Has anyone taken Adderall while on a probiotics regimen?

If so, have the subjective/therapeutic benefits of Adderall improved? Have they gotten worse?

The reason I ask is I recently underwent surgery (it was a small outpatient procedure) and the surgeon prescribed some antibiotics to prevent infection.

He also recommended I take a probiotic two hours after the antibiotic, since the antibiotic can kill good bacteria as well as bad. I purchased New Chapter Probiotic All Flora Capsules version, if you're curious.

Since I started probiotics I've noticed a few things:

• Adderall's subjective effects, e.g. those that affect heart rate, feelings of "wakefulness" have decreased.
• Adderall's therapeutic benefits have increased, e.g. far less impulsivity, far more patience and almost no irritability compared to Adderall w/o probiotics.
• Also the chest pressure/stomach upset that I'd been experiencing on my Adderall XR/IR regimen seem to have gone away. Not in a Pepto Bismol sort of way where they'll come back. More like they don't exist anymore.

I've read that we ADHDers can have more bad "gut bacteria" than good and that this can have behavioral consequences.

Still, I wasn't expecting these recent developments and I'm not sure if they're influencing my Adderall regimen positively or negatively.

So if anyone has any additional insight, please let me know. Thanks!

[cillianred]

I can say after just having taken my antibiotic, I can definitely see how the two are related. I'll probably be calling the doctor soon if this keeps up.

Still, I wonder how big of an issue this is for a lot of us. I also wonder if my ADHD sibling's acid reflux is related to what I've experienced more recently and if these could help.

If anyone else has any similar experiences, please post. Thanks.

[cillianred]

Update and final post from me for those interested:

Antibiotics are gone, am still on the probiotics. I'm having trouble putting the changes into words.

I had my first night of deep sleep in a long time last night. It arrived naturally, like an actual circadian rhythm. I hadn't felt that sensation in a long time, I hope it stays.

I woke up, had breakfast, went to work and I realized I wasn't craving an energy drink. First time in a long time that's happened. Work has gone significantly better these past few days. I've actually started projects that aren't due for two weeks.

Despite several ambient distractions, I never reached for my headphones or felt annoyed by noise. I was just on task, but cognitively flexible. My Adderall XR was in effect but I didn't feel the usual 3.5 hour drop off before the next "pulse" hit my small intestine. For once, everything was apparently working as it should.

This experience may have altered my criteria of what constitutes effective treatment for me. It never occurred to me that perhaps my system might have been at issue, despite the nights of heartburn-induced insomnia, picky eating (which has been a lifelong problem, btw) and annoyingly unpredictable stomach upset.

My eternal skeptic says this is all a placebo effect and things will go back to how they were before in a week or so. Normally he's right. Then again, Tyrosine or fish oil never had such a drastic effect in such a subtle way.

More science stuff if anyone's interested: http://evolutionarypsychiatry.blogsp...robiotics.html

[purpleToes]

Fascinating! I for one would appreciate one more "last" update in a week or so to find out if your great results persisted.

I don't take Adderall, I take Dexedrine. Or, rather I just yesterday resumed taking Dexedrine after 3 months off due to pregnancy and trying to conceive. But here's a couple data points for ya.

On the advice of my endocrinologist, I've been taking Ortho Biotic for about 6 weeks in hopes of improving poor iron absorption. One month in, my ferritin was a point lower than the last time, but I decided to keep taking them for a while anyway. I have not noticed any improvement in my symptoms which are primarily lethargy, forgetfulness, and problems in working memory, planning and decision making.

My partner started taking Ortho Biotic at the same time. I was hoping it would help his IBS. I don't think he's had any improvement of IBS symptoms. After reading your post and some of your blog, I thought of his anxiety and moodiness, as you mentioned that IBS and emotional problems often go together. Unfortunately, I have not noticed any improvements there, either.

I was aware that the gut contains receptors for neurotransmitters, and that antidepressants sometimes worked for IBS for this reason, but not the idea that intestinal flora, or the failure thereof, could influence mood and behavior. Thanks for sharing this intriguing concept.

In the blog you said that in IBS, gut flora were less diverse than in healthy individuals. I wonder what the flora diversity looks like in people who have psychiatric disorders but not IBD or IBS.

[Driver]

I think the benefit you're describing is simply the antibiotics speeding up your digestive system (by killing the gut flora) and causing less Adderall to be absorb into your system.

Once your flora has returned, your absorption will improve.

[cillianred]

Originally Posted by purpleToes

Fascinating! I for one would appreciate one more "last" update in a week or so to find out if your great results persisted.

I don't take Adderall, I take Dexedrine. Or, rather I just yesterday resumed taking Dexedrine after 3 months off due to pregnancy and trying to conceive. But here's a couple data points for ya.

On the advice of my endocrinologist, I've been taking Ortho Biotic for about 6 weeks in hopes of improving poor iron absorption. One month in, my ferritin was a point lower than the last time, but I decided to keep taking them for a while anyway. I have not noticed any improvement in my symptoms which are primarily lethargy, forgetfulness, and problems in working memory, planning and decision making.

My partner started taking Ortho Biotic at the same time. I was hoping it would help his IBS. I don't think he's had any improvement of IBS symptoms. After reading your post and some of your blog, I thought of his anxiety and moodiness, as you mentioned that IBS and emotional problems often go together. Unfortunately, I have not noticed any improvements there, either.

I was aware that the gut contains receptors for neurotransmitters, and that antidepressants sometimes worked for IBS for this reason, but not the idea that intestinal flora, or the failure thereof, could influence mood and behavior. Thanks for sharing this intriguing concept.

In the blog you said that in IBS, gut flora were less diverse than in healthy individuals. I wonder what the flora diversity looks like in people who have psychiatric disorders but not IBD or IBS.

How's your iron absorption going?

Just as a follow up, I think Driver is right these changes were more so a reflection of the probiotics increasing Adderall absorption. Either that or they're interfering with absorption and effectively lowering my Adderall dose, but I don't think that's the case.

I'm still on the probiotics, mostly because the heartburn and IBS I was dealing with for some time on Adderall haven't returned. Plus, my allergies haven't been bothering me as much. But that was probably because the antibiotics made my immune system a little overreactive.

Good luck with Dexedrine. Even though Adderall is 72% d-amp, I still have trouble with Dex and Vyvanse. They just make me so moody and I can't figure out why. Oh well.

[ADDarren]

I've had GERD for years and take prilosec daily with my vyvanse. I also recently got food poisoning that knocked my down for a couple days. I think I'm going to give these a try....

[Higher Sunshine]

WHoa!!

I've noticed differences too. That's why I googled probiotics and dexedrine. Up came this post, and I just had to comment.

Yes, the dexedrine is totally effecting me differently. Plus my face is flushed, foamy saliva, and the positive effects of the dexedrine are Not here. Well maybe they are....but it's like taking a different pill. This is nothing I've experienced before. I don't like it.

Hope I'm not having a bad reaction. I see a doctor on august 1. If I get any posts back about this post, I will update you with what my Doc tells me about this combo. It's definitely interesting.

Also I've had very bad side effects with dexedrine and bad, breath, dry mouth, and slight stomach issues (NO hunger...which I don't complain about). But with the probiotic, I have zero of those effects. It's gotta be the pill. Interesting stuff! That's for sure!!

[cillianred]

Well, I've actually reduced my use of probiotics after I found out I actually don't have allergies via an allergy test. I still feel that probiotics can be very beneficial.

However, they've had diminishing returns for me recently and they seem to reduce the efficacy of Adderall for me. Probiotics are known for their ability to reduce stress hormones in the human brain via the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA. While this may be good for some, I just can't go into work every morning as a space cadet (already been down that road, don't want to relive it).

[purpleToes]

Originally Posted by cillianred

How's your iron absorption going?

Just as a follow up, I think Driver is right these changes were more so a reflection of the probiotics increasing Adderall absorption. Either that or they're interfering with absorption and effectively lowering my Adderall dose, but I don't think that's the case.

I'm still on the probiotics, mostly because the heartburn and IBS I was dealing with for some time on Adderall haven't returned. Plus, my allergies haven't been bothering me as much. But that was probably because the antibiotics made my immune system a little overreactive.

Good luck with Dexedrine. Even though Adderall is 72% d-amp, I still have trouble with Dex and Vyvanse. They just make me so moody and I can't figure out why. Oh well.

3 months on a good probiotic didn't help with my iron status, unfortunately, but it was worth a try. I also found out I'm mildly anemic and seem to be getting worse despite taking a lot of oral iron and having tried a couple of different formulations. I'm so tired lately that stims aren't even working well.

One thing I always wondered about was how do you know which strains are going to be most beneficial, and isn't diversity as important as large numbers of the organism? The strains in various formulas seem just arbitrary.