Can Adderall build up in your system?

[akiss4u]

I read this awful story about a boy died from Adderall building up in his system. Is this for real?
http://www.adhd-kids.com/adderall.html

[Penultimate]

I am skeptical. He might have had allergies or maybe he had other conditions that they don’t report. That website is devoted to selling herbal alternatives to ADD medicines so I would take any article there with a grain of salt. Google the names and see if you come up with anything else.

[akiss4u]

I agree the story could be a fake. I am still trying to get up the courage to try the Adderall again - my Ritalin will be gone in a couple days! How are your meds going?

[Penultimate]

That site doesn’t really bother me that much. They are trying to sell something, something that I think is garbage, but nonetheless I don’t mind it. The ones that I can’t stand are the Scientology related ones that claim that ADD does not exist. You see a lot of these types of articles on those sites.

I am doing pretty well. I may ask to up my dose to 20mg. I have been on 10 for about 2-3 months now. I was on 20mg for about a year and it was great. Had to get off of Ritalin. It caused too many muscle twitches. I guess that will go away after awhile but it is a hassle when it happens. Plus the drop off was a killer.

[Gregster]

No it doesn't build up in your system - it's very short acting and is gone by the next day. For a lethal overdose you need to take many times the theraputic dose - so the story is either inaccurate or fake - Care to guess which way I'm leaning on that question ;-)
It's too bad people have to use fear tactics against parents in order to sell their products.

[Tara]

Most of these stories posted on sites like these are scare tactics to try and sell products like becalmed. Yes, there are rare instances of people having bad reactions to AD/HD medications like many of different types of medications.

If you are taking AD/HD medication and you are nervous about side effects take your own blood pressure on a regular basis and make sure you keep up with regular check ups.

[akiss4u]

I read those stupid science bs also. That really makes me mad too.

Did you feel like you lost your sense of humor with ritalin?

Man I feel that awfull headache creaping in again as everyday with ritalin. I have to take a vicodine to get rid of the headache sometimes. I did not get a headache in the morning with the Adderall so who knows.

[Penultimate]

UPDATE: I have done some research and part of the story checks out. According to the news stories I have been able to find, Andrew Hecker, 11, collapsed on July 3, 2002 after helping to clean pontoon boats at a boy scout camp.

Here is the most recent article I could find:

(Indiana Gazette, Indiana, Pennsylvania, September 6, 2002)

Andrew Michael Hecker, 11, of Port Matilda collapsed at 1:30 p.m. July 3 after helping to clean some pontoon boats on the shore of Yellow Creek Lake at the Boy Scouts' Camp Seph Mack. He was pronounced dead about an hour later at the Indiana Regional Medical Center.

An autopsy performed at Memorial Medical Center in Johnstown was inconclusive. According to Coroner Thomas Streams, blood tests later showed a toxic level of Adderall, a drug that Hecker had been taking for some time. Streams declined to identify the medical condition for which Hecker was taking Adderall.

An investigation found no sign that Hecker had taken an incorrect dose of the medicine and a study of the remaining pills determined that he had the correct concentration of the drug, Streams reported.

Johnstown pathologist Vimal Mittal determined that Hecker's body apparently was unable to properly break down the drug and dispose of it normally, according to Streams. Over time, the Adderall accumulated to a level that was high enough to cause cardiac arrhythmia and death.

Streams ruled that Hecker's death was the result of natural causes.

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?n...d=151025&rfi=8

I got that story from this source http://www.zwire.com/site/news.asp?brd=1078 The site requires registration. It’s no big deal though, I registered in 2 minutes using bogus info. Once you get in to the site go to advanced search and search on the word ‘Hecker’ in the box marked ‘full article’ and select 2002 from the menu marked ‘Articles from:’ You will find several articles.

Unfortunately the information available is inconclusive. They won’t reveal why he was taking Adderall. It seems to me that something else was wrong with the kid, though I am no doctor. Something was preventing him from breaking the Adderall down so it accumulated in his body until he died from it. I have no idea what could cause that kind of problem. Did he have other medical problems? Was he taking other medications? Did he take some food or drink that could have caused a reaction, something like Red Bull, Mountain Dew, tea ,or coffee? Did he take any herbal remedies? Illegal drugs? It is also possible that he skipped a few days and then took 2-3 days worth at once, who knows?

I called the Indiana County Coroner’s Office and unfortunately they will not release any information because the case is still open. It is open because of pending litigation. If the case goes to trial and is decided by the court rather than being settled, some of the medical information may become part of the public record. If so we will have our answer.

Until then, I am going to keep an eye out for this case. I’ll search legal databases to see if I can find anything related. I will report back when I find any information. Just don’t expect it to be soon. This will take time.

[akiss4u]

Wow - you should be a private investigator! That is so weird that his body was unable to break it down. I wonder what cased this. Let us know if you hear anything!

[Gregster]

The story does appear to be true - I have found it on several independant news sites too. But it still doesn't make a lot of sense to me. First, the blood condintrations mentioned don't make sense - a figure of 210 nanograms is given, but it doesn't say if that's per L or ml . If we assume it's per ml then that would give a concintration of .21mg/L.
From a drug info sheet on amphetamines I got this:
"Interpretation of Blood Concentrations: Blood concentrations can generally be used to distinguish therapeutic use from abuse. Concentrations of 0.02-0.05 mg/L are typical for therapeutic use, and up to 0.2 mg/L have been documented. Concentrations greater than this represent abuse. Concentrations do not disclose phase of use. Normal concentrations in recreational use are 0.01 to 2.5 mg/L (median 0.6 mg/L). Concentrations above this range will likely be associated with severe, possibly life threatening, toxicity"
So the level of drug in his blood is in the high theraputic range(?) and shouldn't have been toxic.
Amphetamines are broken down in the liver - as are most drugs - and the enzyme responsible is known as "cytochrome P450-2D6". This enzyme is responsible for breaking down many drugs. A small percentage of people have less of this enzyme than normal. These "poor metabolizers" take longer to break down the drug, so the effects are greater and last longer.
So it's possible that the child that died was a poor metabolizer, but if this was the case, he would have had symptoms of a stimulant overdose long before he died. His very first dose would have felt to him like taking maybe 2 or 3 times as much, so you'd think someone would have noticed, or he would have complained.
It's definately an odd case - I sure would have liked to find more specifics (like how long he was taking Adderall and what other drugs he might have been prescribed), but I couldn't find any more info than in the story links already quoted. It's not something I would worry about - if you were a poor metabolizer, you would know it by now! (if you were, it would amplify the effects of ritalin too).
Regards,
Greg

[Penultimate]

I think there is something unique to this kid. There has to be something about his body chemistry that was not normal. I have looked through some legal sites and I have not yet found an Adderall related lawsuit other than some patent cases between drug companies. I don’t have access to the better legal research databases like Westlaw and Lexis anymore so my search was not as thorough as it could be but still, you would think if this was a huge problem there would be other lawsuits.

[akiss4u]

If your liver is shot then you would have poor results with any medication. Heck you can get liver damage from tylenol!

I wonder if there is some kind of test to check your metobolic rate and see is you have sufficient enzyme.

[Penultimate]

One of the articles I found mentioned that the coroner looked at his organs and didn’t find any of them to be damaged or diseased. If he did have liver disease Adderall would be the least of his problems.

You are right about Tylenol. I only take aspirin or Ibuprofen. The worst side effect of Ibuprofen is stomach bleeding. I never have problems because I have taken so much of it and I always eat first.

[akiss4u]

I wonder if he got dehydrated?

[kimo]

Originally posted by akiss4u

I wonder if there is some kind of test to check your metobolic rate and see is you have sufficient enzyme.

I read on a website that there is such a test that can detect if you are a poor metabolizer or not.