does adderall cause you to be antisocial?

[cinfid12]

I feel like taking adderall makes me feel "embarrassed" ( I dont know if that's the right word) to talk outloud. I just feel antisocial when I take it and its either this or my grades will go down. Is there anything that can get rid of this antisocial feeling?

[Brick]

That is odd, I feel more social on adderall and I believe most people do too although I cant speak for everybody. It may be that the adderall is causing excessive anxiety in you because ot the stimulant effect. Talk to your doc about this. This shouldnt be happening. The dose may need adjustment or you may need the addition of an anti-anxiety med such as Ativan or klonopin. I take adderall also and Klonopin. I notice if I miss a dose of Klonopin, i feel very anxious. But again, talk to your doctor and tell him/her everything you told us.
Good luck. Keep us posted.

[jrob]

The word antisocial often implies being unlawful, deceitful, aggressive, etc. (See Antisocial_personality_disorder.) I honestly didn't know that for quite a while, so i figured I'd mention it.

As far as feeling avoidant while on amphetamines, I wouldn't say that's common. Even still, these medications all affect emotion to varied degree. I'd say that this may imply your dose is too high; if you're new to the medication then it may mean you simply have to adjust to it. Your body can make this adjustment rather quickly. If you feel adderall is helping you with your add symptoms, I'd suggest you hang in there.

Sometimes it's useful to make yourself justify any feeling that you have. Try to figure out what you're embaressed about. Unless the adderall is giving you xerostomia leading to really bad breath, you probably have nothing to worry about; Remind yourself that nothing has changed (except the improvements you work toward every day.) If you have specific fears, try to find ways to tackle them individually.

A post I saw online a while back gave me an idea that may help you out. The following quote, a police officer explains how he deals with addreneline.

Breathing.
I use to get excited when I was on patrol and get in a foot or car chase. Most of the time it wasn't even from being scared just excited.

During my first tour in Iraq I was an Infantry Company Commander. I had a few seconds to react when something happened; i.e. when we were ambushed while my men were conducting their battle drills I would be assessing the situation. During this time I made myself take three deep breathes before saying a word over the radio. Its not a lot of time but an eternity when the world around you is blowing up. I think the most important thing it did was keep me calm, take time to make a decent decision(not a rash one that would have to be changed) and my voice was calm over the radio which helps keep the Soldiers from getting overly excited.LINK

I imagine anxiety may be reduced with this method as well.

Good luck, and let us know how you do.

[cinfid12]

Well, I do feel more social when it is kicking in but then that goes away. Then its like I have better things to do than talk to you like study, read etc. It's good for my grades but I just don't like this antisocial feeling. I would rather not take any other meds but I was just wondering if I could have something naturally like amino acids or something

[rd_wnc]

I can get in a good mood when it's first kicking in (less so on the generic I find) but by the afternoon I'm a little more frazzled and would rather just go home and hang out with my dogs.

If I drink plenty of water and take a hike with my dogs the good mood comes back. The water is really important and I think the walk helps a lot.

If I don't drink the water I get tired and irritable.

If you take other things be sure to read up on potential interactions. Some things decrease Adderall's effectiveness.

[slowlygoincrazy]

i've found that feeling to. not really wanting to see anyone but then i changed my schedule and got out of the house by the time my meds kicked in and the last part of the day i dont feel guilty about stayin to myself

[CalmTheChaos]

I don't think it's an uncommon side effect at all.

Adderall has always caused me social problems, and it always pushed me to one of two extremes:

1. Aggressive - Overpowering, assertive, dominant, argumentative, headstrong, curt, taskmaster
or
2. Avoidant - Antisocial, shy, avoiding eye contact, struggling to speak

Interestingly enough, my true personality never remained intact while on Adderall. Adderall never made me more friendly, outgoing, personable, or social.

Unfortunately, this is all part of the delicate balancing act between getting useful benefits and managing side effects.

What I did eventually discover is that on Vyvanse/Dex, absolutely none of these negative personality traits exist for me, and I am always my true self while medicated.

HTH.