Adderall and Anafranil?

[coolwoman]

I started taking Adderall one week ago and love it!
I took Ritalin for about 2 weeks and didn't like the way it made me feel.
For one week I took 5mg Adderall 2xday, but yesterday took 10mg am and 5mg in afternoon and today took 10mg at 9am and 10mg at 1pm.
So far I feel calm and focused with it.
I also take Anafranil for OCD and my psychiatrist is somewhat concerned about interactions. Some literature indicates Adderall might increase potency of Anafranil and one uncommon side effect is seizures. We've cut back on Anafranil by 25 mg and doc wants me to decrease it even more. I hate to cut Anafranil out completely because it resolved a severe insomnia problem I had for 3 years.
Anyone else have experience with taking Adderall and Anafranil (clomipramine)?

[tudorose]

I can't answer your question about medication, but if you put it in the medication section you might have some luck.

[Energizer_Bunny]

Posting was moved to Medications/Adderall.

[coolwoman]

EB, I also posted this in medications. I wanted it in OCD topic also because Anafranil is a primary med. for OCD. I assume someone coming to ADD forum, who chose co-existing OCD thread, might be on these two meds or may have had experience with the two.
Thanks

[Gregster]

I have no direct experience with Anafranil, but I looked it up.
From a Physician Information sheet I found:
"Seizures
Tricyclic agents are known to lower the convulsive threshold and ANAFRANIL (clomipramine hydrochloride) should, therefore, be used with extreme caution in patients with a history of convulsive disorders and other predisposing factors, e.g., brain damage of varying etiology, concomitant use of neuroleptics, alcoholism and withdrawal from alcohol, and concomitant use with other drugs that lower the seizure threshold. It appears that the occurrence of seizures is dose dependent. Therefore, the recommended total daily doses should not be exceeded (see Dosage And Administration).
Physicians should discuss with patients the risk of taking ANAFRANIL while engaging in activities in which a sudden loss of consciousness could result in serious injury to the patient or others e.g., the operation of complex machinery, driving, swimming, or climbing.
Cardiovascular
Tricyclic antidepressants, particularly in high doses, have been reported to produce sinus tachycardia, changes in conduction time and arrhythmias. A few instances of unexpected death have been reported in patients with cardiovascular disorders. Myocardial infarction and stroke have also been reported with drugs of this class. Therefore, ANAFRANIL should be administered with extreme caution to patients with a history of cardiovascular disorders, especially those with cardiovascular insufficiency, conduction disorders (e.g., atrioventricular block grades I to III) or other arrhythmias, those with circulatory lability and elderly patients.
ANAFRANIL also has a hypotensive action which may be detrimental in these circumstances. In such cases, treatment should be initiated at low doses with progressive increases only if required and tolerated, and the patients should be under close surveillance at all dosage levels. Monitoring of cardiac function and the ECG is indicated in such patients as well as in the elderly.
ANAFRANIL may potentiate the cardiovascular effects of noradrenaline or adrenaline,
amphetamine, as well as nasal drops and local anesthetics containing sympathomimetics (e.g.,isoprenaline, ephedrine, phenylephrine)."
The info sheet can be found here:
http://www.oryxpharma.com/en/products/anafranil.pdf
Basically what it is saying is that Anafranil may make some of the CNS effects of the Adderall worse i.e. high blood pressure, arrythmias, fast heart rate, etc.- as well as increase the possibility of seizures - not good, I can understand why your psychiatrist would be concerned.
Anafranil is an anti-depressant of the "tricyclic" class, which has been around for a long time, and who's use has now been mostly surplanted by newer anti-depressants - SSRI's, NaSRI's - which are much safer and don't have a lot of nasty side effects. I was at first surprised that your Dr would put you on it but then I read that appearently it is particularly good for OCD.
So that's what I could dig up, I hope it is usefull.
Regards,
Greg

[coolwoman]

Thanks, Greg. The more info the better to make informed decisions.

[Andrew]

Originally Posted by coolwoman

EB, I also posted this in medications. I wanted it in OCD topic also because Anafranil is a primary med. for OCD. I assume someone coming to ADD forum, who chose co-existing OCD thread, might be on these two meds or may have had experience with the two.
Thanks

I realize your intent was pure, but we really try to discourage multiple postings of the same content. When a user does a search by topic, your post will appear in the search results

[Energizer_Bunny]

I was going to add to your post, but ran out of time at work. I was on Anafranil for awhile. I loved it. I called it my happy pill because I was always laughing, and I took it for OCD. However, I can't remember if I took it at the same time that I was on Adderall. I got off of Anafranil as a result of eating to many sweets, which caused an increase in weight gain and I was starting to get tired and I had to be careful when I got up out of bed and had to get up slowly so that I would not get dizzy. But other than that, I loved it. I am sorry, but I can't even remember what my dosage was it has been so long ago.