So I finally got diagnosed with ADHD (apparently I actually bombed the MOXO if you saw my previous post). I started 10mg IR adderall on Tuesday. Firstly it has been life changing so far but if I start writing about that this will become a novel.
The main thing I’m wondering about is that I have also noticed that about 1 hour after I take a pill I get a bit of a headache and my upper back and shoulders ache. It isn’t bad, it’s just enough to be annoying. I’ve been paying special attention to make sure I’m still eating, sleeping, and drinking enough so I know the achiness isn’t linked to any of that. Did anyone else get this sideeffect, does it eventually go away, and if so how long did it take for you?
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Drink water. This sounds trite, but many people don’t drink enough to start with and stimulants dehydrate. So drink even more water.
I have been drinking plenty of water since I started it. Dehydration was my first bet too.
I suspect it’s our moral duty to remind this as often as we can :)
Are you tensing up at all? Stimulants can do that. Also, were blood pressure and heartrate OK?
My heartrate is normal. I havent had a chance to check BP yet so I’ll look into that. I guess I could be tensing up but if I am I haven’t particularly noticed it. I will try to pay attention to that though.
I would sometimes clinch my jaw (I do that when not on stimulants anyway, but it’s worse on them) which seemed to be connected (though I can’t prove that). Trying to be conscious of and relax when I noticed it seemed to help.
I stopped taking Adderall years ago because I had so many negative side effects. Headaches being one of them. Iirc there’s some sort of “syndrome” that people on Adderall can get if it doesn’t agree with them, and they get all kinds of nasty symptoms. There’s testing you can do to find out what medications will and won’t work with your specific body chemistry, I highly recommend you ask your doctor about it. When I did it they immediately told me Adderall was a no-go. I take jornay now, which doesn’t have a generic so it’s more expensive but I don’t ever feel sick. Even if I drink caffeine, which I rarely do because I just don’t feel like I need it anymore.
I’ve also heard good things about azstarys and Concerta.
Was it serotonin syndrome? Because that can kill you
No, thankfully it was something specific to Adderall and most of the effects went away when I was switched to different medication. This was a few years ago so it’s hard to remember exactly what was said but I got the impression that it was not very common or well understood. They just knew that Adderall disagreed with some people, and I was one of the unlucky ones.
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Depends, short acting was ok for me but not as side effect free as pure Dexedrine. When I moved to XR’s i noticed that I was getting jaw tension and afternoon headaches on the efficacy down slope, along with a huge loss in energy.
I have since switched to Vyvance and it has a more steady level of performance without as sharp a peak and slower tapper, but I still struggle with my afternoon slump. I also still some times get headaches, and flights of anxiety but I think those are partially driven by too much caffeine.
Should you be mixing caffeine with meds? My psychiatrist told me not to with methylphenidate, and even the atomoxetine (non-stimulant).
im not on Methyl’s but idk. Not sure I can can live without coffee.
I think it’s a somewhat common side effect that usually goes away. I also get tension-like headaches from time to time, but I’ve always been like that.
Adhering to the routine of meds really helps, but ya know lol. I’d just mention the side effect and obviously look into it if it gets worse. I only had a few days of that at first with focalin, I imagine Adderall would be similar.
That’s good to hear. So far I’ve been pretty much taking them like clockwork at the same time every day. But my work schedule helped a lot with that, we’ll see how my first medicated weekend goes.
From my experience with Dexedrine, it actually hides headaches more often than causes them,but I still get them now and then. The aches, you sure you’re moving around enough? It’s easy to get into a focus and then realize later in the day you were in a bad position or were tensing up more and didn’t get the movement your muscles needed. I do say this as a middle aged dude so experiences may vary but I can easily zone out programming for a few hours then wonder why something is sore.
Maybe try half the dose? 10 mg is a lot for someone with zero tolerance.
Most stimulants cause jaw grinding as a side effect. I know it sounds like a strange suggestion but botox can be a way to prevent it if it isn’t stopping.
Hmm, that’s one I’ll keep an eye out for. I haven’t noticed noticed it but I guess I wouldn’t be doing it if I did. I immagine chewing gum might help if that is the case.
Gum is tricky, if it’s cause you are clenching the gum is gonna make it worse. You’ll just be using your jaw more, creating the tension that makes those headaches.
I would seriously do body checks while you are working. Every little bit when you catch yourself coming out of a tight focus. Are you carrying a lot of tightness in your shoulders? Are you clenching? Take a few seconds to shake out and relax. I would come out of a session of deep work tight as a drum.
I had the same problem with Adderall, I found the non stimulant medications to work a lot better for me.
Probably best not to take amphetamines when you can just get Ritalin instead.
Ritalin is still a schedule 2 stimulant. Also it’s the drug that my brother had to be taken off of because it literally made him sleep walk pee in his closet so I’ll pass on that one.
What do you think Adderall is? It’s illegal in quite a few countries for a reason. I’m on methylphenidate (Ritalin’s generic name) and it’s been good for me. YMMV but Adderall is serious stuff in comparison, don’t dismiss Ritalin just because your brother peed in a cupboard.
Not everyone can take it, when I first tried meds for ADD Ritalin was the first one and gave me hives for the few days I was on it. At one point tried others without side effects but they weren’t as effective so just kept with Dexedrine.
Maybe the hives would have gone away but not exactly work friendly to be productive which was the reason for the meds in the first place.
Seems weird to go for amphetamines before trying stuff that isn’t so nuts.
