Cici's Review of Adderall

I know that lots of students use adderall, even when not prescribed it. There are so many articles about it, but I decided to share my experience. I was prescribed it for my ADD. I can't concentrate and I tend not to pay attention, and I often just forget that I'm supposed to be listening to something. Here's my list of pros and cons.

Pros :

I can pay attention during class.

I can learn out of the textbook.

I can study for hours without needing a break.

I can read the questions on an exam and pay attention to what it says the first time.

I can clean my room, do laundry, and do homework, all at the same time, very efficiently.

Cons:

I can't sleep if I take it too late in the day.

I talk to myself a lot, out loud.

No matter how hungry I am, I can't bring myself to eat.

I'm very jumpy on it.

Dry mouth (probably from the constant talking.

I was prescribed it a few months ago, and already if I stop taking it all of a sudden I get withdrawal symptoms like headaches and depression.

All of those things may seem just like a list, but I'm a swimmer. Swimmers can basically eat whatever they want and not gain weight because we burn so many calories every day. Imagine working out for four hours one day and eating about 1500 calories, when you usually can eat double that. 

After finals week, I stopped taking it, because I don't like putting drugs into my body more than I need to. That turned out to be a bad idea, because for the next week, I was so sad. not suicidal sad, but still sad. Thankfully, I went out with different groups of friends every night and I had loads of fun, but right after I was dropped off and I was by myself, I got sad again. 

At my school, we sometimes have exams at 6:30 and 8:30 at night. These happen to be the nights before morning practice. So, when I have to take my adderall in the evening, I don't go to sleep until around 3 in the morning on these nights, and I have to wake up at 5 on those mornings. Getting two hours of sleep and then waking up for 2 hours or practice, a full day of classes and studying, two more hours of practice, and then a few more hours of studying is not at all pleasant. 

I just got back from my second practice of the day, and I've eaten about 1000 calories today. 

Realize also that my dosage isn't even that high; it's probably the lowest dosage I could have.So, my advice is to not take it if you can avoid it. I've read that once you're on it regularly for a while, it can take like 6 months to be able to focus on your own again because your brain won't be used to having to produce dopamine without the adderall telling it to. 

It's not worth it if you don't need it. 

Farewell pic :

My favorite mountain. This is Mount Sopris, which is a stock from the Elk Mountain Range. This is right outside my back door.


                                                                      ~ Cici