just started taking adderall,needs advice | ADHD Information

hey..im a 15 year old girl from california...i recently just started being treated for Attention Deficite Disorder in my sophmore year in high school...my parents and doctor decided that would be best if i went on medicine to help me in school but i decided i didnt want to...but after a few weeks lightened up to the idea of it but told my doctor i didnt want anything addictive or would alter my personality do she prescribed adderall ,which i later found out can be both addictive and personality altering,i only took it for 2 weeks of my sophmore year and then stopped and planned to start it again when i start my junior year next week,but after seeing a special True Life:im on adderall (which i highly reccomend to everyone on this medication) im having second thoughts...i was hoping for feedback from people of or around my age or if know of someone (son , daughter, Friend) who takes it, and what kinda of side affects they/you have or had and if teh side affects such as loss of appetite,sleep trouble etc... ever go away....thanks Hi- my 12 year old son has ADHD and mild autism.He was diagnosed at 2.5 years old.He takes the addarall XR.The only side effects he has with it is some loss of apatite.I hope this will help you.Lisa.Check out my post on ADD/HD and Sleep Disorder. It may answer some questions. Otherwise, you may want to look into non-stimulant STRATTERA. It has worked for many people, and is a great alternative to stims/narcotics.

When you say personality altering, are you saying changing who you are as a person or your behaviour? The whole point of the drugs is to change you for the better. More patience, more concentration, not being so moody all the time. It won't change who you are though, what you belive in, what you want from life and how you feel about other people. It will simply help you to do better in the academic and organisational side of life.

I agree with the comments above, people that become addicted to it are either abusing the drug (as in taking more then they are meant to) or aren't meant to even take it in the first place! I think that this program you have said to have seen may have been trying to scare people which is sometimes good, if there really is something to be scared of. Let me give you an example.

Morphine. A drug that anyone will tell you is addictive. Why then do they still use it in hospitals? I shall tell you. Because they give it to people who need it, who are in pain. My friend had to have an operation on her spine and was on morphine for 3 months. Afterwards she was the same person, did not need morphine in any way shape or form and had a straight spine. The doctors always made sure she got the right dosage and she came out of the operation fine and with minimum pain. I am myself on ritalin. My parents say that the only way in which I have changed is that I don't overreact to situations anymore, I work harder and I seem more like a normal person, but still me!!

If you really are worried then there is nothing anyone can do to make you take it but I must warn you, I have seen people who think they have coped for all this time without any drugs, yet when they become adults they simply do not cope. ADD is something which can be medicated and remember its NOT AN EXCUSE. Just remember that they used to say that about dyslexia!

Good luck with whatever you decide.

I saw that special on MTV also, but i think the problem as far as sthe girl who became adicted is that she started taking more than she was suppose to be.  It is meant to help lengthen your attention span, and give you more energy to focus, and she realized the effect of that and started taking more.  The other guy in college used it to cram for exams, which I here from my daughter is real big on college campuses for just that reason.  My son takes it, and the only personality difference I have seen is he is more tolerable of his younger brother.  Now he was never intolerable of him. he just seems to understand that he is older than his brother, and has just a little more patience.  I think if you take it as prescribed, you should be fine. Hey,i'm 14 and i'm on adderall.And i saw that True Life on MTV,i even taped,