Question about dependency and addiction | ADHD Information

[QUOTE=jerbear]addiction might mean taking more than what you need, and dependency is you need to take a certain amount to feel normal. as i read this, i don't think i cleared anything up!![/QUOTE]
If anyone (that's taking it, obviously) is not addicted to Adderall, I want to know.  Isn't addiction like the mental need & dependency the physiological?  Or am I bass-ackward on this one?
I think addiction is when your life revolves around that thing. If you pawn your les paul for more adderall, then consider addiction. Have you seen House MD, that tv show? the main character is completely dependent on painkillers, but as he says  "I pay my bills, I treat my patients, I am a good doctor, I contribute to society...am I dependent? yes. Am I an addict/do I have a problem? no." Maybe there are some days you need more of it than others to feel good or get the effect you need.

My experience as an ADHD'er is that each day can be different from the next.

Happens to me with other things.my doc lets me have a "flucuating dose"  of dexedrine but I am hyper and really feel the "need" to take it rarely but I take it based on symptoms since they seem really inconsistent

Heres' my 2 cents worth:

'Addiction' can mean many things. In the medical 'lingo' there are two terms: Abuse and dependence.

Abuse is using too much intermittently - and there being some consequence to it (i.e. getting too drunk one saturday night).

Dependence is using too much on a regular basis. Someone who is dependent also develops tolerance and withdrawal symptoms.

Tolerance= 4 drinks don't get me drunk anymore, I need 6 now.

Withdrawal= when I don't drink, I have physical symptoms which go away when I drink again.  (or waking up in the morning with tremors)

In general, when people take their ADHD medication as prescribed, they are not physically addicted/dependent on it. They are deriving benefit from a medicine which helps their condition.

Taking extra for fun, is likely Adderall abuse. If this is done regularly, and leads to other problems (i.e. going to multiple doctors to get different prescriptions), it is likely dependence.

One other point - the recent cardiac concerns that have come out about stimulants have specifically said that the risk is higher if higher than prescribed doses are used.

Best to talk to your doctor about this one.

I took dexdrine for 9 years.  I abused my prescrition and ended up in rehab for it.  Today i have ben two years clean from it.  My life is so much better without it.

I am a recovering addict/alcoholic on stims.  Everyone, including myself was worried that is was a very bad thing for a person like me to do. 

When I realized that the medication is what I needed to treat my symptoms, I was very happy.   I do not abuse them.  I do not want to.  I don't want to be messed up, I want to be normal.  And that is what the meds help me to do.

Yeah, taking more makes you feel "euphoric", but once you start doing that, you are opening up a door for a world of bad.  I mean, if it makes you feel that good once......who wouldn't want to feel that good again, and again, and again.  I have heard from addicts a million times "I can quit if I want to".........

I fear that you are starting a horrible cycle for yourself.  The desire to get "high" is a strong one.  Everyone likes to feel good.  But, I have seen and been there too many times to know that once you start taking something to get "high" you will want to feel that way over and over and soon you will want more and more and before no time you will need more and more to get the same feeling you had the first few times.

Don't gamble with addiction.  It makes whatever problems you think you have now seem like a walk in the park. 

People who do not have addictive tendancies don't even think about taking more............food for thought.........are you asking because you are concerned that you yourself may be an addict and are abusing your meds? 

well if this is true, I'm only addicted to taking the perscribed amount, which I would have taken anyway, so theres no problem there right?addiction might mean taking more than what you need, and dependency is you need to take a certain amount to feel normal. as i read this, i don't think i cleared anything up!!If addiction and dependency are different, I think I'm just dependent.

I would sometimes take 5-6 pills at a time, and I got cut off for it. I didn't NEED to take that many or HAVE to take that many. I just did it because it felt good. I could stop taking that many anytime I wanted to.

But taking the perscribed dose is what makes me wonder. I'm fine without taking several pills over my perscripted amount. I don't have to do it. But I absolutely need to have my perscribed amount. I can't do anything without my adderall, but all I need is the perscribed amount. I

Taking 5-6 pills at a time was an act of impulse and just wanting to do it. I could have taken the perscribed amount and been fine.

Is there any difference between these?