Question for anyone taking Adderall or Ritalin/Concerta for ADHD?

Question by “Q”: Question for anyone taking Adderall or Ritalin/Concerta for ADHD?
I have been diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder 2 & ADHD. My metabolism breaks down medications faster than most people so I take a pretty high dose of Adderall XR. Now it certainly does work by calming me down, keeps me alot more focused, & for some reason stops “racing thoughts” in my head. It doesn’t interfere with my sleep but I am noticing one bad side effect & it is that is kind of making me flip to being almost obsessive compulsive with things that I never was before with such as sitting here at this computer for entire days, it’s almost like I’m in a trance & can’t or don’t want to stop working on here (I do get some work done but the rest is all like watching youtube, playing games, or things that don’t matter). It’s strange I know. Just wondering if anyone else taking Adderall XR has experienced this? I have never taken Ritalin/Concerta but maybe I should switch? If you have taken either of these did you get this side effect? Don’t tell me to talk to my Doctor about it because I do have an appt. coming up in a week I just want other peoples experiences while taking either medication. Thank you. p.s. It is like my concentration will not be broken?

Best answer:

Answer by Carrie
My son takes concerta and he does not experience this–his medications dosages are fairly low, however. I’m sure your therapist will have a better answer for you in two weeks–he or she knows you better than I do.

Personally, I’d recommend asking someone to break the “trance” for you by shutting down your computer. Hopefully if you ask them to do it, you won’t become enraged because you’ll feel in control. (When my son was becoming addicted to his games, we used to shut off the power to his room with the basement circuit breaker control panel. It made him angry, but once he was off the game, he was much better able to control himself.)

Answer by invitation_to_madness
I have spent many, many months spent in this daze when I was younger. The reason is simple. All those drugs that you listed are amphetamines. They are the exact same thing as “speed” or “meth”. That trance that you are talking about is the exact same thing that illegal drug users are spending hundreds of dollars to feel. I know because I have been on both the legal ones and the illegal ones. There is no difference at all, except one is given to you by a doctor and the other is given to you by a friend on the street.
Do some research on abuse of these medications. It is a highly abused type of drug, mainly by kids that are prescribed it or their friends. Then when they don’t get it anymore they move on to speed. I don’t think the doctors meant for that to happen, but nevertheless, it does.
Most hyperactive behavior is nothing more then you just being yourself. Some people have more energy than others. But nowadays, having emotions or instincts is wrong and must be controlled.
Flush your pills and come back to earth. If it’s addictive on the streets then it’s addictive even if the doctor tells you it’s ok.

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