Eh, as I understand it this (Adderall "abuse") is fairly common and mostly doesn't have bad consequences.
Note that inability to concentrate reliably has fairly severe downsides as well, like (at the extremes) inability to hold a job. This is not good for your medical situation either!
Depending on person, "ask a roomie to try their meds" can be a lot more viable than "go and talk to a medical professional." And it comes with a safety valve - your roomie will presumably cut you off if you get problems. Plus the dosage will be predictable and there won't be random additions. Note that I didn't say to go try meth.
(Google "death by adderall". It's not hard to avoid.)
Of course if there's medical contraindications like blood pressure or heart conditions this is a bad idea, but first of all the side effect profile is pretty mild, and second if you have a medical condition you should already know to not take meds on the basis of random HNews recommendations. - Actually, they should know their preferred risk profile anyway. I'm just reminding them that the option exists.
I’m a recovered amphetamine (Adderall) addict. I was enslaved to amphetamines for over 10 years. I started taking pills in college because they helped me focus and get things done, but I quickly fell into addiction and abuse.
Talked my psychiatrist into giving me ever higher doses. Frequently stole my wife’s ADHD medication after burning through all of my own. I couldn’t stop.
It all started (somewhat) innocently enough…
Yes it’s capable of giving you super powers at work, but it’s also really quite dangerous from an addiction standpoint.
I think for me I just really liked the way it made me feel.
I started taking ADHD medication during a time in my life where I was exploring and challenging boundaries. I had been a good rule following kid until college. In college I started experimenting with drugs in general. So naturally I wanted to experiment with taking more to see what it would be like.
I didn’t realize by chasing the high provided by Adderall that I would become addicted. Sounds dumb when I write it out like that…
