I am just wondering if anyone else is on Aderall? I am on many meds for my lupus but have noticed that as things get worse and I get more out of control with my health my ADD with OCD tendencies seems to get much much worse. I had a very long discussion with my doctor, I even took my husband along to help me describe what happens when I lash out at him because I am out of control of everything and together we decided it was time to start treating the ADD. I feel like the first time since being diagnosed someone listened and heard me. I am not crazy I just need help, I am finally feeling better and my daily aches and pains seem to be better on it and oh my gosh the energy I feel like what I think normal felt like. It is amazing I am afraid I see how this medication can get abused. My question comes in with what happens at night. I seem to crash and feel like I am dying all my pain is intensified the exhaustion is 10 times worse than it ever was before I fall asleep where I am sitting I wake up with bad dreams which I have always had and the pain seems to make them worse. I don't know if this is because of the Aderall or because I actually feel halfway human during the day so I am doing to much. Has anyone else been on this or had any experience with it? I am not sure that I want to stop it because it helps so much during the day for the first time in months I was able to work a full work day without a breakdown or a couple pain pills but will it level out at night I have only been on it a couple weeks now and we are still adjusting the dose so maybe it will balance out?
Hi Heather: I have been taking aderall for a long time, even before I knew I had lupus. Aderall helps me tremendously, I taKe it more for the lupus than for the ADD. It gives me energy, what happens is if you over do it then you crush at the end of the day. Right now I am enjoying a good stage when my body is almost acting normal, after two years of pain and exhaustion I finally feel normal, but I still take them because they still help me. My advice is take them, but also help your mind and body cope with all the symptoms you have.
For your mind MEDITATION, our minds are too accelerated and have too much going on and meditation helps you train your mind too slow down and that helps with the stress. I do everything SLOW and I don't sweat the small stuff. YOu are lashing out because you are frustrated. I WAS THE SAME!! Instead of been mad find peace inside you. Meditation is the way.
For your body ANTI- INFLAMMATORY DIET, nobody seems to believe in it, it is hard to get used to it but eventually you do like with all things in life. THIS DIET GAVE ME MY LIFE BACK. Good luck ! and I hope you feel better soon :)
Sandra
Heather, I am on Adderall 5mg as needed, and totally relate to your story. I don't take it every day, only when I have things I must do such as doctors' appointments. It is a hassle to obtain, as in the State of TX, you must go to the pharmacy with a handwritten prescription for 30 pills every time you need them. I understand this as there is a lot of abuse with this med. Plus, it is a drug that if you don't watch out, you need more of it to get the same results. Maybe you need to ease into night by relaxing as much as you can---the meditation suggestion is a good one. Even some light yoga would help. Adderall, I think, gives you a bit of "fake" energy, so when the pain breaks through at night it is alarming. A hot shower at night helps me, also a bit of light reading. I hope you will post again, so I can see how you are doing or you can write me. All the best to you! Lupancatwoman P.S. I have the nightmares too.
I posted this yesterday on Jennifer’s post about getting off prednisone. But just in case you didn’t see it 
I am one who has taken ADHD meds. I acctually took them before I knew I was sick, and took a very low dose,5mg a day. In someways I feel they may have led to the flare that brought me to the point of being diagnosed, because it was very easy to over do it. The meds masked my fatigue. When I finally stopped taking them the fatigue hit me like a semi. I thought it was a withdraw side effect, but here I am two years later extremely fatigued. Sometimes I am tempted to take them again because I do have ADD (or maybe it has been brain fog all along) and they help me to focus and complet tasks…but I do not want to take any more medications than I need and am still wary of anything that might mask another symptom. If I was working, it would be a different story, I would have to go back on them to get the job done.
I will add; this is just my observation, my doctor assured me many times the medicine had no effect on my illness.
Heather,
I'm so glad that you are taking something that is making you more energetic and is controlling your pain. I guess we all know that more movement and purpose can control pain - but when we are exhausted, it is so difficult to move around more and control anything!
I hope there are more responses on Adderall prior to my appointment with my doctor at the end of this month because I'm thinking of bringing it up with her. I don't want to be addicted, but I'm pretty sure I'm already addicted to the other stuff I take for pain and have to be very careful to write down when I take it so I don't just take it any ole time I'm in pain or anxiety.
Thank you for your post - It was/is good for me, because I just want to get out of my bed - even for 1/4 of the day would work for me! :)
Thanks Heather,
Ang/Draginfli
HI! I have been taking short acting Adderall for years, before diagnosis, but now especially for the fatigue! Yes it’s addicting, but I look at it like I could live a better quality of life by getting out of bed and enjoying my 9 yr old son and husband or I could not take it, due to fear, but I just want to live a good quality of life for however long that is! What is the point of having to life with no energy, pain, etc, by avoiding potentially addictive medication that can make you feel better? I just feel like I’d rather take my chances and enjoy a life that many people did not have the opportunity to 30 yrs ago:) Best of luck!
Seoquel. It’s a mood stabilizer and it makes you sleep. If I am in a mood before bed or when I first wake up it can ruin the entire day! Literally the day after the first night I took Seoquel I woke up the next morning and for the first time I wasn’t in a bad mood and felt the fog lift! I have lupus, fibromyalgia, ADHD, and RA. So it’s been a struggle to find the right medications. I’ve been prescribed adrenal but prefer Vyavance because it lasts longer and the come down isn’t as extream as the come down from a. I’m a wife and mom so I know how hard it is to find the right balance and meds. I hope this helps if you have anyother questions this is the best place to vent, get advise, and just be yourself I love it!
Hi. I don’t take Adderall but I do take Dexedrine for my Narcolepsy. I don’t take it on weekends, and notice I have so much joint pain, brain fog and fatigue on those days. It usually takes me a couple of days back to taking it before the pain and brain fog eases up. I don’t have a Rheum doc now, mine moved out of the area, but my PCP agreed to manage my Lupus and Rheum Arthritis until a flare. I see him tomorrow and plan talking to him about these problems. Thanks so much for sharing your experiences with Adderall, I have never heard about this. Have a great 4th of July!!
My one suggestion to anyone taking Adderall is to take the BRANDED Adderall if at all possible! You will notice a huge difference in side effects and the branded is not nearly as addictive and causes no muscle tension like the generics! Literally I have been on this a long time and I just started Branded 2 yrs ago. It changed my life! Pharmacist will fight you on it bc they make moore money on generics (I work in industry), but find a Pharmacy that will! Usually Mom and Pop Pharmacy. If you have insurance it’s approx. $40 a month. Hope this helps! Dexedrine is a horrible medication and it’s the same as the over-the-counter weight loss med that the FDA recalled for public consumption. Be careful!
I took adderall for years and it helped me so much. Then it was discovered that I had mild cardiomyopathy and I can't take it anymore. I am so sad about that, it's been 8 years and I still miss it! Everyday is a struggle to organize the mail and any form of paperwork. My house is not the way I want it and I have brain fog.
So if they are giving it to you take it. I think you fall in bed because you did too much because the adderall gives you energy. If I have a rare good day I do the same thing.
Thank you all for your kind and supportive words. My doctor wrote my script for the branded version only no generic so from what I am reading that is good. I did talk to him about the severe crash I was experiencing he upped my dose and the last couple days have really been better. I think I almost feel normal again. I am having some severe pain in my knee but I am sure that is unrelated as that is one of my bad trigger spots and they are saying rain is coming on Friday. I am excited for this new page in my story as I feel like this has opened a whole new chapter and will help me not only function better on a day to day basis but maybe I will finally be able to lose the prednisone weight I have gained over the last 5 years. For once I do not feel as hopeless that I will be sick and tired and fat. I can handle sick I cannot handle tired and fat and I just may have found the key to those.