# Adderall XR + SSRI



## poot (Jan 31, 2009)

Hi. I'm on my first SSRI (Prozac) and have been for about 6 weeks now. I'm a sophomore in college (taking the semester off to sort this stuff out). 

I've taken Adderall the first 1 and 1/2 years of college and academically it has been fantastic. My GPA went way up from what it was in high school. Unfortunately, Adderall made me feel like a lifeless zombie. I would be super concentrated and would get really bitter, anti-social, and anxious (I'm fairly bitter and anxious normally).

Anyways, Prozac has helped with depression but not so much with anxiety. I am not nearly as productive without the Adderall but I don't want to feel the horrible feelings I used to have. I used AdderallXR for only a little while and it helped and had less 'zombie' side-effects than normal Adderall.

I was wondering if anyone has experience with AdderallXR(or another ADHD med) and an SSRI. Basically I'm hoping my SSRI will help prevent those bad side-effects because I am much more productive while taking Adderall. Thanks =]

**hoping someone had a bad experience with Adderall then went on an SSRI and the side-effects of Adderall were not as bad **


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## Noca (Jun 24, 2005)

Im on Paxil and Adderall XR and Klonopin and other drugs. Works great


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## beaches09 (Feb 1, 2009)

I took Adderall with Zoloft and it did very much help with those after effect feelings. I felt the zoloft balanced it and made it more smooth. Also the affects of both drugs seemed to enhanced each other. 

When I would take an SSRI alone sure it makes you chipper and positive, but at the same time I had all the letharic and unmotivating sluggish feelings. 

When I would take adderall alone it made me calm and unsocial and very relaxed but of course it helped with the focus tremendously.

When I added adderall and zoloft together it was like a light switch and I had the SUPER positive feelings, motivation, VERY VERY talkative almost nonstop sometimes, cheerful, happy, and the ADHD control all at the same time, I was superfocused, creative, etc. Very good combo if you ask me. And I didn't feel comedowns. Eventually I'd feel the adderall wear off of course, but it wasn't a bad feeling, it was just an "oh the superfocus and some of those enhanced feelings are gone". But I still felt good. And that was even with regular adderall not the XR. Keep in mind I did also occasionally have a low dose of wellbutrin that I would take with it. But even without that, the other two together were gold and the best I ever felt. The Wellbutrin just sort of took that feeling from other two to an even better level.


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## MissMay1977 (Oct 25, 2008)

I am on Paxil, generic Adderall and Adderall Xr. Yes I am on both Adderall. I just hope my insurance will cover both. Otherwise my pdoc will need to add something to my generic Adderall.


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## poot (Jan 31, 2009)

thank you very much beaches, thats exactly what I'm hoping for.


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## KurtG85 (Sep 19, 2008)

I have been struggling with this exact same situation for many years. 

I have found adding an SSRI to help with the moodiness and irritability adderall causes but it definitely doesn't help near enough, not in my case at least.

My physical anxiety is pretty through the roof while on adderall but I am pretty worthless at any kind of job without it. It also helps with depression, in the very short term at least. The biggest thing it helps me with is to be more focused, talkative and social. These benefits stave off some SAD induced depression and panic attacks but my mood is definitely turned into a roller coaster. An SSRI (lexapro) added on helps to balance the crazy moods adderall induces but makes me even more socially isolationist.


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## poot (Jan 31, 2009)

saw my doc today. I was prescribed 30mg vyvanse instead of adderallXR. anyone have any experience with SSRI + vyvanse?


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## Noca (Jun 24, 2005)

poot said:


> saw my doc today. I was prescribed 30mg vyvanse instead of adderallXR. anyone have any experience with SSRI + vyvanse?


Vyvanse is just like amphetamine only its different in the way the body digests it. Its formulated to be abuse resistant.


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## euphoria (Jan 21, 2009)

KurtG85 said:


> I have been struggling with this exact same situation for many years.
> 
> I have found adding an SSRI to help with the moodiness and irritability adderall causes but it definitely doesn't help near enough, not in my case at least.
> 
> My physical anxiety is pretty through the roof while on adderall but I am pretty worthless at any kind of job without it. It also helps with depression, in the very short term at least. The biggest thing it helps me with is to be more focused, talkative and social. These benefits stave off some SAD induced depression and panic attacks but my mood is definitely turned into a roller coaster. An SSRI (lexapro) added on helps to balance the crazy moods adderall induces but makes me even more socially isolationist.


My advice: take tryptophan to augment the SSRI's effect on mood, but start cautiously due to their synergy. Also, I recommend magnesium to control amphetamine tolerance and prevent neurotoxicity, as well as antioxidants and selegiline (again, you'll need to begin slowly and adjust amphetamine dose) for the same reason.


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## michaelscott330 (Mar 10, 2012)

Hi guys I'm new to the forums and I would appreciate any support and advice. I'm 110 pounds 5'3". I am currently on welbutrin 450xl and prozac 80mg in the morning, lamictal 200mg and seroquel xr 400 and 2m clonazepam at night, and recently my Dr. added in ADDERALL and It literally made me feel better instantly. I didn't feel a high though (I didn't want to) but rather I just felt calm and alot of the obsessive thoughts in my head went away and I could sit through a whole tv show without getting up a million times. I am on 45mg adderall and have been on it 2 weeks. I take 30mg in the am and mid afternoon i take 15 (not the xr). I love it. I'm pretty sure I have undiagnosed ADD because I feel so calm and focused on it. i don't feel speedy at all. I was just curious If all of the psychotropic meds I am taking would reduce the effectiveness of adderall.


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## michaelscott330 (Mar 10, 2012)

I'm 110 pounds 5'3". I am currently on welbutrin 450xl and prozac 80mg in the morning, lamictal 200mg and seroquel xr 400 and 2m clonazepam at night, and recently my Dr. added in ADDERALL and It literally made me feel better instantly. I didn't feel a high though (I didn't want to) but rather I just felt calm and alot of the obsessive thoughts in my head went away and I could sit through a whole tv show without getting up a million times. I am on 45mg adderall and have been on it 2 weeks. I take 30mg in the am and mid afternoon i take 15 (not the xr). I love it. I'm pretty sure I have undiagnosed ADD because I feel so calm and focused on it. i don't feel speedy at all. I was just curious If all of the psychotropic meds I am taking would reduce the effectiveness of adderall.


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## GotAnxiety (Oct 14, 2011)

What ssri would work best with adderall xr? any one got great positive experiences with prozac and adderall xr?


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## jim_morrison (Aug 17, 2008)

GotAnxiety said:


> What ssri would work best with adderall xr? any one got great positive experiences with prozac and adderall xr?


Lexapro is safest to combine.


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## GotAnxiety (Oct 14, 2011)

jim_morrison said:


> Lexapro is safest to combine.


Yeah i already tried that one with adderall xr it was fun riding my bike on that stuff just ripping it up all juke up on addy lex didn't do much for the angry crash i still felt the depression the adderall can cause tho, was wondering if adderall xr and prozac would be better on the depression/sex drive then the lex? Effexor totally neutralize the crash but that combo was a bit too stimulating for my taste tic tic tic.

Am i the only one that when i was on amphetamines i got fat? i was pushing like 225 on that stuff and the ssri. the girl's weren't complaining tho, only crappy thing about that is it kills your muscles off with fatigue and it hard too keep a constant diet on that stuff ie make ya feel like crap.

i think that stuff might be hitting generic soon here in Canada right now its 90bucks a script.
Vyvanse is like 125.


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## rachelrn (Jul 25, 2012)

I've been on zoloft, lamictal, and klonipin (as needed), which has worked well for my anxiety but I felt tired all the time even without the klonipin. I recently started on a low dose of generic adderall (salts, not xr) and found its helped me tremendously. I work 12 hour night shifts so it has helped me stay focused and alert without feeling anxious or on edge. My nurse practitioner said that ssri's with adderall can help with mood and decrease anxiety, which seems counterintuitive to me but so far it seems to be working. I've also read up on taking chelated magnesium to help decrease tolerance to the adderall and from what I've read it can also help with anxiety.


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## shaunme111 (Jul 28, 2012)

Noca said:


> Im on Paxil and Adderall XR and Klonopin and other drugs. Works great


That's surprising that they prescribed you both Paxil and Adderall, you definitely do not want to take the two together because Paxil inhibits an enzyme that processes Adderall and/or any other version of amphetamine, so the Adderall will be in your system in much higher quantity and for a longer period of time. I recommend asking your doctor about this interaction, they should REALLY switch you to another SSRI. There are no other SSRI's that have this same interaction as far as I know.


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## jim_morrison (Aug 17, 2008)

shaunme111 said:


> That's surprising that they prescribed you both Paxil and Adderall, you definitely do not want to take the two together because Paxil inhibits an enzyme that processes Adderall and/or any other version of amphetamine, so the Adderall will be in your system in much higher quantity and for a longer period of time. I recommend asking your doctor about this interaction, they should REALLY switch you to another SSRI. There are no other SSRI's that have this same interaction as far as I know.


Yeah, both Paxil and Prozac have this enzyme reaction with Adderall and other amphetamine products.


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## Cassovel (Aug 6, 2012)

jim_morrison said:


> Yeah, both Paxil and Prozac have this enzyme reaction with Adderall and other amphetamine products.


First off i just reread what i wrote and it is very chaotic so i apologize lol.

Hi i was currently on Prozac 60mg(to be honest i dont think it did much for me so they kept upping the dose) I went to see my doc and she upped the dose of prozac to 80mg and started me on adderall xr 10mg. First off i was always off and on the Prozac near the end(soon before i was prescribed the adderall) so i don't know how much was in my system when i started the Adderall XR since it has such a long half-life. but when i started taking the adderall with the prozac(i started over the titration of prozac at 20mg and was going to move back up to 80mg) i noticed that i would get wavy emotions. I would feel amazing like a switch had turned on and then eventually the switch would start to dim. I would literally feel this cold feeling. the worst part was that i felt like a spectator in my brain and that i could do nothing about it to stop the downhill coast. eventually the amazing feeling would return. this bothered me so i researched the prozac adderall combo and found exactly what you guys mentioned so i just assumed the prozac was blocking the adderall intermittently causing the downhill coasts. So i quit taking the prozac. but then i was realizing that i had pretty much quit caffeine cold turkey(i was drinking 1-2 monster rehabs a day to stay sort of focused/motivated at work) so maybe the caffeine withdrawals could have caused these wavy moods?? I dunno. Finally its been about 2 weeks now and im noticing the amazing feeling has dimmed a bit and the waves have slowed down as well. pretty much by lunchtime the xr has worn off(or it feels like it) i get grumpy, no motivation, nothing gets done etc.. so im wondering if the prozac keeps the adderall in your system longer would it be beneficial for me to keep taking the prozac? I am currently on the 10mg addy xr. And just doing my own research i believe i have ADD and not ADHD so is this the drug of choice for ADD?


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## Cassovel (Aug 6, 2012)

...continued.. my apologies i forgot to mention that i smoke and am smoking a lot more while on adderall.. so saving money on monster rehab(20 cals per can) and spending more on cigs... yay!!


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## jim_morrison (Aug 17, 2008)

Cassovel said:


> First off i just reread what i wrote and it is very chaotic so i apologize lol.
> 
> Hi i was currently on Prozac 60mg(to be honest i dont think it did much for me so they kept upping the dose) I went to see my doc and she upped the dose of prozac to 80mg and started me on adderall xr 10mg. First off i was always off and on the Prozac near the end(soon before i was prescribed the adderall) so i don't know how much was in my system when i started the Adderall XR since it has such a long half-life. but when i started taking the adderall with the prozac(i started over the titration of prozac at 20mg and was going to move back up to 80mg) i noticed that i would get wavy emotions. I would feel amazing like a switch had turned on and then eventually the switch would start to dim. I would literally feel this cold feeling. the worst part was that i felt like a spectator in my brain and that i could do nothing about it to stop the downhill coast. eventually the amazing feeling would return. this bothered me so i researched the prozac adderall combo and found exactly what you guys mentioned so i just assumed the prozac was blocking the adderall intermittently causing the downhill coasts. So i quit taking the prozac. but then i was realizing that i had pretty much quit caffeine cold turkey(i was drinking 1-2 monster rehabs a day to stay sort of focused/motivated at work) so maybe the caffeine withdrawals could have caused these wavy moods?? I dunno. Finally its been about 2 weeks now and im noticing the amazing feeling has dimmed a bit and the waves have slowed down as well. pretty much by lunchtime the xr has worn off(or it feels like it) i get grumpy, no motivation, nothing gets done etc.. so im wondering if the prozac keeps the adderall in your system longer would it be beneficial for me to keep taking the prozac? I am currently on the 10mg addy xr. And just doing my own research i believe i have ADD and not ADHD so is this the drug of choice for ADD?


Prozac may keep the Adderall in your system longer, but it might also increase the side effects of Adderall such as increased blood pressure, heart rate, etc, so be careful with that, but I guess if your doc put you on that combo then she must think its okay.


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