# Effects of Adderall on Social Anxiety?



## tk123 (Jun 27, 2012)

I know Adderall is a stimulant and used to treat ADHD and the drugs typically used to treat anxiety (aside from antidepressants) are benzodiazepines which are depressants hence the total opposite of Adderall. 

But I have been reading the effects Adderall has and it seems like it can help with SA as well. I would like something that makes me feel more social and confident. And of course alertness and increased concentration can't hurt. Anyone here on Aderall, if so how does it effect your SA? Does it help in any way?


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## TrcyMcgrdy1 (Oct 21, 2011)

If you don't have ADHD, Adderall si liek speed. You feel super good, almost godly. I only do so once every two months or so when there is a big event and I really need my A game. Don't get addicted, it is highly addictive and your tolerance will shoot up. It is a great feeling though so don't get hooked!


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## tea111red (Nov 8, 2005)

It just makes you a lot more talkative (it can give you the feeling like there is not enough time/energy to get all your thoughts/ideas out - this can cause anxiety, too), but will give you more anxiety (especially physical) unless you take something (a beta blocker and/or benzo) to counteract the effects. Beta blockers and/or benzos don't get rid of all of the anxiety, but they help a lot. Also, Adderall may make you more social when it's still working, but when it starts to wear off, it can make you really moody and want to withdraw & brood. It's kind of a toss up w/ this drug.


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## jim_morrison (Aug 17, 2008)

Depends on the person I guess, I take Dexedrine for ADD and it helps my general anxiety by making me feel more alert, calm and in control (but not overstimulated). 
SA wise I guess it increases talkativeness/motivation somewhat but I haven't found it to be especially effective, or any sort of 'panacea' for treating my SA.


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## tk123 (Jun 27, 2012)

Thanks guys, I guess it can help somewhat. I actually need to go on it because I suffer from brain fog a lot. Like at work I will be asked to do something and I forget what it is after a while or I have to costantly ask questions about something even if it's simple to understand. This starts to happen mid day, in the morning I'm fresh and fine. So I think I will go to a doctor and ask about it, if it can help my SA that's a plus.

BTW, what about things like learning a new skill? I'm a programmer and I want to learn new leanguages but each time I try to read an online guide or book I get bored and quit. I don't have ADD/ADHD or Dysleksia, but I do have a tought time concentrating and learning new things. Could Aderall help me sit and stay focused on learning new things for long periods? I know it's supposed to be, but I rather hear about your experiences on the matter.


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## beautynmisery (Aug 18, 2012)

*stimulants for sa is the best*

Social anxiety and adhd is caused by low dopemine levels thats why stimulants and any other medication that raises dopemine will sometimes cure social anxiety ive had social anxiety all my life and the only meds that helped me was concerta and ive been on every ssri and maoi out there


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## riptide991 (Feb 1, 2012)

Yah but both Concerta and Adderal act on NE as well. That can increase Social anxiety in some. If you want a drug that works purely on dopamine you need something like bromocriptine. I've used it in the past, it is a very powerful drug you need to take extremely miniscule doses. It's used for people with Parkinson's.


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## JohnDelaney (Jan 11, 2012)

*Adderall on Social Anxiety?*

Now I have been through the ringer with different medication regiments and diagnosis. My main issue has always been anxiety especially socially, eventhough I am able to come of as calm and confident. Early this year I suffered a nervous breakdown and had to admit myself. For aftercare I had to start seeing a new phyc., we tried several new medications due to have being on so many of the more common ones. Anxiety medications like Xanax, Ativan, Valium, etc have never helped me even at very high doseages( they do seem to prevent more severe panic attacks). After trying some new medication regiments resulting with adverse effects my physc. talked me into trying Adderall, eventhough I don't have many symptoms of adult ADD. Adderall did for me what anti-anxiety medications due for others. I was able to relax and feel comfortable and my anxiety is at an all time low. However socially it had a rather strange effect on me, I am not nervous around people which was GOOD but I also have less intrest in being social. It made me feel content to be in my own little world. It also made my personality rather dull. Also I have lost 15lbs. in three months, I am 6'2 and weigh under 160 lbs. Also I have trouble sleeping. I do feel ALOT better,but this is not a medication regiment I am willing to take long term. The major benefit for me is I am only taking two medications Adderall XR 30mg/Xanax 1mg. At some points I had to take 4-5 different medications in a day. Now this is not a common or popular medication combination but at this point my phyc. just wants me to be on what gives me some relief. If you have severe social anxiety any doctor or physc. should have you try an anti-anxiety medication first if medication is needed. They help most people ALOT. It's just that medications effect everbody differently.

Best wishes,
John


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## Konami (Jul 5, 2011)

kehcorpz said:


> Yah but both Concerta and Adderal act on NE as well. That can increase Social anxiety in some. If you want a drug that works purely on dopamine you need something like bromocriptine. I've used it in the past, it is a very powerful drug you need to take extremely miniscule doses. It's used for people with Parkinson's.


interesting...
did bromocriptine cure your SE? how did it feel to be on this drug?


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## riptide991 (Feb 1, 2012)

konamitech said:


> interesting...
> did bromocriptine cure your SE? how did it feel to be on this drug?


Well I used it for bodybuilding to get shredded. It was a way of controlling leptin and prolactin levels. I found that if I took too much I would get extreme nausea. I had to split the pills into really tiny portions. It was a while back, I don't really know how it affected my social anxiety. I didn't take it for long just to get down to a 5% body fat level. It was a while back and my memories from the past are hazy unfortunately. Although some are coming back on the meds that I'm taking which is interesting. But yah bromocriptine is the drug for dopamine.


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## Konami (Jul 5, 2011)

kehcorpz said:


> Well I used it for bodybuilding to get shredded. It was a way of controlling leptin and prolactin levels. I found that if I took too much I would get extreme nausea. I had to split the pills into really tiny portions. It was a while back, I don't really know how it affected my social anxiety. I didn't take it for long just to get down to a 5% body fat level. It was a while back and my memories from the past are hazy unfortunately. Although some are coming back on the meds that I'm taking which is interesting. But yah bromocriptine is the drug for dopamine.


so i understand from whjat You're saying is that the key to cure SE is by increasing dopamine D1 and D2? am i right?


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## riptide991 (Feb 1, 2012)

konamitech said:


> so i understand from whjat You're saying is that the key to cure SE is by increasing dopamine D1 and D2? am i right?


No I'm not saying that. I'm simply saying if you want a drug that works on dopamine take bromocriptine. The human brain is a bit more complex than that. You don't want an excess of dopamine, you want the right amount. It's possible people with SA have lower dopamine levels than normal. So by taking a Dopamine agonist or reuptake inhibitor you may bring it back to normal. It's just there really isn't a Dopamine only drug that is prescribed to mental patients. So you never really know what it's going to do for you or which part is working. Even adderal while it works on Dopamine also works on norepinephrine. I think like the others were saying balance is really the key as everything works synchronously in the brain. But it's tough to fix that balance if the only hormone you need is say Dopamine. If you take an NDRI you are then creating an imbalance with too much Norepinephrine. You just can't win.


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## metamorphosis (Dec 18, 2008)

When you are dealing with either adderall or dexedrine. You are dealing with amphetamine salts. you are dealing with meds. that can basically over power any other meds affecting your dopamine and norepinephrine. They not only hijack the DAT and NET systems. They basically exert so much control over the cells presynaptic neurons. The VMAT recieves the NT's and the proton pump shuttles NT's into the synaptic vesicle. there the neurotransmitters can be stored for future neurotransmission.

That is how it is supposed to work. To clarify one thing, adderall has more of an affinity for NET. While dexedrine prefers to bind to the DAT system. But both are equal opportunity drugs. What happens next, i compare to a driver ant colony that is on the march in the amazon. When they come upon a house, the occupants have already left for the scouts come first. When the colony takes the house every living creature is killed for food. the occupants, who once had a vermin problem no longer have a single living thing to bother with in their home. 

When an amphetamine enters the brain, it immediatley binds to all of the DAT and NET transporters available. These run in a circle on presynaptic neurons. these travel in a circle path from the outside of the cell into the inside to dump off the DA or NR monomines. as explained before a proton pump isn the battery that runs the VMAT and the NT's into synaptic vesicles for later use. 

Once the amphetamine hijacks the DAT. now unlike the other DA binding meds that use a much gentler form of action by allosterically blocking DAT. Amphetamine is a competitive inhibitor of dopamine. It acts directly at the DA substrate binding sites. So, now that it has attached itself to DAT or NET and the NE or DA NT. It is ready to go directly into the cell

By this point the transports have basically been rendered useless in any type of normal functioning and soon. at this point the amphetamine now inside the cell, competivley inhibits DA at the VMAT as well. And the drug is now transported even father into the cell where the stored DA's are stored in the synaptic vesicles.

This is now the time that a complete malfunction of all the DA and NE cell units fall to pieces. The disruption in the vesicles creates a giant avalanche of events to the point that the cell will have to create a new ion channel for DA release.Two things happen next.And when taken together, it is one of those overwhelming feats in psychopharmacology and demonstrates how powerful these drugs are. 

Massive amounts of intercellular dopamine are now available.The high concentration of intercellular DA cause channels to open and release the DA into the synapse.Now the high concentrations of DA in the cell also causes a complete 180 reversible of DAT functioning.So the DAT is now steadily pumping dopamine out of the neuron instead of into it.

The end result is a massive flooding of active DA into the synapse. Now ready to be utilized in the various regions of the brain. The end result is a complete cellular depletion of NE and DA neurotransmitters. These actions are what can make amphetamines so addicting. Tolerance builds at an alarming rate also.

Let me point out that this is a what happens when instant release amp is used at a high dose. That will lead to neurotoxicity. But it also follows the same mode of action on a less smaller scale with substantially less damage to the brain over time.

Also, both meds. come in a xr spanule form. Which is much easier on the cells; as the drug is released at a slow pace and the impact on the cells is at a slow steady pace.


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## jim_morrison (Aug 17, 2008)

^To my understanding, in this sense Methylphenidates (Concerta, Ritalin, Focalin XR, etc) are probably a bit better in that they seem to lack the potential for neurotoxicity because they only act as NDRIs without the neurotransmitter cell entrance 'releasing' potential.


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## Broshious2 (Jan 21, 2009)

kehcorpz said:


> Well I used it for bodybuilding to get shredded. It was a way of controlling leptin and prolactin levels. I found that if I took too much I would get extreme nausea. I had to split the pills into really tiny portions. It was a while back, I don't really know how it affected my social anxiety. I didn't take it for long just to get down to a 5% body fat level. It was a while back and my memories from the past are hazy unfortunately. Although some are coming back on the meds that I'm taking which is interesting. But yah bromocriptine is the drug for dopamine.


Bromocriptine is a partial 5-HT2B agonist and 5-HT2B agonists can lead to heart problems:

This study demonstrated that bromocriptine use was associated with an increased risk of developing valvular heart disease, which occurred in a cumulative dose-dependent manner.


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## riptide991 (Feb 1, 2012)

Broshious2 said:


> Bromocriptine is a partial 5-HT2B agonist and 5-HT2B agonists can lead to heart problems:
> 
> This study demonstrated that bromocriptine use was associated with an increased risk of developing valvular heart disease, which occurred in a cumulative dose-dependent manner.


Yep, but the affinity for 5-ht2b is much lower and you would require larger doses. This is why I took very miniscule doses. The affinity for D2 and D3 is so high that the smallest doses will work. If you want to target say D1 you would need much higher doses.

There's risk with any prolonged drug treatment. I'd probably be dead already if I wasn't taking my medicine, so even if I die of heart problems, I would have lived longer.


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## metamorphosis (Dec 18, 2008)

jim_morrison said:


> ^To my understanding, in this sense Methylphenidates (Concerta, Ritalin, Focalin XR, etc) are probably a bit better in that they seem to lack the potential for neurotoxicity because they only act as NDRIs without the neurotransmitter cell entrance 'releasing' potential.


I think the key point here. Is that methylphenidate acts as a norepinephrine-dopamine reuptake inhibitor. Methylphenidate is most active at modulating levels of dopamine and to a lesser extent noradrenaline. It shares the similar qualities with the amphetamine class with it's affinity to bind to DAD and NET.

The big difference is the sheer magnitude of the amphetamine to not only bind to the transporters but to such a severe degree. Amphetamines are a rare breed in that they are extremely,. Inhibiting not only the functioning aggressive competitive inhibitors. Inhibiting not only the normal function of DA and NE transport. But goes many steps further by entering the s of the neuron and stops the complete normal functioning VMAT and the proton pump by it's aggressive, complete inhibiting nature. The result not only forces the overwhelming influx of the intercellular DA into the presynaptic vesicles. This extreme concentration of DA. New channels are formed in the presynaptic area to release the buildup and dump the DA out. The combination of DA overload flooding the neuron and the strangle hold of the amphetamine on the DAT. The extreme malfunctioning of the neuronal infrastructure that transports the monomines to the storage vesicles finally creates the complete malfunction of DAT. It now starts pumping the DA into the synapse instead into the neuron.

Moreover, MPH is thought to act as a releasing agent by increasing the release of dopamine and norepinephrine, though to a much lesser extent than amphetamines.Moreover, MPH is thought to act as a releasing agent by increasing the release of dopamine and norepinephrine, though to a much lesser extent than amphetamines.

Where as, MPH is thought to act as a releasing agent by increasing the release of dopamine and norepinephrine to a much lesser extent than amphetamines. Methylphenidate fundamental difference from amphetamines, is that MPH increases the general firing rate. MPH does not reverse the flow of the monoamine transporters.Although methylphenidate can be considered an amphetamine close derivative. Both have a d and l isomer but differences exist in its pharmacology; amphetamine works as a dopamine transport substrate. Methylphenidate works as a dopamine transport blocker.

When talking of the developmental disorder ADHD from a strictly neuropharmacological view; MPH's therapeutic effects concerning ADHD includes blocking the reuptake of dopamine into nerve terminals. It also stimulates the release of dopamine from dopamine nerve terminals. Which increases dopamine levels in the synapse. It's basically a da and NE reuptake inhibitor. Finally, it increases the magnitude of dopamine release after a stimulus, increasing concentration. . The slower acting stimuli of MPH on DA and NT increase tonic firing into the prefrontal cortext. Slow tonic functionitioning of DA and NE reduces both of the neurotransmitters low concentration in the prefrontal cortext.

Other mitigating issues concerning ADHA include genetics, diet, and social enviroments.


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## jim_morrison (Aug 17, 2008)

metamorphosis said:


> I think the key point here. Is that methylphenidate acts as a norepinephrine-dopamine reuptake inhibitor. Methylphenidate is most active at modulating levels of dopamine and to a lesser extent noradrenaline. It shares the similar qualities with the amphetamine class with it's affinity to bind to DAD and NET.
> 
> The big difference is the sheer magnitude of the amphetamine to not only bind to the transporters but to such a severe degree. Amphetamines are a rare breed in that they are extremely,. Inhibiting not only the functioning aggressive competitive inhibitors. Inhibiting not only the normal function of DA and NE transport. But goes many steps further by entering the s of the neuron and stops the complete normal functioning VMAT and the proton pump by it's aggressive, complete inhibiting nature. The result not only forces the overwhelming influx of the intercellular DA into the presynaptic vesicles. This extreme concentration of DA. New channels are formed in the presynaptic area to release the buildup and dump the DA out. The combination of DA overload flooding the neuron and the strangle hold of the amphetamine on the DAT. The extreme malfunctioning of the neuronal infrastructure that transports the monomines to the storage vesicles finally creates the complete malfunction of DAT. It now starts pumping the DA into the synapse instead into the neuron.
> 
> ...


So would you agree that in the long term MPH is generally safer than amphetamine for regular use?


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## UltraShy (Nov 8, 2003)

Amphetamines have a very clear effect of making me more confident & talkative, all without increasing my anxiety.

Evidently I have ADD as I don't find amphetamines to be at all stimulating in the sense of producing wakefulness. In fact, I could nap right through amphetamines. Amphetamines make me energetic enough to do absolutely nothing -- sort of like alcohol, minus the loss of mental clarity.


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## metamorphosis (Dec 18, 2008)

jim_morrison said:


> So would you agree that in the long term MPH is generally safer than amphetamine for regular use?


Definatley, just by it's mode of action compared to amps.


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## ladysmurf (Jan 3, 2012)

Adderall sucks in my opinion. I took 60mg and it didn't do anything for me....Ummmm it just made me very anxious, and gave me major OCD.


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## angiemarie (Dec 26, 2011)

I take adderall with klonopin and magic happens. It's like an energetic and creative calm, if that makes any sense at all. I realize that everyone is different and that I am no doctor, buuuut.. it has definitely changed my life in such a positive way.


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## tk123 (Jun 27, 2012)

angiemarie said:


> I take adderall with klonopin and magic happens. It's like an energetic and creative calm, if that makes any sense at all. I realize that everyone is different and that I am no doctor, buuuut.. it has definitely changed my life in such a positive way.


Interesting, can you explain a little. How has it changed your life? Are you doing things you would have otherwise not done or is it just making you "feel good"?

I personally am not interested in just feeling good but more so in something that will force me to do things that I usually wouldn't do like approaching strangers to talk and being more assertive, etc.


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## xks201 (Aug 27, 2012)

adderall and gabapentin work good for me.


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## Broshious2 (Jan 21, 2009)

Methamphetamine and Lyrica for me


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## GotAnxiety (Oct 14, 2011)

Adderall XR and Marijuana for me. Just a standard hoot is like taking an ativan but if i smoke too much animals will be talking too me 1 to 2 is good. Also alchohol the bomb on adderall too i find i get drunk quicker it helps the comedown.


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## angiemarie (Dec 26, 2011)

tk123 said:


> Interesting, can you explain a little. How has it changed your life? Are you doing things you would have otherwise not done or is it just making you "feel good"?
> 
> I personally am not interested in just feeling good but more so in something that will force me to do things that I usually wouldn't do like approaching strangers to talk and being more assertive, etc.[/QUOT
> 
> It makes me feel good and it makes me do things I wouldn't have done without being on it. More confidence mostly.


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## Escape Artist (Aug 23, 2011)

I take adderall "as needed". I take it for university lectures, studying, and exams. On days off, I don't. It's got some strong bonuses and some strong side effects to work with. It does raise anxiety in general. But paired with something like xanax, you can counter the sleepiness of the benzo and the anxiety of the amphetamine. Together, they work very well for me. But both hit you pretty hard at first and take getting used to. Also, don't drink.


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