Is adderall safe long term?

[Timmy]

Hi back again, I'm the one who created the topic about add and dual n back and if dual n back helps add. Anyhow I've officially been diagnosed with adhd and am now on ritalin. It works but not as well as I'd like (I can stay on a task but I can't focus on mind on it)and am thinking about asking my doctor if I can try adderall (from my research it seems to be better for people with inattentive adhd like me). My question is if adderall is safe long term/ what is the effective risk I'd have by taking it. I've researched Ritalin and it seems to be actually neuro-protective from what I understand. However researching adderall there seems to have been rare cases of sudden death related to heart defects and increased chances of parkinson's. I also have pectus excavatum (sunken chest) I went to get it checked a couple years ago and it seemed fine however I'm still worried about my sunken chest and if it'd increase my chances of sudden death while on adderall.  , 

[hiphopo...@yahoo.com]

The only thing that has significantly improved my brain has been the hyperbaric chamber. I believe the best investment you can make towards your future is purchasing a hyperbaric chamber. I am leasing one out for $150 a month for five years. I am getting great results and I'm not using an oxygen concentrator. I used to take pharmaceticals for depression. They didn't help at all. Adderal is dangerous. Do yourself a favor and stay away from it.

A month ago I was worried all the time and I always worked in a manic frenzy. I never felt happy and I wasn't close to being content. Now after a month of using my hyperbaric chamber, I know that I am healing. During the first fifty sessions, I noticed the right side of my head was heating up. I believe my reading retention and imagination started improving around this time. The left side of my head started heating up recently. This started happening after the 100th session. I believe my focus is improving now. I read that the left side of your brain houses a system (your left temporal cortex, left parietal cortex, and left prefrontal cortex) that is the source of your intelligence. I believe I will continue to see great progress and can't wait to see the effects of dual n back and the hyperbaric chamber combined. 

I am more clearheaded, I retain more of what I read, my visualization is improving, I am calmer, I am a whole lot happier, I look forward to things now, and I have more energy. I have been waking up two hours earlier than normal lately. I have more energy than used to though. I believe my depression is going away and my mind is getting stronger. I notice dual n back is getting easier. 

Even though I am getting great benefits from the chamber, I will never stop nbacking. I want to push my brain as far as it will go. I am committed to being a self made genius. Besides the chamber, I also take 11 omega 3 fish oil pills, 2 1000 mg vitamin E pills, 5 b12 pills, 2 folic acid pills, and seven grams of lions mane mushroom powder, vitamin b complex, magnesium, calcium, zinc, and vitamin c. The lions mane mushroom helps thicken myelin and regenerates  nerves. I also take 1/4 cup of olive oil a night so my body has the oleic acid it needs to rebuild my myelin sheath. 

[jotaro]

n back wont make you a genius. fufu.

[adhdParent]

On Tuesday, January 8, 2013 10:06:36 PM UTC-5, Timmy wrote:

Hi back again, I'm the one who created the topic about add and dual n back and if dual n back helps add.

 

Did dual n-back have tangible benefits with your ADHD?  I'm disappointed that there still does not seem to be any research on DNB+ADHD or the long-term effects of ADHD drugs.  Have you asked your doctor yet about getting a heart test and if it is worth switching to Adderall?  Due to a previous heart test result, my child was given several heart tests while taking the drugs including a 24-hour Holter monitor.

 

At least there are studies that show the drugs to be efficacious (for ADHD), unlke hyperbaric chamber.  Every time I research hyperbaric chamber in case of any new evidence of efficacy, all I read are horror stories of explosions, fires and desperate people getting ripped off by greedy businesses.  While neither hyperbaric nor n-back can make you a genius, I hope hiphopopotamus' $9,000 risk will be worth it in his specific case.

[Gwern Branwen]

On Wed, Jan 9, 2013 at 4:56 AM, hiphopo...@yahoo.com
<hiphopo...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> A month ago I was worried all the time and I always worked in a manic
> frenzy. I never felt happy and I wasn't close to being content. Now after a
> month of using my hyperbaric chamber, I know that I am healing. During the
> first fifty sessions, I noticed the right side of my head was heating up. I
> believe my reading retention and imagination started improving around this
> time. The left side of my head started heating up recently. This started
> happening after the 100th session. I believe my focus is improving now. I
> read that the left side of your brain houses a system (your left temporal
> cortex, left parietal cortex, and left prefrontal cortex) that is the source
> of your intelligence. I believe I will continue to see great progress and
> can't wait to see the effects of dual n back and the hyperbaric chamber
> combined.

Are you saying that after 100 sessions and all these subjective
effects, there are still no objective effects on eg. your n-back
scores?

--
gwern
http://www.gwern.net

[jotaro]

i am interested to know that as well did your n back improved after hyperbolic chamber.

adderall is crap dont take it.

if you want drugs seek smart drugs which are new, and not that well studied yet, because the old ones dont have the answer.

[Timmy]

Money is tight right now so I can't afford anything that costs much more then free.If I start getting a decent income I'll look into it, I think your commitment is really impressive though.

[Timmy]

I didn't have enough concentration/willpower to try dual n back for more then a couple sessions, its also something I just can't justify doing with no real scientific evidence backing it.However I have been exercising a lot lately (free weights) and it has seemed to help my add as well as my psychical appearance and strength/stamina and even my overall happiness.Well worth the 20 mins I put into it each day. I've also been inconsistently meditating and notice an increase in concentration abilities directly after. At the same time I've deleting all games off my computer and abstaining from internet porn and excessive internet use in general (with limited success) to try to normalize my brain to normal everyday activities. There's a fair amount of evidence these activities when done to long/frequently can lead to adhd like symptoms , or if you have actual add like me (I've had these symptoms forever) , make the symptoms more extreme. 

Not sure if I'm going to ask my doctor about adderall judging from responses, Its not something I need,ritalin works fine its not fantastic but it works good enough but I'll probably get my heart checked regardless.

[jotaro]

listen man you sound like you are going though something i went with one year ago, i deleted video games, stopped chatting with people online, stopped watching tv , minimized porn(omg i said it) .

now well its all good , but there is hidden potential in video games.

in the past i had ritalin(10th grade) felt like crap and threw it in the junk.

ritalin is crap as well. after all this time i dont have a definite answer, i am following new direction once again, seem to change it once a few months,

i have no idea if i even have add or not, might have been a mistake can be same with you,but there is something i feel i lack, i cant pinpoint consciously what is it.

seems like no one knows the answer as well.

[hiphopo...@yahoo.com]

I was getting in the 50% range on dual crab 5 back about a week ago. I just started getting in the 60% range. I moved on to dual crab 6 back yesterday and am getting in the 50% range. I just scored 58% on crab dual 6 back a minute ago. It is possible that my increase in percentage is due to sheer practice. I'm convinced that the chamber has something to do with it though.  

I play all my nbacking sessions at 0.80 seconds. I believe that in order to have a high working memory, you need fast thought processing. I notice that whenever my percentage increases, time starts to slow down when I play. This change in my perception of time lasts as long as I can maintain my focus. It is an incredible feeling. Part of the reason I want to become smarter, is so I can buy more time. I think that time slows down the more your intelligence increases.