I don't have a directly depression-related question. I used to think I had depression but recently was diagnosed with bipolar, and I'm on Lamictal, Lexapro and Adderall at the moment. Since I started on Adderall (last month) I've lost 10 pounds. I know that it's because of the loss of appetite associated with this stimulant, but I'm worried that I'm going to gain it all right back when my body gets used to the medication. At the same time I feel like I'm cheating because I have help to control my appetite (though that's NOT why I'm taking it).

Do any of you have experience with this medication?

Adderall is generally perscribed for ADHD and yes it does have appetite surppressive properties. All the children who I have ever worked with that was perscribed this class of drug lost weight.

Cheers!
Deb

I take Vyvanse. I've lost 13 lbs since I started taking it. My doctor told me to be very careful with the weightloss on this med as you can lose a ton of weight fairly fast. She knows at 255 lbs, I could stand to lose alot of weight but cautioned me to still try to do it slowly. I mentioned I was doing WW.

I asked her the same thing you said...will I gain it ALL back after my body gets used to the med? She said that with the stimulants it isn't a problem unless you STOP taking the med. I double checked with the pharmacist, too. he said the same thing. In years of prescribing stimulants, he said the issue is when you stop.

I have plain uni-polar depression and ADHD. Vyvanse has been wonderful for both of them.

My fiance was on adderall for years, and if you can find an alternative to it, I would highly recommend it. It's very easily abused, and even if it's used correctly, its common for people on it to have trouble with relationships (we did some research when we began having trouble with it). It's such a harsh stimulant that it can create behaviors in you that you would not normally have.

I also know a few other people who have had major problems with it, so perhaps you could try asking your doctor for other options. If you're on a really low dose, perhaps that is okay too.

As far as the weight loss goes, he was on it for years, and often didn't eat when he was, so when I met him he was about 10-15 pounds lighter than he is today, without it. But that didn't just appear overnight, it crept up over the last year or so while he's working a fairly sedentary job.

Oh, I forgot to point out that I do, in fact, have ADD. So it's not just a random script. Sorry about the lack of communication.

I was on Adderall when I was in high school. I stopped taking it because freshman year in college my roommate and pretty much all of her friends were abusing it. My roommate was prescribed it and she never took it unless she needed it to pull an all-nighter, and she would sell what she didn't take before her next refill.

Since I finished college and have a "real" job where I have to be able to focus I requested to get back on it. I'm only on 10mg right now (which even my pdoc told me is a *really* low dose, and yet I had two weeks or so of nausea at the beginning). It doesn't make me irritable or anything, but it does give me excess energy so that I end up shaking my leg most of the day, but that's really the only side effect that I've noticed so far (besides the appetite loss).

I guess this will force me to pay attention to what I eat, in both directions (not eating too much and not eating too little). I feel like it's not killing my appetite so much as giving me more conscious control over my cravings. I'm more patient when making dinner so I can take the time to make something healthy instead of reheating leftover pizza.

Thanks for all the thought-provoking comments. I will be monitoring the effects closely before I decide what steps to take next.

Any more experiences you'd like to share would be welcome and appreciated! I know so many psychological disorders tend to go hand in hand with ADD that it can get overwhelming dealing with them all (my former roommate went down a LONG road of addiction that started with Adderall and ended our friendship).