Adderall

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Ellephant
Posts: 16
Joined: Wed Oct 02, 2013 1:23 pm

Adderall

Post by Ellephant »

I was wondering if someone could please explain to me how adderall affects (or doesn't affect) WED symptoms. I'm confused because I thought that adderall acted by either producing more dopamine or preventing the reuptake of dopamine (I can't remember which - I just know that it increases dopamine in the brain), which you would think would be really great for WED symptoms... but it's also a stimulant, which you would think would be absolutely terrible for WED symptoms. Could somebody please explain how adderall interacts with their WED symptoms and possibly why it interacts that way?

I guess part of my question is how/why is adderall different from a dopamine agonist.

Thanks!

ViewsAskew
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Joined: Thu Oct 28, 2004 6:37 am
Location: Los Angeles

Re: Adderall

Post by ViewsAskew »

Ellephant wrote:I was wondering if someone could please explain to me how adderall affects (or doesn't affect) WED symptoms. I'm confused because I thought that adderall acted by either producing more dopamine or preventing the reuptake of dopamine (I can't remember which - I just know that it increases dopamine in the brain), which you would think would be really great for WED symptoms... but it's also a stimulant, which you would think would be absolutely terrible for WED symptoms. Could somebody please explain how adderall interacts with their WED symptoms and possibly why it interacts that way?

I guess part of my question is how/why is adderall different from a dopamine agonist.

Thanks!


I'm not an expert on this at all.... Adderall has been known to help some people on this board. It is likely related to the dopamine. I don't think the stimulant part matters at all. It's the dopamine that does. A dopamine agonists prevents reuptake of dopamine. All brain chemicals are released when required, then scooped back up when they aren't needed. So, the DA prevents the dopamine that already exists from being scooped up. Other drugs try to get more of the chemical released, others try to prevent them from being released. Adderall, amphetamine/detroamphetamine, I think causes both dopamine production AND prevents reuptake. But, I'm not positive. I think that Adderall also causes release of other chemicals - this might or might not help or hurt WED.

There has been research that some ADD/ADHD may be WED/RLS and be misdiagnosed. And, I've seen other reports that people with ADD/ADHD are more likely to have WED. It could be that Adderall tends to help those who already have ADD/ADHD. Could be that it would help more of us if we tried it. I think the real issue would be the time of day that we need to dopamine. We need it later in the day/at night. But, with the other chemicals involved, taking it could "wire" us. It wouldn't make the WED worse, necessarily, but it could keep us awake. Taking the Adderall earlier in the day might not keep the dopamine in our system long enough to help.

But again....this is me with a very rudimentary understanding....and I could have some of this wrong, too!
Ann - Take what you need, leave the rest

Managing Your RLS

Opinions presented by Discussion Board Moderators are personal in nature and do not, in any way, represent the opinion of the RLS Foundation, and are not medical advice.

Chipmunk
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Joined: Thu Mar 03, 2011 10:44 pm
Location: Madison, WI

Re: Adderall

Post by Chipmunk »

Adderall both stimulates release of dopamine and norepinephrine, and inhibits their reuptake, so there's more sitting around in one's brain.

Where did you hear that stimulants are bad for WED?
Tracy

Opinions presented by Discussion Board Moderators are personal in nature and do not, in any way, represent the opinion of the WED/RLS Foundation, and are not medical advice.

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