Salt Lake City, UTTen years ago Cindy was diagnosed with ADHD and was prescribed Adderall to help her focus. The amphetamine drug did the trick, but at a terrible cost: Cindy had a few psychotic episodes and then developed seizures.
“I took Adderall in my early 20s when I was at college and it helped - for a while,” says Cindy. “Then I got these weird episodes: I would walk into a room and stop in my tracks; I would literally stop moving for a few seconds and then come back to earth. I wasn’t even aware of it. And because of that I was diagnosed with seizures; there are certain kinds of seizures where you stand in place, stuck there.”
Of course Cindy immediately stopped taking the drug after discovering psychological side effects such as Adderall bipolar issues. She hasn’t had a seizure for about two years but has to take seizure meds for the rest of her life. “As for the ADHD, I just live with it,” Cindy explains. She has also learned how to live with ADHD without amphetamines.
“I have a routine that I stick to for work and my life in general, and that helps,” Cindy says. “I am an office assistant for a small company and I enjoy it, because they switch out my job once in a while so I don’t get bored. They know about my issues and I am so thankful for their understanding.
“I did some research on Adderall side effects and took my prescription to my neurologist - she confirmed that Adderall caused my seizures. I had an anxiety breakdown when I first started college and our family GP sent me to a psychiatrist, who prescribed Adderall. I only took it for a few months; god knows where I would be now if I took it for any longer.
“During my psychotic episodes, I saw people who weren’t there and I was constantly paranoid: I thought people were watching me and talking about me.
“I tried to finish college but didn’t make it. I had a choice: to stay on Adderall and possibly finish college or stop taking it and not focus and fail college. But the determining factor was my health and these seizures. If I stayed on Adderall much longer, I think they would have gotten worse. And my neurologist said as much.”
Adderall is prescribed for people like Cindy with attention deficit disorder, but many college students use the drug indiscriminately. It helps them pull all-nighters to study and it is used as a stimulant. While students take the drug to help get them through college, Adderall could also stop them from finishing their education: it comes with a black box warning because Adderall has been associated with stroke, heart attacks and even death.
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