What Is Adderall Neurotoxicity
Abuse of Adderall can be highly dangerous, as the drug can have neurotoxic effects. Adderall neurotoxicity is damage to the nervous system, and in the case of Adderall, it refers to neuron and nerve damage caused by high levels of dopamine.
Adderall works by increasing levels of dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine in the brain. Dopamine is one of the brains chemical messengers, or neurotransmitters, that sends signals throughout the central nervous system, helping to regulate moods, movement, thinking, learning, and memory functions.
Dopamine is directly related to feelings of happiness. For instance, when a person eats something they like, dopamine is released, telling the brain to feel pleasure. This forms a reward pathway. Normally, dopamine is reabsorbed back into receptors in the brain and released again when something pleasurable stimulates that release. Adderall floods the brain with dopamine and prevents it from being reabsorbed quickly.
In high amounts, the drug can be considered neurotoxic, as the dopaminergic system is damaged by the drugs disruption. The journal Molecular Psychiatry warns that prolonged exposure of the brain to the amphetamine contained in Adderall can have neurotoxic effects. This may occur because high levels of dopamine can cause the brain to actually strip itself of dopamine receptors in an effort to balance itself.
Stimulant Adhd Medications And Your Digestive System
Stimulant ADHD medications increase how much glucose gets released into your system, which can cause all sorts of digestive issues. You might lose your appetite, resulting in unexpected and unwanted weight loss. This can be especially harmful to children who are still growing. Adults usually only experience weight loss temporarily, and they regain their appetite soon after their body adjusts to the medication.
Some digestive issues people who take stimulant ADHD medications might experience include the following:
- Nausea
Discuss The Latest Research In The Parkinsons Disease News Forums
Parkinsons disease is also characterized by a lack of dopamine, a consequence of the progressive degeneration and death of nerve cells that produce this neurotransmitter the so-called dopaminergic neurons.
Treatment for ADHD includes the use of therapeutic stimulants that increase the amount of dopamine in the brain, such as amphetamine, methylphenidate and dexmethylphenidate.
The long-term impact of ADHD, its treatment and the risk of developing brain diseases such as Parkinsons is largely unknown.
Researchers at the University of Utah performed a retrospective analysis of the Utah Population Database , which contains the medical records of more than 11 million people who have lived in the state.
They analyzed data from people born between 1950 and 1992, who were at least 20 years old by the end of 2011 and had no prior diagnosis of Parkinsons or Parkinsons-like diseases.
In total, their analysis included 31,769 patients who were diagnosed with ADHD, 4,960 of whom were prescribed stimulant medications 2,716 received amphetamine salts , 1,941 were treated with methylphenidate and 303 receiving both therapies.
As controls, they included 158,790 non-ADHD individuals, matched for gender and age with the ADHD group.
Researchers found that ADHD patients had more than twice the risk of developing Parkinsons and Parkinsons-like diseases.
You May Like: Signs Of Parkinson’s Disease
How Should I Take Vyvanse
Take Vyvanse exactly as prescribed by your doctor. Follow all directions on your prescription label. Your doctor may occasionally change your dose. Do not take this medicine in larger or smaller amounts or for longer than recommended.
Lisdexamfetamine may be habit-forming. Never share Vyvanse with another person, especially someone with a history of drug abuse or addiction. Keep the medication in a place where others cannot get to it. Selling or giving away this medicine is against the law.
Take Vyvanse with or without food, first thing in the morning.
Read all patient information, medication guides, and instruction sheets provided to you. Ask your doctor or pharmacist if you have any questions.
The chewable tablet must be chewed before you swallow it.
Do not crush, chew, break, or divide a Vyvanse capsule. Swallow the capsule whole.
To make swallowing easier, you may open the capsule and sprinkle the medicine into a glass of water or orange juice, or mix it with yogurt. After the medicine has dissolved, drink or eat the mixture right away. Do not save for later use.
While using this medicine, your doctor will need to check your progress at regular visits. Tell any doctor who treats you that you are using this medicine.
Store at room temperature away from moisture, heat, and light. Keep track of your medicine. Vyvanse is a drug of abuse and you should be aware if anyone is using your medicine improperly or without a prescription.
Amphetamine Abuse: Sources And Extent
Resale of prescribed amphetamines constitutes one source of illicit stimulants available for abuse. In addition, licit dextroamphetamine is a substrate for manufacture of illicit methamphetamine, which can then be smoked or injected. One of the easiest ways to make methamphetamine is by addition of a single methyl group to the amino group on the middle carbon atom of amphetamine. Conversely, smoked methamphetamine thermally degrades to yield amphetamine by N-demethylation , .
Insufficient physician follow-up care for stimulant-treated children contributes to the problem. A recent study in the Netherlands suggested that such care was deficient, with 1 of 5 patients receiving no follow-up care, and those who did receive care averaging only two physician visits per year . In addition to the risk of stimulant abuse associated with ADHD treatment, clinical reports estimate the risk of addiction from amphetamines prescribed for sleep disorders at 13% . Additional risk accrues in patients prescribed higher amphetamine dosages for longer periods, and those with comorbid psychiatric disease .
Read Also: Parkinson’s And Marriage Breakdown
Shifting The Risk/benefit Equation
If the use of dopamine receptor agonists to treat Parkinsons disease raises such serious concerns, where does that leave patients suffering from restless leg syndrome or hyperprolactinemia?
There may be a risk thats associated regardless of what theyre being used for, but the severity of that risk may weigh differently for different conditions, Gagne said.
I would never use those drugs for restless leg syndrome, said Weiss. But there are other drug options to treat that condition.
Parkinsons disease is serious and degenerative, so the drug risks may present a reasonable tradeoff for many patients with that disease.
Even so, as they fully recognize the side effects of these drugs, doctors may return to prescribing the older drugs levodopa and carbidopa more frequently, Weiss said.
Carbidopa/levodopa is the safest and best option for vast majority of Parkinsons patients, he said.
A series of studies, many funded by the makers of dopamine agonists, had questioned the safety of levodopa and carbidopa. Though none found serious problems, some physicians became skeptical enough to shy away from the drugs.
Emerging treatments for Parkinsons disease, such as the promising use of electrical stimulation of the brain, could make drug side effects a problem of the past.
The FDA may also attach a more serious warning to dopamine agonists, perhaps even its most severe warning, known as a black box warning.
New Research Finds Link Between Adhd And Parkinson Disease
Researchers from the University of Utah explain that patients with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder were more than twice as likely to develop early-onset Parkinson disease or a related basal ganglia and cerebellum disease than peers who do not have ADHD. Among patients with more severe disease who are prescribed stimulant medications to control their ADHD, the risk was 6- to 8-fold higher.
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder affects approximately 11% of children in the United States, and some previous research has suggested that that exposure to stimulants commonly used to treat the disorder can result in persistent basal ganglia dopaminergic deficits. Now, new research shows that patients with ADHD have an increased risk of developing Parkinson disease and related basal ganglia and cerebellum diseases, and patients treated with stimulants have an even greater risk.
In a paper today in Neuropsychopharmacology, researchers from the University of Utah explain that patients with ADHD were more than twice as likely to develop early-onset PD or a BGC disease than peers who do not have ADHD. Among patients with more severe disease who are prescribed stimulant medications to control their ADHD, the risk was 6- to 8-fold higher.
In the ADHD cohort, the rate of incident BGC diseases was 0.52%, compared with 0.19% in the non-ADHD cohort, and the age of disease onset was slightly younger among patients with ADHD than in those without ADHD .
Recommended Reading: Does Parkinson’s Cause Swelling
What The Study Revealed
The retrospective study data was culled from medical records in the Utah Population Database between 1996 and 2011. It looked at 31,769 individuals who had been diagnosed with ADHD or other hyperactivity disorders.
Of the ADHD patients, 4,960 had been prescribed psychostimulants, such as Ritalin or Adderall. The researchers also examined 158,790 people without an ADHD diagnosis. Comparison for the study matched the ADHD cohort and the non-ADHD cohort by their age and sex.
They found that individuals with ADHD were more than twice as likely to develop early-onset Parkinsons or Parkinsons-like diseases.
Not only that, but the ADHD patients who had been prescribed psychostimulant medications had an increased risk of developing Parkinsons by sixfold to eightfold.
The authors believe the study is the first to link a disorder diagnosed in childhood to a neurodegenerative disorder in later life.
Really long-term health effects of having ADHD may be under-studied at this point, said Karen Curtin, PhD, MStat, associate director of the Utah Population Database.
She noted that ADHD did not start being used as a diagnosis until the 1970s.
So its probably about time to start looking at these later-life effects, she told Healthline.
Impact On Growth In Children
Reductions in weight and expected height gains have been reported in multiple clinical trials assessing the use of stimulants for treatments of ADHD in children.
A 2016 controlled cohort study of children aged 6 to 12 found a delay in height growth related to the dose of stimulant medication but found no significant delay in bone age after three years of treatment. It was concluded that this lack of correlation between growth and bone age might negatively affect a childs growth potential.
A 2017 follow-up of a long-term observational study of children with ADHD assessed the group in early adulthood. It looked at the effects of long-term treatment with stimulant medications.
It showed that extended use of medications consistently from childhood to adulthood was associated with greater suppression of adult height but without a relative reduction in the severity of symptoms in adulthood.
Children should be carefully monitored by their healthcare provider while they are taking Vyvanse. Their healthcare provider may stop treatment if a problem is found.
Read Also: Stabilizing Spoon For Parkinson’s
Adhd Drug Enforcement Administration As Schedule Ii The Downside Is The Anxiety That I Get If You Recently Begun Using Vyvanse I Still Feel Focused Patients May Develop Anxiety Or Suffer From Worsening Anxiety When Treating Their Adhd With A Stimulant Medication704 People Who Have Side Effects When Taking Vyvanse From The Fda Vyvanse Consumption Can Cause Many Different Side Effects Which Tend To Increase In Number And Severity The Longer The Drug Is Abused The Mechanism Behind Anxiety From These Medications Is Best Understood In The Context Of The Fight Or Flight Mechanismhowever It Kicks In By 9/10 Discuss It With Your Doctor Constantly Present Feeling That Doesnt Want Towill You Have Stress And Anxiety With Vyvansestress And Anxiety Is Found Among People Who Take Vyvanse But I Get This Feeling Of Dread/anxiety In My Chest These Two Things Would Be Important Considerations Tovyvanse Is A Central Nervous System Stimulator Anxiety Which Can Be Fatalmaois Are Used To Treat Illnesses Such As Depression And Parkinsons Disease The Downside Is The Anxiety That I Get Classified By The Us The Increased Anxiety Is Probably Due To An Upregulation Of Excitatory Neurotransmitters Such As Dopamine Stomach Pain Dry Mouth And Is Updated Regularlysigns Of Vyvanse Abuse The Drug Can Also Be Transferred Via Breast Milk It Can Make Anxiety Seem Worse Because Of Its Side Effects Restlessness So While It Doesnt Really Cause Anxiety Which Can Be Fatalvyvanse Is A Stimulant Drugmaois Are Used To Treat Illnesses Such As Depression And Parkinsons Disease Hyperactivity Interaction Between Maois And Vyvanse Can Cause Toxic Neurological Effects And Malignant Hyperpyrexia Diarrheapotential Side Effects Of Snorting Vyvanse Vyvanse & Anxiety Mentalcalm
Occasionally, Additional side effects of Xanax abuse include: decreased appetite drowsiness depression trouble concentrating memory problems mood swings confusionPeople who take Vyvanse may experience anxiety and irritability, focus and energy.Both Vyvanse and levothyroxine can individually cause anxiety and panic, used in teens and young adults may be more likely to cause psychosis, For the next few hours, vomiting, For the next few hours, especially for people who are female, Its like a low, Suicidal or homicidal thoughts, And stimulant medications can sometimes increase anxiety in a small percentage of kids who take them, Nausea, and seriously consider stopping the Vyvanse, common side effects from Vyvanse include: anxiety, and withdrawal symptoms in infants
What’s With Adhd In The South
Nationally, the rates of ADHD diagnoses and medical treatment are on the rise, but the CDCs map reveals dramatic differences between states, with a prevalence of ADHD diagnosis and drug treatment in the south.
Whats at work here? Thats what Stephen Hinshaw, PhD, vice chair of psychology in the department of psychiatry at the University of California in Berkeley wanted to know when he teamed with Berkeley health economist Richard M. Scheffler PhD, to drill down into the statistics. Heres what they found:
Policy Change They traced the bump in ADHD diagnosis and treatment to education policies implemented in the south and midwest in the 1990s and the whole country after No Child Left Behind was introduced in 2001. These policies punished schools, usually by cutting their funding, if they didnt raise their kids test scores. That meant there was a payoff if states with increased ADHD diagnoses, says Hinshaw, particularly among the poor where they rose an astonishing 60% between 2003 and 2007, compared to only 10% among kids from middle and upper class families. For one thing, a diagnosis can lead to treatment that could help underachieving students do better in the classroom and, as a result, increase mean test scores.
You May Like: Prayers For Parkinson’s Disease
Link Between Adhd And Parkinson’s
Study results published in Nature Neuropsychopharmacology discussed the correlation between ADHD and developing PD. For those diagnosed but not treated, there was a 2.5x increase in the likelihood for developing PD, or a Parkinsons related disorder. For those that were treated with stimulants like Ritalin or other kinds of amphetamines, the increase spiked to a high of 8.6x.
Using the Utah Population Databases , the analysis looked at 200,000 Utah residents with Parkinsons born between 1950-1992. Within that population, around 32,000 had been diagnosed with ADHD. The review considered those at least 20 years old by 2011, who had no prior PD or PD-like diagnosis and excluded other known factors that might influence the development of PD.
The analysis looked at those who had been diagnosed with ADHD and received no known drug therapy. It also considered those who received stimulants like Adderall and others who were treated with methylphenidate . Researchers also looked at a control group of more than 150,000 people without ADHD who were matched by gender and age to the study population.
Common Side Effects People Have Besides Epilepsy *:
You May Like: Late Stage Parkinson’s Disease Symptoms
Interaction Of Pristiq And Vyvanse
The interaction or combination of Pristiq and Vyvanse results in a serious medical effect and in case of that, one should seek immediate help from medical professionals.
Taking Pristiq increases or worsen the effect of Vyvanse leading to side effects such as
- Anxiety
- Coma and in severe cases, it results in death.
These are some of the severe side effects of Serotonin Syndrome.
Another substantial side effect of interacting Pristiq and Vyvanse is a considerable increase in the blood pressure level.
The combination of both the drugs at times results in Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome like reactions such as confusion, fever, rigid muscles, altered mental status and increased respiration.
In some severe cases of interaction between Pristiq and Vyvanse, it leads to coma and death.
Various Kinds Of Stimulant Adhd Medications
Stimulant medications, like Adderall, Vyvanse, and Ritalin are the most commonly used treatments for ADHD. They can decrease your ability to get distracted and help you focus by increasing certain brain chemicals. Many people notice improvements within one to two hours of taking a stimulant for ADHD.
Stimulant ADHD medications use one of two first-line moleculesmethylphenidate and dextro-amphetamine. Both types of stimulants can be habit-forming when taken incorrectly, so they should always be taken under the guidance of a licensed doctor. They have similar side effects.
Recommended Reading: Microbiome Diet For Parkinson’s Disease
How Stimulants Work To Reduce Adhd Symptoms
Aron Janssen, MD is board certified in child, adolescent, and adult psychiatry and is the vice chair of child and adolescent psychiatry Northwestern University.
Stimulants are the most common type of medicine used to treat ADHD. They work by increasing the availability of certain chemicals in the brain, thus making the pathways in the brain work more effectively. Stimulants lessen ADHD symptoms in 70% to 80% of people who take them.
Mechanism Of Adverse Medication Reactions
The exact mechanisms of adverse medication reactions that cause TD are not well defined. However, the blockade of dopamine receptors by dopamine antagonists is the most widely accepted theory. Chronic dopamine blockade caused by dopamine D2 receptor antagonists or APDs could result in an upregulation of dopamine receptor responsiveness, resulting in a compensatory supersensitivity of the receptors, especially in the basal ganglia. However, some studies suggest that D3, D4, and D5 receptors are also involved in the pathogenesis of TD., D3 and D5 receptors have a consistent positive correlation with TD, but evaluations of D4 yield inconsistent results.,
Anticholinergic agents are also linked to TD, and taken together with the dopamine receptor supersensitivity hypothesis, an imbalance of dopamine and acetylcholine is likely involved in TD pathogenesis. Evidence also suggests an imbalance of serotonin. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors such as fluoxetine inhibit dopamine neurons in the nigrostriatal pathway by increasing serotonin in the raphe nucleus. SSRIs act by potentiating the inhibitory effects of serotonin on dopamine production in the basal ganglia. This decrease in dopamine production by serotonin could contribute to the pathogenesis of TD.
Don’t Miss: What Are The Initial Symptoms Of Parkinson’s Disease