100mg dose & my take on Adderall (/r/drugs crosspost)

TL;DR I'm a pleb who has some opinions; did some addies today and it was deece

Disclaimer: I know that I am biased and uneducated, and that I'm a novice and inexperienced user. I posted this in part so people can tell me if I'm blatantly wrong, to learn from other people's views and experiences, and perhaps educate myself further about a drug I've been using for most of my life.

Adderall is known predominantly as two things: Something doctors prescribe kids because their parents/teachers complain that they’re too unruly, and the drug that college kids abuse. These aren’t biased stereotypes, they are plainly and clearly hella fuckin’ true.

I have been taking Adderall in lower, more medically sound doses to treat ADHD off and on since I was in middle-school, and the gaps between periods of use span anywhere from a few weeks to a few years. Some shitty early experiences with it and Ritalin make it so I don't like adderall much, but I find it useful enough to balance that out. Now, given a fairly strenuous course-load and a more serious assessment of how I can use drugs safely and effectively, I’ve been using it all throughout this academic year. During school-days, I take 10mg of XR in the morning, and if needed, 5mg IR sometime between 12:00 and 4:00pm. I still have to be wary of all of it’s effects, but save for today, I’ve been able to use it healthily to support my academics.

I seldom take higher doses, but I still do from time to time. The majority of the time I do a higher dose than normal, it’s 30mg, but I've had 60mg before. This is 40mg more than my highest dose, and I do not take higher doses that often. This decision, like many of mine, was impulsive. Even though I did the research and weighed pros and cons, it still came from an irrational, erratic mind. I count >15mg as non-usual and >30mg as higher, though I’m well aware that by many people’s standards 60mg-100mg is considered a moderate dose. This is mainly because I use it primarily as medication, not recreationally.

Adderall is not a very enjoyable drug for me compared to others, given a not so fun history with ADHD medication going back to when I was 7. I’m able to use this natural predisposition to disliking it and it’s effects to my advantage, as it’s a drug I can take at various doses and trust that I will not get addicted, and if I build too much dependence, it’s easier to wean myself off it. I can’t really use it as a party drug, but I find it working quite well to aid me with studying and work.

It’s a perfect angel when compared to it’s +methyl brother, but it still has it’s problems and side effects, abuse is still a real problem, and addiction is easier to develop than one would think.
What I’d worry most about as a novice would probably be:

Each instance: Emotional change/erraticism, trouble eating & sleeping, and physical oddity and soreness.

Overall/Long-term: In addition to the previously mentioned effects lasting longer than they should, your main risk is doing too much too often. I think that one should not do anything more than >25mg every day unless it legitimately takes you higher doses to achieve the same experience, or you actually have pretty serious ADHD. “i have a lot of trouble focusing” or “well it doesn’t work perfectly” are terrible excuses to give yourself to build addiction.

There’s a good chance that if you use it regularly, like a legit scrip, you will develop dependence. If you miss a pill, you may crash, and even if you don’t notice, you’ll still be suckier than normal, and ya friends may notice it indeed. That’s not a very big problem in general, dependency is a common thing for common drugs. Boy howdy do people use caffeine, and nobody frowns upon you when you say thatcha didn’t have time for coffee that morning and are utterly dead because of that.

For me: 5-25mg can be a pretty useful and safe daily aid even if you don't want to be high, so if you think you’d benefit heavily from it, see what works well for you in that range. 25-60mg can be entertaining and effective, and isn't too much of a risk 60-100mg is still in the “not an idiot” range 100-160mg, you're likely to be okay if you smart, just gotta be more careful

Specific instance:

Mix: 4:1 ratio of IR to XR

Ingestion: Oral - Pills and Capsules

Onset: Effects began almost immediately

Strength: I took them in increments, and as such I cannot deduce how long any specific set took to reach full potency or begin to fade.

Increments of Ingestion: (t+ is how much time in minutes since first capsule) T=0m Began with 2 10mg XR capsules T+5m 3 5mg IR pills T+35m 5 5mg IR pills T+95m 8 5mg IR pills

Goal: To catch up on Academics

Success: Moderate

Negatives (during High): With Adderall, I gotta be doing what I want to do when the high hits, and that's usually pretty immediate. Otherwise, I'll find myself going on the stupidest tangents without being able to stop. Bad highs are, in my experience, a common risk, as the drug can aggravate apathy, negative emotions, and sets me on edge in general, making me hella susceptible to anxiety and stress. Some state that they’re emotions are stronger and more unruly during the high, but I find myself emotionally stunted and vacant, so i wonder which effect is more widespread As far as effectiveness and application, it did help me focus on things I needed to to an intense extent, but it was a high enough dose that I was at the whim of the drug more than usual. If I got even slightly off-base, I’d delve into that slightly useless thing until I hit bedrock, and then I’ll find something even more useless.

Positives (during High): The high was enjoyable, especially given that I do not particularly like adderall highs. I feel hyper-focused yet relaxed, and a soft euphoria permeated my mind for more than a few hours As far as academic effectiveness, it did help me focus on stuff to an intense extent, and I achieved more than I would’ve even with trouble prioritizing. During the high, the negatives were actually much fewer and less intense than I expected.

Negatives (diminishment & after-effects): As the high faded, I was reminded of why I don’t like adderall that much, it just makes me feel sucky. Overall the aftereffects are still about as shitty as they’ve always been. Even now, more than 12 hours since the first capsule, I feel vacant, weird, uncomfortable, and uneasy. Though none of these are too intense or overwhelming, it’s still is enough to tell me that this mixture and quantity doesn’t need to be repeated and shouldn’t for quite a long while.

Positives (diminishment & after-effects): Some effects were entertaining as the high faded, It seemed like my pupils dilated as the high faded, but chances are I’m just dumb and they were like that during the high too. More than likely my pupils were the size of basketballs when I was out to dinner with my family. I’m still more focused and attentive, and as my emotions return to normal I’m finding a nice balance between being able to feel and pure focus.

Conclusion, Verdict & [Stupid] Advice: Over the course of my life, I’ve both become accustomed to the drug and developed a natural predisposition toward disliking it’s effects, so my opinion is hella and uniquely situational and biased. In my case, I think it was an enjoyable experience, but one that I don’t need to repeat. Many view 100mg as only a moderately high dose, but the dose seems to be moderate only for an experienced user. If you are to try 100mg, I'd strongly suggest leading up to it in increments, learning about adderall’s effects on you personally, and assessing whether it’s a good choice. That said, if you want to see what it’s like to be on a decent dose of a stimulant, this one looks to be p good. Might be worth it for ya, might even be worth it for you to repeat, jus gotta be wary about emotional weirdness, trouble eating and sleeping, and the other effects that you can learn just from a quick google search.

Every drug has risks, don’t be a dumbass. I’m not a professional, just a user, and not a very knowledgable or experienced one. Always do your own research and evaluation before doing anything, especially a new drug or high dose.