Anyone been told that Adderall is only a short-term medication?

[Challenged]

It has been life changing for me since I have been taking 20mg since mid 2019. Age 49 female and have been told Adderall is only a short-term medication.

Has anyone heard this before? Should I be looking for another doctor?

Thanks

[Jezzibird]

I've taken a stimulant of some sort since I was 4...including adderall...I've never heard that.

[Jezzibird]

Also is this a general family doctor or have you been to a psychologist?

[Challenged in reply to Jezzibird]

This is my general practitioner so my family doctor. I was diagnosed by a psychologist but he does not write prescriptions. I sought a second opinion based on the psychologists recommendation but the dr he recommended was a total quack and again, not a psychiatrist. I am going to make an appt with a psychiatrist to see if he/she can help.

[michael682]

Did they say you need to cycle it to prevent developing a tolerance to it or did they say you can’t take it all your life?

[Challenged in reply to michael682]

My doctor says that because it can potentially raise blood pressure that it is dangerous to take it long term. She said it is a short -term medication only.

I am seeking a psychiatrist for another opinion. I do love my family practitioner but I think this may be outside her scope of comfort.

Julie

[SunniM in reply to Challenged]

I would say get another opinion. Adderall does not always raise blood pressure. It doesn’t raise mine. I have been able to reduce my BP medication significantly while I’ve been on it …although that is probably unrelated to Adderall. I saw a cardiologist because my last psychiatrist insisted on it. He ran a variety of tests and determined all was well. He told me it was his opinion that out of all the stimulants, that Adderall was “one of the purest” and so if I needed it, it was one of the better choices. He even wrote a letter to my psychiatrist because he saw that I didn’t function as well without it.

[Jezzibird]

Hmmm. I dunno I have taken it for years, and it has not raised my blood pressure. Not to say that it couldn't but it does not for me. I have never heard it called a short term medicine but rather that if a stimulant worked best for you then you would be taking them throughout your life to manage your symptoms based on your personal symptom needs.

[Amythyst]

I am newly diagnosed, age 71, and just put on strattera, I love the effects but I am have had trouble taking the medication because I was using it incorrectly. I am also on levothyroxine, which is a thyroid hormone replacement, and I was take the strattera after the levothyroxine, and taking it at random times during the day, when I remembered to do so. This caused me to have a lot of trouble sleeping. I found a psychiatric nurse practitioner who is helping me manage my medications, and he has suggested that I take it as close the the thyroid replacement hormone as possible, and if I screw up, skip a dose. Strattera works as a nortriptyline re uptake inhibitor, like the anti depressants that are commonly used now- (paxil, effexor). So far, other than the sleep problem, the drug is working. My understanding is that there are now a lot of alternative medications that help with ADHD, so if you can't get adderall or are otherwise not happy with it, then explore the other meds... I hope that by now you have resolved the issue....