Adderall and sports

[SoftSocDad]

I've been talking to my niece this morning about her opinion.

My niece was diagnosed with ADHD a while back and was put on Adderall, she was an "ok" student growing up and once she started the Adderall she made all A's her last part of college. She had maybe 15 pounds of bad weight and it slimmed her down to a normal healthy weight. She swears that it has truly changed her life just from her mental state of clear thinking and ability to concentrate.

But I still am concerned about her^^^ long term effects of the drug. .

What your niece just described is what makes this such a difficult conversation AND which makes it such a dangerous drug. As she said to you, it WORKS for her. Why shouldn't she take something that helps her to perform well in school? Friends notice the change and now they want it, too. Next thing you know, everyone in her circle is sharing Adderall.

I cannot begrudge anyone's positive experiences with the drug, but I do wish so many people weren't so quick to medicate themselves with it, prescribed or otherwise.

 

[ddose]

GD - I'm not qualified to offer an opinion on adderall and i'm not a nutritionist. I'm also not one for fad diets, but I do believe in the concept of eating foods (or combining foods) that only have a single ingredient. Even if that ingredient is butter. Here's an article that helps explain it but if you google "one ingredient diet" you'll come up with hundreds of articles. It's the same concept that someone posted earlier - at the grocery store, avoid the middle aisles as much as possible. It's the only "diet" (and it's not really a diet in the traditional sense of the word) that has ever appealed to me, and without being overly dramatic it has changed my life.

The One Ingredient Diet ~ Fit Syracuse - Personal Training, CrossFit, Nutritional Health / Fitness

I would agree, I'd have her try eating "clean" like this for a few weeks before doing anything else. One good resource with tons of info is Mark's Daily Apple, Mark's Daily Apple.

 

[starsnuffer]

You're in a really tough place, GD.

My suggestion here is to look very carefully at your situation, but to give your daughter time (a year at least) to adjust on her own before attempting any medication. The human body is an awesome thing and you'd be surprised at what it can accomplish on its own.

The bigger picture here is that you're about to send your daughter off to college. Be careful about teaching her that it's ok to use medication as a quick fix for any issues she has. That could have a much more damaging impact on her life then a few extra pounds.

-W

 

[GOINGDEEP]

What your niece just described is what makes this such a difficult conversation AND which makes it such a dangerous drug. As she said to you, it WORKS for her. Why shouldn't she take something that helps her to perform well in school? Friends notice the change and now they want it, too. Next thing you know, everyone in her circle is sharing Adderall.

I cannot begrudge anyone's positive experiences with the drug, but I do wish so many people weren't so quick to medicate themselves with it, prescribed or otherwise.

I agree, I agree. My boss is a nervous guy ( prob from working with me for 18 years ), they finally put him on Xanax. When we have our regional meetings he's always like "take one of these and you won't be nervous", I'm like "I'm not nervous, it's not my job on the line". He usually pops another one.

You're in a really tough place, GD.

My suggestion here is to look very carefully at your situation, but to give your daughter time (a year at least) to adjust on her own before attempting any medication. The human body is an awesome thing and you'd be surprised at what it can accomplish on its own.

The bigger picture here is that you're about to send your daughter off to college. Be careful about teaching her that it's ok to use medication as a quick fix for any issues she has. That could have a much more damaging impact on her life then a few extra pounds.

-W

Star it been at least a year since the first BC, maybe 6 months since the second. At some point we will have to make a choice because if she's gained 25 pounds this year, what if that turns into 50 by next year? It is very difficult knowing she was in such great shape not so long ago.

 

[Indiana]

Thanks for the post. No not really, I'd say most is between the bottom of rib cage and top of the knees.

This girl has been running 2 miles, doing a dozen stadiums, weightlifting, cardio 5 days a week for about 6 weeks getting ready for softball season. If I did all that I'd be in super shape. It's really weird and got me stumped.

The BC would be my primary suspect here, especially given your DD's healthy lifestyle. It is possible that her body has figured things out with the little regulating jump start (oh yeah, every 4 weeks, not every 2). Talk with DD's ob/gyn about ditching the BC all together. I myself could not handle the emotional side effects of BC, even the tiniest dose. Maxwell House commercials would have me sobbing.

Hormones are incredibly powerful. My DD had some oral surgery a while back; after we got home, the incision wouldn't stop bleeding. Back to the oral surgeon, he injected the area with tiny amounts of epinepherine to constrict the blood vessels. That worked, thank goodness, but some epinepherine got into DD's system. After being lethargic all morning following the surgery, DD was up and talking a mile a minute - said she wanted to trot outside and do a quick six miles before dinner. It was pretty shocking to behold. (and I was glad for that little chemical intervention - she was beginning to lose it after a long morning, no food, general malaise about oral surgery, etc)

I'm giving you all of this advice/story because I just hate medical issues with our kids - they are the absolute worst. I always feel so helpless to witness them hurting. I truly wish I could send you a magic answer that would fix everything tomorrow.

 

[JNew0872]

Hormones for women can be crazy! At her age, it is possible that the BC is not the issue, at least any longer. It could be that her metabolism has changed. I ate healthy and exercised but when I was 19 I began gaining weight. The best advise I received was to keep a journal of what I ate - everything. If it touched my lips, I wrote it down and I estimated portions by cup size. I was really surprised to see how much I ate. Although healthy, my calorie intake was too high. As a female, your daughter is going to have to balance this the rest of her life. Adderall is a "quick fix" and I think it is dangerous to introduce something like that especially at this point. I would highly recommend a food journal and teach her proper food portions. Another option is Weight Watchers. Weight Watchers is great for teaching value of foods and portion control. After dropping weight, the "maintain weight" option can be used to teach what she can eat and how much without gaining weight. I know some associate Weight Watchers with "diet," but really, it is a great way to teach healthy eating.

Anyways, my point is, she may not be realizing that she is overeating and even though she is exercising, she is either going to maintain or continue to gain. Quick example, I have a friend who runs 10 miles a day plus does strength training. She is 20 lbs overweight but maintains that weight. The exercise allows her to eat chocolate and not count her calories.

Anyways, that's my unprofessional two cents based on my personal experience as a woman.

 

[NWIN]

My son is on Adderall and Vyvanse for ADHD/Autism Spectrum. One thing I insisted on before any stimultant being used on my son was an echocardiogram - not just an simple EKG. He was not an athlete but even so young people drop all the time because of undisclosed congenital heart conditions they never knew they had, throw in a stimulant and could be major problems. My doctor balked a little - an echo is like $130. I said just tell insurance it's for heart palpitations or if not, I'll pay out of pocket - I don' care for my piece of mind it's worth it.

 

[GOINGDEEP]

My son is on Adderall and Vyvanse for ADHD/Autism Spectrum. One thing I insisted on before any stimultant being used on my son was an echocardiogram - not just an simple EKG. He was not an athlete but even so young people drop all the time because of undisclosed congenital heart conditions they never knew they had, throw in a stimulant and could be major problems. My doctor balked a little - an echo is like $130. I said just tell insurance it's for heart palpitations or if not, I'll pay out of pocket - I don' care for my piece of mind it's worth it.

Good advice, my DD just had a EKG done about 2 weeks ago during a regular yearly check up. I'll run that echo by the doc too. Thanks.

 

[starsnuffer]

If it's been 6 months since the BC med change and she's added 25 pounds, it may be that she no longer needs the BC. Doctor will never tell you that though, meds=money.

-W

 

[MandM]

Adderall is a preparation that contains amphetamine ("speed") - a pharmacologic textbook remarks that the effectiveness of amphetamines in weight loss- almost entirely comes from its ability to act as an appetite suppressant - IOW it will help your DD to eat less and she is doing that on her own right now- there is no other magic to it. If the energy she consumes is greater than the energy she puts out- that means weight gain. Over a year, that is merely an excess of 100 calories a day over her previous energy balance (that is figuring 2000 cal/lb.)- why did that happen when she went on BCP- maybe her metabolism slowed slightly- maybe her appetite very slightly increased- whatever the reason, like the majority of the population- she has moved from a time in her life (the best!) when she could eat whatever she wanted with impugnity- to a time where she will have to watch what and when she eats, and continue to exercise to make up for it. If it were easy- 35% of the US adult population would not be obese.

The other thing is before she gets stressed out- has this weight gain put her in an unhealthy weight range? I gained 20lb in the last two years, and feel like cr*p- but am still in a healthy weight range for my height- what is her BMI? Her % body fat? If these are not out of wack- there is no reason she could not like Jnew above noted- put herself on a more regulated food intake - with the help of a nutritionist- and lose the weight slowly. Just adding arm weights to her running would increase her caloric expenditure, enough where if she changed nothing else, she could lose a steady pound every two weeks. She would be down 20lbs. in less than a year.

Adderall is a quick fix, I think she should try the old fashioned way first- with some help from someone (like a nutritionist) who calculates a healthy number of calories for her current size and energy level and then recommends a strategic calorie count that would allow a slow, sustained and healthy weight reduction. As Lozza mentioned below- if she tries to restrict her calories too much, her body will just go in starvation mode- (lowering her metabolism) which will make it that much harder to accomplish her weight-loss goal.

BTW- individuals taking Adderall for weight reduction can be come tolerant to its weight suppressant effects- which means if she doesn't learn to make adjustments herself to manage her weight, she will gain the weight right back.