For someone who's been on Adderall going on 5 years now, I feel like I have something noteworthy to contribute to this conversation. For starters, as a junior, I have yet to encounter another student in any class thus far that is also on Adderall. I'm sure there are plenty, I just haven't encountered any yet.
How easy is it to get a script really though? You'd think doctors would be hesitiant to prescribe this to early 20 somethings pursuing rigorous academic goals.
Adderall is very difficult to obtain in my location. At this current point in time, physicians aren't necessarily required to only prescribe Adderall if the patient has documentation of ADHD. However they are strongly encouraged to require documentation and most choose to. I was never formally diagnosed with ADHD due to potential conflict with the military. However, my family, which is largely composed of physicians, is pretty sure I have it. Thus, as an undiagnosed patient, I have one physician within 50 miles willing to prescribe Adderall for me. So again, it's relatively difficult to get a script if undiagnosed.
It's easy. I got a script my sophomore year of college and now, four years later, I am legitimately addicted to the stuff. I take it as prescribed every day, and RARELY miss a day. My sleep is ****, but I feel useless if I don't take it. It's exactly like the old trope of starting off great but soon needing it to be baseline.
I find this really interesting as I have never had an addictive feeling toward the drug. I test myself by taking it during the school semester or as needed, then not touching it for two months during winter break. Never had an urge or problem. However, this is not to say that I don't feel the effects when currently stimulated. I feel great when on it. I feel motivated, happy, and focused.
But yes, sleep is by far the biggest problem. It's not worth it ultimately.
Sleep is certainly affected by Adderall, but I've only been negatively impacted when I don't take it effectively. When using instant release, I must take the pill before 5pm, or I will be up past 2am. When using extended release, I must take the pill before 2am, or receive the same consequences. However, I've come to notice that everyone is affected differently. For instance, my wife who also takes Adderall has to take it before noon or she'll be up all night. This likely has to do with metabolism or how each individual processes chemicals in their system. When I drink alcohol, for example, I have maybe 4 hours of fun time if I'm lucky. After that, it's lights out and I need to sleep. My wife, on the other hand, can drink all night and never get sleepy (within reason).
Sure you can take Adderall to help with studying but there's no reason to unless you actually have ADHD.
I agree with this. I have two friends without ADHD. One very motivated and the other pretty lazy. Both have taken Adderall once in their past. The motivated one started exhibiting classic signs of meth-heads: agitation, irritability, paranoia. For anyone who knows anything about Adderall, this could make sense. However, oddly enough, the lazy one nearly fell asleep while at work. To this day I don't necessarily know how to explain his case but it is what it is. I agree, though, that Adderall probably isn't in one's best interest if they don't have symptoms of ADHD.
In my experience the people who feel they 'need' adderall to get stuff done are the same people that feel they need recreational drugs or alcohol to have a good time.
I don't doubt that's your experience, but I find myself a testament, or at least an outlier in contradiction to that statement. I have never once used marijuana or any other recreational drug illegally. Nor do I drink to have a good time. In fact, I drink the least out of all of my friends and acquaintances, and none of them are heavy into alcohol. The same goes for my wife.
Of course there is variability between educations at different institutions - no one is disagreeing with that. And of course there are inherent differences in how people study and how much time they have to spend studying to achieve at a given level. My point was that if you are genuinely putting forth maximum effort, studying 12+ hours per day, sacrificing sleep, not doing anything else, and you still can't get a somewhat decent GPA (3+), I would seriously worry about your performance in med school.
I can agree with this, but this brings up an important topic for my next point. I don't usually hear much talk about what happens when Adderall wears off. For starters, I study around 5 hours a day not including class time and currently maintain a ~3.7. After the 6 hour mark of using extended release Adderall, my brain starts numbing out. My ability to focus diminishes substantially. I have trouble forming articulate sentences without getting my tongue twisted, and I speak and process much slower than I am used to. Clearly, this brings up a genuine point of concern. I never understood how individuals can take Adderall for an all-nighter study session. Sure it will keep you awake, but after a while, you'll stop being able to learn well. When you realize this, you might try to get some sleep. Unfortunately, even though you feel like you're crashing, the Adderall is still being processed through your body. Thus, you'll lay in bed for hours, exhausted to the point of a headache and you won't be able to sleep.
The last thing I didn't see mentioned, though it may have been, is the immense suppression of appetite. I have had days so busy that when I got home, 11 o'clock at night, I finally realized that I hadn't eaten all day. Many times you can just forget to eat because you are so focused on what you are doing at that particular time. This can lead not only to one becoming malnourished, but on the day the individual doesn't take Adderall, they will feel unbelievably hungry. Going from never feeling hunger to suddenly feeling hungry all day was very challenging for me and could become very unhealthy for someone with a history of impulsiveness.
As a side note, having taken Ambien myself in the past, I feel that using it to help deal with PTSD is a terrible idea. Ambien scares me above all other drugs.
