Adderall as an anti-depressant

My psychiatrist maintains that Adderall, which I take for ADD, is also an antidepressant. I didn't really notice that it did anything along those lines until I was without it for a while (pharmacy screwed up). Now I take it in the morning with my diabetic medication and I really notice a difference in my feelings.

Anybody else have an opinion on this?

Yep. Sure is. It acts on the happy centers of the brain by upping some of the chemicals they bind with. Coffee will do it too but not nearly as well

Stimulants are used in treatment resistant depression. So yes it can also act as an antidepressant.

It's excellent. No depression at least for a few hours. In my case, the comedown was terrible. But really worked as an antidepressant.

I am currently taking Adderall as an antidepressant for treatment-resistant (Bipolar) depression. Stimulants were used, according to my pdoc, to treat depression before tricyclics were discovered.


WC

When I came down from it it made me agitated and gave me hot flashes.

stimulants were popular, often combined with other drugs (old school antipsychotics, barbiturates, etc.) for weight loss, depression, fatigue, etc.

for a while, ritalin was particularly popular. the tca and maoi drugs are kind of harsh, and ritalin was pushed to shrinks as a mild alternative--not as stimulating as the amphetamines, not as potentially toxic and harsh as the tca and maoi drugs. stimulants were (and are, sometimes) also used to help with sedation from antipsychotics.

sorry to go on and on...i have an interest in old ads, and i stumbled on a website w/ lots of old drug ads, targeted to shrinks. its interesting, as a patient, to see how the drugs are somewhat less toxic, easier to tolerate, etc., but...even now, its basically uppers, downers, tranquilizers.

and...im done. :-)

To be honest, if I'm in a deep, dark depression, a stimulant isn't going to touch it. I'll stay miserable and have suicidal thoughts.

Maybe my dose is "too low," but higher doses make me manic. I'm at a sweet spot where it helps my ADHD, but neither makes me manic nor makes me depressed

I would avoid adderall for bipolar depression. It will give you energy and take you high, possibly manic high, then crash you down...
Just my opinion.

In an overall generalized sense you are right on. However, in BP II, some do well on stimulants.

WC

I was bipolar diagnosed dual with ADHD for 12 years and on stimulant meds for 10 of those

When I’m hypomanic, I’m a super-responder to coffee. Wheeeeeeeeeee!!! Guard your coffee pot!!!

When I’m down, though, there isn’t enough coffee in the world. It doesn’t work.

I haven’t been on adderall <shrugs>

Absolutely. I'm a college student and the first time I tried adderall it was because I needed to finish a paper, lol. But I noticed it didn't just make me focused and productive... it made me feel like my "old self" again. My old self was happy, motivated, hard-working... for so, so many years I have not felt like that. But when I was on adderall, I felt like myself again. I brought this up with my pdoc and he said he could not prescribe me adderall. I see my pdoc at my university clinic so they are probably veryyyy cautious about prescribing adderall to college kids. Maybe one day when I'm not in college anymore I can revisit the idea with a different pdoc.

i read some psychopharmacologist talking about antidepressants. apparently, way back when, there were these combo pills...part amphetamine (usually Dexedrine), part old school antipsychotic. They stopped making those in the 70s or early 80s, but there's actually a lot of similarities between those pills (ThoraDex--part Thorazine, part Dexedrine, was particularly popular, apparently) and the way some of the more modern drugs for depression work.

of course...antidepressants take weeks to achieve full effects, which...is what it is. both amphetamines and tranquilizers are very fast acting, so people who took those pills and could tolerate them could get relief in less than hour.

other common combo pills combined a barbiturate-type sedative (its what they had) with some flavor amphetamine. the idea was that with low doses of both drugs, people could get relief and get on with things. by the late 60s, it was apparent that lots of people (mostly women) were physically dependent on these drugs. high dose "goof ballers" often had a rough run of thing (think Brian Wilson from The Beach Boys).

Anyway...lots of "drugs" have been or are being used in depression. Suboxone, ketamine, there's even a resurgence of interest in psychedelics, some new(ish) research into Ecstasy for PTSD. Freud was rather fond of cocaine to beat the blues, apparently to the point of psychosis.

I usually feel like I have more energy on adderall-and like things are just... easier. I dont know if I feel less depressed on it though. If I do it isnt super noticeable.

It does make me more anxious personally though.

as much as I appreciate modern, less toxic psych drugs...the very term "antidepressant" is misleading. the term "antipsychotic" is, too.

there is no such thing as an "antidepressant." there are a number of psych drugs that can elevate mood, reduce agitation, reduce anxiety, increase or decrease appetite, etc. the first tricyclic drug used for depression, Tofranil, was a rip off of Thorazine. Failed for psychosis, helped some hospitalized depressives. The 1st MAOI was used in tuberculosis. Some people went manic, others just got...elevated mood.

I'm thankful for diagnostic criteria that helps guide treatment, but my personal experience has been that I do better when the doctor just matches psych drugs to my problems and preferences (no required blood work, try to minimize sedation, etc.).

Did your doctor warn you about addiction to adderall? I took oxycodone after surgery and my mood never felt so good and my mind so clear.

Do you have a diagnosis of bipolar? I'm surprised that a doctor would prescribe someone with a bipolar diagnosis with Adderall. I have ADD and bipolar disorder, and Adderall triggered me into a manic episode. But if that is working for you then I am jealous, I wish I could take medications to help my ADD.

I take Adderall for ADD as well as for depression. I was just surprised that Adderall was ever prescribed for depression. I don't get any kind of high from it at all.

I had the classic ADHD/monopolar depression diagnosis first. I took Adderall for ten years after my bipolar diagnosis. They do give Adderall to bipolar with ADHD, though not often