DOSE:

Amphetamines

(daily)

BODY WEIGHT:

192 lb

Amphetamines (Adderall) – Sweaty, Jittery, Fun & Productive

This report is part of an eight-report collection. The collection consists of a summary report that is retrospective and generalized in nature as well as seven [of which this is one] more detailed chronicles of my experiences with various chemicals used intentionally for work or study enhancement. Each report documents a single substance used for thirty days. The idea was to give each material a chance to show its strengths and weaknesses. The summary report has shorter descriptions and comparisons of my experiences with each material, as well as links to the other full-length experience reports for each substance.

Background Information

I consider myself to be well versed in the realm of substance use. Previous experiences include opiates, stimulants and psychedelics spanning over more than a decade. A fair amount of my substance usage history includes novel research chemicals often in less than common combinations.

The Adderall used in this month long endeavor were sourced from a legitimate pharmacy. The pills were round and orange with “AD” stamped on one side and “30” stamped into the other. They had a full break mark between the “3” and the “0” and then smaller quarter break marks perpendicular to the main break line. For my smaller dosages, I used a pill cutter to divide these up.

Historically, I haven’t been the biggest fan of Adderall. I’ve used it a fair amount over the past ten years or so, primarily as a college student, leveraging the substance to assist in binge studying or completing procrastinated projects. I have also used this common stimulant to stay awake on long drives, as well as a party aid, usually in combination with alcohol in lengthy evenings. On a few occasions I’ve tried higher [40-100 milligrams] insufflated dosages for purely recreational, euphoric type highs.

This particular stimulant is not high on my list of favorites, but I've ingested it on a relatively significant number of occasions. Why? Availability. Beggars can’t be choosers. It did the jobs I asked of it, despite some less than enjoyable aspects.

Prior to this month of documentation I had encountered numerous instances of getting a little overwhelmed on Adderall, in some cases the dosages were low; below ten milligrams. These all seemed situationally instigated; my environment, typically a difficult task, tight deadline, or mistake I made resulted in a racing mind that quickly spiraled. In these moments of panic, stress became more stressful, and the substance’s positive effects seemed to turn on me, ultimately resulting in an unproductive and challenging experience.

I won’t delve into these historical accounts further, I only include this commentary to provide some color as to my history with the substance.

This report was written using extensive notes as well as audio recordings taken during the experience.

I did not have any tolerance to any amphetamines coming into the beginning of my month of using Adderall.

Study Dosage Timeline

My ingestion schedule was as follows:

Day 1/30: 5 mg oral
Day 2/30: 5 mg oral
Day 3/30: 10 mg oral
Day 4/30: Off day
Day 5/30: 7.5 mg oral
Day 6/30: Off day
Day 7/30: Off day
Day 8/30: 15 mg insufflated
Day 9/30: Off day
Day 10/30: T + 00:00 5 mg oral
T + 03:36 15 mg insufflated
Day 11/30: 15 mg oral
Day 12/30: T + 00:00 10 mg oral
T + 04:10 5 mg insufflated
Day 13/30: Off day
Day 14/30: 20 mg oral
Day 15/30: Off day
Day 16/30: Off day
Day 17/30: 12.5 mg oral
Day 18/30: Off day
Day 19/30: T + 00:00 7.5 mg oral
T + 04:28 5 mg insufflated
Day 20/30: Off day
Day 21/30: 7.5 mg oral
Day 22/30: Off day
Day 23/30: Off day
Day 24/30: 30 mg oral
Day 25/30: Off day
Day 26/30: 7.5 mg insufflated
Day 27/30: Off day
Day 28/30: T + 00:00 5 mg oral
T + 03:30 5 mg oral
T + 04:10 10 mg insufflated
Day 29/30: Off day
Day 30/30: 10 mg oral

Timeline | Duration Details:

While the onset, duration, and intensity varied depending on dosage, what I had eaten that day, my mood, and a myriad of other factors, I constructed the summary below to describe when I felt certain types of effects on an “average” day.

T + 00:00 – T + 00:10
I would either eat the pills or insufflate the crushed material. By the end of this time period I would have generally began to detect the first effects, which were more evident on stronger and insufflated dosages.

T + 00:10 – T + 00:45
The initial effects were underway no matter what dosage or route of administration I selected. I began to feel that I could do anything, that today is going to be a good day, a productive day, and a satisfying day as well. These positive emotions were accompanied by some physical jitters; picking at my fingernails or drumming my fingers aimlessly on my desk.

T + 00:30 – T + 01:15
I usually had an amphetamine induced bowel movement sometime during this time period. I’d reach a + level at this point. Whatever I was working on, I’d being doing it faster; typing, thinking, everything, happened at an increased rate of speed. Some thirst would usually present around this point in the experience, which was typically satiated by filling a glass of water, drinking it rapidly, and then refilling the glass to take back to my workspace. If I didn’t make the effort to hydrate, cotton-mouth would begin to develop.

T + 01:00 – T + 02:30
The peak is achieved somewhere in here, again, varying based on dosage and route of administration. I would literally read faster than I can when I’m sober — documents, spreadsheets, emails, anything at all. My retention was increased as well; my brain was literally working better than normal, and by a significant degree.

T + 02:00 – T + 04:00
Pretty steady effects through here. The best of which was absolutely intense ability to focus. I mean locked the fuck in. The translation from eyes to mind was mindbogglingly fast. Unfortunately, these awesome effects were accompanied by consistently unpleasant effects. I was often sweating, but plagued by chills. My breathing sometimes became erratic as I would encounter a wave of stronger effects. This wasn’t extreme enough to become a true cause for concern, but it would break my concentration and make me a bit uncomfortable.

Expectations | Hopes | Concerns Going In
My primary reaction to the idea of regularly taking Adderall was one of hesitation. I have some unpleasant memories of overdoing it with the substance. This was usually combined with being in a state of stress, colliding with my insomnia and generally wacked-out college sleep schedule, while attempting to prepare for an exam. There isn’t much worse than sitting in an exam underprepared and stressed-out . . . except sitting in that same exam, just as poorly prepared but also strung-out from lack of sleep while jittery and frail, both mentally and physically.

Despite all this, I knew this substance possessed the ability to deliver the work-enhancing goods. It is after all, probably the most recognized study aid drug in the mainstream, non drug geek, world. I had hopes that my improved set and setting would vastly improve my experiences with Adderall. Regular workdays from the comfort of my own house should be far better than a finals week in college.

My biggest concern was how my body would handle the substance. It had caused me some digestive discomfort in the past, and as I get older I find myself more and more physically sensitive. In the end, I knew this Adderall to be a part of this experiment, given its name recognition and popularity, so I put a brave smile on my face and started the month off with smaller doses; cautious yet optimistic.

Favorite Aspects:

When I aligned my dosage with my mood, diet, and schedule – this was a stellar substance. It provided all-star level focus that lasted through the workday and into the evenings. I was able to get a LOT done on these days when dosage was perfect. Of the substances I dedicated a full month to in this collection of reports, this was the most euphoric. The euphoria wasn’t dependable, it required things both in my control, such as dosage and planned meetings, as well things out of my control, like surprise interactions or tasks, to go exactly the right certain way.

I typically do not work with music playing. If I do, it tends to be very minimal; no lyrics, ambient and relaxing. The reason for this isn’t that I’m a weirdo who loves doing financial analysis in complete and utter silence, but rather, I find that I can’t maintain focus and often suffer frustration if I lose my train of thought. With Adderall, this changed. Music sounded delicious on this amphetamine. It provided momentum and motivation. I actually worked better with it on some days. This was a real treat! I’m a music lover, who has a quality stereo setup in my home office, that I rarely get to use during the work day. The month of Adderall ingestion I probably quadrupled the amount of music I was able to listen to compared to an average month.

Least Favorite Aspects:

Despite the glowing words above about the pleasurable amphetamine high, the fact that I couldn’t achieve these effects predictably was a downside to me. I like the effects of my drugs to be calculable, especially in this type of use-case of performance enhancement during the workday. One thing that was predictable was stomach discomfort. The variety and degree of this varied with a loose correlation to the amount of substance taken; the higher the dose, the higher the discomfort. Most times this came in the form of dull pain throughout my digestive track with the occasional sharp cramping. Many positive effects were unpredictable, making them more of liability than an asset. Conversely a number of the consistent and reliable effects were the ones I really didn’t benefit from.

Neutral Aspects | Additional Commentary:

Some days the Adderall brought on mild anxiety. Not a deep spiraling, day-ruining anxiety, but I’d get so stimulated that I’d become uncomfortable. It was almost like my body felt wrong, both inside and out. My skin was cold but also hot, and my muscles and body’s interior itched like crazy while at the same time felt smooth and slick as I moved around. Physically and mentally I felt out of rhythm and there was a worry burrowing in my mind about something I couldn’t quite put my finger on. In general, this confusion between my mind, body, and mood was a mild thing. It didn’t make it to my least favorite aspects due to its tameness, but it did lean towards the negative end of the spectrum.

As will be discussed below, I struggled to keep myself nutritionally fulfilled throughout multiple days of Adderall doses in a row. I’d skip meals, binge eat; everything related to meal scheduling was completely out of whack.

Appetite

This was the substance in this series of reports that had the strongest affect on my appetite. As one might suspect, the general effect of the amphetamine was to reduce any hint of hunger. What I found interesting was that the results of not eating varied greatly – without any logical patterns I could find. On some occasions, I never felt the pangs of hunger return, even late into some evenings, long after the rest of the substance's effects had dissipated. Other times, eve then the dosages were similar in amount, route of administration, and timeline, I was ravenous the moment I was past the peak.

Biometrics

- Starting weight: 190 lbs

- Ending weight: 192 lbs *not related

- Heart Rate Notes: Nothing truly noteworthy – no concerning slowing or hastening either on a regular basis or during any singe incident. I did find that physical activity, even a mild walk of a few miles with the dogs would result in extra sweat and an increased, but not alarmingly so, heart rate [115 bpm].

- Sexual Effects: Nothing terribly significant played out here. Perhaps a slight increase in desire particularly in the time period of T + 00:30 – T + 04:30. Thoughts would drift into my head and if I let them continue to develop and grow, I could be distracted by them. Physical sensitivity was slightly increased, touch because more sensitive and a touch of extra sensitivity gave me an extra sense of connection and dedication to my partner Kai.

- Sleep Effects: If I re-dosed, or dosed late, I almost always combatted my existing insomnia which would combine with this amphetamine. I could usually overcome this with a triple or more dosage of my prescribed zolpidem [10-20 milligrams]. Sometimes I’d add a benzodiazepine to this to knock myself out and relieve the misery of being awake when all I wanted was to be asleep.

Mental Effects

- Creativity: I can’t say I ever came up with ideas that I wouldn’t have given an unlimited amount of sober working time. I solved puzzles and problems, arriving at “creative” solutions faster than I would have without the stimulant. So sure, given limitations like, ‘required’ sleep, twenty four hours in a day, and other such silly things; I suppose I did experience increased creativity, but to me, it was more a result of increased work time at an increased mental pace, than it was a change in mental thought patterns in the way that perhaps LSD might provide.

- Focus: This is where the substance absolutely shined. As alluded to above, I was able to maintain exceptionally sharp focus almost every day I took Adderall. I could sit and read chapters without looking up. I cranked on my keyboard with accelerated strokes that seemed to occur, along with my thoughts, at impossibly quick rates of speed. Continuing to give credit where credit is due, Adderall not only provided raw stimulation but it made the focussing fun to do. Learning, solving, and working were transformed not only into tasks from a to-do list which I could execute faster, but into enjoyable activities that I was suddenly more accepting of having to complete. I didn’t notice significant diminishing of this specific benefit as the weeks went by.

- Social Effects: The Adderall month was one in which I was working from home 100% of the time and not socializing much due to the COVID-19 pandemic. There was a notable increase in my text messaging almost everyday I took this substance however. I felt extra desire to interact with people. In addition to a pure desire for conversation, I noticed a decrease in inhibitions, which increased proportionally with my dose. Even as tolerance developed, anything over twenty milligrams tended to blur the line between purely productive and recreational. Above this amount, and sometimes below it, I would have a lowered emotional guard and verbal filter; I said a few things to people I would not normally have. This was not terribly egregious, and I typically knew when it was happening, but chose to let it ride anyways. This was far less intense than I’ve experienced with mid to high level dosages of MDMA, cocaine, 6-APB, 4-FA, or any number of other euphoric stimulants.

Mood Effects

I chose to divide this section into portions of time because after reviewing my notes at the end of the month, the most distinct patterns of mood changes were correlated to specific timelines. The comments below held true for nearly all of the dosage days.

- Mid Experience: A positive mood boost was experienced the majority of the time during the Adderall regimen. The only instances this wasn’t the case was when something became too frustrating, the dose was slightly too high, or both. In these instances, I lacked the ability to step back and take in the bigger picture. I’d wind myself up tighter and tighter, tangling the theoretical ball of yarn I was attempting to untangle, making the situation worse with rash decisions – fast clicks on the computer executed with a sweating hand.

I would say that these negative periods occurred less than ten percent of the time. I was often able to eventually recover and have a smile on my face by the end of these days, but whether this was me doing anything, the drug wearing off, or a combination of these things among others, such as a shift in set or setting, that allowed me to return to a more joyful mental state, is too complex to know for certain.

The majority of the time however, I was upbeat, less passive in meetings, and had a more positive outlook on my day at work. This was mostly internally documented. Kai mentioned once or twice that I was talking more on calls with higher level executives than I normally did, but no co-workers ever mentioned my mood and increased talking in either a positive or negative way.

- Come-Down: This is a tricky section to summarize. Over the month, I had three distinct varieties of come-downs. The first type was extremely elongated. Once I’d passed the peak intensity of the day, the retreat to true baseline was painfully slow. More precisely, once the effects dropped to 75% of the day's peak, the experience was not enjoyable. I would have suppressed appetite when I wanted, and needed, to eat. A dull emptiness slowly replaced the brain space that had been so active and stimulated just hours before. Sleep wasn’t an immediate option, and this hollow feeling often arrived long before bedtime anyways. On these days, I felt unproductive and restless in the evenings. I often drank alcohol and/or took benzodiazepines to create a more pleasant mental emptiness.

The second type of come-down was very different from the first I described. I’d be cranking along; productive, productive, productive then BAM – I’d hit a fucking wall. My energy and motivation would drop instantly to zero. At first, I thought these types of come-downs might be related to diet and dosage, but after tracking this hypothesis in my journal, I found this wasn’t the case. The benefit to this scenario was that I knew where I stood. My mood was low energy, drained, a bit mentally disheveled from the sudden change of pace. This wasn’t wholly unpleasant though. It generally occurred on high intensity workdays when a natural stopping point was reached. These were my favorite come-downs because they allowed me to move on with my evening in a manner that felt less affected by the day's substance use. I was less pigeonholed into certain activities or moods. Once the effects were gone, I typically was pleased that the work portion of the day was complete, and I could move on after this instantaneous baseline arrival.

The last variety of come-down I’ll discuss is something in between the two described above. There was no instantaneous ‘rug out from under my feet’ that suddenly ended the stimulation and concentration. Neither, was there a painfully slow dulling of these effects, ruining my chance at a peaceful evening. This ‘medium-decline’ shared a lot of the negative characteristics with the first, extremely long come-down. Essentially it was a middle ground where I either profited from elongation of the positive effects, or was pestered by a similar lengthening of the more annoying effects.

I wouldn’t attribute a blanket positive or negative reaction to these different come-downs but I certainly had my favorites and least favorites. Sometimes the lingering stimulation made for a lively conversation over dinner or a glass of wine with my partner Kai. Depending on the trajectory, I might have just enough extra energy to do a few chores or take the dogs out for an extra long walk. These things were naturally pleasing and the sense of accomplishment brought me warmth and happiness.

Sometimes the abrupt come-down was ill-timed, and I was forced to choose between trudging through a few hours of work feeling dead-brained, or re-dosing and dealing with a new, unplanned, duration timeline.

The tricky bit for me, was the unpredictability of these three potential outcomes to the second half of my Adderall experience days. If they had been controllable, I’d have looked at this as a somewhat significant benefit to the substance. Instead, given my proclivity to controllability of my substance experiences, I had to consider this a neutral or negative aspect of the drug.

- Next Day(s): I didn’t have quite the same natural hesitation to take Adderall multiple days in a row as I did with 2-FMA. More often, I’d smile as I prepared my dosage, looking forward to the enhanced performance and good mood to come. For off days, I didn’t note any pattern of fiending to take the substance. I also felt very capable to work without the material, and on some slower paced days, or weekends, the sobriety and even-keeled energy levels throughout a full day were a welcome change.

Given then that dosages were almost always very early in the day, I didn’t find any hangover or fatigue in the mornings after a day, or several days of use in a row. When I awoke the morning after I felt 100% sober.

Physical Effects

Typical amphetamine stuff here: euphoria and some discomfort resulting from body temperature regulation. Circulation issues resulting in cold hands and feet were present a fair amount of the time. When the Adderall dosages were higher, I often found a slightly increased heart rate and a light sweat on my forehead, armpits, and back. This often resulting in a never ending cycle of being hot, taking layers off, my sweat drying, then adding new dry layers. This was not really detrimental to my productivity or comfort, but I’d have preferred to not deal with it, for sure. Compared to other substances included in this writing compilation, the sweating was more notable than almost any other substance at a similar intensity experience.

Tapping my fingers and toes is not something I do sober, but I did while on Adderall, especially with any music on.

My digestive disease was affected a little more by this substance than it was others that were a part of this experience report collection.

Combinations

- Cannabis: This was the substance that had actual interaction with the Adderall more than any other discussed in this section. A lot of this had to do with timeline: I was smoking, vaporizing, and eating cannabis in the come-up, peak, and come-down periods of the amphetamine. Many of the other substances were ingested only on the come-down from the Adderall.

Simply put: cannabis gave me instant boosts in the intensity of the Adderall’s effects. I often would use cannabis tactically to pick up the pace when I could feel myself starting to drag or depart from the peak of the day. On more than one occasion, I would take a relatively large hit of cannabis flower through a glass water pipe or my oil vaporizer pen and just to sit back for a few minutes in the resulting euphoria resulting from the combination. My mind would be a little too scattered to bother resuming work immediately. In the meantime, I enjoyed a rush of warmth and energy pumping through my legs, arms, and torso. After several minutes, this passed, and I would continue on with my work, with a nice increase in stimulant effects, concentration, focus, and increased rates of thought, all of which lasted anywhere from ten to forty-five minutes.

- Benzodiazepines: I chose to group these substances together rather than describe them individually because their interactions with the Adderall were essentially indistinguishable. The three benzos I ingested were etizolam, clonazolam, and flubromazolam. The one notable difference was the etizolam’s onset being much quicker than the other two. For the most part, these substances were taken at T + 8:00 – T + 12:00 from the amphetamine. As such, they usually were taken to wipe out any annoying stimulation and unease resulting from an elongated come-down. On a few occasions I took etizolam in the beginning or middle of my Adderall experiences. This was pleasant and took some of the teeth grinding edginess away. The etizolam was dosed between 1.5 and 2 milligrams, both ingested sublingually. The corresponding Adderall dosages were 20 and 7.5 milligrams taken orally and insufflated respectively. I honestly would have done this combination more, but during this time I was trying to minimize my benzo intake. The other benzos were taken in amounts between 50 and 400 micrograms. Given their ingestion much later in the Adderall timeline, they did their job of eliminating any restlessness or lingering stimulation, replacing it with calmness, tranquility, and then sleep.

- Alcohol: I consume alcohol on pretty much a daily basis. This month I consumed a bit more on average as a mechanism to distract myself from my by-design decrease in benzo use. I didn’t find hard alcohol, wine, or beer to mix into the amphetamine much differently from one another, besides the fact that I found beer to sometimes be a bit heavy and tumultuous on a typically empty stomach. Usually I didn’t start consuming alcohol until well past the peak of the Adderall. I did so mostly because I find that drinking on amphetamines typically dulls the alcohol inebriation until the stimulants wear off. This always seemed like a waste of booze, the money used to buy it, and an unnecessary toll on my body. Drinking during come-downs, especially those nasty elongated ones, was a pleasant way to replace the hollow-headed, "unable to relax due to annoying stimulation" condition, with the warm, pleasant, and comforting buzz of alcohol I enjoy so much. It made it so I didn’t care so much what I did on those nights that I didn’t think I’d be accomplishing anything particularly useful anyways. The dull minded lack of productivity became more fun and pleasant and sleep came easier as an additional bonus.

- Additional Stimulants: Similar to the benzodiazepine portion of this combinations commentary, I didn’t find the three stimulants I tacked onto Adderall days were unique enough to waste page space discussing them individually. The substances I took were 3-FA, MDMA, and MDA. All of these were taken well past the majority of the Adderall’s effects. I think the closest dosage was T + 06:15 on a day that my Adderall ingestion was relatively small, five milligrams orally. Given this timeline, basically as soon as I began to come-up on the second substance, any remaining stimulation from earlier was immediately overpowered. I didn’t detect any tolerance from the performance enhancer during the recreational part of these experiences. When I dosed recreationally, everything felt just as it would have without any Adderall being involved.

- Zolpidem: I use zolpidem in a medical/therapeutic manner several nights a week. Only on a few occasions did I have to increase my dosage due to the morning Adderall intake. My dosages fluctuates between 2.5 and 15 milligrams depending on the evening, typically between 5 and 10.

Outcome | Summary | Takeaways

This month honestly surprised me. I enjoyed it in ways I didn’t expect and some of my concerns coming in didn't materialize quite as much as I expected.

The appetite suppression wasn’t horrible, but it was more notable than with any other substance in this report series. I discovered this early on, and tried to adjust my eating schedule, mostly by adding more breakfast; anticipating a light or skipped lunch, and a potentially late or light dinner.

The functionality was slightly unwieldy, but when reined in as best as possible to the correct set, setting, and dosage, this compound had the ability be an absolutely ace performer. When all things went perfect, I was able to ride a mild euphoric high where I achieved mental efficiencies; performance enhancement in every sense. In retrospective I’d give higher ratings to this substance than I anticipated I would. It provided as advertised, plain and simple; increased periods of focus and energy.

My biggest concern coming into this month was that the Adderall would cause issues with my digestive disease. While they certainly didn’t get along swimmingly, I didn’t ever decide to skip a dose or face intense ill-effects. At the worst, my stomach felt unsettled and uncomfortable. I’d get twinges of light nausea. I attribute this to a mix of the substance, my diet, and overall health. These symptoms usually presented later in the day, during a comedown, especially if I had to do something productive after work that was stressing me out. Occasionally the come-up would spike some nausea from nerves about the beginning of the intense effects, but this happened less and less as the month went on.

The uplifting effects on my mood were the most intense of any material I included in this series of reports. 2-FMA, at higher dosages provided a close second, but the notes don’t lie; I more frequently commented on the pleasant hum of physical and mental euphoria with Adderall than any of the other materials.

With this substance resulting in more of what I’d describe as a “high” than other study aids, I did have some amount of more-ish-ness. When the original dosage was peaking, I often took a few hits of cannabis to increase its intensity, or take it a step further and ingest a booster dosage. The extreme instance of this was me turning to a purely euphoric stimulant, leading to a pleasure-filled evening after the amphetamine-fueled workday. I’d become overcome by cravings to take the tickle of pleasure up a few notches.

Again at the top of the list of the substances included in this series of reports, Adderall had the most negative impact on my sleep schedule. Long past providing useful energy it had the ability to keep my mind annoyingly alert late into the evenings. I combatted this by dosing as early as possible most days, and assisting at bedtime with zolpidem and other sleep aids. I already have issues falling asleep, so perhaps this was more of a downside than it would be for others. Without substances to drown the awakeness, I would have found taking Adderall regularly a lot harder to adjust to.

Exp Year: 2021	ExpID: 115537
Gender: Male
Age at time of experience: 30
Published: Aug 5, 2021	Views: 4,953
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Amphetamines (6) : Not Applicable (38), Performance Enhancement (50), Retrospective / Summary (11), Combinations (3)