DOSE:

30 mg

oral

Amphetamines

(powder / crystals)

BODY WEIGHT:

145 lb

I had recently obtained a 30 mg XR (extended release) from a friend. I'd tried adderall a couple times before, though there were many key differences.

1. Dosage: I was taking what were probably smaller doses of the immediate release version and I’d only taken a half a pill.
2. Context: I took them to stay out all night to appreciate New York City nightlife.

My goal today was energy and productivity at work. I woke up around 8:30, which was probably 7 hours of sleep. I took the pill with breakfast and showered. My roommate was awake and I ran into him. I started talking to him, which was strange because as talkative as I am, I NEVER have the energy to be social in the morning.

I jumped on the subway to work. I became immersed in my reading, Anna Karenina, spending time to interpret the sentences. I also actually enjoyed the act of reading it, while normally I found its dry prose and choices in sentence structure exhausting. Another difference was, when I read in the morning, I usually have to put my book down before I become too sleepy, which was not the case this morning. My recollection later that day of what I had been reading was far better than usual.

My work involves programming a computer to analyze specific data in the context of physics. Though I seemed to spend just as much of my time as usual procrastinating on the internet, the amount accomplished in both procrastination and work time seemed far greater . The procrastination itself was more productive. I read through more news stories and did so with an increased ability to read word for word. My work output was dramatically improved, and I had a boosted energy. I did everything at a faster pace, and I seemed to race through my typing. However, unlike caffeine, or especially bupropion, there was no associated irritability. I also noticed an unexpected cold sensation when I pressed my tongue to the roof of my mouth. When I took time to notice, I also felt a pleasant goosebumps-ish/tingling feeling throughout my body.

In terms of work, I usually had trouble remembering which program I was running and what I intended to do with the output, so it took some time between runs for me to figure this out. On adderall, I had instant recollection of everything I was doing. I seemed to possess a much larger working memory.

I worked away without regard to time when I saw that it was noon. I was usually hungry by then and unbearably distracting-myself hungry by 12:30. I went back to work and before I knew it, it was 12:30. I wasn’t remotely hungry. Around 3:30, I finally forced myself to eat something, convinced my body must have actually been hungry, even if it wasn’t going tell me about it.

Afterward I took a break, curious as to the social effects of adderall. I met up with some friends/coworkers and made small talk. I felt more awkward than usual, somehow feeling there was more silence in the conversation than usual that could be filled in, and that my friends expected me to talk more, as if they were on the information fastlane my brain had entered.

I resumed working and continued until around 7:30. At this point, I elected to finish work and started writing. I became incredibly immersed in the process, probably not looking up for a half hour, though I found word choice to be impaired and my sentences to be kind of clunky.

Around this time, I started getting a headache. I didn’t know if it was as result of coming down from the adderall or just staring at the computer screen for so long, which I seemed to have been doing with intensity all day.

I rode the subway home and was still amazed at my concentration dedicated to reading. I didn’t even notice the stops go by and my 20-minute commute felt like 3.

It is now 10:30pm and I’m still feeling the effects as I write this. I have a slight dull headache toward the back of my brain. I’m slightly tired and reading has become more difficult. I’ve also been noticing extra …tension, I guess… in my mouth. I’ve been pressing my tongue against the roof of my mouth and seem to be occasionally clenching my teeth, though not hard. It’s possible I’ve been doing this all day and only noticed now.

Overall, it was a good experience. I finally don’t feel quite so guilty for having accomplished so little in the past week and am glad that the motivation was in me somewhere.

Reflecting back, adderall gives me a strange and extremely abbreviated perception of time because I become so caught up in what I'm doing. I also noticed everything I did had an added sense of urgency. I seemed to be in a rush whenever I was walking somewhere.

I can definitely see the allure of adderall for someone who needs to immediately become very productive in work or school. I can imagine taking it at 10pm the night before a paper is due or a final exam is to be given and shoving and retaining huge amounts of information without the need for food or sleep, though I do think it impedes writing ability. For weight loss, adderall also seems amazing. I just wasn't hungry. For unbelievable periods of time.

Exp Year: 2009	ExpID: 76590
Gender: Male
Age at time of experience: Not Given
Published: Jan 11, 2020	Views: 1,005
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Amphetamines (6) : Performance Enhancement (50), General (1), Workplace (51)