[tek]

Just curious to hear experience/input from anyone that takes both Adderall and Effexor simultaneously...

I've been on Adderall for a little over a year (with a 4 month med break last Fall/Winter), and started Effexor yesterday for depression (I seem to be "resistant" to plain old SSRIs ). My pdoc says it's possible that I may end up needing less Adderall due to Effexor's impact on norepinephrine, but I'm far from the Effexor dose needed for that.

[null0trooper]

tek, on Jun 1 2007, 04:51 PM, said:

Just curious to hear experience/input from anyone that takes both Adderall and Effexor simultaneously...

I've been on Adderall for a little over a year (with a 4 month med break last Fall/Winter), and started Effexor yesterday for depression (I seem to be "resistant" to plain old SSRIs ). My pdoc says it's possible that I may end up needing less Adderall due to Effexor's impact on norepinephrine, but I'm far from the Effexor dose needed for that.

I haven't been on that combination myself, but if you are benefiting as much from Adderall's effect on norepinephrine release and reuptake as its effect on dopamine release/reuptake, then your doctor is probably right. I'm not sure how you'd know until you get to that point though.

At least one of our now-less-frequent members is on that combination, and it seems to have been a success.

[Sunshine]

I was on Adderall and Cymbalta, which is as close to Effexor as anything else. I never found that I could get by with less Adderall, but since depression can exacerbate ADD symptoms, alleviating the depression may cause you to need less Adderall.

[tek]

I took both together for the first time yesterday, and I'd say it wasn't a good day. I was anti-social, irritable, and just plain didn't feel "into anything". Granted, I hadn't taken any Adderall for over a week so perhaps the effect was a little stronger than usual. I felt so agitated and upset by the afternoon that I ended up having to take a Klonopin (which I haven't needed to do in over a week). Then I had to take another one 6 hours later because the agitation returned!

Other than that, I could hardly eat. Adderall alone sometimes suppresses my appetite, but I've been taking it long enough for that particular side effect to be very weak. Yesterday, the idea of putting anything into my mouth other than water (tons and tons of cold water) or soda made me gag. Today, I haven't taken any Adderall and I still have no desire to eat. Could all of this be a sign that Effexor and Adderall aren't going to play nice?

[HaloGirl66]

I took both together for about a year, 40mgs of Adderall XR and doses of effexor xr ranging from 75-300mg. As I went up on the effexor I noticed no difference on my ADD one way or the other, so I don't think it had much of an impact on my need for Adderall.

Effexor side effects can be funky, it always took me a week or 2 of an uppded dose before side effects like you describe went away. You might want to give it a while to see if it starts working, it's not an immediate thing.

I went off the effexor just because of the horrible rep it has for discontinuation effects. I weaned off of it over a 3 month period so that didn't happen to me thank goodness.

[affectdefect]

I've taken both, but not at the same time.

I am not a medical professional :
While one component of Adderall (levo-amphetamine) does work on norepinepherine, it is mostly composed of dextro-amphetamine salts which are dopaminergic agents. It is highly unlikely that taking Effexor will require a change to your Adderall script.

My experience with Adderall has been mixed. When I first started it I was in a major depressive episode, hospitalization, suicide attempts... Anyway, within a week of taking Adderall I had completely come out of the depression (which I had been in for over a year). So as far as that goes, Adderall is my savior.

However, within a few months I began to habituate on it and it was not as effective in the get-up-and-go department. I would totally crash everyday around 4-5pm; could not stay awake.

I have since switched to Stratera (78mg) as my primary ADD med, but my pdoc isn't too impressed with it by itself and is keeping me on a lower dose of Adderall (15mg morning and afternoon). The ADD is pretty much under control and the crashing has gone away.

There is still the problem though, that Adderall is *really* easy and tempting to abuse. That's a tough one (for me anyway).

That probably didn't do a damn thing to answer your question... but I hope it didn't add to your confusion

[KG85]

I was really cranky and agitated on effexor and adderall. I dont really know if it would have been different if I was just on effexor. However, like "affectdefect" adderall was the first thing to pull me out of really deep depression and anxiety/panic attacks so i've always been really reluctant to quit it because so far I havnt found anything that works as well. Im only on 5mg IR every 5 hours.

[tiffi24]

I am on adderall 30 IR once a day..and on 300 effexor, now weaning down to switch to cymbalta..(my BP is going up..)
I had no bad side effects...I welcome the lack of appetite and nausea I have lost 16 lbs since the adderall..the effexor has appetite changes as a side effect..nausea mainly...and enhanced gag reflex..go figure..
it takes a little time to get used to the effexor..just keep an eye on your self, see what comes and goes as far as side effects..I bet you see it reducing soon...

[null0trooper]

ashes*, on Nov 6 2008, 03:01 AM, said:

I am currently on both Effexor XR (150mg) and Adderall (20mg 2x/day). I feel like I am slowly going crazy. If I am not totally amped up on Adderall all I want to do is sleep and be by myself. When I am amped up, I am irritable and weird. Almost like I am zoned and when I get snapped back, I either get easily agitated or try to really pay attention and then fade out again.

Below about 200 mg/day Effexor is believed to act primarily as a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor. When I was replying to tek last year I was referring to dosages above the point at which Effexor begins to significantly inhibit noradrenaline reuptake - that's a bit more important for people with comorbid ADHD (also some forms of depression, maybe narcolepsy, etc.)

This post has been edited by null0trooper: 06 November 2008 - 04:34 PM

[itsybitsyspider]

I have been taking Effexor XR 150 mg/day for a few months now.

I just added Adderall XR 30 mg/day to the mix yesterday.

I feel great so far.

[Slorrin]

I am on dexedrine (The primary component of adderall is d-amphetamine, which is dexadrine), 10mg a day IR or alternately, 15mg slow release a day (Depends what i need to get done that day). I just started effexor 37.5 mg, which is the lowest possible dose.

Now obviously everyone is different, but i can't take any more dexadrine than that, because frankly, the sweating and dry mouth and fever and headache really aren't worth it. Neither is the harsh comedown later in the day. But i find taht 10mg is very effective, now that i've acclamated to it, it gives me about 5 hours of serious normal concentratoin abilities!

As for the effexor, i JUST started it, and i found that it gave me a headache. I determined this based on the fact that i get the headache approx 40-60 mintes after taking the effexor, without fail. But its decreasing the more i take it.

As for effexor decreasing your need for adderall.

2 things have to be noted. one, despite the desired function of a chemical on the brain, there are interactions, zillions of little compensitory reactions, your brain is trying to maintain homeostasis, has many mechanisms for this, and they interact with drugs and combinations fo drugs. My doctor, who is both canada's leading expert on adults with ADHD and a psychopharmacologist extraordinaire says "Whateer the mechanism, effexor enhances amphetamines, and vice versa".

What this means is, using them in combination often decreases the dose needed for best efficacy. I used to be on 25 mg of dexadrine, and i felt.. well, high, then angry, then insular, then frozen, etc.. in phases. I got a lot of meaningless houswork done too Now that i'm down to 10, i had settled quite nicely into a kind of good working routine. The effexor has caused my small dose of 10mg to act like a larger dose, and once again i feel increased body temperature, increased "speediness".

Hopefully it settles.

Anyhow, everyone has different experiences. SSRIs had absolutely no impact at all on my anxiety (pre dexadrine anxiety, so not amphetamine related), and i even fell into a depression while on one.. so i'm hoping effexor helps on my perpetual anxiety.

ALSO, when i asked about Wellbutrin, and its many forms, (an NDRI, so on the surface, amazing for ADHD!) my doctor said its seizure risk was the highest of any anti depressant and he didnt' feel good giving a medication with a high seizure risk to someone also taking something that can cause arythmia. I deferred to his wise judgement.

Anyone here been on an NRDI and an amphetamine?

[Silver]

Slorrin, on Nov 23 2008, 09:39 PM, said:

ALSO, when i asked about Wellbutrin, and its many forms, (an NDRI, so on the surface, amazing for ADHD!) my doctor said its seizure risk was the highest of any anti depressant and he didnt' feel good giving a medication with a high seizure risk to someone also taking something that can cause arythmia.

Huh?

If he's worried about the risk of arrhythmia, then, um, why not run an EKG strip? Or a Holter monitor if he's really concerned? You are an adult, not a little kid; your dose is not high; the risk of arrhythmia above and beyond modest tachycardia is not that impressive.

If he's worried about seizures, then, well, that's a worry and that's a valid concern.
As to the highest seizure risk... OK, yes, highest seizure risk of any antidepressant in common use today.

And why not just hold the Adderall for a few days - the washout's quite quick - and then try the Wellbutrin at a low dose?


Yes, I've been on low dose Adderall and Wellbutrin concurrently, along with some other things at the same time. Is there a question after that?

[null0trooper]

Slorrin, on Nov 24 2008, 01:39 AM, said:

ALSO, when i asked about Wellbutrin, and its many forms, (an NDRI, so on the surface, amazing for ADHD!) my doctor said its seizure risk was the highest of any anti depressant and he didnt' feel good giving a medication with a high seizure risk to someone also taking something that can cause arythmia. I deferred to his wise judgement.

Anyone here been on an NRDI and an amphetamine?

Standard-release Wellbutrin is the formulation with the high seizure potential, the Extended-Release version seems to have a risk in line with the more common ADs. That doesn't mean there's no risk, but it's lower.

Some of the TCAs have a well-known associated arrythmia risk that's likely higher than that for WB. As Silver noted, that's something your GP can monitor easily enough (if you have a family history of heart disease it's something your doctor should be watching for, including baseline and annual EKG)

As to NRI+stimulant, been there, still have to do that. (Desipramine + Adderall, used to be WB + Adderall)