Concern about appetite suppression on Adderall

[Kaiserin]

I've only been on Adderall for about two weeks and I don't have any appetite, which I like. I'm only concerned about the length of time that it suppresses my appetite. I can go an entire day without eating unless I totally force myself to eat, which I don't like doing. I take vitamins every day just to ensure I get the nutrients I need and I drink A LOT of water every day, but the length of time that I can go without food that kind of scares me.

Has anyone had a similar experience and if so, how long do you go without eating and how does this affect you?

[Penny Century]

you may not like it (and it is unpleasant) but you have to force yourself to eat something every 4-5 hours or your blood sugar will crash and it will mess with your concentration and your health and mood.

when i really can't eat i turn to smoothies and protien bars.

the appetite suppression will ease up a bit when you get more used to being on stims, but it most likely will never go away, so you just have to get used to eating on a set schedule even if you're not at all hungry.

[Kaiserin]

you may not like it (and it is unpleasant) but you have to force yourself to eat something every 4-5 hours or your blood sugar will crash and it will mess with your concentration and your health and mood.

when i really can't eat i turn to smoothies and protien bars.

the appetite suppression will ease up a bit when you get more used to being on stims, but it most likely will never go away, so you just have to get used to eating on a set schedule even if you're not at all hungry.

Sorry for the late reply on this one, but I just wanted to thank you for the tip. I really appreciate it. I can definitely force myself to get an energy bar in my or something like that. And I *LOVE* smoothies, so that shouldn't be too hard either.

[meg]

hey- a little late, but oh well

this totally happened to me when I started adderall (and actually to a point way back when I started wellbutrin, even though it's not a stimulant). It's not uncommon at all and I totally agree with penny that as much as it sucks, you have to take care of yourself and make sure you're eating-- you might not *feel* how it's affecting your body and mind, but trust me, not eating for a while will catch up with how you act and feel.

what has been really really helpful to me have been protein or nutrition bars like cliff 'luna bars' (expensive, but yummy and packed with good stuff and protein to keep you going), special K actually now makes an awesome line of protein bars (usually found in the same isle as diet foods such as slim-fast, etc.) that are a really quick way to get 10grams of protein your body with minimal eating, lol. I try to have one with a big glass of milk or chocolate milk or dip it an a vanilla yogurt or something so I'm getting 2 for 1. Smoothies are good, I tend to do really well with protein shakes (find in the diet or dibetic isle also or health food stores) because they are easy to down when I can't deal with the thought of food, and some of them are really yummy and pack 20 grams of protein before you add the milk. high protien slimfast shakes are sometimes a good backup when you'll be out of the house and know that it'll be easy to forget or avoid eating.

If I'm having a hard time being good with getting enough water (usually not a problem, thank you 'dry mouth' side effect) things like gatoraide or vitamin water are really useful to stay hydrated

I'm going on and on but these tricks have helped me a lot and it took a while to find things that work for me, you've got to experiment. It'll probably get much less drastic as you get used to the stimulant though, but it's really good to get into the habit of eating regularly.

goodluck, sorry for being so long-winded!

meg