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The Adderall Experiment: Irritation and Headaches

Is Adderall causing my irritation and headaches-or is it hunger?

Adderall Asperger's Headaches and Irritation

ADD is one of the only diagnoses that had stood after my Asperger’s Diagnosis.

It was originally among the host of other “disorders” that doctor’s labeled me with before figuring out that I had autism. It only took thirty-eight years!
The arrays of diagnoses, all wrong, have been thrown by the waste side where they belong, but still the ADD lingers. I wonder though if this too may not be entirely accurate because the problems I experience can also, once again, be explained by my Asperger’s.
I’ve been on Adderall for many years, since 2006. I’ve been on them so long that I have probably saved hundreds of dollars after finding an Adderall XR coupon that saves me money on each purchase. They have always worked great but, as with any medication you take, sometimes it’s just time to realize that they don’t work as well as they used to because your hormones and body change over time. I don’t think they’ve been as effective as they used to be. Lately, I’ve noticed that I am calmer on days that I do not take the medication. I am less irritable, get less headaches, and am less angry when interrupted a million times by the kids. Granted-I may be more scatter brained those days, but I am beginning to wonder if the Adderall is literally getting on my nerves.

Adderall or Hunger?

“I have two theories”, I told my doctor. I am either more irritable because of the Adderall, OR because when I am on Adderall, I forget to eat more often.
Forgetting to eat has always been an issue for me, especially if I am engrossed in an activity or project. If you do not interrupt me and remind me to eat, I simply forget. I hardly ever feel hunger, so I don’t have that innate warning system to remind me that I need food. When I am increasingly irritable, easily overloaded, and my senses are super-charged and approaching meltdown, I usually realize that I haven’t eaten anything for a while!
I am not sure exactly what the overload-lack of food connection is, maybe it is a blood sugar issue. I am borderline diabetic, and I am very sensitive to the changes in my blood sugar levels.
So those are my two theories. Adderall curbs my hunger, and then I never feel hungry. It helps me to hyper-focus on my tasks, again, making it easy for me to forget to eat. That could be causing my ridiculous moodiness. Or, it is simply that the Adderall, being a stimulant, is irritating my nervous system.
The good thing is this is a theory I can test. My task now is to take my Adderall for the next week or so, and MAKE SURE that I eat regularly (that is going to be a challenge), five small meals per day to see if my irritation is calmed down when I get a sufficient amount of food.
I have already tried not taking the medication for a week, and was significantly calmer-BUT I ate more as well, so no conclusions there.

Does anyone else take Adderall, and have difficulty with irritation? Or, have overloads triggered by hunger? Headaches?

I’m frustrated, but determined to find the culprit. I hate being irritated all the time, and I am getting on my own nerves!

Jeannie Davide-Rivera

Jeannie is an award-winning author, the Answers.com Autism Category Expert, contributes to Autism Parenting Magazine, and the Thinking Person's Guide to Autism. She lives in New York with her husband and four sons, on the autism spectrum.

11 Comments:

  1. Pingback: I bought a juicer! Happy New Year’s Day to Me! | Aspie Writer

  2. Hi Liz,

    I so happy to hear that it is helping him! Adderall helps my 13 yr old tremendously too. Although he is not normally irritatible, he is excitable. When he takes the Adderall he is much much calmer and focused. I don’t think I am calmer on it, but then again I am never really calm, but I am definitely more focused.

    I think that my irribility may be in part because I tend to not eat all day on Adderall, AND because I am focuses even more intently then usual on special interests, the interuptions feel more abrupt and irritating.

  3. My son, 5 with autism, started Aderall about two weeks ago. He also takes clonidine at night to help him sleep. I do notice he is calmer, and focused. And his behavior is lot better. He had always been irritable, but now I see is less irritable…let’s see how it goes, but, so far so good.

  4. Reading these blog posts and comments are very emotional for me to read. I just found this blog today because I had a crazy dream about you and Uncle Darryl. My mind is a little blown away and I am feeling sad and angry. I don’t know why. You seem to have found that thing you were always searching for and could never grasp.. call me.

    • Hey Gee,
      I’m sorry finding my blog today made you feel like that. It certainly was not my intention. Please understand that it has been/and is hard for me to share. Blogging has been helping me to open up and connect with others who do understand more of what I am going through, without my having to explain myself—if that makes any sense?

      My blog is certainly not meant to offend anyone in my life, but understand that it is still my little place in the world—the place that I am free to be me. I hope that you will continue to read and want to know/learn more about Asperger’s Syndrome—and see a little bit of the world through my eyes. My writing may be one of the only ways I can truly share myself with others and allow others into my world—the real one, not the one that I pretend to live in.

  5. do you have a way to set an alarm for eating? i mean, i would set one in my phone if i had this problem, but i dont because i certainly feel hungry a lot. lol

    • Hi Ericka,

      I was just thinking about what you said today. I am going to attempt to set alarms in my phone. That may work..maybe. But then of course I have to actually stop whatever I am doing and take the time to eat.

      I skipped my Adderall for the past two days, and although I still do think I have felt calmer, I haven’t been very productive either. *sigh

  6. I have an aspie son. We have been going round and round with the does he have adhd or does aspergers just account for the adhd like symptoms for a few years. He did a trial of adderall last year. he enjoyed the focus it gave him but he was very emotional and aggressive because of the med. After a two week trial we stopped. Had the discusion this month again with his developmental pediatrician about his troubles focusing. She said the stimulant class drugs for adhd (adderall, ritalin,etc) don’t tend to work for folks on the spectrum because the distraction is not from outside things but from the thoughts in their own heads. this is actually true for my son. She recommended Strattera instead as it also has an anti anxiety component which is helpful. We aren’t pursuing it at this point but thought I’d pass the info along to you for what it’s worth. Good luck to you.

    • Thanks so much. I think for me I would probably opt to go without any meds than try a new one (horrid experiences with medications in the past). However; my son takes Adderall as well for ADD, but with the Asperger’s I am wondering also if he shouldn’t be taking something else? I am going to do more research on the Strattera. The Adderall definitely helps him focus, and calms his down quite a bit, but if there is something that is more helpful to those on the spectrum then that is definitely worth looking into! Thanks so much for the info.

  7. I don’t think it is legal here. I just question the use of it if not ADHD or ADD, as it is a synaptic fix . . . Whereas, autie or Aspie, the synapses might all be firing right, though info travels differently?

    • This is what I was thinking also…and I’m wondering if the stimulant doesn’t rev-up my nervous system even more than it normally is–especially considering many sensitivity issues I have. I may be focusing more, but my sensory processing feels like it is overloading quicker. I have an extremely stressful day ahead of me…moving, packing, dentist, doctor appt.–yes all today. I think I am going to skip my Adderall and see if I feel calmer.

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