Monday, February 5, 2024

How I Use (and Don’t Use) Adderall to Help with Focus

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How I Use (and Don’t Use) Adderall to Help with Focus

An 8-year journal of lowkey amphetamine usage, including highs, lows, and specific recommendations.

Chris Guillebeau

Feb 5

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Hey everyone! This is the first post of the year with a paywall. I’m going to write about some health things and I’d prefer to keep parts of that process to a smaller community. If you’re not signed up yet, you can get access to everything for just $6/month, or even less when paying for the year.

Alright, for those who stick around, let’s talk about Adderall (and also Vyvanse, Ritalin, and more…).

Not shockingly, this post begins with a few disclaimers. They probably don’t matter for casual readers, but if you actually end up thinking about medication for ADHD or other conditions, be sure to actually read them.

The obvious one: I’m not your doctor, or anyone’s. It’s great that we’re able to learn independently and share personal experiences with one another (really, it is), but that’s not a substitution for getting diagnosed and/or being prescribed any sort of legit medicine. Pretty basic, right? Yet also important.

Next, I’m writing specifically about my experience with a combination drug that consists of equal parts amphetamine and dextroamphetamine, commonly known as Adderall. It’s widely available in the U.S., Canada, and some other countries.

Notably, it’s not available in many other countries (including the U.K., where a lot of our readers are from), and you can actually go to jail (really!) if you get caught with it in countries like Japan. Similar drugs that tend to be available where Adderall isn’t welcome include Ritalin, Concerta, Modafinil, and Vyvanse.

Okay, let’s get to it…

An Amphetamine Origins Story

Way back in … 2016? … I started taking Adderall to help with my adult ADHD. I’d been diagnosed as a kid (and took meds then) but never really got help as an adult. Then, during a disastrous visit to my university health clinic while in graduate school (2008), I tried to go back on medication, but was summarily rejected.

The rejection stung, and I didn’t get help for eight more years. Oops. Poor decision.

Well, let’s move to the better part of the story.

Many years after the grad school rejection, my ability to focus was getting worse, not better. I was trying to write my third book, and it was a struggle. It felt impossible to sit down to work on it, and then I hated myself for being so dumb...