Adderall is one of the most abused drugs in north America. In fact, Adderall is one of the most abused drugs in the world right now.
Students are turning to study drugs like Ritalin and Adderall in increasing numbers to ensure that they get the most out of their (exorbitantly expensive) degrees. So too are more and more programmers, traders, and developers all turning to Adderall and other study drugs to deal with their demanding workloads. Normal working hours are a thing of the past – as are regular employment contracts – so professionals like programmers and traders are increasingly reliant on drugs like Adderall to get everything done.
We strongly advise against the use of Adderall for the purposes of enhancing cognitive performance. Yet we know that many of you are going to use it anyway. So, it’s worth discussing what supplements to use with Adderall for optimal results.
What supplements should you take with Adderall?
Which supplements should you avoid taking with Adderall?
Let’s delve into this topic in a little more detail and find out.
How Adderall works
Adderall is a central nervous system stimulant. More specifically, Adderall works by stimulating the release of norepinephrine. This neurotransmitter is responsible for controlling your ‘fight or flight’ response to threats. When it is released, it raises excitability, aggression, and anxiety. It also heightens alertness, sharpens focus, and accelerates decision-making.
Basically, Adderall triggers the body’s threat survival response despite there being no threat present. This is why it is such a powerful performance-enhancer; it makes your brain kick into its top gear so it is ready to get out of whatever situation is threatening its survival.
Now, there are serious downsides to this as you might imagine. Being in a state of extreme excitation is something you should only experience briefly, and infrequently. Forcing it upon yourself on a regular basis can have some serious adverse health effects.
Dangers of Adderall use
Adderall is not a safe drug, not by any stretch of the imagination. It is for this reason that so many people have turned to natural Adderall substitutes over the last few years; the benefits of doing Adderall are massively outweighed by the costs.
The short-term side effects of doing Adderall are serious:
- Hypertension
- Elevated heart rate
- Acute anxiety
- Panic attacks
- Sweating
- Headaches
- Dizziness
- Inability to focus
- Time dilation
- Increased risk of seizure
- Increased risk of heart attack
These are serious enough to put anybody off this study drug; the heightened focus just isn’t worth it!
But as if that wasn’t bad enough, there are more long-term risks related to Adderall use, including:
- Addiction
- Dependency
- Insomnia
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Elevated risk of seizures
- Elevated risk of heart disease
These side effects and health risks are made significantly worse when Adderall is mixed with other drugs.
At the same time, some of the short-term side effects of Adderall use might be mitigated with the use of select natural supplements.
It is these supplements which we’ll now discuss.
Best supplements to take with Adderall
The best supplements to take with Adderall are those supplements which will most effectively attenuate the side effects associated with Adderall use.
Trying to potentiate Adderall (make the effects stronger) with supplements is not a good idea under any circumstances. Adderall is an extremely powerful drug; it is a mixture of amphetamine salts designed for use under medical supervision only. You don’t need to make it any stronger!
But some supplements work well with Adderall as they can moderate some of the drug’s more powerful, less desirable effects and keep side effects to a minimum (although side effects are inevitable with a drug like Adderall).
So what are the best supplements to take with Adderall?
1. L-Theanine
Generally speaking, when taking any CNS stimulants, it is wise to take some form of L-Theanine. This amino acid can help reduce stress, lower blood pressure, and promote deep, restful sleep. Generally speaking, L-Theanine and Adderall should work very well together, just as L-Theanine works well with caffeine (although Adderall and caffeine have different effects).
2. Magnesium Bisglycinate
Magnesium reduces neuronal excitability, effectively suppressing excessive brain activity. It also helps relax the muscles, lower blood pressure, and by extension, promote healthy sleep patterns. All of these things are important if you plan on using Adderall; without magnesium, you can easily be left feeling agitated, tense, anxious, and unable to sleep.
3. Ashwagandha
Ashwagandha is one of the most reliable and effective natural anxiolytic (anti-anxiety) supplements in existence. For this reason, it makes a great supplement to take with Adderall. Ashwagandha primarily works by suppressing blood cortisol levels. Cortisol is your primary “stress” hormone. It is extremely useful when released in response to damage or a threat, much like norepinephrine, but chronically elevated cortisol is physically and mentally crippling (again just like norepinephrine). By suppressing cortisol, ashwagandha can drastically reduce both symptoms and actual feelings of stress and anxiety.
4. L-Tyrosine
Tyrosine is an amino acid with some very interesting physiological effects. Most notably, Tyrosine and anxiety have a close relationship. Tyrosine is a building block of dopamine. When using Adderall, you are likely to deplete all of your dopamine. If you’re using Adderall on even a semi-regular basis, then you are likely to damage your dopamine receptors (there’s nothing you can really do to reverse this quickly). But for infrequent users, Tyrosine can help prevent the kind of “dopamine crashes” that Adderall produces.
5. Vitamin C
Vitamin C seems to reduce blood levels of Adderall. The likeliest explanation for this is that Vitamin C somehow inhibits the uptake of Adderall in the gut. The exact reason for this is not clear, but it is an incredibly reliable effect observed in numerous clinical trials. Hindering the absorption of Adderall can help reduce the chances of experiencing side effects, particularly if you are an inexperienced user.
Taking Vitamin C can also help with the fatigue and sickly feeling that follows Adderall use.
Staying safe with Adderall
We do not recommend the use of Adderall for any other purpose than the treatment of ADHD, conducted under the supervision of a qualified medical doctor.
Using Adderall to improve focus, learning, or productivity is a terrible idea as the potential costs drastically outweigh any potential benefits. This is even more obvious when you consider that there are lots of over the counter Adderall alternatives out there capable of delivering all the benefits of the study drug with none of the risks.
If you insist on using Adderall, then it is wise to take Adderall with supplements known to attenuate some of the more powerful effects of the drug and keep the risks of side effects to a minimum (as far as that is possible with Adderall). But with so many high quality brain supplements available, we don’t see why anybody would take the risk with Adderall!