Some individuals misuse drugs like Adderall or dextroamphetamine as a weight loss shortcut, mistakenly believing that the appetite-suppressing effects of these medications will help them shed pounds quickly. While stimulant medications can lead to short-term weight loss, this comes at a high cost to physical and mental health. It's crucial to prioritize methods that improve overall health rather than jeopardize it.
How Dextroamphetamine Affects Weight
Dextroamphetamine causes weight loss mainly because of its stimulant action on the central nervous system (CNS). By increasing the release of dopamine and norepinephrine, dextroamphetamine enhances alertness and energy. A common side effect of this process (and of many stimulants) is appetite suppression. Weight loss can occur with reduced caloric intake. In addition, dextroamphetamine can raise the body’s metabolic rate-it speeds up heart rate and energy expenditure slightly, causing the body to burn more calories at rest than it usually would. This combination of eating less and burning more calories can lead to noticeable weight loss in the short term.
However, dextroamphetamine-induced weight loss is usually temporary and not sustainable. The body often adapts: Over time, appetite may return, or tolerance to the drug’s effects may develop, reducing the weight loss effect. When someone stops taking dextroamphetamine, their metabolism and appetite rebound to normal, which leads to regaining the weight that was lost. In some cases, rebound hunger can cause rapid weight gain after discontinuation.
It’s also important to note that any weight loss from dextroamphetamine comes with no nutrition guidance-one might lose weight in an unhealthy manner (e.g., by losing muscle or becoming nutrient-deficient). ADHD medications, particularly stimulant drugs like Adderall or Ritalin (methylphenidate), can significantly affect weight, especially in children and people new to taking the medications. It's a well-known fact that stimulant medications cause weight loss or slowed weight gain as a side effect. For example, children with ADHD who start stimulant treatment often experience a period of weight loss or reduced appetite.
Risks and Side Effects of Dextroamphetamine Misuse for Weight Loss
Misusing dextroamphetamine for weight control increases the risk of dependency, heart issues, and disordered eating behaviors. Using dextroamphetamine without a prescription or at higher-than-prescribed doses for weight loss is dangerous and outweighs any temporary benefits. Misusing dextroamphetamine for weight loss is dangerous and often linked to disordered eating behaviors. Studies show a significant association between non-prescribed stimulant use for weight control and unhealthy behaviors like purging, dieting extremes, and even the development of dependence.
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Misusing dextroamphetamine for weight control can trigger serious long-term consequences, including dependency and severe health complications:
- Sleep & mood disruptions: Insomnia, anxiety, irritability.
- Heart issues: Elevated heart rate, high blood pressure, arrhythmias, heart attack risk.
- Nutritional deficiencies: Appetite suppression leading to malnutrition.
Adderall (amphetamine and dextroamphetamine) can cause you to lose weight, but it is not prescribed as a weight loss drug. Weight loss may occur as a side effect for some people taking Adderall. You may also have panic attacks and personality changes. Adderall is a federally controlled substance because it can be misused or abused and can lead to dependence. Using Adderall for weight loss would be considered misuse. Adderall is only available by prescription.
Recognizing Dextroamphetamine Misuse and Addiction
Recognizing dextroamphetamine misuse or addiction in yourself or someone you care about is an important first step toward getting help. Sometimes, the signs can be subtle at first. Here are some signs of dextroamphetamine misuse or developing addiction to watch for:
- Signs of misuse: Taking dextroamphetamine without a prescription, doctor shopping, or buying from non-medical sources.
- Indicators of addiction: Increased dosage and frequency of use, neglecting usual social and work-like responsibilities such as classes, work, or social engagements, and prioritizing drug use over hobbies and interests.
- Physical and mental health warning signs: Disrupted sleep patterns, unhealthy weight loss, and mood swings. Physical symptoms like chest pain, rapid heartbeats, or shortness of breath. Severe cases may involve hallucinations, paranoia, or panic attacks.
Acknowledging the need for help is a vital first step-explore professional support, treatment options, and trusted networks to start the path to recovery.
Seeking Help for Dextroamphetamine Misuse
- Talk to a trusted healthcare professional: Discuss the issue openly.
- Explore treatment options: Ask about a supervised tapering schedule and/or medical detox. Consider outpatient counseling, support groups, inpatient rehab, or CBT for cravings and underlying issues. Ask about addiction support services.
- Address co-occurring disorders: Seek programs that treat both stimulant misuse and eating disorders.
- Lean on your support network: Talk to trusted friends or family members for accountability and emotional support. Work with a mental healthcare therapist to develop healthier coping strategies for stress or related mental health challenges.
- For concerned loved ones: Gently encourage seeking professional help and share information about the risks.
Safer Weight Loss Alternatives
Despite its reputation as a "quick fix," Adderall-induced weight loss is unsustainable and dangerous. Adderall is not a safe or sustainable weight loss solution. It may suppress appetite and cause short-term weight loss, but using it for this purpose can lead to serious side effects and health risks. If you’re looking to lose weight, it’s crucial to prioritize methods that improve your overall health rather than jeopardize it. Using dextroamphetamine (or any drug not prescribed for you by a medical professional) as a weight loss shortcut is not safe or sustainable.
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Dextroamphetamine in Treating Obesity: A Pilot Study
There is a clear need for a new approach to the treatment of obesity, which is inexpensive and is effective for establishing lifestyle change. A pilot study evaluated whether dexamphetamine can be used safely, combined with diet and exercise, for treating obesity. The ultimate aim is to develop a 6-month treatment program for establishing the lifestyle changes necessary for weight control, utilizing dexamphetamine for its psychotropic effect on motivation.
Obese adults were treated with dexamphetamine for 6 months (maximum of 30 mg twice daily), diet, and exercise. Twelve out of 14 completed 6 months treatment. Weight loss by intention to treat was 10.6 kg (95% CI 5.8-15.5, p < 0.001). The mean weight gain in the 6 months after ceasing dexamphetamine was 4.5 kg (95% CI 1.9-7.2, p = 0.003), leaving a mean weight loss at 12 months from baseline of 7.0 kg (95% CI −13.4 to −0.6, p = 0.03). All reported favorable increases in energy and alertness. Dose-limiting symptoms were mood changes (2) and insomnia (2). None had drug craving on ceasing dexamphetamine, and there were no cardiac complications.
The treatment with dexamphetamine, diet, and exercise was well tolerated and effective for initial weight loss. Obesity is a major risk factor for diabetes, cardiovascular and liver disease, sleep apnea, some cancers, and osteoarthritis. Despite obesity research being a priority area, current treatment is having little impact at a population level as weight loss is difficult to achieve and even harder to sustain (1). Approaches to treatment such as diet, exercise, pharmacotherapy, and bariatric surgery all have their drawbacks.
Dextroamphetamine for Hypothalamic Obesity
A limited number of published case reports suggest a positive effect of dextroamphetamine, an adrenergic agonist affecting both the central nervous system (CNS) and peripheral nervous system, on physical activity and weight in patients with hypothalamic obesity (intractable obesity following CNS insult). The clinical course of all patients started on dextroamphetamine treatment for severe hypothalamic obesity at our institution between 2010 and 2013 is reported. Dextroamphetamine administration was initiated at a single dose of 5 mg per day and titrated to effect up to a dose of 20 mg/day. BMI z-score velocity was calculated as change in BMI z-score over standardized intervals of 12 months.
Seven patients (2 males; mean age 17.6 years [range 12.9-24.5]) underwent individual treatment attempts with dextroamphetamine between 2010 and 2013. The primary diagnoses were craniopharyngioma (n = 4), ganglioglioma WHO I (n = 1), astrocytoma (n = 1), and neonatal meningitis (n = 1). Time from initial CNS insult to initiation of dextroamphetamine treatment averaged 5.2 years (range 2.4 months to 16.5 years). All patients demonstrated a steady increase in BMI z-score from the time of initial diagnosis until initiation of dextroamphetamine treatment. Mean baseline BMI z-score was +3.17 ± 0.93 (+1.9 to +4.4). Mean BMI z-score velocity decelerated to −0.18 ± 0.12 per year during the first year of treatment and stabilized at +0.05 ± 0.32 per year during the second year of treatment.
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Dextroamphetamine treatment led to stabilization or reduction of BMI z-score in a cohort of 7 patients with hypothalamic obesity, with no adverse effects. Hypothalamic obesity is a complex neuroendocrine disorder caused by hypothalamic damage resulting in severe dysregulation of energy homeostasis [1]. Key centers for the integration of afferent and efferent homeostatic signals regulating body weight are located in the anterior (paraventricular nucleus), middle (arcuate nucleus, ventromedial nucleus), and posterior hypothalamus (dorsomedial nucleus, dorsal hypothalamic area).
Dextroamphetamine and ADHD
If you have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), you may take medicine to help with things like focus, attention, and hyperactivity. But that medication also can have side effects, including weight changes. Merely having ADHD may lead to weight gain. Not being able to control your impulses can lead to junk food cravings and overeating. That can make it easy to put weight on and hard to take it back off.
Sometimes, the medicines most often used to treat ADHD can cause weight loss. Stimulant drugs like methylphenidate (Ritalin) and amphetamine/dextroamphetamine (Adderall) make you less hungry and make your body burn calories faster than usual. Some of them are even used to help people lose weight or treat binge eating. Children with ADHD who take stimulant medication often struggle to eat and gain weight, which can be an issue for growth.
Although the stimulant effect of ADHD medications can curb your appetite and help burn calories, once it wears off, your appetite can come roaring back. And if you overeat when you're not on your medicine, you could gain weight, especially since that's most often in the evening or at night.
Managing Weight with ADHD
If you have trouble controlling your urges to eat, one idea is to make it harder to binge. Keep chips, candy, and other junk foods out of your house. Stock your fridge and pantry with good-for-you treats like these in case you have a craving:
- Fresh fruit
- Carrot and celery sticks
- Nuts
- Cheese sticks
- Low-fat yogurt
Make a list before you go to the supermarket, and stick with it so you won't be tempted to buy something unhealthy. To make meals easier, cook a big batch of dinners at once and freeze them. Or use a prepared healthy meal service that delivers to your door.
If hyperactivity is a problem for you, use the extra energy to exercise. Go for a walk, do yoga, or just dance around your room. If you get bored easily, don't try to do a full hour of exercise at once. Break your routine into 10- or 15-minute segments to make them easier to finish.
To help you stay motivated, keep track of your diet and fitness in a diary. A few smartphone apps make it easy to track your progress.
Important Precautions and Considerations
It is very important that your doctor check your or your child's progress at regular visits to make sure this medicine is working properly. Blood tests may be needed to check for any unwanted effects. Do not use this medicine if you are using or have used an MAO inhibitor (MAOI), including isocarboxazid [Marplan®], linezolid [Zyvox®], phenelzine [Nardil®], selegiline [Eldepryl®], tranylcypromine [Parnate®]), within the past 14 days.
This medicine may cause serious allergic reactions, including anaphylaxis which can be life-threatening and require immediate medical attention. Call your doctor right away if you have a rash, itching, trouble breathing, trouble swallowing, or any swelling of your hands, face, or mouth while you are using this medicine.
This medicine may cause serious heart or blood vessel problems. This may be more likely in patients who have a family history of heart disease. Check with your doctor right away if you or your child have chest pain, trouble breathing, or fainting while taking this medicine. You or your child will also need to have your blood pressure and heart rate measured before starting this medicine and while you are using it. If you notice any change in your blood pressure, call your doctor right away. If you have questions about this, talk to your doctor.
This medicine may cause some people to feel a false sense of well-being or to become dizzy, lightheaded, or less alert than they are normally. It may also cause blurred vision or other vision problems. Do not drive or do anything else that could be dangerous until you or your child know how this medicine affects you. Check with your doctor immediately if blurred vision, difficulty in reading, or any other change in vision occurs during or after treatment. Your doctor may want you or your child to have your eyes checked by an ophthalmologist (eye doctor).
Tell your doctor right away if you or your family notices any unusual changes in behavior, such as an increase in aggression, hostility, agitation, irritability, or suicidal thinking or behaviors. Also tell your doctor if you or your child have hallucinations or any unusual thoughts, especially if they are new or getting worse quickly.
If you or your child have been using this medicine for a long time and you think you may have become mentally or physically dependent on it, check with your doctor. Some signs that you may be dependent on dextroamphetamine are:
- A strong desire or need to continue taking the medicine.
- A need to increase the dose to receive the effects of the medicine.
- Withdrawal effects (for example, mental depression, nausea or vomiting, stomach cramps or pain, trembling, unusual tiredness or weakness) that occur after the medicine is stopped.
Symptoms of an overdose include: aggressive, agitation, angry, blurred vision, change in consciousness, chest pain or discomfort, confusion, dark urine, diarrhea, dizziness, faintness, or lightheadedness when getting up suddenly from a lying or sitting position, fast, pounding, or irregular heartbeat or pulse, fever, headache, inability to speak, loss of consciousness, muscle cramps, spasms, pains, or stiffness, nausea, nervousness, overactive reflexes, pain or discomfort in the arms, jaw, back, or neck, pale, clammy skin, palpitations, panic state, pounding in the ears, restlessness, seeing, hearing, or feeling things that are not there, seizures, shakiness in the legs, arms, hands, or feet, shivering, slow or fast heartbeat, slurred speech, sweating, talking or acting with excitement you cannot control, temporary blindness, thirst, trembling or shaking of hands or feet, trouble breathing, unusual tiredness or weakness, vomiting, or weakness in the arm or leg on one side of the body, sudden and severe. Call your doctor right away if you notice these symptoms.
This medicine may cause slow growth and weight loss in children. If your child is using this medicine, the doctor will need to keep track of your child's height and weight to make sure that your child is growing properly.
This medicine may increase your risk of having seizures. This is more likely to occur in patients with a history of seizures or heart rhythm problems. Check with your doctor right away if this happens.
This medicine may cause Raynaud's phenomenon, which is a problem with blood circulation in the fingers or toes. Tell your doctor if you or your child have tingling or pain, a cold feeling, paleness, or skin color changes in the fingers or toes, especially when exposed to cold temperatures. Call your doctor right away if you have unexplained sores or ulcers on your fingers or toes.
Check with your doctor right away if you or your child have anxiety, restlessness, a fast heartbeat, fever, sweating, muscle spasms, twitching, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, or see or hear things that are not there. These may be symptoms of a serious condition called serotonin syndrome. Your risk may be higher if you also take certain other medicines that affect serotonin levels in your body.
If you or your child will be taking this medicine in large doses for a long time, do not stop taking it without first checking with your doctor. Your doctor may want you or your child to gradually reduce the amount you are taking before stopping it completely.
Before you have any medical tests, tell the medical doctor in charge that you or your child are taking this medicine. The results of some tests may be affected by this medicine.
Avoid use with medications that increase stomach or urine alkalinity, including sodium bicarbonate, acetazolamide, and some thiazide diuretics (water pill). Do not take other medicines unless they have been discussed with your doctor. This includes prescription or nonprescription (over-the-counter [OTC]) medicines, herbal (eg, St. John's wort) or vitamin supplements, and medicine for appetite control, asthma, colds, cough, hayfever, or sinus problems.
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