Adderall, Stimulants & Modafinil for ADHD: Short- & Long-Term Effects

Huberman Lab

Scicomm Media

Science, Health & Fitness, Life Sciences

4.8 • 26.2K Ratings

🗓️ 29 May 2023

⏱️ 122 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode, I explain how medications such as Adderall, Ritalin, Vyvanse and other stimulants work to increase focus and treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). I explain the brain circuits involved in focus and the key roles dopamine and norepinephrine play in their regulation. Then I explain how stimulants such as Adderall and Vyvanse can increase focus and reduce hyperactivity in kids or adults with ADHD, and how and why Ritalin and other medications (e.g., Modafinil, Guanfacine) may work better for some. I explain the long-term effects of ADHD medications on height, cardiovascular health, hormones, predisposition to addiction and psychosis, and whether these treatments can be used and then stopped. I also discuss the immense individual variation in dosage sensitivity for these medications and the negative side-effects that occur from recreational use. This episode ought to benefit anyone with ADHD, their parents, those on ADHD medications or anyone curious about how these medications work. For the full show notes, visit hubermanlab.com. Thank you to our sponsors AG1: https://athleticgreens.com/huberman Maui Nui Venison: https://mauinuivenison.com/huberman ROKA: https://roka.com/huberman HVMN: https://hvmn.com/huberman InsideTracker: https://insidetracker.com/huberman Momentous: https://www.livemomentous.com/huberman The Brain Body Contract https://hubermanlab.com/tour Timestamps (00:00:00) Stimulants & Attention-Deficient/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) (00:03:21) Sponsors: Maui Nui, ROKA, HVMN (00:06:35) The Brain-Body Contract (00:07:22) Attention, Prefrontal Cortex & ADHD (00:16:27) Stimulants “Sympathomimetics” (00:21:29) Adderall, Dopamine & Norepinephrine (00:25:58) Sympathomimetics, Dopamine & Norepinephrine (00:31:05) Sponsor: AG1 (00:32:20) Vyvanse is Timed-Release D-Amp (00:36:36) Ritalin, Concerta (00:40:10) Dopamine & “Noise Reduction”; Norepinephrine & “Signal Amplification” (00:45:28) ADHD: Focus, Hyperactivity & Impulsivity; Drug Selection & Dose (00:50:57) How do Stimulants ‘Calm’ ADHD? (00:54:480 Neuroplasticity & Neuromodulators (00:58:06) Kids, ADHD Diagnosis & Treatment; Predispose Addiction? (01:04:02) Sponsor: InsideTracker (01:05:12) ADHD Medications: Individuality, Doses, Tapering & Long-Term Use (01:13:28) Medication & Long-Term Effects: Height, Cardiovascular Risk, Alcohol (01:19:32) Cortisol & Hormones (01:27:45) Psychosis & Addiction; Methamphetamine (01:38:20) Recreational Use, Addiction & Psychosis; Habituation (01:42:30) Drug Holidays; Ritalin & Long-Term Effects (01:45:35) Modafinil, Armodafinil; Side-Effects (01:53:03) Guanfacine, Alcohol (01:58:03) ADHD Medications (02:00:26) Zero-Cost Support, YouTube Feedback, Spotify & Apple Reviews, Sponsors, Momentous, Social Media, Neural Network Newsletter Title Card Photo Credit: Mike Blabac Disclaimer

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the Huberman Lab podcast where we discuss science and science-based tools for everyday life.
0:08.6	I'm Andrew Huberman and I'm a professor of neurobiology and
0:12.2	Ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine. Today, we're discussing stimulants. In particular, stimulants for the treatment of
0:19.8	ADHD or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
0:22.7	As many of you know, there is tremendous interest in drugs like Adderall,
0:27.6	riddeline,
0:28.6	vivants, and other stimulants as well as non-stimulent prescription drugs that have been shown to improve the symptoms of ADHD
0:35.9	such as Modaphanil, Armodaphanil, and Guanfacine.
0:40.0	Today, I'm going to discuss all of these compounds in the context of how they work to improve the symptoms of ADHD.
0:46.5	I'm going to address common questions about these compounds such as are they just speed?
0:51.7	Are they similar to meth or meth amphetamine?
0:54.5	I'll talk about their addictive potential as well as their potential to cause psychotic symptoms both in the short and long term.
1:01.9	And of course, I will talk about the scientific literature surrounding the most frequently asked question about these compounds,
1:07.9	which is what are the long-term consequences of taking any of them in childhood or in adulthood?
1:14.1	Now today's discussion centers around the use of these compounds both for childhood and for adult ADHD.
1:21.4	But of course, I'd be remiss if I didn't acknowledge that there are a tremendous number of people that use these prescription drugs
1:28.9	without a prescription in order to improve their ability to focus and indeed also use them recreationally.
1:35.1	In fact, some surveys reveal that as high as 80% of college-age young adults have used one or several of prescription drugs such as Adderall,
1:44.9	Ridley and Vivance or similar at some point and are doing so without a prescription.
1:50.3	So they are either obtaining those drugs from those that do have prescriptions for them for ADHD or they are obtaining them through black market sources,
1:58.4	which of course carries an additional and very serious risk related to the so-called fentanyl crisis.
2:04.1	That is, as high as 75% of black market drugs nowadays of various kinds, but certainly including the sorts of drugs
	...

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