What is Adderall?
Adderall is a prescription medication that is mainly used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and narcolepsy, a less common condition characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness. It is a brand name for the combination of two central nervous system stimulants, amphetamine and dextroamphetamine [1].
How does Adderall Work?
This medication works by increasing the levels of dopamine and norepinephrine in your brain. These are two critical neurotransmitters controlling attention, movement and arousal in the brain. By increasing dopamine and norepinephrine, Adderall stimulates your attention, improving concentration and organization in individuals with ADHD. However, as norepinephrine also stimulates the sympathetic nervous system, it can lead to high blood pressure, anxiety and related mental health symptoms.
Furthermore, Adderall does not have the same stimulant effects on people without ADHD. For example, it does not improve test outcomes in students without ADHD, demonstrating this 'study drug' is not such a good study drug after all [2, 1].
Common Formulations of Adderall
Adderall comes in two forms: an immediate-release tablet and an extended-release capsule known as Adderall XR. The immediate-release form releases the drug into your body right away, while the extended-release form slowly releases the drug into your body over a long period of time [1].
Adderall is an illicit drug with a high risk for abuse and addiction. Therefore, it should only be taken for medical use if prescribed by a medical professional.
What is Microdosing?
Microdosing is a common theme in medical sciences. It refers to consuming small, sub-therapeutic doses of a substance. This concept is not limited to psychedelic substances but can be applied to various substances used for different purposes. Microdosing aims to obtain the potential benefits of a substance without experiencing the full-blown effects that a standard dose might induce. This includes reduced side effects, as you only take lower drug doses.
In drug development, microdosing allows new drugs to be tested earlier in humans than is typically done. This is achieved by using sub-pharmacological amounts of the substance, which enables researchers to look at the effects of the drugs in humans earlier than if they were to use a full doses. The doses used in microdosing are so small that they are expected to have no pharmacological or toxicological effects [3].
Microdosing in human clinical trials can tell us a lot about the drug's biokinetics —how the drug travels and is broken down in the body. These studies use technologies like accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS), positron emission tomography, and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry to study the absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion of drugs in the body at these microdose levels [4].
Microdosing in the general public usually refers to microdosing on psychedelic drugs, such as magic mushrooms, LSD, or ayahuasca. These are originally indigenous compounds used in cultural ceremonies, but were banned in the 1960s and are not Schedule II substances. Psychedelics act on the serotonin system, which means that there is not a risk of substance abuse.
Can You Microdose Adderall?
Microdosing, the practice of taking small, sub-hallucinogenic doses of substances, has been studied primarily with psychedelic substances like LSD and psilocybin, not Adderall [5, 6]. The concept behind microdosing is to gain the benefits of the substance without experiencing full-blown effects or side effects.
The common microdosing effects would not necessarily apply to Adderall in medical use. This is because if you have been prescribed Adderall, you will be taking a small dose every day. Hence, a regular Adderall medication regimen corresponds to 'microdosing' as used in psychedelic compounds. The low dose of Adderall is exacerbated by taking extended-release formulas of Adderall that will release microdoses of Adderall into your brain throughout the day.
What about microdosing on Adderall if you have not been prescribed Adderall? Adderall is a potent central nervous system stimulant, indicating that if you take sub-threshold doses of Adderall, you may experience improved concentration, memory, arousal, and increased energy levels. However, continuously stimulating your dopamine system is significantly more dangerous than continuously stimulating your serotonin system, as is done by psychedelics.
Although microdosing Adderall has not been directly studied, microdosing psychedelics has shown preliminary benefits in individuals with ADHD in a newly published study. Individuals who microdosed for 4 weeks had lower ADHD symptoms compared to individuals taking ADHD medication. However, the study had a significantly smaller sample of people taking regular ADHD treatment compared to microdosing, which may skew the results [7]. Microdosing had an overall positive effect on emotional regulation, which may be an important part of daily functioning for individuals with ADHD.
Summary: Microdosing Adderall
In conclusion, while microdosing has been studied with certain substances, there is no scientific evidence supporting the microdosing of Adderall. Always consult with a healthcare provider before making any changes to prescribed medication dosages.