At first, my doctor was going to put me on Adderall and then I relapsed before she had a chance. Now, she won’t give it to me and said she might in the future, but for only short-term use because she said it would eventually cause paranoia. It would have been for my negative symptoms, specifically for my cognitive decline. So, has anyone been prescribed Adderall for their schizo-affective disorder? What was it like and how did it help? For those that asked and your doctor saying no, did he/she give a reason why? Thanks.
I strongly advise that you listen to your doctor on this one. I was on Adderall for attention problems and what I eventually learned to be for negative symptoms. It worked wonderfully for a while, but very quickly put me into an episode. My positive symptoms were through the roof and the energy was replaced with primal fear, anxiety, racing thoughts, paranoid thinking, the list goes on. Adderall also made me happy at first, then made me extremely depressed. I’d be careful of “off-label” uses of medication. Stay strong and fight the negative symptoms in healthier ways. Cheers!
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When I was younger I was on Adderall for my ADHD… when I started crumbling… it seemed like the Adderall put me through the roof. It would really amp up the hallucinations and I’d be able to say up for days… I sort of liked it.
I could understand that after you had a relapse… you doc might not want to give you some stimulants. If you go back to negative symptoms… then you might need a boost to get out of them.
Good luck and I hope you feel better. 
I take Adderall XR, 30mg x 2 daily. So I take 30mg XR when I wake up (want to switch to IR so it kicks in faster) and 30mg XR around 1-2pm. It helps with cognitive functioning, attention, and sedation. I don’t have any paranoia from it, but I tend to get anxious around 4pm, which is when I take my second dose of clonazepam (klonopin in the US). I was previously on Ritalin, but it made me shaky, twitchy and paranoid, and I would crash hard.
I also take 600mg Seroquel XR, Wellbutrin XL 150mg, and clonazepam 2.5mg (0.5mg x 3, 1mg at bedtime)
I have not had any troubles. YMMV, of course. Some people can tolerate stim’s, some can’t. And some can tolerate different types, it may take a few trials before it sticks.
I’ve known a few people who have taken Adderall for ADHD and/or Treating the negative symptoms of schizophrenia, personally I have not taken it. Seemingly though, many people discontinue the medication after a few months. Those of us who are prone to psychosis do not usually respond entirely well to stimulants. Success has been achieved for short-term treatment of negative symptoms, although I still think that is an off-label use.
I would advise that you just listen to your pdoc. I know it is difficult sometimes to want to comply, but it is better to be safe than sorry. Hopefully someday soon they come out with an effective medication for negative symptoms.
Best of luck!
When I was younger I was on Adderall for my ADHD… but something happened and I needed more and more… plus it started being more activating then sedating…
I remember sometimes in my teens… the Adderall made my head sort of fizzy and I ended up taking a months worth in about two weeks… that was a wild ride… Then Ritalin… that didn’t help too much either… my brain had probably changed by then.
My Mom discontinued the script and I haven’t had my hands on it since.