Just never really heard of anyone in all my years go to their PCP and get an “upper”. But have heard a bunch go to their doctor’s for something for less anxiety, make you sleepy, methadone, morephine hell even now weed. and again NOT SEEKING MEDICAL ADVICE. Only one I have heard of is a B12 shot but that’s probably replaced by the vitamin.
EDIT: 2 Hours later and this became an ADHD forum lol. Is that the only one?
Steroids. You want some energy in your life, get prescribed some of that. Getting off of them really hits home how much they work, even when you taper off.
Interesting that no one mentioned antidepressants. They’re more long term uppers, but I still would broadly put them in the “upper” category.
There are, and they aren’t just for ADHD. That’s the primary usage, but not the only.
Most of the ones that are prescribed are amphetamines. OTC you have similar options, just not quite so potent, for sinus congestion: ephedrine and pseudoephedrine.
Generally, you won’t get uppers as uppers. As in meant to treat energy levels and such the way the uppers that were popular in the seventies got used medically. For that, you get into “off label” stuff like amantadine that isn’t an upper in the usual sense of the term, but can improve alertness and counter fatigue. However, it is a cns stimulant, just not an amphetamine. That’s just one example, but there are a decent number of medications that can give an “energy boost” by tweaking neurotransmitters in one way or another.
That’s the thing though, uppers qua uppers, aren’t prescribed any more. The default is to attempt to treat what’s got the patient “down” rather than the symptom. The days of being prescribed black beauties is long gone. The things they were prescribed for just aren’t really treated by them (or other stimulants), so they’re only used as a last ditch effort now.
That being said, if you’ve been unable to tolerate other options, or they’ve failed, you can occasionally run into people using prescribed amphetamines for extreme fatigue, obesity, and things like narcolepsy. Very, very rare, but it does happen. Iirc for narcolepsy that aren’t even a first choice, or a second. They’re down the list a ways.
Good doctors won’t even recommend other stimulants for regular fatigue. Caffeine in particular, they’re not going to say you should drink more coffee if you’re feeling run down, and there were doctors in the past that would. Bad doctors will still sometimes say shit like that, so if anyone reading this hears that from a doctor, find a different one.
As far as old school uppers go, the reason they’re not in use for the things they used to be is that there’s way too many side effects and drawbacks. Hell, the reason they’re used for ADHD is because of a side effect. And they still come with risks and drawbacks, there’s just not many other options there. Nobody has pinned down a better way to manage the detrimental parts of ADHD without stimulants. Notice I said better, not that there aren’t any other options. There are, though I might argue that when you’re blocking norepinephrine reuptake, it amounts to a stimulant, and some of those options do that.
Anyway. It’s been close to fifty years since doctors were prescribing uppers for much of anything. By the time the mid eighties rolled around, awareness of the problems caused by such drugs had become common, so doctors were pulling back. Tbh, I think it was a bit too far, because they also got resistant you prescribing stimulants when it was warranted, the way docs (and the governments) now are overreacting with opiates and benzos. But things went back to a more practical prescription policy by the end of the nineties, and I expect it’ll do the same with the current bugbears probably by the mid 30s.
For those curious, one of the illnesses I’ve seen prescribed stimulants for is MS. Another is Parkinson’s. While amphetamines aren’t a first choice for either, some stimulants can be vital to leading a decent life with either of those. I’ve seen it tried with Alzheimer’s a couple of times, I’ve seen them used for palliative care (very rarely, but still). And all of those have some degree or another of non amphetamine stimulants used as part of an overall regimen, but amphetamines are still sometimes used.
In all reality, there’s just better drugs nowadays. Your classic uppers were like shotguns, medically. Yeah, you’d put some pellets in the intended target, but you’d also be finding them in wings and legs instead of vital organs. Amphetamines stimulate everything, and have so many side effects. Add in the addiction potential and damm near any other option is better. But with the advent of more narrowly targeted drugs (like things that selectively target serotonin, epinephrine, or dopamine), they just aren’t good.
Jesus I would say this is a knowledge bomb but it would be more appropiate to call it a knowledge nuke. Good read btw no sarcasm
Depending on country, but most people with ADHD are pretty much prescribed meth.
Hospitals even keep cocaine on site to use as a blood vessel constrictor.
amphetamine != meth
ADHD meds are not meth. They’re chemically similar, but H2O2 is just one oxygen away from water. The meds are stimulants, yes, but the popular “it’s meth” thing is a misrepresentation.
Yup. A lot of ADHD meds are stimulants.
The most successful ones are stimulants yes. But methamphetamine is neurotoxic, and seldomly perscribed (though remains an option for reasons unbeknownst to me). The stimulants Methylphenidate ADHD Amphetamine salts are neuroprotective. But there’s also non-stimulants like amoxitine, guanfacine, clonidine, and bupropion, which are not neurotoxic.
Doctors can still prescribe cocaine as a topical anesthetic, and ADHD patients regularly get prescriptions for amphetamines. But I thought you were a nurse?
I thought you were a nurse
Sister is she’s in NY going thru some stuff, Ever since she was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s she been very away from things. There’s a whole story to it but, no I am not.
Accounts are free, why not have your own?
It’s easier this way and we usually get shit stirred up a little bit for another to take on. It’s kind of our way to screw with one another. We email back in forth on stuff to watch out for or read if it is insiteful and such. And plus I think it helps my sis when she logs on from time to time when she is in a city she doesn’t know. LW is kind of like throwing a party at home with no clean up. We have met many great people here each in our own way. But like the Joker once said: If I am going to have a past let it be multiple choice. Plus how else can we screw with you guys and gals ;)
ADHD meds.
I go to my PCP for PCP.
Most ADHD medication (ritalin, etc) is basically just medical grade methamphetamine.
No, it’s not.
Adderall is literally just four different types of amphetamines.
There is an uncommonly-prescribed ADHD drug called Desoxyn that is literally just meth.
Being an amphetamine doesn’t mean a drug is “basically meth”.
Would you say DXM is basically Ketamine because both are dissociative drugs?
Dxm and ketamine have similar effects on similar neurotransmitters, but not identical. Amphetamine and methamphetamine have identical effects on the same receptors, one just stick around longer.
Analogy: dxm is taking a bus down the street, ketamine is taking truck down the street. Amphetamine is driving your car going 70, meth is driving your car going 85.
They don’t have identical effects, otherwise one wouldn’t work better for an individual than others.
Correct. Much like there is a difference between driving 70 and 85.
Some people, going 70 just doesn’t cut it.
No. They each have different effects on the brain. Stimulants work on several different mechanisms of action, and how much they affect the various mechanisms varies by drug.
Amphetamines and methamphetamine are not the same. Different chemicals have different effects.
In this case they have the same effects, one is just stronger.
If you’ve never taken either or seen anybody on either and know almost nothing about either, then sure, I guess you could say that.
Having taken both and having worked a stint in pharmaceutical R+D, I can tell you they’re pretty much the same thing. One’s a bit stronger than the other.
Most ADHD meds would likely fall under “uppers” (amphetamines). Many antidepressants probably would be labeled “uppers” though they aren’t stimulants in quite that way. Many steroids are prescribed for various things (I’ve been given them to try and kick a nasal infection without using antibiotics) and would probably be considered “uppers”.
I’m sure there’s more I’m forgetting.
Do doctors even prescribe benzos outside of like super short term use, anti-seizure medication or procedures?
Not anymore. At least they shouldn’t.
They even took my lunesta away from me :(
Had a stomach bug one time. Went to the ER (in hindsight I probably didn’t need to go). They were giving me fluids and something that had me crawling out of my skin. I just felt like I needed to move but I had an IV and monitors hooked up to me. Then they pushed some benadryl and I came floating down from that previous high. No idea what the stimulant was, but I did not like that feeling.
They probably gave you Reglan for nausea, but one of the side effects is basically what you described, especially if given too fast. Benadryl is the “antidote” for lack of a better word.
I hate giving Reglan for that reason and its why I always give it diluted and slow if I have no other choice.
Amphetamine based medications are used for adhd - the primary thing adhd means is not enough serotonin, so amphetamines counter that directly. I am on Lysdexamphetamin-<something>, it does help
Dopamine, not serotonin.
Usually adhd is more associated with issues in dopaminergic systems, but reducing it to that doesn’t really do the phenomenon justice.
