Adderall and Kava interactions?

[MikeB]

I just started Adderall. It gives me great focus powers, but terrible anxiety.

I took Kava for the anxiety, but I think I'm having a bad reaction or something. I think they interact poorly. I feel very weird, nauseous, spacey, lightheaded, and way more out of it than usual. I feel kind of weird and depressed. I don't really understand what's going on.

Are Adderall and Kava known to interact badly? I don't see any interactions listed here, but man, this sucks.

I'm also reading that Kava is an MAOI. Is that true? If so, that might explain it.

 

[EQ]

Don't get on speed.

You feel that way because you ingested man-made chemicals to alter your brain.

Nothing, ever, good comes out of long term chemical usage.

Check out the Yerba Mate thread in the off-topic.

Mate will help you focus
Will heal the body
Will keep you calm
Will butter the mind and put it on point intellectually, and in relation to creativity.
Mate synergizes with Kava

It is the super banana.
Join the circle.

 

[Ligermeat]

Mate is awsome. Listen to theaninelife. Get off the pills before its too late and the drug destroyes your soul!

 

[wanderingwoodsmith]

Chemical man-made drugs are bad, mmmkay?
But seriously, adderall is basically pharmaceutical amphetamines.
My philosophy: unless I will die or become severely ill without it, I refuse to take any kind of pharmaceutical medicine. Not even antibiotics, aspirin, or cough medicine.
Mate is where its at!

 

[MikeB]

Are Adderall and Kava known to interact badly? I'm also reading that Kava is an MAOI. Is that true?

 

[wanderingwoodsmith]

I honestly couldnt tell you, but the few times I did adderall years ago, I never felt right. The symptoms you described were what I experienced on adderall alone. Amphetamines in general can cause feelings of disassociation in many people, especially in the comedown.

 

[dino9832]

I can't answer your question, but I'll give you my opinion for sure!..lol.
Medication is a last resort for me. But! Sometimes meds help a person live a more fulfilling life. Unfortunately, from what I just read about Adderall, it can be addicting. Plus, it builds a tolerance. Dude, be careful. Many people fall into a life of addiction over prescribed drugs. The problems start to outweigh the benefits.

That being said, different strains of kava give different results. You might just need to find the strain that's right for you. To further complicate things, kava affects people differently at times. The same dose can have varied results.

Is it something you take every X number of hours? If so, maybe you need to plan your kava sessions around the Adderall usage. Kava, then Adderall three hours later. Or, Adderall then kava 5hrs later. That sort of thing. The kava rush might have a BAD feeling with Adderall. So, maybe let the kava settle into a nice relaxation and THEN take the Adderall.
Also, play around with the amount of kava you use.

I truly hope you get it tuned in just right for you. The fear and anxiety over a bad reaction is just causing more fear and anxiety!

 

[MikeB]

Folks - I appreciate the thoughts on Adderall, but I'm really just trying to figure out what the drug interactions are.

I have adult ADHD and it impairs my functioning (sometimes severely). This is a direction to manage my symptoms I'm exploring in conjunction with my doctor, my therapist, and my psychiatrist. I am well aware that Adderall is a brand name for amphetamine (it isn't much of a secret). I am well aware of the pros and cons of using amphetamine, and stimulants in general, to manage ADHD symptoms. I'm aware of the difference in efficacy between amphetamine and caffeine in managing ADHD symptoms. I made an informed decision under medical supervision with a team of people who specialize in this disorder to try a new direction and hopefully improve my life.

ADHD is very common. 250 million people have it. It is debilitating. It is, unfortunately, stigmatized. Coming to the realization that you are dysfunctional and need help is difficult. People have internalized feelings of shame and guilt. They have reservations about medication. They're aware that "speed" is a slang term for recreational amphetamine abuse. They aren't stupid, and weigh the pros and cons and make the tradeoff as best they can with advice from their support team.

I'm telling you all this because there are probably a dozen people reading this post who also have ADHD, and certain things that were said in this thread may have the inadvertent effect of shaming them for taking their medication. However, I understand the intentions here were good, and that I also wasn't quite clear in my first post that I'm taking this medication under medical supervision, rather than just abusing it. College was a long time ago...

 

[wanderingwoodsmith]

What I was trying to say, was that since you just started adderal, the symptoms you experienced may be just the effects of the adderal. Especially since you just started taking it. Maybe your body is just adjusting to the new drug, and kava is potentiating the side effects of it. The only way to know if Kava and aderall interact badly for you, is to take several days of just using aderall, then take several days of just using kava, then several days of using them together, while taking and comparing notes on how you feel and how your body reacts. I have not taken both together, therefore cannot form an honest, educated answer on the subject. I apologize if you took offense to mine, or any other statement here. No shaming was intended at all by my statements. We only suggested Mate as a possible healthy alternative to adderal, with your health and well being in consideration. If the symptoms persist, and cause worry, by all means consult a doctor for professional opinions. I hope that you can continue to use Kava without bad reactions with your medications.

 

[MikeB]

Thank you, I appreciate that. I am interested in mate. Do you know anything about the uses of mate to treat ADHD, specifically?

I'm willing to give it another shot as an adult, since my brain has clearly changed, and to mix it with Kava. But I've drank mate before and it didn't seem much different than coffee or tea to me - just the usual caffeine buzz. Do you get a different effect from it?

Also, I thought about it and realized that the real issue is whether Kava should really be thought of as a serious MAO-B inhibitor or not. If it is, that's a really important thing to know whether I stick with Adderall or not. MAOI's are pretty damn hardcore and interact with almost everything, not just amphetamine - they interact with natural supplements that I would have otherwise wanted to take, and you can't even eat certain kinds of cheese if you're on them.

I made a separate thread to ask about that here: http://kavaforums.com/forum/threads/how-seriously-should-i-treat-kava-as-a-mao-b-inhibitor.6886/

 

[wanderingwoodsmith]

I do not know about kava being a MAO-B inhibitor. I am blessed that drug/chemical interactions are something I've never considered, or had to worry about personally. I can say that Mate really helps me when I need to focus. I do not have ADD or ADHD, but Mate can sometimes wire me and have me jumping around and fidgety as if I have ADHD. it may benefit you since you do have ADHD. Take my comments with a grain of salt. I have no personal experience in the matter.

 

[EQ]

Folks - I appreciate the thoughts on Adderall, but I'm really just trying to figure out what the drug interactions are.

I have adult ADHD and it impairs my functioning (sometimes severely). This is a direction to manage my symptoms I'm exploring in conjunction with my doctor, my therapist, and my psychiatrist. I am well aware that Adderall is a brand name for amphetamine (it isn't much of a secret). I am well aware of the pros and cons of using amphetamine, and stimulants in general, to manage ADHD symptoms. I'm aware of the difference in efficacy between amphetamine and caffeine in managing ADHD symptoms. I made an informed decision under medical supervision with a team of people who specialize in this disorder to try a new direction and hopefully improve my life.

ADHD is very common. 250 million people have it. It is debilitating. It is, unfortunately, stigmatized. Coming to the realization that you are dysfunctional and need help is difficult. People have internalized feelings of shame and guilt. They have reservations about medication. They're aware that "speed" is a slang term for recreational amphetamine abuse. They aren't stupid, and weigh the pros and cons and make the tradeoff as best they can with advice from their support team.

I'm telling you all this because there are probably a dozen people reading this post who also have ADHD, and certain things that were said in this thread may have the inadvertent effect of shaming them for taking their medication. However, I understand the intentions here were good, and that I also wasn't quite clear in my first post that I'm taking this medication under medical supervision, rather than just abusing it. College was a long time ago...

Hey Mike.

I didn't mean to shame or push negativity in my post.

I don't intend to disrespect your own emotional struggles and choices and dealings, and experiences.

I am a highly assertive person.
And I will assert my high disrespect for this society including the field of psychiatry.

I don't intend my hatred for the dehumanization that is inflicted on people, I care for, to shed to you as an individual.

I only come from care.

You are not disordered.
To think that is bullshit.
Any state of consciousness outside the alert working state that is needed to advance in technology is looked at as disordered. The most important states I have been in my life are labeled as disordered.

Yerba Mate is not caffeine.
It doesn't matter that it has caffeine.
The results of drinking mate don't reflect the outcomes of coffee, of tea, and caffeine extract.

Just read through the 200+ posts in the thread.

I drink 3-10 cups of coffee worth of caffeine in Mate, everyday, yet tolerance to caffeine doesn't build. Yet I never have a caffeine crash. I wake refreshed and not zombied until I drink mate. My body feels godly as it oxidizes fat, and clenses the body. My focus is intensive, but I am completely relaxed. When you take caffeine or coffee or even tea you almost look to tackle shit and do. Mate just moves with you. It's trance like.

Don't drink mate tea style or in tea bags. That's bullshit America coming in with scientific assumption that 2 tablespoons of Mate is a dose due to caffeine weight. It's complete and utter shit.. Why take assumption for fact?

Just prove it to yourself.

Ingest a grams worth of caffeine in mate everyday for a month. Than do that with coffee. Yes that is 9+ cups of coffee. But when you drink that much in mate there is not one connection in the outcome.

Every Mate drinker comes to that point.
That's why we become so passionate about it.
It is the most interesting herb outside the psychedelic spectrum.

I believe mate will help you. Direct studies haven't been done because people don't drink mate in North America

 

[MikeB]

@TheanineLife - thanks for the tip. I'll research it more and post over in the other thread. I'll keep this one about kava-amphetamine contraindications but I'm curious to learn more about mate.

 

[Bradley Jay]

I have ADD and stopped all medications, lost my job, my apartment and soon my car. I became completely non-functional and could not get hired in 6 months of interviews. I have tried Yerba Mate daily once in the morning and mid afternoon along with Kava. It was a great combo but stopped working after a week and just wasn't strong enough to cut through my challenges in focusing and performing work. I recently went back on adderall XR and it is not even comparable to Mate in how effective the adderall is compared to Mate. In a few days I'm going to try Kava again to see if it helps with negative symptoms of the Adderall such as anxiety and raised blood pressure.