Adderall and Xanax: Safety and interactions

Uses of Adderall and Xanax

Adderall and Xanax are the two drugs that are widely used in the United States. They are also said to be the popularly misused drugs as well. Xanax and Adderall as often termed psychiatric medications as they work on the brain. These two medicines have helped manage conditions that a lot of people are struggling with. With the result of mechanism and action, there comes the risk of drug abuse and addiction. Hence, mixing these two components can be dangerous in an overall view. It can risk your mental and physical health at the same time.

Xanax or Alprazolam is one of the most commonly prescribed Benzodiazepine drugs. This type of drug helps in boosting the activity of the brain by affecting the neurotransmitter called GABA. This drug comes into the act when a person experiences excessive excitatory signaling in the brain. These may include – sleep disturbance, experiencing anxiety, and other related issues. In simple words, Xanax is a medication that works to decrease the symptoms of anxiety, panic attack, and sometimes depression.

Xanax exerts its influence on the neurotransmitter known as GABA, which makes the drug effective. The same neurotransmitter is commonly linked to addiction if excessive dopamine is released. Therefore, taking too much Xanax can adversely affect your health and may result in numerous side-effects

Work of Adderall –

Adderall, on the other hand, is a brand-name prescription drug that is a combination of Amphetamine and Dextroamphetamine. It is a stimulant medication that is often taken to treat ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). This medication will help you to stay focused, pay attention, and concentrate on a given task or a day to day work. Adderall also helps to avoid the hyperactive and impulsive behavior of a person. Adderall, as a drug, has legitimate uses for medical purposes.

It is prescribed by doctors to treat ADHD as well as narcolepsy (a sleep disorder). If you take the drug as per the prescription that your doctor has provided you with, there won’t be any side effects of the drug. When taken as per the direction, Adderall will help you to stay focused and concentrate while giving relief to the hyperactivity and restlessness.

Dangers of combining Adderall and Xanax

Any drug that is prescribed to a patient by a medical expert holds the health benefit that it lays on a person’s internal system. There can be numerous side effects of combining Adderall and Xanax together. Therefore, people are suggested not to take both these medications at the same time or side by side. Below we have discussed two of the most important causes that emerge when you take Xanax and Adderall together –

An increase in the addiction level :

When you use Xanax or Adderall without properly consulting it with a doctor, there is the certainty of getting affected by the side effects of the drug. People may not know that both Xanax and Adderall are controlled substances. You can also say that the use of Xanax and Adderall in public is monitored by the FDA. When a health expert prescribes you to use either of the given drugs, he provides you with the guidelines according to which you’ll be using the drug. Before you purchase Adderall, it is advised to take proper consultation from the doctor and then take it. In other words, it can also be said that a controlled substance may lead to the adverse effects of the medicine if not taken carefully.

There are numerous cases of people getting addicted to the use of Xanax or Adderall. It generally occurs when you take too much of the drug at one time. Hence, taking two drugs that are equally addictive and also fall under the controlled substances act is much more dangerous to the health as it seems. It may lead a person to the risk of getting affected by the fatal side effects of the drug.

Decreased effectiveness of both the drugs:

As you are about to use Adderall and Xanax side by side or together, the efficacy of the drug will surely be suppressed by the other. It won’t be wrong to say that taking them simultaneously will be more beneficial. They should be used separately for the condition that they are prescribed for usage. Under such circumstances, there can be variations in the effect that the drug will lay on the person’s health. One drug may overcome the effect of the second drug and be more potent than the other one. You must have known it by now that Adderall is a medication that belongs to the class of drugs that are called stimulants. It helps in attaining the focus on a certain task or regular work. Furthermore, Adderall may suppress the working of Xanax on your body.

It is observed, when a patient who is suffering from anxiety is taking Adderall at that time will feel more anxious and depressed. Adderall, when taken along with Xanax, can also increase the number of panic attacks that you were already facing in a day or so. The combination of the drug may also affect your sleep. Therefore, you are advised not to take Adderall or Xanax together. On the other hand, Xanax, as we have said above, is a sedative drug that acts on the brain. This medicine helps to suppress the levels of anxiety or stress, depression, and excitement that are not supposed to be normal. The aftereffect of Xanax can also be drowsiness. Talking as a whole, these outcomes of Xanax will affect the working of Adderall on your system. It would be better if you take the drug only when you have taken proper consultation from the doctor.

Comparing Adderall vs. Xanax

While Benzodiazepines drugs like Xanax acts on the brain by calming the activity in the central nervous system (CNS), Adderall is a prescribed medication as it stimulates certain physiological processes, makes a person feel energetic, alert, and productive at the same time. The comparison between the two drugs is said to be the most researched matter on the two drugs. As you know, Adderall is a stimulant that will make you feel awake and more focused. It can also suppress the effect of Xanax. We can explain this with the help of an example – suppose if a person is suffering from anxiety, the effect of Adderall will make a person feel more anxious. Similarly, if a person suffers from panic disorder, taking Adderall will increase the number of panic attacks that were already occurring.

Both drugs are used for two different disorders. Adderall is taken for ADHD or Narcolepsy, and Xanax is taken for anxiety or depression-related issues.

Adderall consists of four different amphetamine salts and is called a CNS stimulant, whereas Xanax is a Benzodiazepine drug. They both are prescription and should not be taken for any other purpose. You should follow the FDA rules and terms before taking any of the two drugs. As compared to Xanax, Adderall is the one that has a high potential for abuse.

Abusing Xanax and Adderall

While you take Xanax and Adderall separately, there are some people who continue to misuse the drugs and repay by getting affected by its side effects. It is always advised to the patients not to the medicine on their own. Proper consultation from a medical health expert is far more important. There are people who also take Adderall or Xanax for drug abuse. Therefore, when a doctor prescribes you the use of any of the two drugs, he always asks if you have been addicted to a drug or not in the past. Any potential drug abuser will misuse the drug in several ways.

Keeping an eye on the patient as to when he/she is consuming the drug is a must for their safety. There are certain signs and symptoms that may emerge as an aftereffect of the drug abuse –

• Nausea
• Dry mouth
• Mild headache
• Reduced appetite
• Anxiety
• Rapid heart rate
• Change in behavior
• Shortness of breath
• Difficulty in sleeping
• Issue indigestion
• Chest pain
• Seizures
• Aggressive behavior

These were the symptoms that can occur in any of the cases. Whether you are abusing Xanax or Adderall, any of the signs may take place in a person’s body.