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It Was a Throbbing Headache
Amphetamines (Adderall)
Citation:   Amsterdammer. "It Was a Throbbing Headache: An Experience with Amphetamines (Adderall) (exp91169)". Erowid.org. Feb 15, 2020. erowid.org/exp/91169

 
DOSE:
T+ 0:00
20 mg oral Amphetamines (pill / tablet)
  T+ 6:00 40 mg oral Amphetamines (pill / tablet)
  T+ 6:00 1 glass oral Alcohol - Beer/Wine  
  T+ 0:00     Acetaminophen  
  T+ 0:00     Pharms - Diazepam  
BODY WEIGHT: 160 lb
Caught Off Guard by Adderall

Now a man of middle age, I’ve been a trier and user of many sorts of drugs over the years, but always a “high-performing” student and employee.

Recently I have found a good source for pharmaceuticals and I’ve been trying a few out -- better living through chemistry. In this case, I had just received a shipment of Adderall, 20MG tablets. I have tried Ritalin to concentrate better, and heard that Adderall was superior.

So, on a promising afternoon, despite having worked late the night before, I tried a single pill, at 3 pm, which gave me a pleasant coffee-like effect that lasted several hours. After a light dinner, I took 2 more pills at around 9 with the plan to head out and party, drinking and probably doing other things as well. It was not to be.

The buzz came on fine, I was feeling great and biking around town before grabbing a seat in front of a cafe where I was to meet one or two friends. I ordered a single beer, the only alcohol I consumed this night.

My first friend arrived and I was euphoric; he was jealous and slipped off home to find some cocaine in order to come up to my level.

And then, shortly before my second friend arrived, I guess around 930 pm, I started to get a headache. It soon became clear that this was a very bad headache, and I had to apologize to my 2nd friend: I was poor company. Within a few minutes I was in extreme distress because of the pain, and I literally shed a few tears.

Now, I’ve been around long enough that I didn’t panic, and this was not psychosomatic. It was a throbbing headache. I could still think clearly, see clearly, etc., and importantly I did not feel any chest pain or heart arrythmias.

My main concern was that I was in a pretty public place and didn’t feel capable of standing, and I lost confidence in how long or how bad this might get.

The first friend arrived again. The pain peaked for about 5-10 minutes and then it was clear it was going to recede very slowly. With a guilty heart, had to tell my friends that our big night out was not going to happen. After drinking some water, cola and taking a short walk to empty my stomach (vomit), we agreed to part ways and I SMSd them to let them know when I got home safely.

I had done what I considered reasonable due diligence before eating the pills, but I read a lot more that night (what else did I have to do?). Apparently migraines and headaches are not unusual side effects for Adderall users, particularly on the first time.
I stand by my dosage being about right, but perhaps I should have eaten more or not taken the first pill earlier. The half-life of adderall is longer than you think.

Drinking would have been be a bad idea, as would taking ibuprofen, as both raise blood pressure, presumably the source of the headache. Rather, I had some paracetamol (tylenol) and valium which I had stashed away. Valium should have some vasodilatory effects. Also, I ate a little spinach, milk, chocolate and other things that would have helped pad my system or lower blood pressure (but obviously this was way too late).

All these things, and time, helped a bit.

Fell asleep 5 am.

Woke up at 9 with a minor headache that has persisted through today. Not much sleep, plus the stress of the evening before.

In summary a miserable experience and a failed evening. Never too old to do something dumb, though I felt like I was punished a little too harshly in this instance. Almost every bad trip comes from dosage mistakes in my experience, and I think this was probably no exception.

Well, draw your own conclusions. Mine is that I’m grateful it wasn’t worse.

Exp Year: 2011ExpID: 91169
Gender: Male 
Age at time of experience: 39
Published: Feb 15, 2020Views: 993
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Amphetamines (6) : Combinations (3), Difficult Experiences (5), First Times (2), Alone (16)

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Experience Reports are the writings and opinions of the authors who submit them. Some of the activities described are dangerous and/or illegal and none are recommended by Erowid Center.


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