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Okay, so when I was seven years old, I was misdiagnosed with ADD and perscribed Ritalin (methylphenidate) to keep me on task at school. I was given 10mg in the morning, 10mg at lunch, and 10mg after school if I had a lot of homework. When I was 13, my dosage was upped, and I was given a 25mg sustained-release tab in the morning, and 5mg additionally in the morning, at lunch, and after school. As a result, the sustained release built up in my system, and I wound up having all kinds of sketchy side-effects (mood swings, depression, auditory hallucinations, etc). After a brief stint in a youth psych ward (I was in there with a kid who was in for lighting his little brother's shirt on fire), they put me back on my regular dosage. I stayed on that dosage until my senior year of high school, even though I was diagnosed with Aspergers the summer after my freshman year. I noticed, during my senior year, that my ability to function socially actually increased notably. Everyone still thought I was really weird, but I just generally got along with people a lot better. And, since then, it's only improved.

So, fast forward to about last January. I got into experimenting with recreational drugs. I've tried various things and took note of how they affected me differently than my neurotypical drug buddies, but that's another rant for another time. So not long ago, I tried taking 50mg of Aderall (dextroamphetamine). The high was nothing to write home about, but what I really noticed was that the comedown and aftereffects were very similar to how I felt basically all the time for the ten years that I was on Ritalin (methylphenidate and dextroamphetamine are very chemically similar). For about a week after taking it, I'd lost any ability to discern sarcasm or subtle converstational undertones (something I'd worked very hard to improve on and have gotten pretty good at), I became a lot more privy to moodswings, and I felt a lot more antisocial and avoidant towards interacting with others. That's to say nothing of the immediate comedown, which combined minor amphetamine psychosis with sleep-deprivation. To look at your hands and see transparent, watery smoke/vapor coming off of them is pretty disconcerting, to say the least.

But anyway, I've come to the conclusion that stimulants commonly perscribed for ADD and ADHD, while potentially helpful to people with the afforementioned disorders, are very detrimental to my social functioning and wellbeing, and I would imagine also to others with Aspergers syndrome.

I would appreciate any input on this theory.

Disclaimer: As I write this, I'm pretty intoxicated in really weird ways. Mature content follows:

Welp, surprise surprise, here I am, on more Aderall (this time only 25mg, and only for lack of anything better to take) and after having drank steadily all night. And I have a substance abuse counseling appointment

As we all know, of course, obsessive interests are a major part of Aspergers. Well, at some point, I gained an obsessive interest in recreational drugs. I guess I'm kind of better than your average druggy on the merrit that when I try new substances, I take note of the effects, and study how they affect me differently than others. I've noticed that I have a particular sensetivity to dissociative drugs (Salvia Divinorum, DXM, etc.), but a resistance to opiates.

Stimulants, as I stated at the beginning of this thread, magnify my autisic traits, but when I'm up, they seem to magnify the positive traits, like my memory. When I'm coming down, they magnify my antisocial negative traits.

Mixing it with alcohol is, according to Erowid, not unsafe, so I went ahead with it.

I can't shut the ******** up. I'm ranting to all my friends nonstop, and only about my interests or my weird philosophical ideas. It's funny, because my friends think I'm some kind of genius, which is a real self-esteem boost to say the least.

Funny thing, last time I tried Aderall, it just killed my libido entirely. Like, complete with d**k-shrinkage and everything. The next day (after having been up all night), I tried to beat off, and it took me a half hour to finish (it usually takes no more than ten minutes unless I let it), and when I did, it felt like someone smashed me in the c***e with a sledgehammer. The first thing I thought of was that I used to get that same effect in high school, but to a lesser degree, probably thanks to ritalin.

Alcohol seems to completely reverse the effect. I've been horny as hell all night. I've been going crazy trying to hook up with any gay/bi guy or girl I know who might have sex with me. Seriously, I dunno if this is what ecstacy is like or what.

Speaking of good ol' E, I'd really like to try that, as it's considered an empathogen. I wonder how that would affect a person with Aspergers, as we seem to have a distinct lack of ability to read people. I've taken DXM (Dextromethorphan, the active ingredient in Robitussin, will get you high in large doses), and that had some empathogenic effects, but also once made me think I was in Silent Hill for ten minutes once.

I don't even know where I'm going with this rant, so I'll just end it here and post it. Maybe I'll come back later when I'm not so ******** in the head and fix it up.

Meh. As long as he's careful and knows what he's doing, X can be pretty safe.

I was diagnosed with JUST ADHD, many years before Asperger's.
I don't remember the medication, but it made me depressed, and almost suicidal (and this is around age 7 or so)...

Two years ago, my school suggested I get tested for "some form of Autism". My mom didn't know what Asperger's was, but knew I didn't have Autism, so she thought nothing of it. I ended up getting tested ayway... and diagnosed with Asperger's and ADHD.

So the first diagnoses wasn't ENTIRELY wrong, but the ADHD is secondary, so medication and everything would have to be considered in an entirely different manner than if it was primary.

I still don't know much. I was diagnosed not even two months ago, and am only 14, so I haven't had much time to research it due to school and computer camp.

Well, fast-forward a few months later and I've tried ecstacy (turned out to be a dud, go figure) and LSD.

Oddly enough, I found LSD to be almost therapeutic. I feel like, after almost a year of semi-regular marijuana and several months of semi-regular DXM use, I've gotten a little dull, a little less aware, and a lot more cynical about things than I used to be, and dropping acid seems to have sharpened me up and gotten me thinking about things again. It's amazing what a shift in perspective this stuff gives you on just absolutely everything.

Of course, I don't intend to make a habit out of acid, but I definitely feel like it was a positive experience, and I feel improved from having it.

EDIT: I recently read that in the 50s, while it was still legal, LSD was used with a considerable degree of success in treating childhood autism. Pity further research into the substance is illegal. sad

I don't really agree with most of the things you say. I mean the one thing that makes me a little upset is posting it here when people are trying to find answers and come to find out that some people are mixing their medication with drugs. I mean there might be kids maybe even parents that are gonna see this and think its a little bit inappropriate. Not only that but other kids that see this that wanna connect with people like them and see your thread and think its okay to experiment. And that's why you're getting a lot of people saying be careful just like I am going to say, be careful. My oldest nephew is diagnosed with autism and he takes medication and he's trying to party with the wrong crowd and all of the drinking he's been doing has really ******** him up. But he doesn't see it. He thinks doing it in moderation is okay but its not. Some people just shouldn't drink and just shouldn't do things. Its just not good.

I don't like seeing my nephew partying and I don't want to see my younger nephews doing it when they get older.