ADHD stimulants causing/making neuropathic pain worse?
Has anyone heard of or experienced stimulant medication making neuropathic pain worse? I've always had unexplained chronic pain in my lower back and pelvis even before stimulants. However I've had bouts of really bad nerve pain in my neck and tension headaches when my stimulant meds are wearing off, I've also experienced sciatica like pain too. Whenever I've taken a break from them I don't experience the pain at all. Ive been pescribed gabapentin to try and help alongside the methlyphenidate I take, has anyone else tried this combination or had a similar experience? Thanks!
I just did a brief google and by the looks of it, stimulants can cause an inflammatory response.
So.. yes - your stimulants may be making the neuropathic pain worse.
But also; stimulants can actually help some pain - so it may be that when you're on the stimulants, your pain decreases due to them and so your body quits bothering to go and relieve that pain itself.. it allows the meds to take over.
Therefore; when your stimulants start wearing off, your body isn't yet relieving your pain itself because it 'forgot' that you have that pain. It will take a bit of time for your body to go ''oh.. you're not giving us meds for that? okey dokey.. will work on that for you''.
Sorry for the stupidly basic explanation, but my pain levels are really bad atm and i can't explain much better atm.
No that's a really good explanation thankyou, my adhd often makes me go into a bit of a spiral and get overwhelmed so having someone break things down for me is really helpful! I will definitely mention it to my doctor and psychiatrist and try and get them to actually communicate to see if we can come up with a solution.
I'm sorry that you're not feeling good, I hope you manage to get some sort of relief soon!
Not OP, but that’s a really good explanation and something I’m going to keep in mind if my dr ends up putting me on stimulants :)
Thank you so much for explaining this, I thought I was going insane when it was time for bed I was in excruciating pain but my MS felt better?
I don't know if this is helpful whatsoever but I do notice that when I have too much caffeine it does aggravate my pain. Maybe stimulants do have an effect on radiculopathy and nerve issues.
When I was younger roughly aged 12-17 I was really sensitive to caffeine, although I started to become more tolerant towards it as an adult as its what I kind of self medicated with before I got my adhd diagnosis, I gave up all caffeine when I started stimulants. In comparison I could be quite sensitive to stimulants too and my body also metabolizes them too quickly, although I tolerated them well for around a month and a half until I started getting the nerve pain so it's a tricky one! Doctors don't really seem to know/understand what's going on.
The fact that I read I have chronic lower back and pelvis pain and was like mmh endo only to see that you have endo is funny. I have this exact same problem also if you have endo your back pain and pelvic pain can stem from that, well atleast mine does I have DIE endo though.
They actually didn't find Endo in my laparoscopy, only that my sigmoid colon was adhered to my abdomen and they put it down to IBS but I'm still not convinced. I've had textbook Endo symptoms since I was 14, and I'm now 24 so I'm kinda back to square one. My surgeon wasn't an endo specialist (we don't get much choice here in the UK) though so once I've gone down the GI route and if they don't find anything I'll definitely be looking for a second opinion! They also did a hysteroscopy too and no Adenomyosis found either so I'm a little lost on that front!
Ohh no that’s the problem endo often shows up in different places and has different colors so it takes a specialist to identify them otherwise there is no true way of knowing you have it or not without seen an expert which a trained eye which is hard , I had to leave my home to find help elsewhere so I understand . Mmmh ibs I have that but my endo causes it. They’re probably not gonna find any GI Issues either. This is pretty textbook when it comes to endo, you don’t get the privilege to go to a specialist, the doctor invades your body then says they found nothing and leave you to suffer only for a few more years down the line some other doctor eventually found it. Textbook.
If you have any sort of bowel issues with your pelvic pain, that might be why. I saw in another comment that you likely have endometriosis and had an adhesion involving your bowels. Endo (especially with bowel adhesions) goes hand in hand with bowel spasms for almost all cases. Bowel spasms can be exacerbated by stimulants
EDIT: I just saw that you were talking about sciatica type pain. I have no idea how stimulants would make leg pain worse
They suspected endo for years but didn't find any in my lap last month, although my surgeon wasn't a specialist so I'm not really sure. My doctor's don't know why I had a bowel adhesions and I've had several stool samples that all came back clear so they've just said I have IBS and left me to it. I have a gynacology follow up in may which is the earliest I can get here in the UK so I may ask for a second opinion.
Thankfully the sciatica pain only lasted a few weeks and has completley subsided now so im not sure if it was down to my stimulant meds or if it was due to the adhesions. Doctors just keep saying I have alot of unrelated symptoms yet they won't actually look into it or do anything about it when tests come back clear.
Yes. I was prescribed generic Vyvanse for ADD, which works as it should very well, but also causes my sciatic nerve pain to intensify far beyond its usual flare ups. Apparently, any amphetamine can and often does make neuropathic pain much worse. The pain is so severe, I don’t think I can take that kind of medication anymore. It’s so bad, it makes it hard to walk or hold myself up straight, and I’m only 41 years old. Scary feeling.
Hey OP, any updates here? I've got small fiber neuropathy and was recently prescribed Adderall. In the first week, I'm definitely finding that it makes the pain way worse. Hoping I just get used to it as I get used to the meds, but if it stays like this, I'm going to have to find an alternative. Curious where you landed four years later.
Hey, I also experience neuropathy that worsens when taking Adderall. Personally, I found that it was not nearly as bad on Vyvanse. Have you tried any other ADHD medications other than Adderall yet?
Thanks so much for getting back to me, I really appreciate it. Just Adderall so far. I have an appt with my prescriber this week actually, and was planning to talk to them about it. I will say that the neuropathy symptoms have gotten way better over the three weeks I started the Adderall regimen. My neurologist said it's certainly related to an increase in anxiety. He suspected the Adderall might be making that worse.
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Don't apologize for the waffling you've given me some really good advice thankyou!! I've tried dexamfetamine sulfate before and I tolerated it really well for around a month and a half (I was on 10mg 4x a day instant release) and I found I finally had some clarity. But then that's when the sciatica started and I had to stop. I had surgery shortly after to investigate possible endometriosis but they found instead that my sigmoid colon was adhered to my abdomen and since then the doctors have just said I have IBS and thrown more meds at me and that's it, I'm still convinced there's more going on though.
I've had tons of tests and everything has been clear apart from my B12 levels being elevated and my folate levels are low so I was pescribed folic acid and sent on my way.
I started to feel better so my nurse suggested trialling methylphenidate instant release and after explaining my side effects to my nurse he just told me to stop them even though I've only taken them for 3 days and that was it, no explanations or anything and no other support. I'm in the UK and under psychiatry UK so it's all done online through a messaging portal and I feel as though I've just been neglected slightly now instead of being offered additional support for my adhd. Here in the UK health professionals don't really communicate or take a holistic approach towards health so it's down to the patient to communicate everything between them all and it's getting quite tiring now!
Edit: I also had an MRI done and everything came back clear too
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