Adderall - Anyone else have a side effect of obsessively hacking up what turns out to be nothing?

First month at 10 mg, once a day, no issues/cough, was so excited, but then when I upped the dosage to 20 mg twice a day, that damn cough came back! So annoyed, I tried every medication that targeted nasal issues, post nasal drip etc, (from cough syrup to Tessalon Pearls to Flonase) NONE of it worked, seemed to for a few minutes at a time at most, but NOPE. I started thinking outside the box and began to contemplate, maybe it's NOT post nasal drip, maybe it's originating somewhere else... turns out it is, I took a PPI/Prilosec, and the constant, irritating, awful cough was gone < hour of taking my first dose. From what I've read online PPI's may cut the effectiveness of the stimulant, so an adjustment may be needed, I'll be speaking with my doctor on my next visit. Good Luck! I know all to well your frustration! I truly don't understand how doctors can be so disconnected/uneducated regarding this seemingly common side-effect.

I wonder if Adderall increases the stomach acid content or somehow aggravates the GERD. Anyone have any ideas? Or does anyone have experience in managing this issue, like ways to try and suppress the cough?

So we know that Adderall acutely increases blood pressure, both in therapeutic doses as well as those associated with abusive usage. We can agree, and thus assume for this discussion that this effect can and will be more pronounced in certain individuals based on some unknown, however possibly related variables. Let's also for the sake of reference that the blood pressure increase experienced by a given population of those administered Adderall would display broadly as a classic bathtub curve. On the far right is the sample of the population which for undefined reasons experience a higher than average increase in blood pressure. My theory states that those of us who experience this "Adderall Cough" are either included in this sample of the population, or another sample based on a yet undetermined set of variables. Whatever the common variable is, I contend that it is causing a very mild (or mimicking the biological triggers of) cardiac overload condition resulting in a small amount of fluid collecting in the lungs and resulting in what I call the "Adderall Cough". If we were 80 years old and had a host of other symptoms, we would likely be diagnosed with a pulmonary edema condition which is associated with left side congestive heart failure (CHF).

I know, that's a huge leap, and listen, I'm not saying in any way that I believe we are all dying of CHF because of Adderall. What I am saying is that some of Adderall's key demonstrated and known side effects which directly affect a patient's respiratory and cardiovascular systems are, as I read it, very similar to, if not consistent with some of the specific conditions associated with the causes and/or symptoms associated with left-side CHF. One of the initial cardinal symptoms associated with a left-side CHF diagnoses is a pulmonary edema which is characterized by fluids backing up in the lungs. A pulmonary edema manifests initially as a progressive cough very similar to our Adderall cough, albeit much more severe quickly deteriorating into audible signs of fluid when breathing.

One of the root causes of the more serious pulmonary edema condition associated with CHF is a hypertensive crisis event, which is defined as an acute and dangerously severe increase in blood pressure. I submit that the must less severe, but nonetheless acute increase in blood pressure associated with the administration of Adderall is manifesting in some individuals as a minor, and apparently reversible pulmonary edema condition.

The cough for me is progressive, meaning stuff comes up. That tells me that there is stuff somehow getting into my lungs. My nose and sinuses are dry, so that limits the possible sources.

So thoughts, arguments, agreements, emotional and/or intellectual beat-downs? I'm OK with cyber-bullying too, as long as we can cuddle after!

What do you think? If enough people say it sounds good, I'll start telling people I'm a doctor. I'm pretty sure that's what Dr. Phil did!

I'd say over a year ago I developed a dry cough where felt like there was something in my throat preventing me from swallowing I thought so Id cough over & over then hark real hard with the intent of pulling it up to spit out or take a drink or bite of food with the intent of pushing it down but nothing ever came up & nor took the feeling of blockage away so I started going to doctors after listening to my wife & boss complain of the rukus that was inconveniencing them to have to listen to or the occassional show of concern & doctors really didnt do much besides walk n for a second listen to the parts they wanted to hear, say allergies & send me out the door with a new medicine & mail me a fat bill for their use of a wasted education & I saw no results so the doc would give me another allergy medicine or inhaler & after about 5 times I gave up & 2 weeks ago i ran out of my adderall & it went away then once I was able to afford refill & started back bam theres the cough again so I told my wife I bet money it has something to do with adderall & she argued with me & when i found this describing word fot word every single detail of my experience.

For those of you with persistent coughs, have you tried nasal irrigation? Warm and properly prepared saline solution results in no pain whatsoever to your sinuses. It clears your lower sinuses and throat and shrinks related sinuses. You can do it as often as you like with no side effects. I do it as a prophylactic before bed (for post nasal drip) and upon rising, when mucus is its thickest. It is also the best way to treat post-nasal drip during the day and, in my opinion, morning breath.

Here's the recipe: 2 C's warm, previously boiled (for 10 minutes), water with 1/2 tsp salt fully dissolved. If this produces discomfort, add more salt. Why boiled? Tap water can occasionally have microorganisms which can cause a severe sinus infection.

Pour some saline into the palm of one hand, pinch a nostril shut with the other hand and sniff hard. See how far you can get it up your sinuses (it will never reach your forehead sinuses but may fill your maxillary sinuses). If you have a normal septum, the saline and mucus will exit out of both nostrils and your mouth. If you're like me and your maxillaries fill up, you may not feel that and find yourself gushing saline out your nose the next time you bend over. Prevent this by holding your head upside down over a sink when you drain (i.e. the maxillaries drain from the top only).