I'm a 47 y/o female and was diagnosed with ADHD at age 6 but I did not take the meds, (can't remember why). At age 44 I decided to get tested and was diagnosed as having ADHD (of the inattentive type). I've also suffered from anxiety all of my life. Since beginning Adderall XR 15 mg, now 20 mg for 2 months, I have been experiencing muscle pain, cramping/tightening and weakness. Adderall changed my life for the better, (except for the pain if that's the cause). Not thinking that my pain was caused by this med my Dr. began sending me to one specialist after another, a Psychologist, 2 Psychiatrists, a Neuro Surgeon, a Spine Specialist, a Neurologist, and a Rheumatologist. All specialist say there is nothing wrong. I've had a CT scan, 4 MRIs, a nerve test and several X-Rays. All show no abnormalities. I've had 4 months of physical therapy, 1 yr. of Chiropractic care and spent thousands of dollars on in home equipment to ease the pain. Nothing has helped and I refuse to take pain relievers, I don't believe covering up the problem is the answer... Recently, I was told by my Rheumatologist that I had "Myofacial Pain". REALLY?! I'm no Dr. but I believe that was the reason WHY I made the appt. to see him. What I'd like to know is the cause of my pain... :/ Needless to say, I'm completely frustrated and becoming increasingly depressed. It hurts to do simple household chores, I rarely leave my home, and out of desperation I spend up to 10 hrs a day on the internet looking for answers. I'm beginning to wonder if the Adderall XR is the cause. Has anyone else experienced these issues while on this med? If so, what ADHD med were you switched to? PLEASE HELP!!! (Sorry for the lengthy question) Thanks!
Is Adderall XR causing muscle pain, cramping and weakness?
Question posted by painhell on 16 Aug 2011
Last updated on 27 April 2024 (1 week ago) by Jurnee
75 Answers
Yes I believe it can cause myalgia (muscular pain / stiffness ) I see the PCP and other practioners have sent you for various tests. Honestly, I have learned in my career and personal experience start from the simplest tests, that in fact are crucial for being balanced to feel our best. Stimulants can contribute to muscle pain, we all can present differently. Ruling out your vitamin b1,b6,b12,vitamin d, and magnesium. ADHD meds-adderall can be known too deplete these vitamins in some people,as well as dehydrate the body... and that's everyone. This could be telling you, its crucial. Just like caffeinated beverages, alcohol and many other medications. I myself was administering a nicotine patch ( a stimulant also used for ADHD) ! I had horrible muscle cramping at the sites I would place the patch . It's possible you could had been slightly deficient in one of yourchemistries prior .. electrolyte imbalance can cause cramping...
Have u ever had a night out had a few cocktails and next morning headache? Well some people also experience cramping in calfs toes feet and cause pain, stiffness or contractures briefly. If your calcium is low (coffee also does that) or magnesium your dehydrated, you can experience muscle pain , it's not fun. It's amazing how our bodies let us know.
Vitamin D is a huge one also causing muscle pain depression, fatigue, it's vital for heart health. When taking supplements always take VitD with Vit K for absorption if your physician says it's OK, idk your health history. I'm just giving some advice that could point you in the right direction. And also always take Vit D seperate , hours apart from any other vitamins or meds , it will disrupt absorption. Stay hydrated ,we are made up of water and need to replenish, the more water we take in the less we retain due to dehydration. Oh also while ur at it get the basic lab tests, including BUN/CR... indicative of muscle wasting, NOT saying that's what's happening but it doesn't hurt. Fir now Epson salts baths or magnesium lotion can ease your symptoms and try an anti-inflammatory if ur not allergic. Sometimes if we have inflammation stimulant can exacerbate it. Good Luck ! BTW, I'm not frowning on taking this med XR it's helped me , hopefully if this is a side effect you will be over it soon !
I'm 66 and also get muscle cramps after taking Adderall and I just figured that it was because I was working so much more and that I wasn't used to it.
If you don't want to take pain killers you me want to try Advil or Tylenol. But I would also consider a weak muscle relaxer near bedtime. That helped me.
Just saw this was from 2011. Oh well. Maybe someone has the same issue. Good luck.
I have had the same problem with Adderall after taking the immediate release form of 30mg twice a day and since I can’t find it anywhere now, the leg pain has gone away and I don’t have the cramps like I have been having for the last two months or so. I’ve been on this medication for 15yrs, and I have tried potassium and other cramp relief medication and nothing seems to work. I can’t find it currently, but that’s the first thing that I noticed when I went cold turkey because I can’t find it anywhere. I’m extremely tired and have no clue what I am doing most of the day and I sleep all day and can’t seem to sleep at night. This medication has made my life so much better than any medication, but I have been having the same symptoms that you’ve mentioned above. I know people who have had their teeth get very loose, grind their teeth at night, and it seems to affect individuals differently.
It’s really odd you brought this up as I told my husband that I had noticed that my legs were not cramping when I first get up and it was almost like my tendon’s were not as long as they use to be. It was like the minute I woke up and stretched out my legs, they would cramp very bad. I took potassium and I also drank a lot of water and it still made my legs hurt, so I’m going to have a talk with my psychiatrist about this issue and I might need to switch meds. I can’t find it anywhere in a hundred mile radius of my house. I’m so tired of chasing this medication down and I don’t feel safe driving without it. Basically, all I want to do is sleep all day, which has screwed up my night sleep and eat like a Grizzly Bear that has been in hibernation when I can get up and move around. I have read a lot of crazy side effects from this medication. I have been on it 15yrs and it has been a rough two weeks without it. Either Teva needs to get their act together or the DEA needs to let them make more medication than they do. Everyday someone is getting diagnosed with ADHD and it seems like they don’t care about those of us who are suffering through this “backordered” problem. What’s really annoying is that I can probably buy crystal meth without having to look all over the state for it, but the prescription medication is not available. I don’t take more than I have been prescribed, as if I take too much, I get a UTI and that’s not a good thing to have either.
If I do get this medication soon and it starts causing leg cramping , I am going to have my psychiatrist remove me off the Adderall and try a different medication.
I am on Adderall and believe me when I say it is not causing your muscle cramps however I’m positive that the cramping you describe is coming from a lack of potassium. You may even have a deficiency issue. I know because I take potassium and whenever my dose is cut I experience the muscle cramps like no one’s business. Very painful and debilitating but if I just take 2 potassium pills within a 1/2 hr the cramping subsides and I can continue on with whatever it was that I was doing. Because I have stage 4 Kidney Disease my potassium dosage was cut way down and I experience muscle cramping more than usual but I take it upon myself to only take 2 which is more that the 1 every other day I’ve been prescribed and that tends to keep the cramping at bay. But please get a doctors opinion on the matter. I hope that this helps you…!
It can. I had it and the pain subsided after a month.
I had twitches and muscle pain, chest pain, and teeth grinding. All of the above went away within a month as my body got used to the new drug.
Hi! So today I was (apologies for TMI) peeing for the 500th time today and thought god this only seems to happen when I am on XR. I told my boyfriend I noticed it since I had been more inclined to only take my IR over my XR. My doctor has prescribed both of them to me and this is what I notice:
1. I am less sore from work with my IR. My work is VERY physical and I have usual exhausted feelings but some days are wayyy worse and I believe to link this to adderall.
2. Some days I feel like I could pee for a full minute. Finish and 2 seconds later feel the urge to pee yet again. I also believe this is different with IR, I notice it less if at all.
3. Eye pain is on and off, but I do work with acids and other chemicals in my lab at work.
4. Muscle tensions have decreased since I favored my IR. I just read side effects of adderall and all of these are correlated to them. My lower back pain which I was concerned to be kidney issues is also a symptom. I would say find an alternative, or switch to IR. Don’t take it everyday, and watch your weight. Don’t sit around all day either. You are just increasing your blood pressure, and chances of clots doing so.
To help I elevate my legs at 90 degrees for 30 minutes a night. I take a multivitamin, cranberry pills, and Ginko belboa got clots. I stretch and use a foam roller on my body for ear pain. I also use a heating pad on my back. I walk my dogs almost everyday to move the stimulations. I do not take my adderall on weekends or off days. Hope this helps!
I understand completely! I am a 55 year old woman and have been suffering with horrible neck and upper back pain for 3 years now. I have done PT, Myofacial therapy, massage therapy, cannabis therapy, muscle relaxers, chiropractic care and acupuncture with no relief. My doctor then referred me to pain mgmt and I had a CT scan, an MRI and a nerve block all to no avail. I also took magnesium as I heard a lack of this mineral can cause issues with your muscles, but that didn’t help either. The chronic pain is ruining my life. I can’t enjoy anything and basically can’t function. My joints hurt and because of the pain and stiffness in my neck, it is hard to drive, get dressed, and perform simple chores. I was sitting here desperate And thought I would search a different way looking for answers and found your comments and I couldn’t believe how similar they are. Im going to try going off the Adderall for a few days and see what happens.
Thank you for sharing your experience. Hopefully we can get some relief soon!
Hi, I'm currently in the bathtub looking this exact thing up for myself. I've no history of this kind of pain. It only started 2 days after i began Adderall. Literally nothing stops the constant pain i feel, mostly in my back/legs. It started out with just my legs, now it's almost everywhere. I hate this drug.
So it’s probably just a electrolyte imbalance. I had severe facial tension and muscle pain that I could not relax, all I needed was electrolytes. Adderall depletes you of your electrolytes especially magnesium which is directly related to relaxation of your muscles. Take a magnesium supplement at night, not with your adderall as it will increase the absorption of your adderall if taken at the same time and then you may not feel good. Take a daily multivitamin I recommend Centrum Multivitamins and make sure your getting enough potassium and sodium In your diet. Also make sure to drink plenty of water your body will need more while on adderall as it goes through it faster which is another reason why your body eliminates electrolytes faster. Try all of these things together and I’m pretty positive you will feel better. It was a immediate fix for me. Also I highly recommend drinking coconut water for potassium. Overall adderall speeds your body up so you just end up needing more of water and vitamins/electrolytes.
Thank you so much! I'll have to try!
When I take my Adderall 15mg xr I experience stiff joints especially in my legs and neck. I usually get a headache as well. My heart rate is consistently 120bpm for more than half the time I'm on it which is abnormally high i believe. I feel painless flutters in my throat that I'm not sure are caused by heart palpitations or GERD from the Adderall irritating my IBS.
I am soooo thankful I found this post!! Everyone I have told that I thought the adderall was making me hurt so much worse, making my legs freeze constantly, fingers tingle and knots all in my shoulders and neck thought I was crazy! Some evenings I can barely stand up straight I’m in so much pain. I wanna get off the adderall after only being on it 3 months but I have chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia so this has given me my active life back. I just went and got a banana and magnesium, praying this helps! I’ve been looking for a few wks to see if it were a possibility and now I’m 99.9% sure it’s the adderall.
You are definitely NOT crazy. Everything you mentioned I have experienced too. It is most definitely the Adderall. I also never experienced muscle pain while taking the Ad when I was more physically active than I am now especially at work. The muscle spasms for me began when I started working a desk job and was in a fixed position for hours in front the computer. I think everyone who is experiencing this should try to remember to double-up on hydration, exercise/stretch often and take a daily vitamin maybe with some extra magnesium and potassium. There's a anti-stress powder drink mix called "Calm" by Natural Vitality that restores healthy magnesium levels. I've been drinking it before bed here and there and my muscle pain has gone away completely.
Hi. First thing i'm really sorry you went through all that pain. I want to tell you that i had similar side affects to a lesser degree. I stopped taking Adderall 30 mg and my issues went away after a few months. First ask your doctor to change your prescription to something Ritalin based like focltan or concerta. You still might have side effects with Ritalin, I did. Or reduce your Adderall intake to 5 or 10 MG. Reducing my intake to 10 MG helped me a lot. I went to many specialist when i had my bad side effect and they all turned a blind eye when i mentioned Adderall might being the issue. It seems very few people suffer from this side effect that they don't contribute it to the cause.
Hoped i was helpful
I think it’s dehydration due to the medication. I’m 37 (female) and switched from 20mg of adderall twice daily to 30mg about 3 months ago. Last month I began experiencing a pinching pain in my upper left neck area and found a lump/knot at the base of my skull that was a size of a kiwi. I bought a hand massager and started to try to work out the knot. I was appalled when I found a huge cluster of knots all in that area (one under the other). I noticed that with the increase of the medication I was more dehydrated than normal and had mouth dryness. I’m bad about drinking enough water throughout the day and have been doing more house/yard work since the virus shutdown so I was sweating a lot. I’m almost convinced that the muscle knot that I have is because I wasn’t drinking enough water because the medication already dehydrates you so you have to drink double of what you normally need to drink.
I haven’t been to the doctor because of it and I’m not really sure how to approach it yet but I think I’m going to see a chiropractor. The area that the pain started in is an area that I’ve always had an issue with and I think that the medication and the dehydration just flared it up to an extreme, but I have never had knots under my skull, on my head or in the upper neck area. Also the skin on the left side of my neck in the back also feels numb to the touch like it does when the dentist numbs you’re mouth. I hope I don’t have any serious damage.
I began adderall 3.5 years ago and am now prescribed up to 60mg (instant release)/day. I had only been taking 20-40mg a day up until recently but the pandemic has made everything so much harder and I began taking my full daily dose a couple weeks ago. I have been experiencing horrible calf cramps, no matter how much water I drink. I notice it is worse when sitting all day and doing desk work. It’s only been a couple weeks but on the days I take 40mg or less, I *typically* don’t feel the leg cramps.
That said, I’ve had terrible back, neck and jaw muscle spasms the last three years regardless of dose. Some of these I had long before adderall and some have noticeably worsened. A lot of it may be due to the desk job I started 3 years ago too, but it seems to me that adderall and muscle cramps over time are unfortunately very related. :( Someone else online mentioned that trying another stimulant that’s not “sodium based” could help alleviate muscle cramps from adderall, but I haven’t personally been willing to deal with all the side effects of switching to try this out. Best of luck and sorry you’re in pain! Highly recommend getting frequent 2 hour massages and working with a PT to strengthen your core and offset back pain.
Yes, same pain, from add 20 xr, it restricts blood flow , an can severely dehydrate you . 5 years now , magnesium an hydration, don't overdo with water, it can flush electrolytes out , as the Adderall probably makes you urinate more, Pedialyte, mild exercise, sit in the sun for warmth if possible
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adderall, adderall xr, pain, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (adhd), muscle pain, muscle
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