Has there ever been a case of heart attack of an adult taking Adderall as prescribed?

Question

I've looked it up and haven't found any documented cases of where adult patients being treated with Adderall and have taken it as prescribed have suffered from a heart attack.

Where do they get the 60 mg recommended max from? Is it true that 40 mg max is safe for long-term usage? Also, if your doctor has prescribed you a dosage higher than 60 mg, is there a high risk of negative side-effects? If so, what are those side-effects?

Please provide sources of any such incidents as the ones I asked about above, thank-you.

Answer 1

I haven't stumbled across any cases either where an adult suffered a heart attack because of taking Adderall as prescribed.  When taken as prescribed, stimulant medications like Adderall are safe.

WebMD has a page on ADHD Medications and Treatments which says:

"Approximately two years ago, the FDA recommended a black box warning for patients taking AD/HD medications regarding the potential for cardiovascular events in patients with serious, pre-existing structural cardiac abnormalities.

Should parents of children with AD/HD be alarmed by these recommendations? The answer is no. Medications for AD/HD are considered safe when used in appropriate doses used to treat AD/HD in children, adolescents, and adults without serious cardiovascular disease. The incidence of serious cardiovascular events in children taking medications for AD/HD is very low, and is similar to the incidence of cardiovascular events in children not taking medications.

The above recommendations were not made to limit the use of AD/HD medications, but to help identify children with pre-existing heart disease who may be at risk when taking such medications."

The 60 mg max dose per day is an FDA recommendation.  You'll get more side-effects on higher doses, such as loss of appetite, weight loss, dry mouth, stomach upset/pain, nausea/vomiting, dizziness, headache, diarrhea, fever, nervousness, and trouble sleeping.