Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common condition affecting many people. Research shows that approximately 10.2% of the U.S. population is diagnosed with ADHD, and 60% of those affected continue to experience symptoms into adulthood. If you or someone you care about has symptoms of ADHD, it’s natural to consider the various treatment options available.
At times, doctors may prescribe stimulant medications to treat ADHD symptoms. Two of the most common medications for ADHD treatment are Adderall and Ritalin.
What’s the difference between Adderall vs. Ritalin? We’ll provide a complete breakdown in this article to help you better understand each medication, how they treat ADHD and other conditions, and any potential side effects.
What Are Adderall and Ritalin?
While both Adderall and Ritalin are stimulant medications for ADHD, they work in slightly different ways. Plus, they can also have other uses to treat different conditions. Let’s start by breaking down the formulation and effects of both medications to give you a thorough overview of them.
What is Adderall?
Adderall is a stimulant medication made from amphetamine and dextroamphetamine. It’s a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that speeds up your brain’s chemical messaging system.
In that process, it increases the levels of common feel-good hormones called dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine. These hormones regulate things like mood, focus, coordination, and your mind’s reward system. Therefore, when someone with ADHD takes Adderall, it can help them focus better and reduce impulsive behaviors.
Adderall may also be prescribed to treat narcolepsy, which is a condition where someone may feel excessively tired during the day or even unexpectedly fall asleep. Its stimulating effects can keep someone with this condition more alert and focused, preventing intense sleepiness.
What is Ritalin?
Like Adderall, Ritalin is a CNS stimulant, so it helps speed up the brain’s chemical messaging system. The main active ingredient in Ritalin that causes these effects is called methylphenidate hydrochloride.
These effects on the CNS after taking Ritalin will increase levels of dopamine and norepinephrine in the brain to regulate focus and the brain’s reward system.
However, unlike Adderall, Ritalin doesn’t increase serotonin levels in the brain quite as much. Some research even shows that it might not have any effects on serotonin levels. Serotonin is the main neurotransmitter that regulates mood, so Ritalin might not have quite as pronounced effects on mood as Adderall does.
Similar to Adderall, Ritalin may also be prescribed to treat the symptoms of narcolepsy. Its stimulating effects again help offset symptoms of excessive daytime sleepiness.
Mechanism of Action: How Each Drug Works in the Brain
To give you a bit more detail on how these drugs work to treat conditions, let’s evaluate how they affect the brain after you take them.
Mechanism of Action for Adderall
When you take Adderall, your stomach absorbs it, and it enters the bloodstream to reach the brain. Once in the brain, it acts as a “reuptake inhibitor” for the hormones we discussed earlier: dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine.
Reuptake inhibition essentially means that the chemicals in Adderall prevent those hormones from leaving the brain and getting absorbed by the body. Instead, when they stay in the brain, it increases your overall level of them, and it can have positive effects on mood and focus for those struggling with conditions like ADHD.
Additionally, Adderall’s effects that speed up the CNS will increase the body’s production of those hormones, boosting their levels in the brain further as needed to continuously regulate cognitive function during the drug’s duration in the body.
Mechanism of Action for Ritalin
Similarly, Ritalin is known as a dopamine and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor. Therefore, it blocks the body’s absorption of those key hormones to increase their levels in the brain, regulating brain function, focus, and the mind’s reward system.
Ritalin also increases the activity of these hormones in the brain’s prefrontal cortex. The prefrontal cortex is responsible for things like working memory, attention, emotion regulation, and decision-making, which is why medications like this work well to treat ADHD. Research also shows that Adderall has similar effects on the prefrontal cortex.
Duration and Effectiveness
One of the biggest differences between Adderall and Ritalin is how long it takes to see effects and how long each medication lasts.
Ritalin is a bit easier for the body to absorb, so it enters the bloodstream and reaches the brain faster, and you’ll feel quicker effects. Most research shows that you’ll feel peak effects from Ritalin after about 2 hours.
On the other hand, it takes about 3 hours to feel peak effects after taking Adderall since it doesn’t absorb into the bloodstream quite as quickly.
That said, the effects of Ritalin will generally wear off faster. Ritalin’s effects last about 3-4 hours in its immediate release form compared to Adderall’s effects, which last between 4-6 hours.
However, for longer-lasting effects, both medications offer extended-release versions called Ritalin LA and Adderall XR. In their extended-release form, both last about 8-12 hours but take longer to reach peak effects in the brain.
Side Effects and Risks
Like all medications, both Adderall and Ritalin can come with some side effects and risks. Given that they’re both stimulant medications that affect the brain in similar ways, you’ll notice that Adderall’s side effects and Ritalin’s side effects are pretty similar overall.
Both medications can cause common side effects like:
- Nausea
- Loss of appetite
- Nervousness or increased anxiety
- Trouble sleeping
- Dizziness
- Stomach pain
If you experience any of these side effects, it’s important to let your doctor know so they can adjust your dosage or try a different medication that may work better.
Potential for Addiction
Unfortunately, one of the biggest risks associated with Adderall and Ritalin is they have a high potential for addiction if they’re misused or abused. It’s reported that about 3.7 million people each year misuse prescription stimulants like Adderall and Ritalin.
Both drugs are commonly misused by students or professionals to increase focus during late-night study sessions or while working long hours, even when they don’t have an actual prescription for the drug. Plus, they are also commonly misused and taken in high doses in party settings due to the energizing and euphoric high they can create.
Addiction caused by misuse or abuse of these drugs can be dangerous. It may lead to negative long-term health effects like cardiovascular problems, elevated blood pressure, negative changes to the brain’s cognitive function, or increased anxiety.
Therefore, if you or someone you care about is experiencing signs of addiction to one of these medications, it’s important to seek treatment to make a full recovery. Visiting a local treatment center for a full diagnosis and to review options is often a good first step.
Conclusion
Both Adderall and Ritalin are stimulant medications that help treat conditions like ADHD and narcolepsy. They generally affect the brain similarly and have similar side effects. The main difference is that Adderall helps increase serotonin levels more than Ritalin to regulate mood and lasts a bit longer, whereas Ritalin takes effect faster.
While both drugs are generally safe when taken within recommended guidelines from a doctor, they do have a high potential for addiction if misused or abused.
If you or someone you know is showing signs of addiction to prescription stimulants like these, such as having trouble stopping drug use despite negative consequences in their life or experiencing withdrawal symptoms when they stop taking it, resources are available that can help.
We have options available here at the United Recovery Center. Our knowledgeable treatment professionals can provide a full diagnosis and help you create a tailored detox or residential treatment plan that fits your needs. Contact us today to learn more about getting started.
References
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- Turner, Moshe. “The Treatment of Narcolepsy with Amphetamine-Based Stimulant Medications: A Call for Better Understanding.” Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, vol. 15, no. 05, 15 May 2019, pp. 803–805, doi:10.5664/jcsm.7788. https://jcsm.aasm.org/doi/10.5664/jcsm.7788
- Kuczenski, Ronald, and David S. Segal. “Effects of Methylphenidate on Extracellular Dopamine, Serotonin, and Norepinephrine: Comparison with Amphetamine.” Journal of Neurochemistry, vol. 68, no. 5, 18 Nov. 2002, pp. 2032–2037, doi:10.1046/j.1471-4159.1997.68052032.x. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9109529/
- Faraone, Stephen V. “The Pharmacology of Amphetamine and Methylphenidate: Relevance to the Neurobiology of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Other Psychiatric Comorbidities.” Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, vol. 87, Apr. 2018, pp. 255–270, doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2018.02.001. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0149763417308072
- Verghese, Corinne, and Sara Abdijadid. “Methylphenidate.” Nih.gov, StatPearls Publishing, 2023, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK482451/
- National Institute on Drug Abuse. “What Is the Scope of Prescription Drug Misuse in the United States?” National Institute on Drug Abuse, June 2020, https://nida.nih.gov/publications/research-reports/misuse-prescription-drugs/what-scope-prescription-drug-misuse
