Weird side effect of ADD meds?

[Tab]

Someone I know who's 19 y/o (male) was diagnosed with ADD (low-grade) last year and put on Addrerall, which made a huge difference. He's now taking 20mg of DextraAmphet/Amphetamine (which, if not Adderall, a variation). It certainly helps his focus, but in the last two months he's suddenly had God in his life - and keep in mind we are a non-formally-religious family and this never happened before - this is all him - and he sees the lord in light (reflected off the lake, in his room, whatever) and feels his presence, but also god speaks to him and gives him advice as to what to do and sometimes gives "signs" - telling him to turn his lamp a certain way which projects a cross upon the wall. God (or the lord) tells him what to do.

There's more, but I'm concerned - it's not like he was this since he was five. It suddenly went from 0 to 60 in the space of a month. I don't want to diminish his faith in his lord, but at the same time, I'm not convinced medication was innocent.

Any thoughts?

[GeorgeGist]

1. The only times I've seen God ...

I was on drugs. I remember it being very real at the time. We are made of chemicals, so there's that.

[meow2u3]

2. IDK about Adderal. I take Concerta

With Concerta, one side effect is that I cannot fall asleep for a nap, no matter how tired I am. The best I can do is to lie half awake for about half an hour.

About the Adderall: it seems as if the meds are causing him to hallucinate, as in literally driving him nuts. They're not apparently for him.

[elmerh]

4. comparison

Both Concerta and Adderall have their side effects and reactions could be individual (in this case Adderall is not the best option).
https://www.smartpillwiki.com/concerta-vs-adderall-the-differences-side-effects-and-which-is-better/ - here's a good comparison of these drugs.

[scubasteve76]

3. could be

Dextroamphetamine has a euphoric quality to it that the other medicines for attention don't have or don't have as much. I remember reading about it when researching stimulant medications. I'm gonna get a little weird here, so here goes: religion and god tend to bring order to people's minds. A stimulant should allow someone to focus, but too much can cause someone to become obsessive and compulsive. Is he obsessively talking about god? God this and god that? And are his behaviors compulsive? Is he doing things over and over? It's absolutely possible that stimulants can trigger some paranoia. Paranoia can be about persecution but it can also be about delusions of grandeur. As in "god talks to him." I'm not a doctor, but I'd say what you're describing seems like something a doctor should hear about.

[gopiscrap]

7. welcome to DU