Adderall is a serious drug with serious side effects and very high potential for abuse. I was addicted to it for a few years. It destroyed my ability to sleep, eat, think normally. It can certainly be performance enhancing in but can cause big problems over time.
I really like Molly and appreciate her transparency with this TUE but I hope she has a cardiologist checking her every few weeks. I would get terrible dehydration and dry mouth and would barely eat anything.
For the sake of discussion, how long does it take for this drug to clear someone's system? If she isn't granted the TUE, can't she just stop taking it xx days before competition and be compliant with anti-doping, since it's allowed out of competition? How long is that xx? During that period, couldn't she just manage her ADHD like she did her entire life before recently starting Adderall - she said (paraphrasing) running calmed her brain right?
2. Adderall would not have the same stimulant effect on her that it would have on someone without ADHD. It would have a calming effect on her. No unfair advantage there.
How do you know? Can you point to some studies for athletes in general? She surely has training data on how it is changing her performance now - before and after taking Adderall, but I'm sure there's she won't release that data to others.
What's to prevent someone else from pretending to have enough ADHD to need a TUE for it, but where it would provide benefit beyond "calming effects"?
Wow ok...pretty much no one on this thread understands how ADHD works. As someone who has it, took Adderall as a kid, and now takes Welbutrin, allow me to clarify a few points. Individuals with ADHD have decreased dopamine function in the brain. Adderall raises dopamine concentration in the central nervous system to a 'normal' level. The effects of Adderall on those with clinically diagnosed ADHD are significantly different from those without. In very simplified terms, Adderall brings an ADHD-affected brain 'up' to a unaffected brain's level for focus and mood, and 'down' to an unaffected brain's level for hyperactivity and impulsivity. If Molly has been diagnosed with ADHD, then Adderall (in the appropriate dosage prescribed by a psychiatrist) is completely appropriate in her situation. As for those comparing her to Shelby and asserting, without any basis beyond "she ran fast so she's a doper," that Molly has been on drugs for some time...maybe get some non-anecdotal/circumstantial evidence before announcing your fantasies as fact.
Wow ok...pretty much no one on this thread understands how ADHD works. As someone who has it, took Adderall as a kid, and now takes Welbutrin, allow me to clarify a few points. Individuals with ADHD have decreased dopamine function in the brain. Adderall raises dopamine concentration in the central nervous system to a 'normal' level. The effects of Adderall on those with clinically diagnosed ADHD are significantly different from those without. In very simplified terms, Adderall brings an ADHD-affected brain 'up' to a unaffected brain's level for focus and mood, and 'down' to an unaffected brain's level for hyperactivity and impulsivity. If Molly has been diagnosed with ADHD, then Adderall (in the appropriate dosage prescribed by a psychiatrist) is completely appropriate in her situation. As for those comparing her to Shelby and asserting, without any basis beyond "she ran fast so she's a doper," that Molly has been on drugs for some time...maybe get some non-anecdotal/circumstantial evidence before announcing your fantasies as fact.
Thanks for that explanation. Most of us know nothing about ADHD unless we have it or know someone with it or are a teacher or something. (I personally don't know anyone with ADHD, that I know well anyway.) We are just here because we are runners, so need to be brought up to speed to understand this. Though others might be, I'm not judging here. I'm just trying to understand if she can do without Adderall before competitions, and of course, wanting to know if there would be performance enhancing effects and the evidence (not just anecdotes that we are seeing in this thread) behind that whether that is a yes, no, maybe, or we don't know.
So are there lab tests or other screening methods that would quantitatively show deceased dopamine function in the brain, if it's there? She surely has to submit concrete evidence of her need to the antidoping authorities, but what would that evidence look like?
In previous discussions, we've sometimes heard conflicting things that testosterone would never be authorized in a TUE, but then also hear it might be in some cases. I'm not sure which is correct, so things are not clear cut.
For the sake of discussion, how long does it take for this drug to clear someone's system? If she isn't granted the TUE, can't she just stop taking it xx days before competition and be compliant with anti-doping, since it's allowed out of competition? How long is that xx? During that period, couldn't she just manage her ADHD like she did her entire life before recently starting Adderall - she said (paraphrasing) running calmed her brain right?
Generally medicines have a ramp on and ramp off period.
Wow ok...pretty much no one on this thread understands how ADHD works. As someone who has it, took Adderall as a kid, and now takes Welbutrin, allow me to clarify a few points. Individuals with ADHD have decreased dopamine function in the brain. Adderall raises dopamine concentration in the central nervous system to a 'normal' level. The effects of Adderall on those with clinically diagnosed ADHD are significantly different from those without. In very simplified terms, Adderall brings an ADHD-affected brain 'up' to a unaffected brain's level for focus and mood, and 'down' to an unaffected brain's level for hyperactivity and impulsivity. If Molly has been diagnosed with ADHD, then Adderall (in the appropriate dosage prescribed by a psychiatrist) is completely appropriate in her situation. As for those comparing her to Shelby and asserting, without any basis beyond "she ran fast so she's a doper," that Molly has been on drugs for some time...maybe get some non-anecdotal/circumstantial evidence before announcing your fantasies as fact.
Nope.
I don't have to accept the sudden DRUG usage "for ADHD" when such drug is in accordance with training, distance, time and employment (Molly is a professional athlete).
If i showed up to my job...my job..job...that which i get money for..like Molly...i could get fired for being on adderall. I would not qualify for a bogus TUE because the expectations are that I'd be working substance free.
And if the adderall is a new development and she hasn't been on drugs for a long time, then that's a more suspicious premise because there's no reason that a runner would suddenly need adderall for ADHD when adderall doesn't get in the way of her job. Right..job.
I don't have to accept the sudden DRUG usage "for ADHD" when such drug is in accordance with training, distance, time and employment (Molly is a professional athlete).
If i showed up to my job...my job..job...that which i get money for..like Molly...i could get fired for being on adderall. I would not qualify for a bogus TUE because the expectations are that I'd be working substance free.
And if the adderall is a new development and she hasn't been on drugs for a long time, then that's a more suspicious premise because there's no reason that a runner would suddenly need adderall for ADHD when adderall doesn't get in the way of her job. Right..job.
But it could augment results...oh...well hey...
Yeah. A hard no.
Good points.
The need for Adderall is either a new development, or she won her Olympic medal on Adderall committing an anti-doping rule violation.
And yes, it is a stimulant containing amphetamines, which is why for example Gatlin was only allowed to use it out-of-competition (but he used it in competition too and got caught and banned).
I applaud the transparent but agree that in competition TUEs should not be a thing. If you are on medication that can be performance enhancing you just can't race. No different than being on prescription opioids and not being alowed to operate heavy machinery.
I agree that health should be prioritized but that means you sit it out.
There are medications that a) have legitimate health justifications when used according to the standards for treating that condition but b) can be abused by someone seeking a performance edge. Insulin comes to mind as an example.
The TUE process means that USADA reviews each use to determine whether it falls in category a) or category b).
Individuals diagnosed with adhd may or may not have decreased dopamine in the brain. We don’t check for this that I’m aware of. If it’s possible it is not routinely done.
All that is required for a diagnosis in most cases is to tell a dr you are experiencing or exhibiting certain symptoms/behaviors. If you check the boxes you are given a diagnosis and often prescribed stimulants.
In the last two years online services have even popped up that will prescribe stimulants with nothing more than a quick online consult. Major pharmacy chains have now decided this is inappropriate and will no longer dispense scripts written by these online docs. While some patients no doubt benefit from the meds, they are widely overused. I regularly see stimulants prescribed to children at young as 5.
I don't like TUEs, but her transparency is commendable. And she gets bonus points for being one of a very small number of American distance pros who did not stand by Shelby.
So if Shelby had sought a TUE for her nandrolone and been transparent about it, it would all be cool?
