What are the risks of using a stimulant medication?
A. Stimulant medications, when used with careful medical and therapeutic supervision, are usually considered quite safe. Although they can be addictive if they are abused, when taken as prescribed for ADHD, these medications have neither been shown to be addictive nor to lead to substance abuse problems. They seldom make people “high” or jittery, nor do they sedate them. When adverse drug reactions do occur, they are usually related to dosage and are always reversible. Effects associated with moderate doses are decreased appetite and insomnia; these effects usually occur early in treatment and in most cases decrease with time.
