If you’re wondering about taking L-Tyrosine and Adderall XR for ADHD, make sure you get the facts about each type of medication before you combine them.
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, a cognitive imbalance frequently seen in children but also common in many adults, can make the details of school, work, and family life especially challenging.
The inability to focus and concentrate is frustrating and stands in the way of productivity and emotional stability. Luckily there are many approaches to treating the disorder, from pharmaceutical drugs like Adderall to natural nootropics like L-Tyrosine.
Some people try to increase the benefits of all therapies by combining them. Let’s take a look at the effects and safety of combining Adderall with Tyrosine to help you determine the best course of action for you or your child.



- Supports energy & motivation
- Promotes focus & mental clarity
- Improves mood & stress response
What Is ADHD?
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Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, or ADHD, is a fairly common neurological imbalance which affects as many as 1 in 20 children in the U.S.
The condition, which is comprised of symptoms like trouble focusing, hyperactive thoughts, restlessness, easy distraction, forgetfulness, and fidgeting, is not limited to children.
While it often starts in childhood, if ADHD is left untreated it can become a problem in adult life as well. The most popular treatment for ADHD in mainstream medicine is the use of prescription psychostimulant Adderall.
This amphetamine works by causing a short-term increase of dopaminergic activity in the brain. It stimulates the release of dopamine from neurons and also acts as a dopamine reuptake inhibitor.
The result is increased stimulation of post-synaptic dopamine receptors in the brain, but also a depletion of this neurotransmitter within pre-synaptic neurons.
While effective, Adderall is associated with a risk of dependency, and may cause side effects including sleeplessness, withdrawal, restlessness, dizziness, and over-stimulation.
It also is known to deplete catecholamine neurotransmitters. Tyrosine can combat this action, which is why some people have begun taking L-Tyrosine and Adderall for ADHD together.
Why People Take L-Tyrosine with Adderall
L-Tyrosine is a natural amino acid found in various very common staple foods, like poultry, fish, nuts, and dairy. The body also produces its own supply of L-Tyrosine, in small amounts. Like all aminos, L-Tyrosine is a building block of protein in the body. It also helps regulate metabolism, and nourishes various organs and glands.
In the brain, L-Tyrosine becomes a constituent element of key neurotransmitters dopamine, epinephrine, and norepinephrine. These natural hormones are known to govern the body’s fight or flight responses, trigger reactions to stressful stimuli.
One of these reaction is a calm, focused mental state, which the brain needs to handle stressful situations successfully. By boosting amounts of these chemicals and also initiating their re-uptake and recycling, L-Tyrosine helps ensure hormone levels remain balanced and never spike up or down.
The result is a focused, energetic, confident state of mind, which makes dealing with stress and distractions easier. Amphetamines like Adderall create a harsh, less nuanced effect, sending the user on a roller coaster of extreme highs and lows. L-Tyrosine represents a more natural approach to creating mental focus, positive energy, and lasting stability.
L-Tyrosine for ADHD – User Reports
Using L-Tyrosine after taking Adderall XR for ADHD has become more prevalent and users across the internet are weighing in on their experiences. Overall, the reports indicate that L-Tyrosine is like an improved, super-charged form of coffee.
It has been frequently compared to the way that a morning cup of coffee can inspire mental focus, energy, creativity, and the ability to accomplish work-intensive tasks. It does this without coffee’s more blunt side effects, such as jitters, trouble sleeping, acidic stomach issues, late day crashes, and withdrawal headaches.
Users with ADHD found L-Tyrosine to be helpful in balancing thoughts without any kind of tranquilizing or downer effect. A feeling of natural energy lasts for hours, but is more subtle overall than Adderall.
Adderall XR’s effects, while more dramatic, also felt more artificial, with a very pronounced drop-off and come-down, after which ADHD symptoms returned and seemed to be intensified. L-Tyrosine’s effects felt less like a drug, and more like natural interest and engagement with the task at hand.
Comparison to Adderall Effects
While there has been some casual experimentation of taking L-Tyrosine and Adderall for ADHD at the same time, most users do not recommend the combo and advise only taking one or the other at a time.
Adderall seems to bluntly override L-Tyrosine’s more natural effects and render them less noticeable. Together, the pair is either too stimulating, or too indistinguishable from taking Adderall on its own.
Some users have reported success taking L-Tyrosine the day after an Adderall dose, to ease withdrawal symptoms and the “hangover” feeling.
One of the effects of Adderall is to promote the release of neurochemicals like dopamine and noradrenaline in the brain. As the stores of these brain transmitters are used up, it can cause “low” feelings and diminished energy the day after. This can exacerbate problems related to focus and attentiveness caused by ADHD.
L-Tyrosine is a pre-cursor to these important catecholamine neurotransmitters and can help to replenish the levels of these chemicals. For this reason, supplementing with L-Tyrosine following a day of using Adderall XR can eliminate the energy crash that is so often associated with this prescription ADHD drug.
L-Tyrosine Side Effects and Safety
While taking L-Tyrosine and Adderall for ADHD both are considered safe within recommended doses, Adderall still needs to be prescribed by a physician, whereas L-Tyrosine does not. For this reason, there is not a lot of mainstream medical literature about combining the two.
We know that L-Tyrosine exhibits few or no side effects at all. This could be because our bodies have grown accustomed to it over thousands of years of consuming the amino acid from food sources. For this reason, if you already have an Adderall XR prescription from your doctor for ADHD, using L-Tyrosine the day after should not cause any health problems or side effects.
But more and more people are looking at using Tyrosine as an Adderall alternative rather than a complementary supplement. Instead of risking potential side effects that come from amphetamines like Adderall, a better bet might be to combine L-Tyrosine in a stack with other nootropic supplements.
Combo products like Alpha Brain incorporate L-Tyrosine into a safe and effective formula that eradicates distraction, boosts concentration, makes learning easier, and promotes excellent mental control – tools that every ADHD patient needs and deserves.
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Article last updated on: April 16th, 2018 by Nootriment
4 Comments
“This amphetamine works by hyper-stimulating dopamine production.”
Actually adderall is a dopamine reuptake inhibitor, interacting with The VMAT2 (vesicular monoamine transporter) which will reverse it’s transport and allow the stored dopamine inside the synaptic vesicles to be released into the intracellular space of the dopaminergic neuron. It also interacts with TAAR1 (trace amine-associated receptor 1) which causes a response that inhibits DAT (dopamine transporter responsible for reuptake of dopamine in the axon terminal) functionality. This causes the reuptake of dopamine to cease completely, and even causes reverse transport of dopamine from the cytosol of the axon terminal back into the synapse for increased receptor-ligand interaction. There is no mechanism involved with amphetamine that causes increased dopamine PRODUCTION, so please get your facts straight before posting any information.
Hi TP,
Thanks for catching that error :). I will update the article.
I’ve been taking Adderall for three years and wanting to ween myself off of the drug. I am ADHD. What can I expect if I quit cold turkey?
Expect to stay in bed for 2-4 weeks