![]() Prescriptions for Adderall and other amphetamine-based ADHD drugs have more than tripled for women ages 20 to 39 since 2007-going from 2 million per year to 6.2 million in 2011, according to IMS Health, a health care technology and information company in Parsippany, New Jersey, that tracks prescription data. "When I told him, he said, 'You're under arrest for medicinal drug fraud.'?" Michelle was led away in handcuffs and taken to jail. "Ten minutes later, as I was walking to my car with my refill, a police officer approached and asked for my name," Michelle says. On January 26, 2010, two months after she began filling fake prescriptions, she popped in to yet another pharmacy and dropped off her script. Friends became concerned-she was acting super intense-but Michelle brushed them off, saying she was simply stressed. With Adderall now readily available, Michelle started taking up to eight pills a day instead of the two prescribed. Then when I ran out of Adderall, I printed the fake prescription and filled it at a new pharmacy." "Before I filled my next one, I scanned it onto my computer and changed the date so it looked like the doctor had written it that day. "I was thinking about how to get more pills when I realized I might be able to alter my prescription using Photoshop," she says. She started going through her 30-day prescription in 10 days. "I knew that 60 mg wasn't going to be enough," Michelle says. But at an appointment with a new doctor, things didn't go as expected: The doctor took Michelle off Xanax and lowered her Adderall prescription from 90 milligrams to 60 mg, explaining that Adderall was likely causing her insomnia. Michelle moved back home to Miami to regroup, telling herself that fast-paced Manhattan was the problem-not Adderall. She called her parents, sobbing, blaming the competitive work culture and crazy hours for her situation they believed her. "My life was imploding, and I felt like a failure," Michelle says. My whole body ached, and I became a moody monster until my next refill." Her erratic behavior cost her clients, and eventually she couldn't afford rent. "I could barely get out of bed or do work. "When the pills ran out, I crashed," she recalls. Within a few months, she was finishing her 30-day allotment in 20 days. That meant no health insurance, so Michelle switched to generic Adderall IR exclusively, which was the least expensive option. ![]() "I felt invincible." So much so that she decided to quit her job and work for herself. "I was a gladiator by day and then took a Xanax to sleep," she recalls. When she returned to the same doctor and complained about her insomnia, he prescribed Xanax. On the upped dosage, Michelle began having trouble sleeping. She'd put on about that many pounds in college, so she was psyched to find herself fitting into clothes she'd worn in high school. What Michelle did notice: The 30 pounds she lost from her 5-foot-7-inch frame in just four months. "I felt like a superwoman: I was working 11-hour days and then going to work events three or four nights a week, but Adderall gave me so much energy, I barely noticed the long hours," she says. Michelle started taking the pills daily, as prescribed, and a month later landed her dream job working for a well-known Manhattan publicist. "I answered yes and left with an Adderall prescription. "I went to see a doctor who asked me a few simple questions, like if I had a hard time concentrating or if I often lost things," says Michelle, now 28. This time, though, Michelle didn't want to rely on friends she wanted her own supply. I knew the odds I was up against, and I figured Adderall would boost my confidence, helping me ace interviews," she says. ![]() "Trying to find a job in New York City while still living in Boston was really stressful. After graduating in 2006, she didn't plan to use Adderall again.
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