Dextroamphetamine
Pronunciation:DEK-stroh am-FET-uh-meen
Chemical Abstracts Service Registry Number:51-64-9. (Sulphate form 51-63-8)
Formal Names:Adderall, Amsustain, Biphetamine, D-Amphetamine, Dexamphet-
amine, Dexedrine, Dexidrine, DextroStat, Sympamin
Informal Names:Beans, Black Beauties, Brownies, Christmas Trees, Dexies, Fast-
balls, Orange Hearts, Oranges, Purple Hearts
Type:Stimulant (amphetamine class).Seepage 12
Federal Schedule Listing:Schedule II (DEA no. 1100)
USA Availability:Prescription
Pregnancy Category:C
Dextroamphetamine is often called amphetamine. To reduce potential con-
fusion, remember that in this book “amphetamine” refers to a class of stim-
ulants, and “dextroamphetamine” refers to a specific drug in that class.
Uses.The substance stimulates the central and sympathetic nervous systems
and is comparable tomethamphetamine. Dextroamphetamine is typically
used to treat narcolepsy, to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
(ADHD) in adults and children, and to help reduce a person’s weight—in
rhesus monkey experiments it is one of the most effective appetite suppres-
sants. Some use has been made to help epileptics. The drug can be given in
combination with scopolamine as an anti–motion sickness medicine; astro-
nauts have used this combination during missions in outer space and consider
it effective.
Dextroamphetamine has been found more effective than standard antide-
pressants in alleviating depression among HIV (human immunodeficiency vi-
rus) patients and can also increase their energy. The drug has successfully
treated depression among non-HIV hospital patients and among other persons
as well. The drug has helped restore physical vigor and positive mental out-
look to institutionalized elderly persons, so that older individuals who had
been unable to take care of themselves were able to go home. Experimenters
in the 1970s and 1990s found that the drug could accelerate work rate without
multiplying mistakes in performing tasks. Those laboratory results cannot be
extrapolated to the workplace in general but nonetheless remind us of the
original welcome that employers gave to the first amphetamines. Dextroam-
phetamine can help persons maintain satisfactory job performance while being