Dextroamphetamine 107deprived of sleep. In the Persian Gulf War of 1991, U.S. aviators used the
drug. Some pilots called the substance crucial for top performance of respon-
sibilities. Outside evaluation concluded that efficiency and safety improved
when pilots were under the drug’s influence. Athletic performance may be
enhanced by the drug, but amphetamine class substances are generally banned
by sports regulatory authorities.
Drawbacks.Tests on healthy volunteers found that taking enough dextro-
amphetamine to produce euphoria was also enough to produce mania. The
drug may cause stroke and is normally avoided if patients have heart disease,
hardening of the arteries, high blood pressure, glaucoma, hyperthyroidism,
restlessness, and former or current drug abuse. Heart trouble has been attrib-
uted to several years’ abuse of the drug, and brain damage has been noted.
Abuse factors.Lack of dependency has been noted among juveniles receiv-
ing medical doses of dextroamphetamine. Another study found that adults
with medical authorization to use dextroamphetamine for obesity or depres-
sion often found it no more appealing than a placebo. These results are con-
sistent with the fact that any drug’s potential for abuse depends on the needs
it satisfies in a user; if a medical need is the only one satisfied, then the person
will have no interest in continuing the drug once the affliction is cured.
Among persons inclined toward abuse, that inclination can be increased by
taking dextroamphetamine withmorphine. Those two substances can cancel
out some of each other’s unpleasant physical sensations while retaining the
psychological pleasures of both drugs. Abusers may interpret the situation as
“gain without pain,” but combining stimulants with depressants can give the
human body quite a beating. Moreover, researchers find that abusers can ac-
quire tolerance to the psychological effects of dextroamphetamine while effects
on blood pressure remain strong. Therefore, boosting the dose to maintain the
level of psychic high may pose as much danger to a habituated user as to
someone unaccustomed to the drug.
Drug interactions.Although the antimania medicine lithium reduces central
nervous system stimulation caused by amphetamine, experiments have not
shown lithium reducing either mania or heart rate and blood pressure in-
creases caused by dextroamphetamine. Dextroamphetamine is to be avoided
if persons have taken a monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI—in some anti-
depressants and other medicine) within the past 14 days. Particular hazard
arises when combining an MAOI and dextroamphetamine while eating foods
containing tyramine. Such foods include beer, some wines, cheese, chocolate,
bananas, raisins, avocados, salami, and soy sauce. Although an experimental
study found that dextroamphetamine could enhance the beneficial effects of
MAOIs, using the two drugs together can be fatal. Tricyclic antidepressants
make a dose of dextroamphetamine last longer and can increase amphetamine
blood levels produced by dextroamphetamine.
Although extrapolation of animal studies to human conditions must always
be cautious, it is known that dextroamphetamine’s effects become stronger in
rats if they takecaffeineat the same time. Rat and human experiments also
indicate that dextroamphetamine will improve pain relief provided by mor-
phine. Animal experiments indicate that dextroamphetamine interferes with
alcoholabsorption, suggesting that achieving alcohol intoxication might re-