Mandi Masterpole was among the 16 million Americans taking ADHD medications. The twist? She didn’t actually have ADHD.
She used drugs like Adderall and Ritalin without a prescription to help with school assignments, balance babysitting gigs, and keep up her energy for social events.
By the age of 22, Masterpole experienced a heart attack after five years of misusing these stimulants, which she described as “legal speed.”
“I bought a few, tried them, and that was it. I remember everything seeming brighter; colors were more vivid,” she shared from Hamilton, New Jersey.
“I thought it felt like heaven. I was amazed.”
What started as one pill quickly escalated to two as she sought that initial rush.
Eventually, she found herself snorting the drugs four times daily, spending most of her $600 weekly paycheck on them.
ADHD medications like Ritalin, Adderall, and Vyvanse are classified as schedule II drugs under the Controlled Substances Act.
For those with ADHD, these medications can be life-changing by replenishing essential brain chemicals that enhance concentration.
However, for those without the disorder, they can overstimulate the brain with pleasure-inducing hormones, leading to addictive highs that can be dangerous.
Masterpole would use the drugs, often crushed and snorted, six days a week.
“I started making a schedule for it. I’d stop taking them on Tuesday since I was off on Wednesday,” she explained.
“I needed that day to eat—I stopped eating completely.”
Her appetite vanished, causing her weight to drop from a healthy 140 lbs to a frail 114 lbs.
Meanwhile, the drugs caused significant damage to her heart.
At 21, she unexpectedly became pregnant with her daughter, Shea, and despite claiming she stopped using drugs during the pregnancy, her heart had already sustained serious harm.
“When I went into labor, I felt something was off,” Masterpole recalled.
“When the doctors asked if I’d taken anything, I admitted to drug abuse, and they said I had ruined my heart.”
Complicating matters, she also had type 1 diabetes and had not been managing her insulin properly.
“The drugs weakened my heart, and the diabetes made it so fragile that my body couldn’t handle labor,” she said.
Years of heavy drug use and poor diabetes management left her heart in a precarious state, according to her doctor.
“You just shattered it,” she recalled him saying.
Now, at 34, she frequently needs a wheelchair due to fatigue and shortness of breath caused by her weakened heart.
She has been advised against having more children, given the strain it would place on her health.
Masterpole reflects on her journey, hoping to inform others about the risks of using these drugs without medical supervision, especially for academic gain or partying.
Ironically, despite her body taking a toll, she was performing well academically and socially.
She attended school to become a mortician while balancing work and socializing at night.
“I thought I was doing the right thing by getting school done, but I was really hurting myself,” she said.
These stimulants work by increasing dopamine and norepinephrine levels, helping the brain prioritize important tasks while filtering out distractions.
Masterpole felt like she was achieving so much—“I thought I had it all under control.”
She was earning money babysitting and believed that as long as she could handle her responsibilities, her drug use wasn’t a problem.
“I wasn’t struggling in class; I was managing everything. I assumed I was fine,” she said.
But high doses of Adderall put excessive strain on her heart, speeding it up and raising blood pressure, which can lead to thickened heart muscles over time.
Amphetamines constrict blood vessels, reducing oxygen flow to the heart, and can disrupt the heart’s electrical rhythms, leading to potentially deadly conditions.
At her lowest, she didn’t consider these dangers, resulting in permanent damage.
After delivering her daughter, Masterpole’s heart failed twice during her hospital stay, prompting doctors to implant a Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD) to help her heart pump effectively.
She also received a pacemaker and defibrillator at age 29 to help manage her heart’s rhythm.
Now on a heart transplant waiting list, which can take years, she remains at the bottom due to the existing treatments working adequately.
While she is feeling better, Masterpole has had to pause her dreams. She couldn’t complete her mortuary studies, finding it too challenging to manage her health with her education.
“I would advise others to completely avoid these drugs. It’s not worth it. Sure, they might provide temporary benefits, but they will ultimately cause harm,” Masterpole emphasized.
“It’s not the quick fix I believed it would be. It’s important to realize that pursuing these kinds of shortcuts can lead to a path you don’t want to take.”
