Claim: Adderall's active ingredient is dextroamphetamine.

Adderall is a combination drug containing salts of the two enantiomers of amphetamine , a central nervous system -LRB- CNS -RRB- stimulant of the phenethylamine class . Adderall is used in the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder -LRB- ADHD -RRB- and narcolepsy . It is also used as an athletic performance enhancer and cognitive enhancer , and recreationally as an aphrodisiac and euphoriant . By salt content , the active ingredients of Adderall are 25 % levoamphetamine salts -LRB- the levorotary or ` left-handed ' enantiomer -RRB- and 75 % dextroamphetamine salts -LRB- the dextrorotary or ` right-handed ' enantiomer -RRB- .   Adderall is generally well-tolerated and effective in treating the symptoms of ADHD and narcolepsy . At therapeutic doses , Adderall causes emotional and cognitive effects such as euphoria , change in desire for sex , increased wakefulness , and improved cognitive control . At these doses , it induces physical effects such as decreased reaction time , fatigue resistance , and increased muscle strength . In contrast , much larger doses of Adderall can impair cognitive control , cause rapid muscle breakdown , or induce a psychosis -LRB- e.g. , delusions and paranoia -RRB- . The side effects of Adderall vary widely among individuals , but most commonly include insomnia , dry mouth , and loss of appetite . The risk of developing an addiction is insignificant when Adderall is used as prescribed at fairly low daily doses , such as those used for treating ADHD ; however , the routine use of Adderall in larger daily doses poses a significant risk of addiction due to the pronounced reinforcing effects that are present at higher doses . Recreational doses of Adderall are generally much larger than prescribed therapeutic doses , and carry a far greater risk of serious adverse effects .   The two amphetamine enantiomers that compose Adderall -LRB- i.e. , levoamphetamine and dextroamphetamine -RRB- alleviate the symptoms of ADHD and narcolepsy by increasing the activity of the neurotransmitters norepinephrine and dopamine in the brain , which results from their interactions with trace amine associated receptor 1 -LRB- TAAR1 -RRB- and vesicular monoamine transporter 2 -LRB- VMAT2 -RRB- in neurons . Dextroamphetamine is a more potent stimulant than levoamphetamine , but levoamphetamine has slightly stronger cardiovascular and peripheral effects and a longer elimination half-life -LRB- i.e. , it remains in the body longer -RRB- than dextroamphetamine . The levoamphetamine component of Adderall has been reported to improve the treatment response in some individuals relative to dextroamphetamine alone . Adderall 's active ingredient , amphetamine , shares many chemical and pharmacological properties with the human trace amines , particularly phenethylamine and , the latter of which is a positional isomer of amphetamine .