Greg Posted August 28, 2011 Report Share Posted August 28, 2011 Hi guys, I have spent a lot of my time in adderall reoovery reading books about adderall/amphetamine addiction and just wanted to pass on some titles I read. Feel free to add to this list.. 1) On Speed - Traces the history of America's obsession with amphetamines; dexadrine, ritalin, adderall etc... 2) Amphetamine Debate - Goes into the consequences of stimulant abuse, psychosis particularly with adderall and ritalin.. 3) More, Now and Again - Memoir of a Writer's Addiction to Ritalin... Some I haven't read yet - 4) The Adderall Diaries - Its a memoir, apparently talks about the writers experiencing abusing adderall and mixing different amphetamine medications (FYI THIS HAS NOT GOTTEN GOOD REVIEWS FROM MEMBERS...SEE BELOW) 5) Requiem for a Dream - One of the stories subplots is a woman who gets hooked on amphetamines.. Front Page NY Times article on adderall addiction http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/03/us/concerns-about-adhd-practices-and-amphetamine-addiction.html?_r=0 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Posted April 29, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 29, 2012 I just wanted to pass along another book title. Its called Overcoming Perscription Drug Addiction. The author's brother died from a painkiller addiction. This book is filled with stories of painkiller addicts, but these stories are so similar to adderall addicts. Any adderall addict will be able to relate 100 percent to these stories. It's also filled with a lot of advice for dealing with addiction. It's a very quick read. Here is a link to the book http://www.addicusbooks.com/show_title.cfm?isbn=9781886039889 And here's the first chapter. http://www.addicusbooks.com/chapters/RXChap1-Sample-4-07-09.pdf There is also a 24 Hour Prescription Drug Addiction Hotline which looks like it could be a great resource. I haven't called in, but if anyone does, please let us know how it is. Here is the link for it. http://www.prescriptiondrugaddiction.com/ Again, this book is entirely about painkiller addicts, but I feel like the lessons apply to all prescription drug addicts. The withdrawal process is definitely different, I think painkiller addicts take suboxene to taper off. They also probably have less of a mental battle and more of physical battle than adderall addicts. Adderall addicts, I think, unfortunately get the worst of it in terms of struggling with the mind. But in other areas we are not as bad as other addictions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassie Posted April 29, 2012 Report Share Posted April 29, 2012 I have also read "On Speed" by Nicolas Rasmussen and recommend that anyone taking Adderall read it to learn about the history of this drug. Amphetamines are a perfect example of how the drug discovery came first and the search for a disease came second, and how the 'disease' changed over the years depending on cultural shifts. I think everyone should be aware of how powerful pharmaceutical companies are, and have always been, in shaping medical research, government regulations, and the health information stream itself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjg Posted May 1, 2012 Report Share Posted May 1, 2012 Thank you so much for all of this information. I've been dealing with this problem for almost two years and I have completely alone. Then I found this website last night and i've been reading ever since. Thanks again. This website is so helpful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Posted May 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 8, 2012 gjg, I'm so glad this has been helpful!! I felt really alone at first too until I came across this website and found so many people struggling with the EXACT same thing..It helps so much with recovery to know you aren't going through it all alone.. I also wanted to pass on another title that I must have read time and again in my desperation for recovery. It's the NA book. If you havent been to an NA meeting yet, I'd go check one out at least once...and at least see what it's all about... I was able to locate my local meeting locations on the NA website Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Posted July 3, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 3, 2012 I just wanted to update this book list because people have been recommending a lot of books in other posts and I've been keeping a mental checklist of them and searched older posts. I didn't realize there were so many! Motivational/Exercise/Food/Diet/Supplements/Brain "The Feeling Good Handbook" I Want to Change My Life Eat That Frog! "Too Soon Old, Too Late Smart" "And Never Stop Dancing" The Conquest of Happiness 7 Habits of Highly Effective People "My Stroke of Insight" Unchain Your Brain Food and Mood In Defense Of Food Omnivores Dillema Eat to Live Change Your Brain, Change Your Life The Brain That Changes Itself The Mood Cure The China Study Keep adding... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Posted July 4, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 4, 2012 I am definitely seeing a clear trend here on what kind of books the recovering adderall addict likes and recommends... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quit-once Posted July 4, 2012 Report Share Posted July 4, 2012 Thanks for assembling this list. What a great resource! I am amazed how many of those books I have read, purchased, or heard about, and not just here on the forums. The links really help too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassie Posted July 13, 2012 Report Share Posted July 13, 2012 I just read a great book called Free Will by Sam Harris. It's about how free will, as we think of it, is an illusion from a neuroscience perspective because our thoughts and actions derive from deeper impulses of which we are consciously unaware. I've been a fan of Harris' blog for quite a while and think he's an amazing writer. Check it out. It's a very short read and you will find the concepts strangely comforting with regards to addiction recovery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krax Posted January 5, 2013 Report Share Posted January 5, 2013 Just finished reading "on speed" Excellent read thanks InRecovery 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lea Posted January 5, 2013 Report Share Posted January 5, 2013 "Requiem for a Dream" This movie was extremely penetrating, especially the Ellen Burstyn character. The movie came out in the late 90's and I've seen it many times. Is this also a book? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sky Posted January 5, 2013 Report Share Posted January 5, 2013 omg I was JUST thinking about Requiem yesterday!!! ugh that movie is disturbing and powerful and great. so hard to watch though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Motivation_Follows_Action Posted January 6, 2013 Report Share Posted January 6, 2013 I just read a great book called Free Will by Sam Harris. It's about how free will, as we think of it, is an illusion from a neuroscience perspective because our thoughts and actions derive from deeper impulses of which we are consciously unaware. I've been a fan of Harris' blog for quite a while and think he's an amazing writer. Check it out. It's a very short read and you will find the concepts strangely comforting with regards to addiction recovery. Big fan of Sam Harris. Not for religious types though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Posted January 6, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2013 "Requiem for a Dream" This movie was extremely penetrating, especially the Ellen Burstyn character. The movie came out in the late 90's and I've seen it many times. Is this also a book? Thanks! Yep. It's the book the movie is based on. The Ellen burstyn character is hooked on Dexedrine. I just basically read her storyline and skipped the other parts .there are scenes I identified a little too closely with for comfort. really powerful story about prescription pill amphetamine addiction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle_Chaos Posted January 6, 2013 Report Share Posted January 6, 2013 Thank you so much for all of this information. I've been dealing with this problem for almost two years and I have completely alone. Then I found this website last night and i've been reading ever since. Thanks again. This website is so helpful. That book is now in my basket at Amazon.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sky Posted January 6, 2013 Report Share Posted January 6, 2013 I recommend anything by James Allen as a means to looking forward, not back... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lea Posted January 6, 2013 Report Share Posted January 6, 2013 Anyone here read "Talking back to ritalin" by an MD named Breggman??? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Motivation_Follows_Action Posted January 6, 2013 Report Share Posted January 6, 2013 You know what would be really cool? A book written by regular contributors to this forum. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Motivation_Follows_Action Posted January 7, 2013 Report Share Posted January 7, 2013 The Adderall Diaries - Its a memoir, apparently talks about the writers experiencing abusing adderall and mixing different amphetamine medications I read this. Not one of my favorites, was written in a frantic, kind of deeply negative, cynical way and kind of hard to follow. Maybe that was the point... because that's what people's brains are like on adderall. But I just didn't think it was compelling literature and it felt like a bit of a "trendy" thing to write. If you feel like good first-person narrative and commentary on modern day life and culture I'd recommend David Foster Wallace.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted September 17, 2013 Report Share Posted September 17, 2013 The Adderall Diaries by Stephen Elliot sholud not be recomended for stories about Adderall use and recovery. I agree with MFA; the book in trendy and so is the title for that matter. It offers little or no insight into why users use or how they recover. At the end the author admits he still take 15mgs a day, which he considers less than most. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassie Posted September 18, 2013 Report Share Posted September 18, 2013 Funny that this thread came up again. A while back I read #3 on InRecovery's list: 3) More, Now and Again - Memoir of a Writer's Addiction to Ritalin... by Elizabeth Wurtzel and LOVED it. It is so, so good! (so is Prozac Nation, by the same author). A big part of the memoir is her talking about how during her addiction she was writing her second book, Bitch: In Praise of Difficult Women. During this time, she was so fucked up she would sleep at her publisher's office and have bottles of Dexedrine FedEx'd to her there by her friends. She became this junkie writer hobo who basically lived at Simon and Shuster, or wherever, and wrote and did speed all day and night. So, I just checked out Bitch from the library yesterday and it is so unreadable - it's like this overly verbose, nonsensical collection of essays about women. The essays are so convoluted that they make so sense in the context of a whole book. Like, there's no overarching theme to tie her ramblings together. She just spitballs from one idea and reference to the next in this really frenetic, unreadable way. It was amazing to read that and recognize that the book was written on speed, and was horrible as a result. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Posted July 31, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 31, 2015 I dont know how much longer they will be up for free, but amazon has put up a bunch of substance abuse books available for free download on kindle. I havent read any of them but they look interesting. I have read most of the books on the original list in this post and cannot begin to describe how therapeutic they were in early recovery. http://www.amazon.com/Substance-Abuse-Six-Pack-English-Opium-ebook/dp/B011PXABRW?tag=slickdeals&ascsubtag=608f32fbbafb4d46b9123c17e2914496 Substance Abuse Collection Volume 1 Kubla Khan Confessions of an Opium Eater <----this book was written in 1821 and considered classic and one of the first memoirs about addiction... Tobacco and Alcohol The Opium Habit My Lady Nicotine and an illustrated Mark Twain Speech There is also a second volume of substance abuse books that is free as of now. Substance Abuse Collection Volume 2 http://www.amazon.com/Substance-Abuse-Six-Pack-Illustrated-ebook/dp/B011YKLWZQ/ref=sr_1_2?tag=slickdeals&ascsubtag=233221fcb40e4e1b81809068b3cb0d9f&s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1438308379&sr=1-2&keywords=substance+abuse+six+pack The Hasheesh Eater A History of Champagne The Truth about Opium The Betrothed An Ode of Thanks for Certain Cigars The Soul of wine (Illustrated) Also read somewhere about this memoir which came out a couple months ago and also came across the following list Finally one more book -- and I think if I recall correct both Cassie and I have read this book. Even though it does not deal with adderall addiction or addiction recovery...I felt this book really hit home and tapped into that state a person finds themselves in when they just quit adderall and arent sure how they are going to get through life...It's called "Get it Done When Your Depressed" 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Searching4Zara Posted September 17, 2015 Report Share Posted September 17, 2015 Hi! I am new to this site and so far I have just been lurking and reading the forums. I have yet to write an introductory post but this topic really caught my attention so I figured I might as well jump in while I have the courage to write. I apologize in advance if I unknowingly did not follow any rules by posting or within my writings. Briefly I will just say I am no stranger to drug addiction and this is not my first Adderall merry-go-round either, though it is by far the worst. I was put on Adderall by my (addictions specialist) psychaitrist a few years to help with severe (med resistant) Depression & PTSD symptoms. I thought I could handle the Adderall, especially because I prefer opiates but I was terribly wrong. My Dr. upped my dosage to a ridiclous amount for anyone, let alone a 5'8 110lb female. (I'm 33y/o) As the stories go, I began abusing pretty quickly to the point I can not remember the last time my 2--30mgXR pills lasted even close to the refill date or when 60mgs taken at once even had an effect on me. To be honest, I am very ashamed to even write the # of mgs I have been taking up until a couple days ago when I abruptly stopped for all the reasons mentioned on this website and more. As I mentioned, this is not the first time I have fallen in the Adderall trap. In the past, I never thought adults could be addicted to medications that are given to 4 year olds. The extensive research paper I wrote in college about the connection between Ritalin and Cocaine only persuaded me in taking a non-medicinal approach should I ever have children. I was in compete denial of the dangers, the abuse potiental and thought nothing of the fact that I had purposely (and eaisly) went to doctors soley for an amphetamine script. I honestly thought I was the only adult who popped Adderall--this kid "drug" all day. I prided myself for this "secret" super appetite suppressant I was convinced I unearthed which was like gold to an Anorexic. Conversly, when the negative effects of abuse began, I was too ashamed to admit I was really addicted to this "kid pill" so I never sought help---just switched addictions. I realize this post is quite verbose.....but I wrote all that because it was not until (years later) when I read one of the books on this list that I discovered I am not the only Adderall Addict in the world. Having very much related to her previous memior, Prozac Nation, I bought Elizabeth Wurtzel's new memior called "More Now and Again". I had no previous knowlege of the subject matter, but I enjoy reading and appreciate her as an author. Needless to say, I finished reading it in 2 days and was both shocked and relieved to learn I was not alone. Ironically, Wurtzel writes that she also believed Ritalin was an innocous "kid" pill and felt completely alone & ashamed in her addiction to Ritalin. Not too long ago, I read her book again but this time I was/am heavily addicted to Adderall. I read it during the past few months of not wanting to admit I was addicted to Adderall again, despite my life being more of a mess than when I was on herion and crack. I read it during the "trying to convince yourself it's not that bad" phase in which I would try to skip taking pills for a day. Without fail, every time I read that book I wouldn't finish 2 pages before I would take my pills. The days I had no connections and no script left, I wouldn't so much as look at that book. The book itself is amazingly written and I related (too much) to her feelings and behaviors so I would reccomend it to anyone who has just started taking amphetamines or to a loved one who wants to really see into the mind and life of an amphetamine addict. However, if you are fresh into recovery or easily triggered...it is the last book I would recommend reading. It does have the happy ending but honestly, write your own memior if you want to go back into this addiction and make some money instead of risking your sobriety/life. Just my 2 cents.....not worth much I know but as much as I love that book, I felt it best to throw a word of caution out there.....sorry for all the misspellings & too tired to edit Thanks for reading this all the way through....I hope to get to know you all soon! I am so happy to have found this website, but sad for everything you all went through. I hope to contribute more and have some support/accountability during this detox and especially when I feel better and " just this once" sounds like a good idea! ~Zara PS- I agree 100% about her book Bitch--it's clearly the incoherent ramblings and irrational arguements of someone on speed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlwaysAwesome Posted September 17, 2015 Report Share Posted September 17, 2015 welcome to the site! Come here as often as you can. I post here all the time and it has helped me to stay on the path during some really tough times. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doge Posted September 17, 2015 Report Share Posted September 17, 2015 "trying to convince yourself it's not that bad" phase I soooo remember spending a lot of time in that phase.... Congrats for quitting!! Cant' wait to see you around the forums! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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