Adderall caused thyroid/adrenal issues?

[Kimber 92]

I've been attempting to quit for a couple of months.  Down to 20-30 mg /day.

Does anyone think Adderall causes thyroid and/or adrenal problems?  I have over researched this to the point of confusion and am afraid from what I've read that I can make it worse.  My neck/throat area sometimes feels like it has a pulsing heartbeat and is really sore when I wake up, plus my body is always really hot, but feet and hands sometime cold.  Like temperature gauge is off.

1.  If stop Adderall cold turkey can this possible cause irreparable damage?

2.  Any books or website suggestions for a SIMPLE TO FOLLOW, step by step on how to safely heal, help and/or repair any thyroid and/or adrenal problems.  Like I said I have over bombarded myself with information and feel stuck.

This really is the pits.  Tired of Adderall totally taking up my life...whether obsessing about not using it, then if I take it, obsessing and beat myself up for succumbing, then off to obsessively clean house and do more research!  I've killed 100's of trees with all my printed info on this crap..

 

[Greg 1,741]

Adderall causes adrenal fatigue. It gives you an artificial surplus of norepinephrine (and dopamine) in your brain . Norepinephrine (also called noradrenalin) boosts levels of energy in your body. 

The problem is that your body gets used to the pill producing the norepinephrine and dopamine (feel good chemicals) in your brain so your brain stops producing them naturally on its own. 

So when an addict stops taking adderall not only are they losing that artificial surplus of energy and feel good chemicals, the addicts brain has forgotten how to produce those chemicals on its own and the addict is hit with a double deficit of those chemicals. Thus the feeling of withdrawal. In time as you stop taking the pills, and it takes a long time, your brain begins to realize you are not going get an artificial boost of those chemicals and then gradually begins producing those chemicals on its own again.

[duffman 218]

12 hours ago, Kimber said:

I've been attempting to quit for a couple of months.  Down to 20-30 mg /day.

Does anyone think Adderall causes thyroid and/or adrenal problems?  I have over researched this to the point of confusion and am afraid from what I've read that I can make it worse.  My neck/throat area sometimes feels like it has a pulsing heartbeat and is really sore when I wake up, plus my body is always really hot, but feet and hands sometime cold.  Like temperature gauge is off.

1.  If stop Adderall cold turkey can this possible cause irreparable damage?

2.  Any books or website suggestions for a SIMPLE TO FOLLOW, step by step on how to safely heal, help and/or repair any thyroid and/or adrenal problems.  Like I said I have over bombarded myself with information and feel stuck.

This really is the pits.  Tired of Adderall totally taking up my life...whether obsessing about not using it, then if I take it, obsessing and beat myself up for succumbing, then off to obsessively clean house and do more research!  I've killed 100's of trees with all my printed info on this crap..

 

You know, I went down the same rabbit hole trying to figure out how to heal my thyroid and/or how to heal my adrenal glands. I bought tons of audiobooks, read tons of articles on various websites, and read countless anecdotes online about how to heal my thyroid and/or adrenal glands. Well, I took a blood test to see what my TSH looked like and it was within normal limits, so I gave up on the thyroid and focused on my adrenal glands. The best book I found, which has both the information and a guide for healing your adrenal glands, is called "The Adrenal Reset Diet: Strategically Cycle Carbs and Proteins to Lose Weight, Balance Hormones, and Move from Stressed to Thriving" by Alan Christianson. It seemed to help, but I also stopped taking stimulant medications entirely when I followed the protocol, so I can't say with 100% certainty that this was the reason why I started feeling better (eventually). Worth look into, good information. As @Greg said above, you need to stop the Adderall and let your begin the healing process. You're still taking something that is artificially jacking up various neurotransmitters and catecholamines, thus inhibiting your body's ability to begin healing and rebalancing itself. 

[hyper_critical 527]

Yes. Had serious adrenal/thyroid issues towards the end of my use. 

Completely gone now. 

Quit and stay quit. 

On 7/29/2017 at 11:45 AM, Kimber said:

Does anyone think Adderall causes thyroid and/or adrenal problems?

 

[Subtracterall 166]

Maybe adrenal fatigue is the reason that I sleep a full 8-9 hours each night but still feel physical fatigue after I wake up in the morning. I've been off adderall for almost 7 months now.  I also have the heartbeat feeling in my head and neck.  If you find something that helps take the heartbeat away please share and I will do the same. 

[hyper_critical 527]

If you haven't already, bring it up to your doctor and get blood work done.

[Kimber 92]

That's one of the problems...I'm on Doctor #3 that I've told about this and no one is concerned.  I've stopped taking supplements so I get an accurate reading and am going to order blood test on my own.  

How long, on average, has anyone been off adderall and started to see and feel an improvement in their health?  I know the depression will be difficult, but just wondering about our bodies ability to rebound from this shit.

[hyper_critical 527]

Gotcha. Sorry to hear that. Ohhh doctors...if we've learned anything from our experience with Adderall and doctors (both before getting on and after), you've got advocate for yourself even/especially with medical professionals. 

FWIW, had an enormous rebound around six months, and then another level shift higher in my second year. People on here who got into regular exercise seem to have shorter physical recovery times. I've only gotten back into it the last 18 months or so and it's having a dramatic impact. 

[Cheeri0 233]

@Kimber I'm two weeks shy of 1 year and I've noticed massive improvements in how my body feels in the past month. In order to psychologically get off the pills, I spent a lot of time netflixing, eating bad food, ect. I needed that down time to make quitting not overwhelming. Now that I've adjusted a little more, I'm eating better, going on walks, ect. My skin looks younger, my teeth are whiter, my body feels healthier. At 6 months I was wondering if I'd ever feel better again. Wait it out, I promise it improves!

[NotToday 267]

On 8/1/2017 at 7:34 PM, Kimber said:

That's one of the problems...I'm on Doctor #3 that I've told about this and no one is concerned.  I've stopped taking supplements so I get an accurate reading and am going to order blood test on my own.  

How long, on average, has anyone been off adderall and started to see and feel an improvement in their health?  I know the depression will be difficult, but just wondering about our bodies ability to rebound from this shit.

For me, everything started to improve around the 10th month. Both my depression and health significantly got better and continue to as I approach 13 months   I'm still way chubbier than I'd like to be but I just feel overall 1000000x better than I did in the early stages...

[Kimber 92]

So at 12:30pm today I tore up my rx that was to be filled tomorrow.  Screw Adderall.  Screw doctors.  Screw taking the last 17 years of my life.  I am done with you Adderall.  I will not be owned by you any more.

[Greg 1,741]

On 8/10/2017 at 5:23 PM, Kimber said:

So at 12:30pm today I tore up my rx that was to be filled tomorrow.  Screw Adderall.  Screw doctors.  Screw taking the last 17 years of my life.  I am done with you Adderall.  I will not be owned by you any more.

Great job!! That's excellent. You have to now sever it with your doctor or you can just refill it in days. Lots of  folks on this site had a moment when they poured the pills down the toilet and then 30 days later they just got it refilled and ended up in the same boat. Don't be one of those. 

[Greg 1,741]

On 8/2/2017 at 8:46 AM, hyper_critical said:

Gotcha. Sorry to hear that. Ohhh doctors...if we've learned anything from our experience with Adderall and doctors (both before getting on and after), you've got advocate for yourself even/especially with medical prof

Totally agree with you here. Everyone on this site blames doctors and the way they give out pills like candy for our problems. I'm a total culprit of this thinking. It's easy to blame them for our predicament but we can also proactive tell them we got dependent/addicted and to stop prescribing them to us. They won't dole out addetall if were honest and tell them the truth that we got addicted. 

[Kimber 92]

Yup. I told my new functional medicine doctor that has taken over my rx that my plan was to get off of it...I just wasn't sure when or how it was going to play out for me.

The day before it was to be filled, of course, I was already out and...low and behold all day no "thyroid-y, adrenal" feelings.  Adderall was physically making me feel really bad and wrecking havoc on my hormones.  And not that there may not be flare up in the future, but cause and effect was definitely there and all fingers pointed to adderall, I just wasn't ready to see it.

I'm pretty hard headed and determined when I want to be.  I'm not mad at any one other than myself  for not really seeing it sooner and mad enough that I don't want this shit to own another day of my life.  

Yup we'll see in a month, 2 months, 6 months, a year...but today I'm 100% done.  Husband, family and friends know, so got some accountability with them too.  

[Greg 1,741]

2 hours ago, Kimber said:

Yup. I told my new functional medicine doctor that has taken over my rx that my plan was to get off of it...I just wasn't sure when or how it was going to play out for me.

The day before it was to be filled, of course, I was already out and...low and behold all day no "thyroid-y, adrenal" feelings.  Adderall was physically making me feel really bad and wrecking havoc on my hormones.  And not that there may not be flare up in the future, but cause and effect was definitely there and all fingers pointed to adderall, I just wasn't ready to see it.

I'm pretty hard headed and determined when I want to be.  I'm not mad at any one other than myself  for not really seeing it sooner and mad enough that I don't want this shit to own another day of my life.  

Yup we'll see in a month, 2 months, 6 months, a year...but today I'm 100% done.  Husband, family and friends know, so got some accountability with them too.  

It's good that you are hard headed and determined. Would just recommend you completely close that window given that is what works. Seen so many people here who have victoriously flushed them down the toilet (or not filled it etc) and then- boom - they are back on it 30 days later. The ones that just cut off the doctor are the ones who make it...Id just ask your husband to do it, close your eyes, have him make the call and get it over with. I just had a relative do it for me. It was awful but so worth it.

[bluemoon 343]

18 hours ago, Kimber said:

Yup. I told my new functional medicine doctor that has taken over my rx that my plan was to get off of it...I just wasn't sure when or how it was going to play out for me.

The day before it was to be filled, of course, I was already out and...low and behold all day no "thyroid-y, adrenal" feelings.  Adderall was physically making me feel really bad and wrecking havoc on my hormones.  And not that there may not be flare up in the future, but cause and effect was definitely there and all fingers pointed to adderall, I just wasn't ready to see it.

I'm pretty hard headed and determined when I want to be.  I'm not mad at any one other than myself  for not really seeing it sooner and mad enough that I don't want this shit to own another day of my life.  

Yup we'll see in a month, 2 months, 6 months, a year...but today I'm 100% done.  Husband, family and friends know, so got some accountability with them too.  

 

If you're serious about quitting you have to cut your doctor off. You can't have that option to refill your prescription in 30 days. 

[Kimber 92]

Whoever recommended the book The Mood Cure, thank you!

First of all it has been 7 days since I decided to quit and had my last Adderall 8 days ago...after never even considering the idea a year ago. ( been on for 17 years)

I know it ain't even close to being over and may never be over, HOWEVER...for me setting myself up to succeed was crucial. 

I knew if I continued to drink alcohol every night and eat like crap, that I'd feel like crap and that would be all I would need for an excuse to "just get back on Adderall".  So for me it was paramount to make my new obsession only eating good for me stuff and not drinking alcohol.  In a week, which feels like forever, it's been ups and downs, and like someone else also said on here...Adderall masked any of the "downs" and getting used to self motivating.  But right now, (and yes, I know I'm still honeymooning-yesterday sucked) Just feeling a little bit better AND the feeling of accomplishment of doing it for one week, feels really good.  

I HATE having something control me and me getting mad at adderall AND being armed with the vitamins, etc from the Mood Cure book I feel I am setting myself up for success.  Seriously a good read book!  And I thought I'd never be able to read without Adderall!  HA!...obviously today is a good day.