How did you quit adderall taper or cold turkey?

[Onedayatatime 4]

Did anyone use the taper method? If so what was your experience? Thank you. 

[Tom23Jones 168]

Cold turkey.  Once my mind was FOR REAL made up that my adderall abuse was not sustainable, I knew I had to quit and never look back.... I knew it was going to suck and be the hardest thing I'd ever done but there is no way I could've slowly tapered off.  I tried controlling my using for years so why the fuck would I think I'd be able to control tapering off.

Plus I feel like cold turkey is getting a jump on your recovery.  Letting your brain start the healing/rewiring process. 

[Danquit 381]

Personally I could never taper, if I have Adderall, I will abuse it. I went from 80mg a day to zero. First two weeks were a nightmare then the hell really began and went for the entire first year. It wasn’t until year two when I started to feel like my old self again. Now at a little over three years, I’m a little fatter but a whole lot healthier and for good or for bad, I’m living my life without Adderall.

[Socially awkward 89]

I tried the taper method and it caused me to feel extremely depressed as I constantly felt like I was crashing or coming down. I think I lasted a month until I just went out and binged like crazy again. This was followed by another month of heavy use before I eventually quit cold turkey. I had to leave the country to go cold turkey and take a 6 week leave of absence from work. 

[Onedayatatime 4]

Thank you all for your responses. 

Ive been tapering since last Oct. Prior to that I was prescribed  60mgs a day. (IR) For 10 years. I never abused my medication but by virtue of ingesting it and taking it as prescribed I became dependent on it.

Im down to 15mgs a day. It’s really hard. I can’t imagine going cold turkey b/c of how I bad I feel right now. It gets worse? Does anyone see anything positive about tapering?  I’ve never deviated from my taper schedule.  Never gone back up- at this point I feel beyond miserable tired and sick of feeling sick. I am thinking about going back up if these symptoms don’t subside soon b/c this is horrible.. 

[Onedayatatime 4]

I don’t want to go back up.. I fought so hard to get here to 15mgs- it’s just the hardest thing I’ve ever done- and I see no light at the end of this tunnel.. 

[DC011381 20]

@Onedayatatime. I know this isn't going to make you feel better but you should be extremely proud of yourself for the amount of self control you have and continue to demonstrate.  You always took exactly what your doctor prescribed for all that time - that is absolutely incredible! And the fact that you have never slipped back up while tapering - even with all the pain it is causing - is equally as incredible.  

Are you comfortable sharing why you made the decision to taper/quit?  Are you sure quitting is what is best for you? 

The reason why I ask - just because my actions and personal experiences made it absolutely necessary for me to quit doesn't mean we assume everyone in the world needs to quit or not be on it.  

I don't think tapering vs cold turkey (or one specific tapering strategy vs another tapering strategy) is going to make a material difference.  Unfortunately, the only way to beat this is time - exactly how much time is always unique to the individual.  And during that time, there will be a significant amount of pain.  And you are not alone. 

The only thing that may help is "expectations management."  Unfortunately, the awful feelings you have are unavoidable.  I was given the same advice and find it's helpful to expect these feelings, focus on managing them as opposed to alleviating them and eliminating any false hope of a quick fix or having them disappear. 

BUT, there is light at the end of the tunnel.  And I am nowhere near the light.  But I am better then I was 6 months ago and that gives me hope that these gradual (if often times unnoticeable) improvements will continue pushing me to the end of the tunnel

[William 95]

@Onedayatatime Congratulations on staying the course to this point. As you stated, going back up would be a huge setback. Don’t do it. I was on high doses of Adderall for 15 years. I tapered over a relatively brief time. A few months. Doing it all by dumping the addy beads into the hulls of emptied vitamin capsules because my insurance wouldn’t fill my script at progressively lower doses. For comparative purposes, I did a “medically supervised” taper off Klonopin that lasted well over a year. You’re not going to be able to avoid the awful process that is recovery from stims... But jumping off at 15mgs is very likely to be more tolerable then if you had gone cold turkey from the get go. I would consider a complete stop at this point. And like what was said above, try to manage, dare I say “embrace” the process... Best of luck! Keep on fighting!!

[BK99 141]

I tried tapering. It lasted about two weeks before I was forced to go cold turkey because my pdoc quit without notice. I don’t know if I would have been able to taper down for months. My self control isn’t the best...