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Did adderall honeymoon REALLY change your life in a substantial way??


Greg

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There is a recurring theme here that adderall changed peoples lives once they discovered. They were on top of the world, more social etc etc...I remember my 'honeymoon' with adderall as this amazing transformation in my life. I was elected to student council executive vice president(lol), I got an internship, I paid extreme attention in class and got a high GPA...I was extremely involved in my extracurricular activities and did a great job (lol) ....

 

But looking back, much older now- were these 'life changing' things even such a big deal? Who cares?

 

So what maybe you became more talkative? So what you are a supermom or parent? So what you can stay on top of the laundry better than anyone else? But these are not such a big deal if you really think about it.  Agreed? Disagreed?

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I *thought* I made significant life changes during my adderall honeymoon, but looking back this was more my perception than reality. If I paid closer attention, I would've seen red flags sooner even in the honeymoon phase. When I didn't take adderall on the weekends, I was a prisoner in my house just eating and sleeping. Then Monday morning I'd be superwoman again. Hint: not sustainable.

I lost ~15 lbs. and loved finally reaching my goal weight and losing my appetite. I'm perfectly healthy +15 lbs., so it was always just an obsessive fixation of mine (still is). Being thinner gave me a charge of confidence.

When I look back though, it seems as if every "positive" from that period was accompanied by a negative I was just too blind to see at the time. I got good grades and rocked my internship projects, but simultaneously started skipping classes, sleeping in, and being perpetually late. I was more socially outgoing and confident, but only when I actually managed to get out. Otherwise, I was laser focused on my own little world and irritable and antisocial.

It's also hard to look back at positive things that happened, like getting a job, and wonder if you could've done it without a drug. Of course you could have, but it sucks to lose your confidence and question your own abilities in hindsight.

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I think I might have learned a few things that stayed with me.  I actually retained some of the skills I learned.  

 

When I first started taking it in college, I discovered my major and got really into it.  That might not have happened for me if I didn't have the adderall-induced confidence and focus.  Or, most likely, it would have just taken longer.  Adderall was a shortcut to me figuring out and starting to develop my natural talents.  Now that I'm quit I get to take it from there :)

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I completely agree with the posts above. The only things Adderall was useful for, for me, was staying up late, waking up early and not eating. It made me spend and waste a lot of time cleaning, rearranging and reorganizing my room/apartment and buying useless shit. I think I wasted a lot of time and energy on useless shit on Adderall -- like highlighting and day drinking lol Without it, I don't waste time on as useless stuff anymore because I just don't have the time or reason. 8 months into my recovery and I still need at least 10 hours of sleep a night to be functional but I wouldn't have it any other way.

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I *thought* I made significant life changes during my adderall honeymoon, but looking back this was more my perception than reality. If I paid closer attention, I would've seen red flags sooner even in the honeymoon phase. When I didn't take adderall on the weekends, I was a prisoner in my house just eating and sleeping. Then Monday morning I'd be superwoman again. Hint: not sustainable.

I lost ~15 lbs. and loved finally reaching my goal weight and losing my appetite. I'm perfectly healthy +15 lbs., so it was always just an obsessive fixation of mine (still is). Being thinner gave me a charge of confidence.

When I look back though, it seems as if every "positive" from that period was accompanied by a negative I was just too blind to see at the time. I got good grades and rocked my internship projects, but simultaneously started skipping classes, sleeping in, and being perpetually late. I was more socially outgoing and confident, but only when I actually managed to get out. Otherwise, I was laser focused on my own little world and irritable and antisocial.

It's also hard to look back at positive things that happened, like getting a job, and wonder if you could've done it without a drug. Of course you could have, but it sucks to lose your confidence and question your own abilities in hindsight.

 

Wow all your points are what I'm experiencing now.  It is so weird how yes when you're out and on adderall you can be a social butterfly, but at the same time have no problem staying wholed up in your house alone for the whole weekend doing useless stuff.

 

Now I'm having major problems with the weekend like you mentioned when I don't take it, all I do is literally sleep wake up eat then back to sleep.  I do that for the whole weekend, then Monday it starts all over again.  such a viscious cycle

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Wow all your points are what I'm experiencing now.  It is so weird how yes when you're out and on adderall you can be a social butterfly, but at the same time have no problem staying wholed up in your house alone for the whole weekend doing useless stuff.

 

Now I'm having major problems with the weekend like you mentioned when I don't take it, all I do is literally sleep wake up eat then back to sleep.  I do that for the whole weekend, then Monday it starts all over again.  such a viscious cycle

 

I have to constantly remind myself how awful that vicious cycle feels. That's one of the main reasons why I got so fed up with the drug. I would go away for weekends with my friends or have friends visit me and I had to take a pill in order to function. Again, that's just not sustainable.

 

I'm a bit of a workaholic already and losing my weekends made it even more dramatic. I'd tell myself to just get through until I could take my medicine Monday morning. What a horrible way to exist when I could be out living! 

 

I'm only on day 18 of being clean, so my weekends have still been lazy, but I'm looking forward to having motivation to pursue other hobbies and activities on the weekends. I think it's absolutely true that you pay for the high you feel at first from stimulants (I say "at first," because eventually you lose that feeling, yet keep chasing it). There has to be a balance and nature/biology makes up for it in the form of depression and lethargy when you don't take a pill. Isn't that hazy, unmotivated fog the worst? 

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I have to constantly remind myself how awful that vicious cycle feels. That's one of the main reasons why I got so fed up with the drug. I would go away for weekends with my friends or have friends visit me and I had to take a pill in order to function. Again, that's just not sustainable.

 

I'm a bit of a workaholic already and losing my weekends made it even more dramatic. I'd tell myself to just get through until I could take my medicine Monday morning. What a horrible way to exist when I could be out living! 

 

I'm only on day 18 of being clean, so my weekends have still been lazy, but I'm looking forward to having motivation to pursue other hobbies and activities on the weekends. I think it's absolutely true that you pay for the high you feel at first from stimulants (I say "at first," because eventually you lose that feeling, yet keep chasing it). There has to be a balance and nature/biology makes up for it in the form of depression and lethargy when you don't take a pill. Isn't that hazy, unmotivated fog the worst? 

Wow congrats on 18 days!! so far I can only manage on the weekends when I'm not working and can just sleep

 

And you're so right, at 1st i started taking it to get stuff done, then it became no matter what I had to do (grocery shop, visit family etc..) I had to pop a pill to stay on my schedule of pills

 

The unmotivated fog happens so much sooner now, during my work day by 3 pm if I don't take a pill, I literally can't get anything done & I get really moody by this time of day

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During my Adderall Honeymoon. I created some truly brilliant disasters, I have never in my life been so dedicated and focused on fucking everything up.  There are many examples, but mostly it involved deploying new filing systems, complex strategies for clients that should have been simple.  I was a focused machine the first month I was on adderall I broke sales records etc. The problem came when I was expected to repeat my performance the buzz simply wasn't sustainable.   Adderall did help me focus for a time I many strategic errors.  I'm relearning focus again without the pills  i believe without the pills I am more of a dynamic thinker.  

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During my Adderall Honeymoon. I created some truly brilliant disasters, I have never in my life been so dedicated and focused on fucking everything up.  There are many examples, but mostly it involved deploying new filing systems, complex strategies for clients that should have been simple.  I was a focused machine the first month I was on adderall I broke sales records etc. The problem came when I was expected to repeat my performance the buzz simply wasn't sustainable.   Adderall did help me focus for a time I many strategic errors.  I'm relearning focus again without the pills  i believe without the pills I am more of a dynamic thinker.  

 

I'm so glad I found the other thread on adderall and job issues, because all the symptoms listed I've experienced and only until now I can realize it's from the medicatoin & not just me.  Knowing this I've become more aware of myself now at work and a tiny bit more social, but definitely not as grumpy as before.

 

I knew it was an adderall problem when my boss took me in a meeting recent and stated he was unhappy with my performance because I seemed so "distant" from the team, intimidating and always late...This was a wake up call for me to at least put up a front that I'm capable of doing a job that I've done for the past 15years without any issue

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