Quitting Ritalin/Concerta

[teamwin24]

I know that this forum is about adderall... but does anyone have any experience with this? 

 

I personally never liked adderall/dexedrine/vyvanse and always had side effects that were so awful that it deterred me from their use.

 

Methylphenidate is a totally different story. For me (and I know from the internet and from personal experience that more people prefer adderall) I am my perfect self on it. This alone makes it very hard for me to part with it. I have been on it for ~3 years. 

 

I rarely abuse it (I have a select few times but they are months on end between), and usually take my rxed dose... which currently is 3 x 10mg tablets / day (has been as high as a 54mg concerta and a 20mg ritalin booster however)....

 

Recently I have been getting hypertension and chest pains so decided to stop taking it. It has been around a week and I miss it. A lot.... I dont know if I am going to be able to make it, but I wanna try as much as I can because I know deep down that this is not good for my body. Have been substituting with caffeine and my bp has gone down a little bit (130/80 versus 140/86).

 

I dont know if I even have adhd. I am in my late 20's currently. I got started on ritalin when a friend of mine gave me an entire bottle of 20mgs she didnt want. Next thing I know I found a website that would ship me 10mg tablets... I purchased 60-100 of them at a time from that website till I realized how expensive it was getting... So I went and got a adhd diagnosis (half assed the test with the intention of getting a rx).... now it is 3 years later or so. 

 

I have been so unproductive and unmotivated the last week. Have been making poor financial decisions as well (day trading etc). I am over the worst of the withdrawl at this point and get no physical effects anymore... I just dont know if I want to continue stopping the med or not... If not now tho then when? Am I supposed to be on this med for the rest of my life???

 

I have not talked to my doctor about this... he would want me to stay on the med. 

 

Sorry if this is long winded. Just found this community and ewanted to get this off my chest. Seems real nice/supportive here. 

[Zerokewl]

Hello welcome to the board. I was on concerta for a long time before adding adderall to the mix. Both are pretty similar in terms of ingredients. In terms of getting high adderall was my preference, i used cooncerta to maintain a baseline. Also adderall was easier to crush to abuse.  

 

   I am a recovering speed addict. Adderall, Concerta, Ritalin are all speed, Just like beer, wine, vodka are all alcohol to a alcoholic.  I was deeply dependent on concerta for everyday living and adderall was sort of a sencond boost. Though in the end I took large doses of both just to get through the day. 

 

Sounds like you are in the throws of early withdrawl. You will be sleepy for while (the period varies). It will take time for your body to re-calibrate. You will start feeling more energetic soon, just get the sleep your body needs to repair itself.

 

Take some time to read some of the articles on the site. Though Adderall focused they all apply to concerta.  

[Greg]

Welcome to the forums. I was addicted to Ritalin and Concetta as well. I think you are making an intelligent decision. And your thoughts are logical. No, you don't want to be on the his for the rest of your life. You definitely don't want hypertension. Your motivation will come back more and more the longer you are away from it. So keep with it and be strong!

[teamwin24]

Thanks for the helpful advice.... its real tough struggle as I sure you guys know especially after being on it for 3 years (im sure others have been on longer). Either way appreciate the support.

 

Its weird because mentally I wish I could still be on it (because it hasnt caused any conflicts in my life etc... hasnt been a destructive force like illegal drugs used to be in my late teens / early 20's -- I have been clean from those for 5 years +) but physically I really do not want hypertension as heart disease runs in my family.

 

I am going to give it another 2 weeks or so and see how I feel. Hopefully I can stick it out. This place rocks im looking forward to spending more time on it. 

[Zerokewl]

I remember those chest pains... at the time I didn't relate them to the concerta.  

[SweetCarolinee]

Hey there!

 

My heart would always hurt on Adderall... even when I wasn't speeding. That never stopped me from using. Like what was I doing? Then I would drink booze to slow down my heart rate. My poor heart. It's getting better now, hopefully.

I have to say, when I quit, I didn't hit rock bottom… I probably hit rock bottom in my early using and kept using anyways. Young and dumb. I quit when the depression and anixety got so bad and I never had depression before using - that saids something. I don't think anyone should be on ADD meds of any kind - even if it "helps" them because in the long run, I honestly think it only hurts people, mentally and physically but that's what I believe and my personal experience.

I had a similar mind set to you before quitting - I thought I couldn't, it wasn't possible. I honestly thought I would be on it forever but look at me now! I don't want to jinx anything because hey, it hasn't been easy but it's possible to live without it. It just takes hard work. You can do it if you want it

Glad you found the site and welcome with open arms!

[teamwin24]

ugh... well i lasted 10 days and took some today (36mg concerta)... obviously feel "normal again"...the past 10 days were pretty rough and couldnt make it (horribly non productive and I was pretty awful to the wife too)... maybe next time I can get through more than 10 days. 

[Zerokewl]

No biggie. Now you know what to expect.  Good practice run.  

[Krax]

Ritalin was my primary drug for 4.5 years. I substituted concerta for it for awhile but went back to the ritalin because I liked being able to dose more often. My breaking point that directly led me to trying to quit (which took 6 months to do) was focalin. That drug is EVIL. Unlike ritalin, where after taking too much of it for too long I would experience massive gas pains, it seemed I could stay on focalin forever.

 

The thing that helped me quit (besides telling my wife not to let me take it anymore) was Wellbutrin. I took that the first four months off of amphetamine. At that point as my vitality returned I couldn't tolerate the wellbutrin stimulus anymore, but for those first four months it saved me.

[hyper_critical]

teamwin24,

 

Keep coming back - it will only get harder. I would say things like "I am my perfect self on it" before I quit. Now that I'm almost a year clean, I realize that was absolute lunacy. 

 

It's probably going to take you carving out a few months and giving yourself a break to do this thing for real. I would err on the side of "over-treating" your addiction. Most people I know who have failed to get clean underestimated the power their drug had over them.

 

I would also shut down the trading during that time. I was an fx/derivatives trader and thankfully decided to take time off work and completely remove myself from markets. That was one of the best decisions of my recovery - there's no way I could have healed the way I needed to heal if I had open positions on and had to be thinking about the potential impact BOJ minutes might have on the carry trade instead of focusing that energy on re-learning how to live life without Adderall. I slept a lot the first couple months, and it was great not giving a damn about futures markets before bed. As a supportive trader friend/colleague assured me before I quit, "the markets aren't going anywhere." 

 

I can enjoy life now in a way that is impossible on stimulants. I have real relationships with people. I feel healthy and strong instead of brittle. I can experience intimacy. The non-stop inner monologue in my head is gone. I have interest in things outside of work. I'm not ashamed of my imperfections. I am a more effective person. I can experience joy.

 

It's taken some time, but been well worth it. And from what I gather from people who have been off this stuff for years, it's only going to get better from here.

 

I am a real human being again. You can do this if you want to.

[teamwin24]

So Im back. Nearly a year later. And want to try again.... I have barely taken any days off since this post unfortunately.

 

I have a few 'easy' months ahead so figured this would be the time to really try to quit before the really hard months start in June. I do not think that I mentioned in the above posts nearly a year prior, but I am a medical student, 4th year, and just spent the entire year preparing for match, part two boards, etc. High stress stuff.... regardless that is all over. I am day 2 without methylphenidate. I have been initially substituting it with coffee / redbull and will continue for the remaining week.

 

Been trying to keep the alcohol to a minimum too but its hard after being sober for months studying for boards / interviews / match and it being finally over. 

 

Either way. I want to try again for myself and my wife. I have so much stuff I want to do (start a medical app company... still enjoy trading.... etc) but I will try my hardest to do this without mph. Wish me luck. Will report back as the days progress. 

 

It honestly is depressing that this post a year ago where I believe I made it nearly two weeks is the longest I had gone without the drug in nearly a year... other than that maybe a day here a day there. :-( 

[AlwaysAwesome]

Welcome back! You can do it this time!!

[teamwin24]

Well I am not going to lie. I took one tablet of 5mg focalin IR a day after making this post (lasts only 3 hours or so). However since then I have been 'clean'. I believe this is day 4 now then without it? 

 

I took it to cope with some bad work related news. obviously retarded of me but I am glad that i have not gone back yet. 

 

I have been taking piracetam / aniracetam as an alternative at least currently.. It is interesting... hopefully one day I will be able to totally cut all of this stuff out of my life. Kind of feels like I am cheating using these suppliments but hey.. at least they are not releasing dopamine right? 

 

I guess the real issue with me stopping ritalin is I am not totally sure I am doing this for myself. I definitely am doing it for my wife.. and I am doing it for the fact that I do not particularly like being dependent on a pill... However, the stories that I have are not nearly as bad as some I have seen on this site. The drug never made me manic, psychotic etc. I rarely abused it (only once in a blue moon)... I just used it to get work done / go through my day. Has not had any negative effects on me either that I can really see after all of these years (just checked my bp and it was 125/90 so not terrible). 

 

Gah Im rambling. I am going to go another 7 days and report back. 

[AlwaysAwesome]

Just a note...I took my daughter off of concerta when I quit adderall back in June 2014.  Last week, my husband mentioned how the Strattera doesn't change who our daughter "is".  On concerta, she was a different person.  Now, good and bad, she is Kate.  Totally glad I made her quit. 

 

Be yourself...

[teamwin24]

Day 8 clean. Still lazy and unmotivated. Stuff is taking fifty times longer to get done. Impulsive behaviors as well. Being myself is hard because I suppose I don't really know what that means yet. Next week I have a more exciting schedule so hopefully that will get me to snap out of this rut. Will report back in a week Or so

[DelaneyJuliette]

On 2/16/2014 at 5:16 PM, teamwin24 said:

ugh... well i lasted 10 days and took some today (36mg concerta)... obviously feel "normal again"...the past 10 days were pretty rough and couldnt make it (horribly non productive and I was pretty awful to the wife too)... maybe next time I can get through more than 10 days. 

This is the WORST.  Again, I know this post is like 8 years old but I found it when searching Concerta.  I was so pissed that taking such a small dose of adderall after 80 days made me feel normal again.  I wish it hadn't bc now its so much harder again.  I don't think I should get a prescription for Concerta.  I k ow I shouldn't.  It's just so hard being 80 days and sti just counting down the hours til it's finally time to go to bed.  Just my 5mg relapse was SUCH a relief.  But such a double edged sword.  I have to change my life to make it doable without adderall!  I have in so many ways but not all.