Adderall and Alcohol

[NotToday]

Poll

[Dclayton93]

I drank so much more on adderall. I've done some reading on this and have noticed a lot of people had that issue while some others had the opposite effect. At the end of my adderall use two months ago I would start craving alcohol as soon as the pill kicked in. I was getting drunk daily as soon as I could and I had lost all ability to control my drinking. It was probably the biggest reason I decided to stop taking adderall. I thought I had become a severe alcoholic but now off the adderall I barely drink a fraction of what I was when taking it. 

[NotToday]

@Dclayton93 , thank you for sharing that. My experience was very similar. For a long time, I was casually drinking in the evening to ease the come down. But, it kept progressing, and over time I was drinking as soon as I got off work and up until I went to bed. Occasionally I experienced tremors in my hands and feet. It definitely resembled mid stage alcoholism. 

In fact, my ex whom I was living with never knew about my adderall addiction, but he thought I had a drinking problem. The last 6 months of my using got pretty scary- I started having a drink or two during lunch, because like you mentioned, the pull to drink started earlier and earlier and then as soon as the pills kicked in. On the weekend I found myself 'drunk' by noon, though I never really felt drunk no matter how much I drank. I still knew that this was the result of the adderall, though, because there was no desire to drink when I was not taking the pills. While there were still a ton more of negative side effects from the adderall, the drinking and its consequences were major factors in my ultimate reasons for quitting as well.

[Frank B]

For my all night benders usually had gallon of oj bottle of vodka or coconut rum usually buy the 80 proof , handful of oxi pills and bottle of adderall. I was lucky never cut my hand off half the time I was working with no sleep on all the above while using table saws etc. Then once I was ready to sleep hit the Xanax. How I never died or had kidney or liver damage never know just lucky I guess. 

[LILTEX41]

I drank probably 3x as much when on adderall.  It grew to an alarming rate when I lived alone and worked odd shifts/hours.  I'd get my apartment spotless in the day, bills paid, and have everything absolutely perfect.  Then at night I would drink a TON to come down, but sometimes would still not be able to sleep.  It was a disaster.

[quit-once]

I lost my desire for alcohol while on Adderall.  I just didn't like the combination of those two drugs.

[Danquit]

I didn't drink at home but I would go to my local bar in NYC and sit at my regular spot all night till they closed at 4am. The bartenders all knew me and were amazed at how much I could drink and still function. Adderall let me drink so much more than I could handle. I remember walking back to my apartment one night and I fell right in the street and got up stumbled away thinking holy shit I'm drunk! It was like I could experience being really wasted but not passing out. I don't know how I didn't end up in the hospital or worse. So yeah, I definitely drank more when I was on Adderall, if I drank that much now, I would probably die of alcohol poisoning.

[NotToday]

I know exactly what you mean! its terrifying how much you can drink and 'feel fine.'

My most horrifying day in my using, which I've been hesitant to share, was a result of this phenomenon (if you can call it that). My ex and a group of friends had gone to a baseball game that day and went out bar hopping afterwards. I had just gotten a bonus at work so I was also wanting to celebrate that. We ordered two bottles and I was drinking like a fish. We ended up getting kicked out, I can't even remember why, but my ex and I got into a pretty bad argument, so I got out of the car and started walking. Left my phone in the car... my ex sped off and by the time he came back to pick me up he couldn't find me (yea he shouldn't have been driving either) anyways, the next 8 hours that ensued were the worst of my entire life. I walked around the city looking like a lunatic. I tried getting a taxi but I had no money and I was over an hour away from home. I couldn't remember anyone's phone numbers and no one would help me. I was a hysterical TRAINWRECK. I somehow came up with the brilliant idea to find the train station and take a train home. This might have worked but I got on a train going the wrong fucking direction! They kicked me off of the train literally in the middle of nowhere and I just started walking back to the city skyline. I ended up getting picked up by some lot manager or something and by the GRACE OF GOD, I remembered my exs number at that time because i can't remember any number by heart. 

I wish I could say I got clean after this but it still took a couple of years and more disasters. I do not miss that at all!!! 

[rachel7822]

Adderall definitely made me start drinking a lot. HOWEVER in these first stages I find myself using it to deal with recovery now that I'm not sleeping whenever I'm not at work. Definitely not good. 

[AJ_Jr]

I drink way to much to counter the other effects of the drug. 

After initial jolt of physical and mental activity, I sink into a fog of isolation a few hours after taking Adderall. I just want to read and listen to podcasts. Even phone calls are exhausting because my mind feels encased in dull amber and I can't conjure words. Booze breaks that spell and allows me to be social. I would often have to drink several beers BEFORE meeting people for beers just to get to 'normal' state. 

Even casual interactions, calling home or talking to roommate at night, required at least 2 beers. If I engage with people without alcohol (co-workers mostly) I have to remind myself to make facial expressions of interest and eye contact. Alcohol breaks off the mask of blank stare and frees my face and mind. 

I also drank a lot alone to 'unwind' and get to sleep. Something new to me.

Side-effect of all this is I gained a ton of weight. Even though I hardly ate all day, the carb loaded calories from the beer more than made up for it. I felt taunted by irony of getting fat on amphetamines.

Now that I'm taking lower dose, this effect is smaller. Hope it improves further as I move off entirely.