35 days clean-just curious

[A48781]

I am now 35 days clean from a daily regimen of 50mg vyvanse along with 20mg IR Adderall. Cant say I abused or was addicted, but decided to quit due to being too absorbed in meaningless tasks, an increase in antisocial behavior, and the daily comedown which mimicked depression. Aside from the acute lethargy of the first 2 weeks, it has not been that bad. I have gained about 5 pounds, but that was over the holidays. I have managed to walk for 30 minutes a day, and have had the luxury to nap or sleep in due to a light work schedule due to end-of-the yr cyclical nature of my profession (CPA).

I had used almost daily for about 6 yrs with very few breaks, although I had attempted to quit 4 or 5 times, but usually resumed before 30 day mark.

My question is this-how much more upside from a neurochemical standpoint do I have? If I was "reset" and back to normal, it would be enough to sustain the effort to quit, but just wondering if this is "as good as it gets" or do I have some more recovery upside as it relates to depression, energy, sleep, etc. 

 

thanks.

[SleepyStupid]

hi @A48781

first off, congrats on 35 days. you've definitely made the right choice!

On 1/2/2020 at 1:31 PM, A48781 said:

My question is this-how much more upside from a neurochemical standpoint do I have? If I was "reset" and back to normal, it would be enough to sustain the effort to quit, but just wondering if this is "as good as it gets" or do I have some more recovery upside as it relates to depression, energy, sleep, etc. 

that's a hard question to answer because a lot of the recovery process is very subjective. doctors seem to be convinced that your neurochemistry should be balanced within a few weeks of discontinuation. they're not entirely wrong, but that's just physiological part of it. even once your dopamine levels are back to normal, you've basically spent the last 6 years putting reward before effort - that takes some time to un-learn so to speak.

that being said, i think you still have plenty of "recovery upside" to gain. just keep in mind that it's not some magical boundary where one day you feel 20% better. you will feel more recovered the day that you accomplish something you didn't think you could without Adderall. so keep a look out for those challenges and step up (:

[A48781]

6 hours ago, sleepystupid said:

you've basically spent the last 6 years putting reward before effort -

Man, I appreciate that insight. Hit me like a ton of bricks, but in a good way. That one sent me to the other side of the looking glass. Thanks for sharing/caring.

[hyper_critical]

MASSIVE upside on all those fronts. No BS.

Took me a while tbh but I'm at a level far beyond where I ever was on Adderall.

Sleep and exercise are critical, even if it's just a long walk every day or two. I work several x better in the first four hours of the day. So also have to calibrate and learn how to work effectively without stimulants.

Keep after it.