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Why, exactly, does tapering "not work"?


tuneum

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I've had to go through some long withdrawals (1-2 weeks) many times in the past, and the fatigue/exhaustion I experienced was just too severe for me to handle/function. I was sleeping 16+ hours most days, and caffeine pills/energy drinks did nothing to help. I'm able to get myself to do the bare minimum-- like taking a test for a class-- but was barely functional beyond that. 

I've been seeing a TON of posts from veterans here saying that tapering almost never works, and I don't want to be another failed tapering thread, so my question is this: why do you think tapering doesn't work? I want to just get off of this horrible drug now, but going cold turkey has consistently made me non-functional. I binge my adderall right now, so I'm also not sure how tapering would work, but am going to try 

 

Thanks for your help!

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  • 3 months later...

Well I tapered successfully once, and then started again, and then realized i've been lying to myself for the past year that i was going to taper again and it was going to work this time b/c it worked before.  So, i just stopped cold turkey 2 days ago.  Gave up all my pills.  So... it's day 2.  I'm tired and emotional but ok. 

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In October 2019 to 2020 I went from 30 mg 2x per day to 20 mg 2x per day. That’s 33% . Way back in 2002 I was up to 90 mg per day and that was way to much. I haven’t had the rush euphoria feeling in years but I cannot stay awake without it. I’ve missed a lot of work this year because of physical pain, muscle tightness which lead to anxiety and panic attacks. I did taper over several weeks but not in an organized way. 
 

Here is how I tapered from 60mg to 40mg IR 2 doses per day.  Its not 100% accurate but close:

30/30

week 1-4) 30/25
week 4-10) 25/25

week 10-14) 25/20

week 14) 20-25/20 

TO HELP WITH ADDERALL TOLERANCE 

1) I have information to share 

2) do I post it here or make another post? Admin? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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18 hours ago, jp4revolt said:

TO HELP WITH ADDERALL TOLERANCE 

1) I have information to share 

2) do I post it here or make another post? Admin? 

Don't be shy about starting a new topic.  If you have information or experience with adderall tolerance post it in this forum or over in the "tell your story" forum.

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This is a great question. Tapering never worked for me, and maybe it does have to do with addiction vs dependence? My thing is I didn’t want to be miserable. I’d still be tired trying to taper and ALWAYS find a reason to just take another half. Cold turkey was the only thing that finally worked. 

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I tried to quit cold turkey several times and I always ended up going back to Adderall because I couldn’t handle the shock my body was in from stopping suddenly such high dose (about 60mg daily). 
I’m 15 months clean and the only way I was able to stop was by tapering VERY slowly and by the smallest amounts. I created a plan to taper down through several months and stuck to it. I think going ultra slow and being extremely patient is key. 

I believe that I was both dependent and addicted. 

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JennyF have you or can you share your plan? I just need it to wake up now. It doesn’t even help me focus anymore..I made a post the other day and I was just rambling and probably made no sense..

Cold Turkey was a disaster for me years ago. I didn’t even go to work and was fired for not showing up. Zero motivation then I would drink alcohol and sneak onto golf courses at 4:00 AM letting my dog run free and swim.
 

Both times I went cold turkey I ended up homeless. 

 

If you can share that would be great

Edited by jp4revolt
Can’t remember. I had more to say
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20 hours ago, jp4revolt said:

JennyF have you or can you share your plan? I just need it to wake up now. It doesn’t even help me focus anymore..I made a post the other day and I was just rambling and probably made no sense..

Cold Turkey was a disaster for me years ago. I didn’t even go to work and was fired for not showing up. Zero motivation then I would drink alcohol and sneak onto golf courses at 4:00 AM letting my dog run free and swim.
 

Both times I went cold turkey I ended up homeless. 

 

If you can share that would be great

Hi @jp4revolt, I basically tapered down by 15% every 4 weeks. I split my pills with a pill cutter. It’s hard to be 100% accurate with the split but just do the best that you can. I know some people get a pill crusher and a scale and do it that way.  If you’re on extended release that’s the only way to split the capsule.

As I said before, this was the only way I was able to quit. It is a bit of a slow torture as you are constantly experiencing withdrawals but they are not as bad as when you quit cold turkey. 

You should also lower all your expectations about how you’ll feel for the entire first year. In my opinion, quitting is hard but staying sober is even harder. You have to trust the process and know that the first year you’ll have very few good days but it’ll get better. 
 

Good luck! 

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3 hours ago, Sleepyandsober said:

I guess I don't know why someone would be on this site if they weren't addicted. wouldn't you just stop taking it? doesn't seem to make sense.

i think what @jp4revolt meant is a finer delineation between dependence and addiction. in general, dependence could be simply defined as requiring the drug to function "normally", it's more of a medical context. addiction is typically associated with an additional dimension of harmful or compulsive behavior, and it's more of a behavioral context.

so based on those definitions, it might be fair to say that all who are addicted are technically dependent, but not the other way around.

 

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  • 8 months later...
16 hours ago, jp4revolt said:

Is there a way to be notified on this thread? Some of the replies to my own comment were back in October and it’s July and I’m just now reading them. Do I just need to come back and look? That’s fine if that’s the case

yes there is! I've attached a couple of screenshots for where this feature is enabled. you can set an individual thread notification as well as general notification settings under your Account Settings.

see attached screenshots

2021-07-09_10-49-09.png

2021-07-09_10-48-14.png

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