My Quit (in progress)

[PJPA]

This is for anyone who feels they might be ready to quit using adderall...I am a college student who just recent started a quit because of a sense of losing touch with reality that wasn't an extremely strong sense but since being on adderall for 10 years it finally caught up with me...this article will be poorly written to being in a rush to get to bed and get some sleep...which is one thing I would have never said 4 days ago on my last day of using adderall 80 mg XR/day. I just felt compelled to say that I was highly addicted and rarely thought about quitting because I honestly thought it would never happen but several mental breakdowns truly made me take a hard look at what thos pills were doing to me. Anyway I just wanna get across that its worth it! Just four days after quitting here are some major benefits Im feeling:

Clear level head and thoughts

A newly found social fluency (for example all of my conversations at work and with friends are feeling extremely smooth and comfortable) ( I feel many conversation like these on adderall tended to end up tense or rushed or deep just overall uncomfortable) (something I could never really tell I was doing until recently)

NO COMING DOWN! (that balanced day is an amazing thing to feel after struggling with a 'comedown' for 10 years)

Being able to call it quits( I have a lot more I want to say but like I said I'm ready for bed so I'm going to end this post here) (so amazing I will not obsess over this post not being perfect after I'm done)

Thank you all for reading I will continue updating about my quitting experience. I'm rooting for you all!

[Audrey H]

PJPA

I am too a college student in the process of quitting Adderall. However, my experience was very different. I was diagnosed with ADD and I took ritalin for some time (really low doses 10 mg a day in the morning) 5mg at noon if necessary. I never really had a problem until I lost 30 pounds on the span of 4 months. I quit taking it because it did not seem to help that much with school. Anyhow, I graduated college and proceeded to get into grad school. My second semester got really intense as far as schoolwork and reading. I went back to my psychiatrist and she prescribed me Adderall. I forgot to mention that I have panic disorder but I have managed to cope with it successfully. The first 6 months I took it every now and then when I had too much work piled up. I would take it to study for tests too. I did great in school. However, My second semester was very tough and we had an insane amount of group work. Things started going bad because I had to take it to study and then meet with my partners. this was awful because it made me really irritable and antisocial. My teammates were not really that organized and I started having conflicts with them because of the lack of organization and initiative. I lashed out on them a lot. Later on I started noticing I lashed out on a lot of people, my friends, my family, my boyfriend. Takingthe medicine was ok but every time the come downs got harder and harder to mange. I experienced several mental breakdowns. I failed a class. I became paranoid of everything and everyone. The problem is that I have a lot to do and read in school and adder all really helps me focus and i feel more normal on it but it wears off and its hell. Nobody can be on it forever. I have noticed I break out more, my hair got thin, I don't get that much sleep. I have mental breakdowns every weeks. I have tried several things to counteract the adverse effects. Finally, my psychiatrist put me on cymbalta and that helped a lot with the come downs and the anxiety but I still get it. I think this medicine is really something people shouldn't mess with if they do nor need it because it has destroyed part of my life, my personality. In the past year a lot of my friends commented on my strange and apathetic behavior. I feel like I'm not the same. Im thinking of quitting now that my semesters are lighter with school work, but its hard.

Hang in there. I know we will make it through

[PJPA]

Audrey thank you for your post I completely relate to you the problems your facing especially in terms of the issue with group dynamics. I have a theory and it's just that a theory. But I think that it's possible other non stimulated people have a negative reaction to people who seem to be stimulated or overly intense. Obviously the is nothing wrong with passionate people but It may be the case that it is a natural human reaction that is built into our species to kind of examine other humans within a group and when one senses a stimulated person it makes them feel uneasy or cautious. I have never done cocaine but I have been around people when they were under the influence and their obvious stimulated state makes me feel like they are unpredictable and causes me to treat them a certain way by kind of avoiding them or keeping a distant eye on what they are doing. I really hope you give quitting a chance and that your life becomes as fruitful and happy as possible.

Next, to update everyone on my quit it's been two weeks on Wednesday that I have stopped taking adderall since iv quit I have started a new job and have ALREADY noticed an extreme boost in my confidence and inner peace. My laughter seems to come freely and uninhibited, to the point I may laugh to much but I don't care I'm enjoy the crap out of thinking everything my friends and family say as very humorous. Iv noticed that when I was on adderall I would NEVER call my friends back or attempt to plan a fun event for us to partake in cause I would have rather sat around and read or focus on something by my self. My social life has already shown to be blossoming again. One of my friends even asked me if I had taken my adderall because they said I seemed different. Then when I told him I had quit he was impressed and said that I seem to be having more fun. He was right.

Also, the main reason I quit which is the only thing that I feel really screwed me up when I was taking adderall and still hurts to talk about today...my breath. I don't want to make a bigger deal about it than it is but I have a strong feeling adderall made me have offensive and embarrassing breath issues along with increased anxiety, Its unbelievable I was ever able to date a beatuiful girl for the last couple months. I have since noticed that the smell I would constoantly smell coming from my mouth everyday has stopped and I can now notice a refreshingly moist tounge and mouth because my tounge doesn't stick to the top of my mouth and I even have a little pool of saliva at the bottom of my mouth sometime. This is what excites me now lol. I know that all my friends made fun of my breath behind my back and no one ever told me which was the hardest part but I just have to roll with it and do what I do best now be able to laugh at myself and how ignorant my adderall addiction made me.

That's all for now stay tuned for more posts from the heart. Love this site thanks.