Krax

That's good advice, thx

Cassie you are probably right

Thanks, me too. My guess is that it's the Wellbutrin, but I'll give it some time.

Hanging out with family mostly, snowboarding too but haven't gone yet this year. on Ritalin I did a lot of home music recording but without it I just tinker around in instruments but lose interest quickly.

Off Ritalin over 7 weeks now and still on Wellbutrin, for some reason I am getting no enjoyment from music. I don't know if its the paws or wellbutrin or both.

Just finished reading "on speed" Excellent read thanks InRecovery

It took me about 10 days

That makes sense, I appreciate your responses

Thanks, did reading and posting on this forum, as much helpful as I'm sure it was, but didn't that keep you thinking about adderall more? I'm a little concerned that I won't be able to stop thinking about it if I keep coming back here

I didn't ask anyone for a "uniform set regiment," I was asking Cassie how long it took Cassie

Cassie at what point time wise would you say you reached recovery from recovery? I'm at 7 weeks, the last week has been difficult, whereas 3 and 4 weeks ago seemed better.

that does sound fun

how long does it take for dopamine levels to bounce back to normal?

sorry about my lame sense of humor,I just couldn't pass up your reference - huge Zep fan.

congrads

this forum is great, I go on FB less and less because it's just so phony, you know, everyone trying to show everyone else how happy they are. Pictures of kids opening Christmas presents, when I have no idea who they are and don't know their parents, it's so silly. This forum is so real, it's other people going through the same fears worries and anxieties together.

You went to Robert Plant's house?

So at week 7 I wake up with a voice in one ear asking me and questioning me as to whether I can really accomplish what I need to do without ritalin. I as thinking about the videos MotivationFollowsAction linked to one of her posts, it was about online porn addiction. It described the brain's activity with addiction in general. I'm not a scientific type of person at all, so if this makes sense to me it should to everyone else as well, but one thing it talked about was how when there is an addiction of course it's not really about the thing you're addicted to (porn, adderall, whatever) but the pleasure response you get, the dopamine release, to the thing. Anyways, once you are addicted a neural pathway is developed, trampled down on like a path through the woods, which becomes the path of least resistence for the limbic system (I think that's it, or the part of the brain that we have in common with all animals, sort of like our cave man brain) takes in functioning. So that pathway for me, thanks to my taking it for four years, is when I have work to do I take ritalin first. This step 1 being work without ritalin, that's a rough path that I'm working on now. So it's like a rut, it takes your bike into it and controls your steering wheel, not the other way around. The point is, I hope this helps others too, is now when I approach something I have to do not only am I getting something accomplished but I'm developing a new rut in a new path (actually the older path I use to take before ritalin) and working towards that one day where it becomes the path of least resistance so that I don't have to hear that voice anymore.

Falcon thanks - it may have been because of logged into Google when I joined the forum, but I honestly don't know how it got there in the first place, it was just there when I did my posts! After I thought about it, I had the same concerns as expressed above by Motivation, and I'm paranoid someone might use it against me somehow in my business. I'm more then happy to disclose my identity and stuff like that in one-on-one emails, but I just don't want it out there for that reason. I've got a couple images (not of me) that I will choose from of over stuff, I'll put one of those up though. But ya, Wellbutrin: for me it's unlike the other antidepressants I tried (prosac and effexor) - a totally different reaction to the point that I would, based on my personal experience with it, have a hard time putting it in the same category as those drugs. I think like a lot of people, even though I didn't think of myself as depressed, that I was/am to some degree and that stimulants sort of lifted me out of that temporarily (wouldn't they for anyone?), problem is with ritalin for me the side effects and dependence outweighed the benefits.

neversaynever: thanks so much. I actually woke up wondering what was new on the forum. I've got a long drive today, so I'm off but it was cool to check in and see how everyone is doing.

Those were interesting I assume the weakening and strengthening of the neural pathways apply to CNS stimulates too

True

I think there is a chemical explanation for why tapering off is so hard or impossible, how could there not be? I mean, your mind/body is suddenly without warning supposed to start releasing dopamine on it's own, like it did originally, just out of the blue, and of course it doesn't, so it's like a mini-withdraw really.

I think knowing the chemestry of it would make people better understand the dangers - I mean, it's easy to see why something that messes with your dopamine release and absorption so drastically would cause so many problems, but that is never discussed in the news.

thanks, it will be seven weeks in two days. A few weeks ago I was pleasantly surprised to feel no desire for ritalin at all, however the last week or so have experienced those thoughts, you know, about how I could get more done with it (same old b.s.), and talking with my wife about it yesterday (who is adamantly against me going on it again - which is totally understandable, and I did this in part to make it more difficult to do so) I was able to actually talk myself out of it just by talking to her about what I was feeling again. Anyways, I had told her how much I got from reading the posts on here and she encouraged I join, so here I am. Ya I know I'm going to make it. Thanks for the welcome