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@Tom23Jones Thats awesome, sounds like Dave Ramsey steps? I was paying off all my non-mortgage debt and on track to being debt free but during that phase I got my first Vyvanse script and unfortunately all the financial steps went out the window. Hopefully I can get back to it and become financially stable again.

Welcome to the forum and congratulations on 45 days! Caffeine has increased my cravings in the past and I found myself chasing that "high" by drinking excessive amounts of Red Bull. I quit for 90 days last year and when someone would recommend a Red Bull I knew not to do it because I couldn't have just 1 lol. I guess since caffeine is a stimulant it would trigger that part of my brain that adderall would. Unfortunately after chugging 3-4 Red Bulls in a short period to chase that high I started to feel worse (super shaky, anxious, and overall just crappy) than I would after taking Adderall and in my head I would just say "I might as well be on Adderall, its healthier for me!"...you know the addiction talking. My friend who's been clean over 4 years used to drink ALOT of coffee when he first quit, to the point where I actually thought he was on Vyvanse or adderall. After a few months he had to drastically reduce his caffeine intake to maybe 1 cup of coffee in the mornings and he went for a few months with no caffeine since it stimulated him so much. He started to consider it a drug of its own (like it was as bad as Adderall lol) cause it altered his attitude so much. But he normally stays around 1 cup in the mornings and thats it. Personally I drink a sweet tea with breakfast, lunch, and dinner, which I don't feel like it affects me but when I didn't have one in the morning I noticed the lack of caffeine lol. Everyone is different, I'm currently day 9 at the moment and staying away from the energy drinks because of the way they affect me.

Well, made it thru day 6. Just a long day but thankfully not to stressful, didn’t think about adderall too much either. Just checking in and wishing everyone a good day tomorrow! Good luck to all!

Almost done with the workday, just rounding out day 5. I feel super anxious in the mornings too... especially in my job where things can be just fine one second and then all of the sudden all hell is breaking loose (IT job). I wish I delivered mail or something where its kind of the same routine everyday (a close family member is a mailman so I know all about the negatives too) lol. Oh well, for the current time I try to take it one hour at a time during the work day, and in the evenings I normally try to watch at least one Intervention episode and cruise around on this site after dinner and getting my son to bed. GOOD LUCK! Keep Posting!!!

@DelaneyJuliette I just want to let you know you’re not alone. I went on a full 8 day bender but finishing up my 4th day clean with you. What’s crazy is the past 2 days at work have been insane but I pulled thru. I also have another very close friend that is on day 9 today so that’s awesome as well. Hope your day was good!

@NurseAddy sorry to hear about the relapse. Take this time to think about your train of thought right before it happened and how to stop it in the future. Just remember where you end up after a day or two... which is this site and most likely experiencing regret. Last week I had intense cravings and learned enough from my relapses in the past to put a mental stop measure in place to prevent the cravings from turning into a relapse. Just play out how things will go after you pop that first one and remember the pain your going thru now. I’ve been busy the last few weeks experiencing life as a sober person and not constantly thinking about pills and it’s freaking amazing. I still experience guilt and regret about not quitting sooner and still have some sluggish days but overall it’s like I’ve been reborn and it seriously is amazing. You CAN get past this addiction!!! -End of day 69 :-)

You can PASS this test... I'm on day 65 today and I've been happy with life lately as well...then yesterday a thought from my addict side popped up in my head that maybe adderall isn't as bad as I've made it out to be. It was a very intense craving that temporarily scrambled my thought process. Whats crazy is since quitting I've actually been around people that are on adderall and was able to decline one that was offered to me at birthday party a few weeks ago, not to brag but with the mindset I've been in it was relatively easy to say no. Yesterday when the craving hit it was so intense that I actually looked into my coworkers bottle and saw them in there and thought of how awesome I could feel if I just took one but then I quickly thought to myself the reason why I quit in the first place. I thought " I can't take just one and be happy, one leads to two and so on..", this is just one of those cravings that everyone on the forum said would happen and no one is stopping me from taking one except me. I've thrown away sobriety more times than I can count in the past and the regret is way greater than that fleeting moment of "awesomeness" I may or may not even experience. So I put the bottle back in their drawer and walked away. The feeling I got from winning that battle with my addict side actually pulled me out of my lull I was experiencing all morning. I called my friend that now has over 4 years of clean time and he said those intense cravings happened quite often in the first 6 months. When he quit he was still with his now ex-gf for 9 months that took adderall. He told me he would go through the exact same thing I did, have the cravings, look at her bottle, then talk about all the negatives, and feel great after walking away from them. Even after 4 years his brother will offer them to him at family parties but he doesn't think for a second about taking them and declines. I know this because I would be there taking them with his brother lol. SOOOOO......these cravings are just something that we have to go through and deal with. The main thing is not giving in to the cravings and undoing all the clean time we've worked hard to get. I've seen it personally and read it plenty on here that in time things will get much much better! Good Luck!!!

@GirlScottie Congrats on cutting off the supply. You can and will get your life back if you want it bad enough. I'm still in shock that I'm clean and have only craved the drug on a few occasions since I took that final pill on the evening of July 29. I quit multiple times in the past with a crazy amount of enthusiasm but would fall off the wagon within a few weeks. This time I got honest with myself and decided enough was enough and had to internalize how horrible I was feeling and it will ALWAYS be like that if I ever took one again. The first few weeks I tried to do the bare minimum at work and home. I'd get home in the evenings and force myself to do chores and read my sons books but also laid in bed and watched a lot of Netflix, Hulu, and YouTube. I watched A LOT of Intervention on Hulu, I could never watch that show in the past cause it made me feel like shit but I honestly think it was a major help in recovering. I was always rooting for the person at the end of the episode and it made me see how those people could get better so I can do it too. On YouTube theres a guy called CGKid and he has a lot of videos talking about drug use and interviewed people that are in recovery. Some of the people he interviewed were recovering from Adderall, and I also feel like the people recovering from meth had stories that could hit close to home for some of us that binged on adderall. When laying around I wouldn't be negative about the crappy way I was feeling, I would almost embrace it and simply tell myself, "well your just recovering from the damage you've done to your body for the last 5 years, this is just a step to getting my back life that everyone that hasn't gotten clean has to go through. Now its my turn". Basically you have to make the first 6 weeks all about recovery, maybe watch some Intervention, find stories on YouTube, visit and participate on this site often. Just focus on getting yourself better during that time! You will more than likely gain weight, feel lethargic, have memory loss, and feel nothing at times while other times you may feel complete rage, anger, regret, but you will also feel real happiness and an appreciation for life. But YOU have to be ready to do it for yourself and be honest that just taking one pill isn't in the cards anymore. My life has improved so much since quitting, I'm actually feeling some decent energy and my memory loss is no where near what it was a month ago. I've still got a long ways to go in recovery but quitting is nowhere near as scary as the thought of continuing to take that damn drug is. You CAN do this!!! -Currently Day 58 and happy to look forward while not forgetting the past...

@Collin Welcome to the forum, given enough time you will feel those human connections again and get back your funny goofy behavior(my wife says I'm almost to goofy lol). You made a good choice to quit and you'll have to pay a small price to get it back but it will be worth it. Just remember why you quit it in the first place, and you said it yourself that the honeymoon phase is over and the positive effects are gone. Just hang in there and post about anything you got going on....it helps me alot to check in and post. Good Luck! -Currently day 51

@NurseAddy CONGRATS ON 1 WEEK DOWN TODAY!!! Hope your having a good day. For a stressful Monday, I'm performing better than I have in years (even when I was on meds). So again just hang in there and realize that stimulants may help a lot in the short term but they screw you over from real happiness in the long run. Good luck and congrats!! - Currently Day 49 :-)

@NurseAddy I weirdly remember Day 6 because I felt the same way that day. My day 6 fell on a Sunday too and I felt super depressed and anxious....honestly I felt like complete crap. You're in the thick of it right now, just hang in there. The last 2 weeks for me have been going quite well but the first 30 days were solely about doing nothing except getting thru work and putting time between myself and my last adderall. I know that wasn't much advice but just a reminder that things will get better... -Day 48 and optimistic about life again

@Aurora29 Shit happens and so do relapses. Just do what you gotta do to get this part of your life behind you so you can move forward to bigger and better things. I've been pretty busy this week and thankfully feeling good overall. I cut out sugars and reduced my food intake and it's been an awesome change. I feel really great at the moment. Just hold onto how your feeling right now going forward to help prevent you relapsing in the future. We're always here for you. -End of Day 46 and finally feeling real happiness.

@NurseAddy I'm still in early recovery so I'm glad DrewK15 provided some input. Lately I try to be less hard on myself when I'm not being super productive or when I have a lot of regret for the years I wasted doing meaningless tasks instead of being a father and husband. I'm thankfully holding onto all the negative things that adderall did to me and I currently have had very little to no desire to take one again. I relapsed so many times that things are never different/better when I take a pill and I'm finally realizing that and internalizing it. I still got a long journey ahead but so far my life has already changed so much compared to 6 weeks ago and I have had no regrets about quitting. - Currently day 42 and plowing thru this Monday!

@PP37 Thank you for the post. Its reassuring to hear the positive things that can happen if you stay off the stimulants. It's also refreshing to hear this from a person supporting a stimulant addict, since you more than likely had a clearer head during the past year than him lol. My wife has been a rock lately and this would be so tough without her support. So good job to you and him as well!! Good luck!

@NurseAddy Welcome to the forum, officially. Your story is unfortunately all to familiar to a majority of the members here including me. Lurking around the site when running out of meds and/or when your coming down off the high and hating your life. The "yo-yo" effect of getting your script, burning thru it in a week or two, and saying that you're never gonna go back but do anyways. Realizing that you have become addicted to this little pill even tho you can't believe it has happened and scared that you will never be able to quit and that life will be potentially horrible for the rest of your life. I have personally experienced these things and read hundreds of posts like yours where people are in complete despair and scared of life off this drug and its crazy. On the bright side, many of those people that have posted similar stories have gone on to quit and say its the best decision that they've ever made in their life and I fully believe them. I also have a friend that abused for years and is approaching 4 years clean this upcoming week and he's been able to enjoy life to the fullest and used to regret all the time he wasted being burned out (his first 6 months were rough but after a year he rarely even thought of the meds). Just know that life will suck for a while in early recovery but its so worth the reward of being a normal human in the long run. I'm thankful for this site and the stories that reassure me that what I'm doing and going thru will be worth it. That there is light at the end of the tunnel. I've quit many times in the past and flushed my pills on so many occasions but still went back to them. Now, I've developed an overwhelming hatred for the drug and a final realization that I'm not getting anywhere by being on them and they solve nothing by taking them. Also, venting and contributing constantly to this site has been crucial for me as well, I'm normally a quiet person but posting has given me accountability and honestly just makes me feel better. Just know that you CAN quit and you WILL be okay and happier in the long run, it won't be overnight but eventually...it sounds like things are going very good for you in other aspects of your life and thats something to be especially thankful for while recovering. A good support system is crucial as well and it sounds like you have that in your significant other. Just know that there are people here just like you and the support can be amazing. Good luck and keep checking in!!! -Finishing Day 41 and excited about life again