Subtracterall

Adderall has stopped working for you. It seems like your best move is to quit, go thru the withdrawal and, then pick back up on your studying for the bar when you begin to feel better, and you will begin to feel better after you quit that stuff. Sean’s idea about taking a little just to help get you over this hump seems like it might work too as long as you take care of yourself and make sure to eat and sleep. But if taking even a small amount just makes you want to drink and not eat then you are better off without it.. I know what you mean with the memory issues thing. I had that really bad too toward the end of my Adderall addiction. If that continues to be a problem, I really think the only way for that to get better is to sober up completely. Sending positive vibes your way. You’re going to get through this. Stay strong.

Fantastic news Shambo! Way to go!

SamJo do you inject it? If so how did you learn how to do that? I would probably try this if it were not for the injection thing.

Please refresh my memory - How much did you take and how long? I thought about going to a neurologist. But even if they find out that our memory is damaged from Adderall - I wonder if there is anything that they can even do. I haven’t posted this on here but I’ve had what I consider significant memory issues.

I had a lot confusion when I quit and at the time I thought I must have had a stroke too. My primary doctor told me I was having severe anxiety. My confusion is about 99% resolved and I’m at about 16 months off the drug. Occasionally I get these weird episodes of confusion.. for example I’m in the bathroom stall on a different floor at work and I forget that, and think I’m on my floor, and when I leave the stall I’m a bit turned around but I think some of that is a result of getting older (I’m in my early 40s) I still occasionally have some word slurring/it’s almost like a tiny studder. But compared to the beginning I’m doing much much much better with that. It’s a very slow process..

“I haven't been able to think straight or clearly, I feel like i had no opinions or ideas of my own and that I was just going to lay as a vegetable forever.” yes I felt this way in the early stages of quitting but it gets better. Slowly. Very very slowly it will get better. I still have times when I feel foggy but they are fewer as time goes on and mixed in with times when I feel sharp as a tack. Stick with it. Congrats on three months.

Eric that link you posted said that 5-HTP can cause anhedonia and I know a lot of people on this site have said they take 5-HTP including me. It’s difficult to know what to believe on the internet because you can pretty much find a site to back up any argument lol but now I’m thinking I will take a break from 5-HTP for a while just in case and see what happens. Something else they mention in that link is l-dopa. I take something called ginkgo smart which has l-dopa in it. I take ginkgo smart for the l-dopa mainly becaUse a fellow ex-addy on this site swore up and down that l-dopa worked very well for him. The thing is I don’t know much about l-dopa long term but if you get desperate to try something maybe something to consider.

You said it yourself. You use a Neti pot because any medicines cause bad side effects and you know Adderall is the worst offender for side effects of all. Im right there with you. Long time low dose user never abused and two weeks ago woke up with green dust covering my car. Can’t wear contacts and eyes itch and burn. I don’t know the exact solution for your allergies but I do know it’s not Adderall and you know it too. You can get thru this hurdle I know you can. Distract yourself with something healthy and worth your time. If you go back on You will have to quit again eventually and who knows it may be at the height of allergy season. the only way out of this is through it. Stay strong.

Way to go! I’m proud of you too!! Keep it up you can do this!!

I take that back - There were times when I feared I might not recover physically. I feared I might be bound to a wheel chair because if my leg veins. But I’m not.

I used 40 mg per day for years and years. 12 - 13 years total. Everyday even weekends. Very Rarely skipped a day. 40 mg may not seem like a lot for some but I am female 5’6, 120 lbs. took it from ages 25-40 something with a three year break to have a baby. I got to the place where I could not take it anymore because of physical side effects on my veinous system. My recovery has not been linear. I remember getting chills to music within the first six months or so off of Adderall while driving down the freeway with my stereo loud. But I’ve had bouts of depression and anxiety too. but good times too with hard belly laughs and tears of sadness and joy. It seems like I don’t always react with max levels of pleasure to things that should create joy but sometimes I do and sometimes it’s intense joy. Intense happiness and joy are not around as much as I would like but I’m only a little over a year off Adderall and I have hope that good times will get more and more with more time off the drug. You gotta give yourself more time to heal your insides. It’s gonna get better but it takes time. I know it sounds like a broken record but exercise is key. I have been exercising since the first day I quit, I had to for my circulation to repair itself. Exercising will make a difference and so will eating healthy foods. its going to get better. It never occurred to me that I might not recover. I believe we all have a shot at recovery. You can do this. It’s the hardest thing but think of how much stronger you will become.

Your mom does not know about the Adderall addiction. If she did, and she understood how bad the withdrawal is, and she knew you were tempted to go back to Adderall because of this test, chances are good she would support the sick note. IMO, if you can get that sick note do it and don’t go back to Adderall.

Yay that’s wonderful news Tom!! Thank you for sharing!

Hi Kimber, I hear you on the curiousity about the age thing. I’m 43 now but when I first got hooked on Adderall I was 25. It is difficult for me to differentiate between which physical symptoms are Adderall recovery related and what is a result of naturally decreasing levels of hormones/increasing age. I suspect I am perimentopausal and I’m also starting my mid life crisis and when you add that to Adderall recovery you get a real sh!t storm.

If you gained weight when you quit Adderall, how long would you say it took for your weight to stabilize? By stabilize I mean how long until you stopped gaining? I’ve been off for about 14 months and I’ve gained 10 lbs. I definitely eat more food now that I don’t have Adderall and I dont see that changing because I eat healthy, but worry that the gaining will never end. I cannot go back to how I ate on Adderall because I was not eating enough food on Adderall. also I feel embarrassed like people are thinking boy she really packed on the weight this year. One of the reasons I got immediately hooked on Adderall was because I had an eating disorder and Adderall allowed me to obsess over other things besides food and stay skinny. Anyway if you made it this far thanks for listening. feeling bummed a lot lately about my weight gain and worried it won’t stop.

“Couldnt keep my eyes open, they would roll in the back of my head constantly. I can't even describe the feeling. Like it was agony to keep my eyes open. But I don't think I would have actually fallen asleep and stayed asleep” i remember this withdrawal symptom when I would try to abstain on weekends..it led me to take it 365 days a year never able to get through even one day without it.

IMO you should continue to stay off. You have made it 14 months, I don’t think that’s long enough to be fully recovered. from what others say it can take three years. You have made it this far. Don’t give up now or you will have to start over from scratch. Even tho you took a low dose and seemed to have it under control, you’re not going to be able to take it into your 60s and 70s, so eventually you have to come off. We know what the potential long term heath consequences are and they are not desirable. Will you avoid any health consequences because you took a low dose? only you can decide if it’s worth the risk to go back on, but I don’t think it is. I was forced into quitting because of cardiovascular side effects. The cardio problems seemed to come out nowhere but they are bad enough that I can’t take Adderall anymore. so you never know when this drug is going to turn on you. Sounds like you’ve been lucky so far. I took a somewhat low dose (20-40 mg per day, every day) but for 12 years. I have also been off for about 14 months and I do not feel fully recovered. I still feel exhausted most of the time and very much unmotivated but I expect this is going to get better with more time off the drug. Congrats on making it 14 months.

How long have you been off? I wonder what would happen if you went sky diving a bunch of times in a row. Like would it help get the adrenaline juices get flowing leading to a faster recovery. Wish we could try that! Glad you are okay!

Kiona, You have value. You have worth. I saw you on here not long ago lifting someone up out of a difficult situation/state of mind. That right there is tangible evidence of your worth and value. Your father should not be saying those things to you because they are not true. Please do not repeat those negative words to yourself - ever. Replace it with positive self-talk, even if it sounds strange at first. Keep practicing positive self-talk until it sounds normal. I second the go outside and walk suggestion. Walk briskly for at least 20 minutes. Longer if possible. If you don’t want people to see you, go when the sun is setting, or before it rises. The walk will release endorphins that will make you feel better. Even if it’s just a little better. It’s a start. I wish you had some other place to sleep tonight. You need space away from your Dad. Even if it is just for a night or two.

Hey Speeder I hope you are still quitting today. I work with a bunch of software developers and I suspect three of them must be on Adderall. They are skinny, have really dry mouths, and are way too excited about sitting in a cave staring at a screen all day long. One guy is particularly awkward. I try to see if their eyes are dilated but they have dark eyes so it’s difficult to see if they are or not. When I am in meetings wiTh them, I think about....when it’s their time to stop what will they go through. Will they take a leave of absence? Will they lose their passion for software? Will they hate life as much as I did when I quit and will they put on weight. I imagine the hell they are in for when their time on Adderall is up. Because no one can take this stuff forever. Then I think about how glad I am that I don’t have to quit this stuff again.

I took Adderall for 10 years. Then I got pregnant and quit for three years. That quit was relatively easy for some reason I think pregnancy made it easier to quit. After I was done nursing my son I started Adderall again and took it for another 2-3 years and then was forced to quit because of bad side effects/health reasons. This quit has been extremely difficult to say the least. I never took more than 40 mg per day for all those years but that’s a long time to be a slave to Adderall.

Thanks for the replies. I should have been more specific. This does not happen every night. It’s after a long day or a particularly exhausting day around 10 or 11 at night I can’t stay awake any longer no matter how hard I try. My physical body has decided it’s going to sleep and there is nothing my brain can do to stop it. It feels like I don’t have the choice to stay awake. I don’t remember it being like this before I ever took Adderall. When this happens my sleep feels so deep like nothing could wake me, even my son calling me from his room.

Been off for a year now. Wondering if it is normal to sleep this deeply at night or am I still recovering? My sleep is so deep it does not feel normal. It almost feels like I can’t control it sometimes. Granted I didn’t sleep well for a long time (12-15 years) during my addiction. but I figured by now I would be all caught up. Anybody else out there with a similar experience?

I’ve been taking it for about a week now and my anxiety is gone which is a miracle because I had anxiety daily before taking this. Anyway the bad part for me is that it makes me tired. I haven’t worked out in four days now. Maybe I should not take it during the day anymore. I’m going to try that. Does it make anyone else tired? I feel like I could sleep for days.

Frank, how much of that lithium orotate do you take when you take it? I think I’m going to try it too. Do you take it everyday?