GettingOffOfIt

1 year alcohol free today. I know it isn’t adderal related but I’m very happy about it. I’m also just over a week away from being 6 months adderal free. When I hit that milestone I think I’ll take a weekend trip to somewhere really nice with the family to celebrate both

Here is what I remember using and still use occasionally: Pure Encapsulations Energy Xtra - for getting through the end of the day L-Tyrosine for focus Daily Multi vitamins Fish Oil - good for the brain/add Iron - good for the brain/add but don't take too much or take it everyday as too much is bad for you Zinc and vitamin d dopa mucuna - for dopamine and feeling good ashwaganha can help with stress management and possibly panic attacks. I believe the Energy Xtra I mentioned has some. Eating healthy foods and 30 minutes a day of moderate exercise really helps. Probably more than anything Meditating is a game changer. Taking slow deep breaths for a minute or two every now and then. I drank some coffee and still do. I abstained from alcohol and highly recommend doing so at any cost. It only provides temporary relief of symptoms and makes the withdrawal process worse in the long run. You will have to get through withdrawals. Nothing will stop it but these can help you get through it. Keep in mind, normal people don't feel great all the time so sometimes you may just have a bad day and it not be because of withdrawals. Weaning should limit the withdrawals. The trick to weaning off is being as consistent as possible and preparing for the first 2-3 step downs. Your body will get used to stepping down but the first couple of times it will be rough. It will feel like extreme crashing but it only lasts for a day or two and only the first few times. I actually took too big of a step when I did the first couple of times so you may not have that problem. When I stepped down I got all the way down to 1.5 mg a day every 3rd day and I felt great on that amount. I recommend to cut it down to as small as dose as possible before stopping it completely. That worked best for me. I was still able to perform at work and still perform after I got off completely. Just be sure to have some ADD tips and tricks to focus handy. Even if you don't have it, you will have it at least a little bit as you get through the withdrawal period. Good luck!

It’s been almost 4 days since you posted this. I hope it all goes well. This site and the forums are full of useful resources. Here is a link to a pdf that I also found helpful by laying out what might be coming and what to do about it. I would read it when things got bad. Maybe it can be helpful in addition to this site and forums. Good luck!

I have quit cold turkey before and most recently I have successfully weaned off. I like the weaned off better but both worked. You have to have will power to wean off, but you have to have it to go cold turkey too. I quit cold turkey with the help of alcohol and developed an alcohol problem. I wasn't even a drinker but I became one. After over a year I went back to Adderall to get off alcohol but I just got on both. I was able to finally kick the alcohol almost a year ago and have been weaned off the Adderall for 5 months. You will experience withdrawals and the first 2-4 weeks will be hell. You will have some good days. After that it gets better but you will still have challenges. Everyone has a different timeline and symptoms but its tough for everyone. I found that weaning off helped the timeline and symptoms a whole lot but that was after several failed attempts at cold turkey. Whatever way gets you off of it is the best way. The bottom line is are you going to try to quit or have you made up your mind that you are quitting and moving on? That will be the key to your success. Even if you just want to try, I would recommend to go for it so you will at least get to experience withdrawal so that you will know what to expect, since it sounds like you like to plan things out. Oh, and I would forget trying to plan things out. You will have good days and bad days but you will have no control over when they come and go. I would save taking any days off until you absolutely need to use it. Keep your subscriptions to Netflix and HBOMax active for when you quit. So to answer your questions: Yes, cold turkey can work, but weaning off will be better if you don't want to mess up things at work or home. Whatever works is best. Don't schedule any personal time up front. It could be a week or two before your full withdrawals kick in. Take it as you need it. You will experience a "crash" for 2-3 days when you stop, which sucks, but that comes before withdrawal. Its the same as what you would experience when you pill wore off each day but amplified. I would not be up front with anyone at work about it but that's just me. There isn't any meds that will help you through this so I would not try to get help from a therapist unless you wanted help weaning off. Weaning off will take you on a series of mini-crashes that last a day or two at a time in a month period and sometimes people need help though that to stay on goal. There are lots of supplements that help and you can find those searching through these forums. I took zinc, vita-d, fish oil, L-dopa, l-tyrosine, 5 hr energy, alpha brain, and pure encapsulations energy extra to get through the bad times. Sometimes nothing will help and you just have to make it to the next day. To get things done, search the web for tips on how to cope with ADHD. Even if you don't have it, you will for a few months as your brain tries to heal itself That's all I got. Good luck.

5 months. I think I really turned another corner the past couple of weeks. I have been able to work and focus far better than I ever had on Adderall. Maybe I'm still on a roller coaster but it was huge difference. I'm a software engineer so for me to sit in front of a computer for 8 hours a day developing quality software and spend another 5-6 hours those evenings taking online training courses to update my skills was a huge step away from Adderall. I had always thought I didn't have the brain power without it but boy was I wrong. I usually would spend half my day coping with the comedown but now I can go at a reasonable pace all day long, as long as I'm enjoying what I'm doing. I hope it stays this way.

L-Tryosine has helped me a lot and I’m on month 4. However, I don’t think anything will help during the first week or two. Just gotta get through the withdrawals and then there is some stuff can help you get by when you’re brain is healing.

4 months

Day 100 today and I'm pumped. Had to post it. I'm also on day 293 of no alcohol, which has played probably a bigger role than weaning off did for limiting my adderall withdrawals.

Day 90 is in the books. Never felt better. I guess I’m at the point where I start counting by months instead of days and weeks.

There is never going to be a good time. I thought the same at your age but stayed on it for 14 more years. If you are at 2 months off just stick with it. I am almost at 3 months but I weaned off and it hasn't been as bad for me. L-Tryosine will help you focus for your exams. That and a 5 hour energy shot every so often. You got this.

Just finished day 75. Feels great. I had forgotten how cool of a person I am without the meds. I did have a bad couple of days trying to focus last week when I really needed to. Luckily with some research I discovered L-Tryosine. That's my new best friend now when I have trouble getting my work done.

Day 62 The mild fatigue is gone. Gone. However, there have been a few random days where my brain does not work and I can do just about anything but my work. I guess my brain is still figuring out how to run on it’s own and runs out of fuel on occasion. I thought it may be my ADD coming back but it is to spaced out and random. I go great for several days and then for no reason I wake up that way and it lasts all day. I have gained weight. I guess my metabolism has slowed a bit or it could be because my heart rate is slower and not overworking itself. This could mean less calories burned during the day and not changing any habits. I had minor weight problems even while on adderal. It did not affect my appetite anymore after a few years so my weight gain is not because I just quit and started eating the whole house. It must be metabolism and just my daily calorie burn changing. I need to be more active. I have quit taking so many supplements. Constipation was a huge issue the first 30 days but my body has gotten used to going without adderal now. I’ve been regular for several weeks. I would say it was my biggest problem when quittting because i was so used depending on it for so many years. I had quit supplements hoping it would help but I don’t think it had anything to do with it. I’m trying to document my experience with tapering off here in this thread. I’ve got more to post so I’ll come back later with the rest.

Day 31. I've got some mild withdrawal symptoms that I've been battling the past few days. I knew when I finished tapering off and didn't have any issues that I would still have some battles ahead. None of the symptoms are as bad as when I've quit cold turkey but I've had the worse symptoms of this journey the past few days. I think part of is that I was getting burnt out of my workouts so I sort of took the week off. I've also been eating bad food and a lot of it. I'm going to get back on track today to see if that helps this week. It could just be a withdrawal phase I've got to battle through while my brain is trying to balance itself out but I need to get back on track with a healthy diet and challenging workouts anyway.

I hope you get some relief soon. I just finished day 22 after weaning off and I've had very few withdrawal symptoms and what I have had were minimal. I tried to go cold turkey last May and gave up after 15 days. I quit cold turkey years ago and stayed off for a year and a half. Tried a few times since. I won't go into detail on me since I posted a detailed topic covering it the other day. Everyone is different and I've actually had a different experience every time I have quit cold turkey. It all depends on how much you took and for how long. Hang in there. Forcing yourself to do 30 minutes of moderate exercise a day, and clean healthy eating can be a lifesaver.

I'm a 22 year user. I've been going to the same doctor the entire time. Started with Dexedrine before moving to Adderall. Then to Vyvanse for a few years. Back to Dexedrine, back to Adderall, then I got off of it for a year and a half before I got back on the Adderall . When I got back on it after the break I made sure to take many breaks from the medication to make sure I could stay off of it when I wanted to. That lasted for a bout a year. Then I went for about 4-5 years without any break. It is very painful to stop and its the only reason why I haven't. I tried to quit last May and I went 15 days and I couldn't take it any more. I suffered serious withdrawal symptoms, even worse than I had when I first quit cold turkey for the year and a half I stayed off. I could not get out of bed or move. So I had to get back on the pill. I've been planning to stop for a long time. I've taken so much for so long it doesn't help me anymore. It just makes me feel like garbage and actually makes me hyper, weak, irritated, an asshole, and distracted. I decided to try the step down approach for the first time in November. I couldn't do it before but I'm extremely determined. I took a big first step and it was a big crash. 70mg to 30. It was a rough Thanksgiving. I held strong for a couple of weeks and went down to 20. I came back to this site for tips like I did when I was off for 1.5 years and I noticed it recommended smaller steps. I didn't follow the guide but I made the steps smaller. I was down to 15mg (3 5's) by Christmas. Then I cut to 2 a day for 10 mg. Then 7.5. Then 5 (2 2.5's). Then 2.5 ( 2 1.25'). Then just a 1.25 at lunch every day. Then every other day. Then the 3rd day and I just said screw it and stopped two weeks ago. None of those crashes were anything like the first two bigger step downs. I have not had a bad day yet. I've had bad moments but not a bad day. My symptoms are extremely mild. I have been doing the 21 day fix extreme workouts and diet plan this entire month, because I always do in January but it has worked well with these withdrawals. I have had a few mild symptoms but nothing like the 20-30 times I've quit or taken breaks cold turkey before. On day 14, I can say that stepping down is definitely the way to go. I've been taking some supplements to help with dopamine and energy just in case but I haven't felt a difference when I don't take them. I've been able to concentrate, complete tasks that I hate doing and I haven't made too many careless mistakes that I don't already. I have been training my self to take a power nap and it is hard to do correctly, but when I did, it felt better than any pill I've ever taken. I've been getting good quality sleep. I've been thinking clearly. Blood pressure is steadily dropping. I've dropped 5 pounds. I'm hoping it stays this way but I'm not out of the woods yet. On another note, the meds never worked better for me than it did when I had weaned down to 1.25mg per day. I almost wanted to keep it going with that amount for good but I knew better.