[Performing in Elite Academia Without Adderall? Confused about this site.]

Haven't been on in a while. I quit Adderall for about 4-months cold....took a leave from school...will be back this Fall. I now ONLY use Adderall 3-4 days of the month and ONLY when necessary to assist with EXTREME work.

[Performing in Elite Academia Without Adderall? Confused about this site.]

Thank you for the replies. @FALCON, I do very much want to quit taking Adderall; however, I need to be pragmatic and quit in between semesters--not while finals are getting close.

Stanford, you are in the right place and I can relate very well to your situation. I absolutely had to quit Adderall because it was robbing me of so many things. I could go on and on about why Adderall sucks and no one should take it, but just know that I had the same fears as you. I had to sacrifice a lot of things. I mean A LOT of things. I KNOW that I could have abused Adderall and gotten the MCAT score I wanted and I would be starting medical school next fall. Just like all my tool bag pre-med friends. The difference is I wanted to obtain something without Adderall. Like you, I was unsure of myself and didn't prove much of anything without Adderall. So I decided to take a year off in order to train my brain to do what it needs for medical school WITHOUT Adderall. You seem like a very smart guy and you know as well as anyone, you are not going to magically become mentally sharp when you decide to quit Adderall. You have become dependent. I can tell my cognitive abilities are starting to reach where they were when I was on Adderall, but I still have a ways to go. Just know that you can do it because you will still want the same things whenever you quit Adderall; however, there is no motivation and you will see how big your balls are. I used to pull all-nighters like I was freaking getting paid. The latest I have stayed up is 1 am for a Biomechanics test this semester. Your study techniques and everything will have to change and that will take time, but you can do it. You just have to be willing to sacrifice whatever it takes.

I would love to say more about my story and why I think quitting Adderall has saved my life and made me a better person, but I need to study for a Virology exam tomorrow. God bless.

This is what I was interested in finding out. Your story is similar to mine, except I took Adderall to study for the LSAT, while you had the gumption to quit before taking the MCAT. I'm happy to find out that over time your non-stimulated cognitive abilities have been increasing with practice--this gives me hope.

[Performing in Elite Academia Without Adderall? Confused about this site.]

Mr. Stanford, I was on Adderall all throughout graduate school. I took it during my full-time job during the day and to help me focus at classes at night/complete my work. All I can say is this: I got through high school and undergrad without the drug (okay, I had Adderall a few times to get me through some tough projects during my undergrad). If I could manage life without it then, I can do it now. When did you start taking Adderall?

Katie K

Hi Katie,

After barely making it through high school, I ended up seeing a Psychiatrist the summer before starting at a crappy local college, and he diagnosed me with ADHD & prescribed me with Adderall. Adderall made me an academic superstar, and allowed me to be one of the few junior transfers to Yale.

So, unlike yourself, where you actually got through a portion of your education successfully without Adderall--I have not and am afraid the level of intellectual strength I need for what I'm doing is not possible without stimulants.

My mother wants me to quit school and work a retail job as she is afraid of my health degenerating (she's a bit histrionic at times); however, there is no way I could go from Yale and Stanford Law to minimum wage retail...I just cannot do it.

I agree with falcon. If you need adderall to get through law school, you are going to need it to be a lawyer as well. I think it's going to be harder to quit once you're in your job, because you won't know how to do that job without it, versus school where you've presumably spent years of your life not on speed. Also, if you don't truly love law school/the law profession, you should probably get out now. I've known many miserable lawyers.

I see what you guys are saying, and in my heart I know it's true, but I just don't want to accept it. Maybe I can practice an easy type of law without Adderall.

My counselor brought this up to me, and I've found it to be so true.

state-dependent learning

n.

Learning associated with a specific state of sleep or wakefulness or with a chemically altered state, such that the learned information cannot be recalled or used unless the subject is restored to the state that existed when learning first occurred.

I think this is why it's a struggle to bounce when you've learned while being on adderall. It's retraining your brain how to think in an unaltered state, after quitting. I agree with Cassie and Falcon. I highly doubt it will become easier to quit once your out of law school.

That anecdote is very accurate IMO. Often times I'll be on Adderall days leading up to an exam and the day after the exam when I'm off of Adderall--I can't recall anything...literally.

Stanford, I can relate quite well to your situation since I am a 22-year-old pre-med student. I quit Adderall about 5 months ago and it has been tough to say the very least. I am doing great in school, but my MCAT score took a major hit because my endurance was that of a second grade child. I am working to get my MCAT score up, but it takes a lot of righteous effort; I can't just pop a pill. I wish I had more encouraging things to say as far as academics, but it's just tough. My life is better though.

Thank you for your reply--I can totally relate. When I was studying for the LSAT, being on Adderall made it so incredibly fun to study, my brain was on-fire, and ended up getting a 177 out of 180. When I tried to study off of Adderall, I just couldn't comprehend the complex logical reasoning need to succeed an my score would take a huge it like 162ish.

But, you said your life has become better...how so? I've become a recluse, studying alone, alienating everyone I know, I spend a good 3-4 hours high on Adderall...and the rest of the day crashing and being paranoid about my heart-beat. I just want to be normal and get a girlfriend, have friends, work-out, etc.

I guess I'm just really afraid of losing everything I've worked for....

[Performing in Elite Academia Without Adderall? Confused about this site.]

Yoo hi Mr.ore Mrs. Stanford I am reading your post I want to say you got some fancy vocabulary there I had to look at a dictionary to translate most of your words reading your post trying to decipher what the hell you are trying to say speak in plan English next time. I only have a high school degree. Well here are my thoughts in my basic non intellect language O yes I forgot I did Go to college the name of the school was fuckin school of hard knocks yes it was a real education and a real school. Her is my question to you my brother or sister I suspect you are a brother whey don’t intellect people put more information on there profile its beyond me. What are you all hiding the facts about your self its not only you my brother its 98%of the members what am trying to express’s is be your self you are not being judged. So if you cant get thru sandfert U without adderall How the hell are you going to perform in a court room will you still need adderall to perform your lawyer tasks. Or will you not need adderall anymore after you your intellect law school. Which is it with adderall or without adderall. It sounds to me like you will need the stimulation for life am I right or am I wrong. Sorry for being so hard on you my brother I jest am trying to open your eyes trying to say in my own basic language get off the shit before you get to stanfert because if you are unable to get thru school without adderall you currently will not get thru a law trial without addearll see my point go for it the naturall way if you can. Don’t Push your self thru law school if you need adderall to do it with. I suspect you are trying to live up to someone’s expectations for you think hard about law school its not for everyone so don’t beet up on your self if you think you cant get thru law school without this evil drug. My brother adderall will fuck you at the end and adderall will win the battle it will take your soul away from you sooner or latter the longer you take adderall the more your tolerance to the drug increases it’s the way it is. I hop you don’t think I’m a ass I’m jest trying to clean your reading classes so you can see a bit better If you would like to give me a privet e mail fell free to do so. Hopefully your friend 22 days clean yes baby finally having ok day THE FALCON

FALCON,

I appreciate your lucid words of wisdom regarding Adderall. I'm 23 years old and male--you were right about my gender by the way.

You are completely right about the fact that if needing Adderall is required for getting through law school, working as a lawyer will probably require similar stimulant induced stimulation. That is something I've been trying not to think of, as my hope is that somehow I will develop a natural coping method or even possibly outgrow it.

The fact is, I have no other option than to complete law school as it is the only avenue that will allow me to make a comfortable living for myself. Falcon, you are also right about me trying to conform to other people's expectations; however, I've come to far down this road to turn back now, I'm afraid.

If others have academic related experiences, I'd love to hear it.

Falcon, congrats on 22 days clean! I hope to be where you are before Adderall really fucks me over.

[Performing in Elite Academia Without Adderall? Confused about this site.]

Upon reading the various articles on this site, the general narrative seems to be that quitting Adderall is hard, you'll have to force yourself to study/work, etc.; however, there seems to be a dearth of info regarding coping with the new weaker cognition.

See, I can do without Adderall in my life so long as I need not face something very intellectually taxing such as law school. For me, not only do I have the inability to focus and concentrate, but reading and comprehending convoluted and complex legal/philosophical rhetoric is virtually impossible without stimulants--I just can't understand anything.

My question is for those of you that are in academia and have quit Adderall--how have you remained competitive in your respective programs? Is this something that is possible?