blesbro

Yes sir I know the feeling all too well. How long has it been for you? The motivation and energy will come back over time don't worry about it. Just focus on life and staying off of it and your brain chemicals will balance out over time. Even at 2 years off I still didn't have the focus and energy that I was seeking but things have improved since then. Hell, I'm still not where I want to be but that's the game of life and figuring out how to get to where you want to be without drugs or addiction. Real life there's ups and downs, days where you're lazy and days where you feel like getting shit done. It's all a mental game that you can overcome. It's far from easy and there will be times even years into recovery where you will feel like you're not going to make it through. Those are the downs of life but you'll find that maybe a few days from when you're feeling shitty you'll get some good sleep, eat some good food, and feel good again. You'll learn to love you and you'll learn to appreciate the things that addy took from you too like forming relationships, laughing, RELAXING, and being happy with who you naturally are as a person.

This would describe me 100%. Stimulants are my weakness. I still seek that sped up feeling and will always have to be aware of my weakness in that area. 3 years and 2 months clean now, live is good, but I have a feeling that my need for speed will never go away which is why it's so important to understand your own behavior and make decisions accordingly.

I'm over 3 years clean now and loving life. Adderall completely destroyed me before quitting and I would be willing to get coffee and talk with anyone in the area that needs some extra inspiration/motivation to quit or stay quit. I haven't been posting on here with how busy I am with work and life but would love to give back and help someone in need out in the area.

Searchingsoul, yes things will continue to get better. Now that I am at just over two years sober, it seems things are still getting better. I am actually super motivated without adderall now. I wake up early, cook breakfast and get ready for the day every morning, work all day, go to the gym after work every day, and basically just get shit done all day every day of the week. Then on the weekend I get some time to relax and do some fun things but it is very normal for people not on adderall to be productive and motivated, you just need to start developing the habits that will allow you to do that without thinking about it, ya know? But yes, my anxiety, motivation, and overall clearheadedness and ability to make decisions has improved so much since just one year it's crazy. Quitting adderall was THE BEST THING I HAVE EVER DONE!!!!! That's sober me saying that. Just gotta see it through, it's so worth it. I'm a real human being now. I care for others. I form a lot of real relationships with people. I have a personality that adderall took from me. Everyone that's seriously considering quitting should do WHATEVER it takes to see quitting and recovery through, because I guarantee it will be worth it even if you're not exactly like you imagined yourself being on adderall. You will discover the true you and there's no better or more fulfulling feeling than that.

Blake, I took adderall for 2.5 years and like you, did not really need it. My life was great before adderall. I became hooked and it completely ruined my life. I quit and 26 months later now, I am finally getting to a WONDERFUL place in life. Everything in my life is starting to fall into place. I had to stop going to school for over a year after quitting - I just couldn't do it. I was off in every way, my mind did not work correctly. Even at a year sober, the recovery that my brain was going to experience was JUST BEGINNING. Stick with it bud, it's worth it I promise. My life is better than ever now and I couldn't have gotten here without quitting adderall. Things aren't just going to fall into place, you have to work at it every day. Get out of bed. Play your guitar. Do things that make you happy and challenge you. It's going to be difficult and some days you'll feel like giving up, but I promise it is worth it. Good things are there for people who have the patience to see this through. You'll be amazed by the month to month progress you make over the next couple years until eventually you'll be stronger and better than the person you were even before adderall. This problem will help you grow into something better than you've ever been, you just need to have the patience and perseverance to see it through. Blesbro

It takes a long time of no adderall use. I don't know how long you've been taking it but typically it's going to be at least 6-12 months before you have lots of natural energy and motivation without the chemical. Exercise, eating healthy, and meditation are a great start. If you continue to use adderall however, even once in a while, you won't regain your natural motivation and productivity. So if you're gonna quit, quit for good. It will be the best thing you'll ever do I promise. I'm almost 12 months sober from adderall and I can say without a doubt that it was the hardest, yet most rewarding decision I have ever made.

Don't fall into that temptation. It's normal and it's your addiction lying to you. If you took adderall again you'd have wasted the last two weeks of recovery and would have to do it all over again when you decided to quit again. The only way to get back to yourself is to quit for good. People who are addicted to adderall simply can't control their usage, don't let your addiction trick you into thinking you can. You're one pill away from a full-blown relapse and always will be. I will say that once you start to get things figured out without the pill, you're desire to take it will lessen. I have NO DESIRE WHAT-SO-EVER to take adderall ever again. I just won't ever again, period. I've tried to control my usage many times and the addiction won that dreadful battle every single time. I'm 2 days short of 12 months. Every single month has been better than the last. Life is actually starting to get really good and I'm free from addiction hell yeah! Being free from the addiction is huge. I think that most of us need to be more appreciative of the simple fact that we don't need to rely on a stupid pill to be worse than we could be without it. I'm starting to get some of my wit and humor back and finally starting to have some good increases in mental clarity. It takes a LONG time to recover from this shit. And like Justin said, tell your friend you're an adderall addict and going back down that path is simply not an option. If you feel tempted to ask her for a pill, make sure to tell her ASAP to never give you adderall and explain the negative things that will happen if you do. Your friend will like you much, much more off adderall I promise. Adderallics when they're using are self-centered and just can't connect with people. I don't know about you but I really didn't care too much about other people when I was using. I was a self-absorbed bastard and my life sucked. I've made a 180 degree flip since then. People really like me now. Both my old friends and new people that I meet. That never happened when I was messed up on addy. I couldn't talk, be myself, or relate with anyone. Finally I am becoming a "people person" once again and it feels damn good.

Congratulations Cassie! You're so inspirational. Thank you so much for being that beacon of hope that every single one of us with less time than you needs. I'm looking forward to a more in-depth post on your experience. Like Jon said, we love you back!

It's good that you realize that it keeps you stagnant! That was one of the biggest reasons that caused me to ultimately quit. I had big dreams and aspirations and I was not going anywhere with my life on adderall. If anything I was in reverse getting further and further from my dreams and goals every day that I took adderall. So eventually it became clear that quitting was the most important thing I needed to do.

Dude, you feel sluggish when you stop taking the pill not because of your eating habits but because you're withdrawing/recovering from adderall. I felt sluggish for a straight 6 months after I quit. I fixed my eating habits at 8 months quit and my body is in better shape than it's EVER been in at 12 months quit. I haven't missed a single day in the gym in the last 6 months. I could have never gotten the body I have right now off adderall. Quitting adderall was the best thing I ever did. I'm just one example but there are many other people on these forums who have quit and aren't looking back because if you're addicted to adderall, there's simply no better decision you can make for yourself than to quit. If you really want to quit addy you'll have to take a leap of faith and just get to 12 months any way you can. Forget the weight gain, forget the sluggishness. You can lose the weight like a normal person by working out and eating healthy down the road when you've quit for awhile. You will gain mental clarity the longer you've been off addy. That's if you decide to quit otherwise you'll just continue down this difficult road. I know this addiction sucks the life out of you and I can guarantee you're a much better person without it. You just need to trust that. It must be hard because you don't really know what you're like off adderall. You've been on it since you were 6. Take a year to get to know the real you OFF adderall. You won't be disappointed. Keep coming back man we're willing to help guide you to a better place if you're willing to put in the work and go through the temporary struggles of quitting.

We'll be here when you're ready Amy don't worry. Hopefully it's sooner rather than later. You just need to make the decision and prepare yourself to see it through with a plan. Do it at the right time when you can take a break from work and your other life responsiblities. You can't just expect to go on with your normal life immediately. You need to make a situation where you will have nothing to do but watch netflix, sleep and feed yourself for at least a month in order to make it a successful first month in my opinion. Set yourself up for success. If you don't, your responsibilities of life will cause you stress which will in turn make it easy to relapse. Good luck and just know we can help you make this happen!

Also, you should post your story in the tell your story section of the forum chachie. Quitting adderall is not easy and if you give us some details about your usage, the effects adderall has on you, etc., we'll be able to help you. You've been taking adderall for 25 years, wow that's a long time. I only took it for 2.5 years and am still recovering from it at nearly a year sober. It took me 8 months to even feel somewhat back to my old self. It's important to stick with the quit for good if you want to get back to normal dopamine levels and finally be fully-functioning again. We're here to help make this happen!

Welcome to the site chachie and thanks for the supplement list. I looked for an alternative for adderall throughout my addiction. I tried fat loss pills, vitamins, and even other illegal stimulants. Eventually I got to a point where adderall made me feel like complete shit and I have no desire to replicate the tweaked out feeling of adderall ever again. I like to be calm, collected, and relaxed now that I'm nearly a year sober, it's 1000% better than being addied up. Looks like a really great list but I have a hard time believeing it can replicate a powerful drug called amphetamines. Not to say you're wrong, I'm sure you do get crazy natural clean energy from the supplements. If you're taking the old jack3d, beware, the stimulant in that is amphetamine-like. I used that for a long time. The micro jack3d is fine though it only has caffeine. Once I quit, I tried it a couple times again because a friend of mine gave me a leftover tub. I found myself looking forward to taking it every day before my workout so I decided that I was better off staying away from it and I am glad I made that decision. It has dmaa, or dimethlyamymine which in my opinion did feel like amphetamines. Are you trying to get off of adderall for good or just find an alternative?

Thanks for sharing that occasional! I think for a lot of us, adderall stripped us of our self-control and thus once we quit we actually started to gain some willpower and the ability to change our bodies to the way we actually want them to be. It doesn't happen overnight but in the long run, staying off adderall is so good for not only our minds but our bodies as well! Go ahead and post them if you feel up to it! It doesn't matter where you're at, all that matters is where you're going. I'm starting to train some friends for free because I'm thinking about getting certified as a personal trainer and that's what I tell them. Everybody has to start somewhere. I've been lifting for 5 years, along with sports, etc. so I'm in pretty good shape but the bottom line is that was after 5 years of hard work. Nothing worth having happens overnight. Congrats on getting close to one year! I'm only 9 days away from my 12 month anniversary as well! Very exciting. Stick with it everyone. My greatest piece of advice to anyone who wants to transform their body is this: consistency is key. Even if you don't feel like working out one day, just go workout for at least 2 minutes, that's it. Even if you just go to the gym, walk in the door, then go back home without even working out, I'd still commend you for that. As long as you're consistent, you'll increase intensity over time as you feel up to it and eventually you'll look back and be amazed by the progress you've made. It takes 21 straight days (supposedly) to form a habit so no need to kill yourself every day just get out there and do something! I'm trying to apply that concept to other areas of my life like school as well. Like yesterday, I went to the library and read like 10-15 pages in my book then went on the internet and did nothing else school related. Basically I got next to nothing done but I felt like shit yesterday so I'm cutting myself some slack. At least I did something.

I remember hearing or reading somewhere during my addiction that 90% of the most successful entrepreneurs have adhd. Being a business enthusiast, along with my addiction led me to try and convince myself that I had adhd and needed a prescription during my addiction. Now I know that is not true but I could not agree more.