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Q: Adderall withdrawal symptoms

asked by: BunkID13 on March 20th, 2008

New User

I am a 28 yr old male.

Four years ago i was diagnosed with ADD, and prescribed Adderall. I was originaly on the XR, but found it to be too strong and felt that the standard release (generic actually) were just fine. My current prescription is for 60mg per day.

I typically only take 30mg-45mg per day as ive been gradually stepping down as I feel I need it less and I ususally don't take much on the weekends. The only reason I hadn't brought the "padding" in my dosage to my doctor's attn is that sometimes I get busy and can't make an appointment and it gives me a buffer in between if I ever need it.

Over the last year, I had noticed that even though I was taking less than my RX dosage I seemed to run out, right at the end of the month, and I could never figure out why. My days are usually quite fast-paced and I never really had an orderly system to monitor pills and dosage so i never really invedtigated it further. Very recently I started paying closer attention to how much I took and how much I had, and I began to suspect that someone was stealing pills from me. The person i suspected the most was my girlfriend. We've been living together for almost three years, and she was the person with the most access to my bottle of pills.

Unfortunately yesterday morning, I caught her in the act and she finally fessed-up.

At first i thought it was a recent thing, and that she was only taking a few here and there,...what I came to find out was that she had basically been taking my medication on a very regular basis for a year or longer.

Yesterday also happened to be the day that I was down to 1/2 of a 30mg tablet and had not yet scheduled an appt. My last prescription really seemed to go down fast. While I was angry that she would not only steal from me, but also lied about it for so long, I was more comcerned for her than anything.

It seemed to do her some good to get everything off her chest, as she hadnt told anyone about this at all.

Even when I first suspected she might have ben sneaking some here and there, I didnt think much of it. She never seemed jittery, spacey, or overly euphoric....she's never had any trouble eating or sleeping. She explained that she took it because it helped he feel like she could think straight, do her job better, and basically listed all of the same reasons that I take it. The only difference here is, I went to an ADD clinic and got tested.

I have not yet obtained a new prescription, so she is without "her medication" as well. She definitley seems to have formed an addiction to the drug. She broke down last night and said how hard it is for her to work without it now and that she feels like she needs it.

I have no idea what to do or what to tell her....

If she truly has ADD or ADHD which she very well may, I guess she should go get tested....

If she doesn't have ADD or ADHD, from what I'm reading, she has a tough road ahead of her in terms of recovery.

I would like to talk to my psychiatrist about this, but am terribly apprehensive to do so.

Having seen many who do not have ADD/ADHD abuse adderall recreationally and how they act it does not seem to be the case with her. Personaly I dont know how anyone who isnt "supposed to" take it, could stand to take it every day.

I would appreciate any help or guidance that you can offer, as I am not sure what to do to help her. She does not have a psychiatrist and her relastionship with her PCP bears little rapport. I need to talk to someone who knows what she needs to do...

Thank you in advance for your feedback,

Jason

Replies(10)

CarolDiane

replied on March 22nd, 2008

Extremely eHealthy

Jason,
You are right when you say she has a hard road to recovery. This drug is one of the most addicting drug I have see in my health care career. In fact, it is so bad that they have banned it altoghter in Canada. It is the rage now. There is a chance she may be able to go through this one her own depending on how much she has taken over a peroid of time. I doubt she is going to be able to. She needs to get to a drug rehab facility as soon as possible. The withdrawl it far worse then any I have seen in a long time and I have seen many. When I work Addiction and Recovery, I could tell you some horror stories. When I was in my late 20s I was addicted to antiphycotic's and any downers I could get my hands on. I was able to stop myself. I my perscription said take one, I took two. Then reality hit and let me know how dangerous drug addiction can really be. When I saw the horrific seen of a patient going through withdrawl. Get her to rehab if she gets really bad and darn it, hide those pills. I commend you on you caution in you doseing. You have will power. Please keep it that way.

Best of luck,
Carrie

BunkID13

replied on March 22nd, 2008

New User

to Carrie

Thanks for weighing in here, but just out of curiosity......what if she actually has the same thing I have?

Shouldn't she get tested? (and go on the medication properly?)

And not to seem like I'm slighting anything, but people always bring up the Canada thing.....it is still used in Canada....THe Adderall XR was briefly banned in Canada around 2005, then within the same year it lifted the ban. Check Wikipedia....

Anyway....she has obviously formed an addiction to the drug, and there is no way to hide the pills from her.....she'll find them.......if I want to get the pills away from her Id have to move out...

As far as I can tell.....shes got the same thing I have, so she's planning on getting tested and letting the Doc prescibe whatever they see fit....hope this is the right move.

CarolDiane

replied on March 22nd, 2008

Extremely eHealthy

Absolutly Jason. She sould be have an affermative diagnosis on what is wrong. If she is manic/Bipolar, Anxiety/Stress or ADD at least then she can be put on the medication that well work for her. Ya have to get her to go first. That is the hard part. It is when she comes to reality that there is something wrong and is concerned, is when she will be out of denial and go.

elliottchina

replied on April 24th, 2009

New User

BunkID13's dilemmna

I think she must have ADD/ADHD; I have depression & my psychiatrist actually prescribed Adderall XR to me for energy (10 mg).
Although it did wake me up for work, it also made me visibly agitated (grinding my jaw, talking too much) and really repressed my appetite; and it affected me mentally - I would become very obsessive about things, spend money like water, etc. The worst part was the end of the day-I would ache all over because I would unconsciously tense myself up all day.
If you didn't notice any physical manifestations of the drug during the day, and she didn't seem to be a little manic, she must need it. Of course, the way she went about it is very unhealthy, plus, she must have known the symptoms of ADD since you've been diagnosed - why didn't she make the connection to herself?
I haven't personally gone through Adderall withdrawals my self-I was on such a low dose for such a short time (a few months), that when I stopped taking it, I just felt fatigued and irritable for a few days.
But I have seen my husband when he doesn't have his Adderall - and he needs it, when he went to a special testing center for it, and the psychologist stated that he had the highest scores for ADHD she had ever seen - he can't function. He's exhausted, horribly irritable - and this is just in about 4 hours if he hasn't taken it. (He's supposed to take 6o mg./day, also, but only takes 4o mg. because of the fact it raises his blood pressure and makes his heart work harder). So I don't even want to think about him going without it "cold turkey".
In short, I don't think your girlfriend can just stop taking it without tapering off; it does sound to me that she need some sort of ADD medication; and it also seems she needs some sort of therapy because she stole medicine from you that she knew you needed, and didn't make the effort to be tested for ADD/ADHD herself if she felt she genuinely benefits from the medication.

Showtime1019

replied on July 21st, 2009

New User

Adderall Withdrawl 10 years of 120mg per day

I have been on Adderall since I was in middle school and I have been taking 30 mg 4 times a day since I was 16. I am now 26 years old and I am trying to come off Adderall. Does anybody know how long the withdrawl will last? I quit cold turkey 5 weeks ago and it has been 5 weeks of hell. I can't stand to be at work. All that I do is sleep. My depression is terrible. For some reason the only thing that gives me peace of mind is divorcing my wife???? Somebody help me!

nanla7

replied on July 21st, 2009

New User

I would not suggest quitting cold turkey. 120 mg a day is alot of adderall. is your dr aware of this dosage? If so, they should be the ones to step down your dosage safely.

epona1130

replied on August 5th, 2009

New User

AS someone who is attributing off of Adderall XR after 9 years of 60mgs/day, I STRONGLY suggest that you do this in conjunction with your doctor! I have been stepping down my dose slowly by month or bi-monthly and it is still horribly difficult.
Something that has really helped me is working with a great acupunturist. He put me on a homeopathic supplement called ATTEND.
Bottom line-don't do it alone, don't do it cold turkey and seriously, don't try to make any life altering decisions while you're doing it. Hang in there!

missbee

replied on September 30th, 2009

New User

withdrawal

I have been sober off adderall for 36 days. For the past four years I abused the pills (generic, average: 60-80 milligrams per day, everyday)....I didn't think i could ever quit but I recently moved home from college, started my job and quit the adderall all at the same time. Needless to say it was extremely rough. But I did quit cold turkey without having any medical help. I can talk to my mom a little bit, but she doesn't understand AT ALL and gets freaked out when I mention things like "i'm having intense cravings today", etc. so I don't talk to her much about my withdrawal symptoms. Now that i'm 36 days in to being adderall free, I am feeling much better and mentally in a better place. For the first month it was hell. HELL. Each day I feel a tiny bit better but some days are better than others. The pills invade my dreams almost every night.

My question is, since I basically quit on my own and all at once, is there a stronger chance I won't make it and will relapse? I don't know much about the quitting/withdrawal process, but I do know that my addiction was strong and was ruining my life so finally I forced myself to stop taking the pills. Since I have quit, I haven't gone out with friends once nor have I had an urge to leave the house after coming home from work. I wouldn't answer my phone when loved ones called therefore they have stopped calling all together. I find it hard to talk about because i don't feel that anyone understands what i'm going through...but it definitely feels better when i do express how i'm feeling. thanks for listening Smile

phishfood

replied on November 1st, 2009

New User

in my experience it is extremely hard not to relapse. i have been prescribed adderall for the past seven years and have tried to take myself off several times because of wieght issues and one instance of seizures. i do not know what caused my seizure but it scared me enough to try to take myself off. i would reccommend some help in not only taking yourself off of it but in continuing not to go back to it. i lost all energy, focus, organization and subsequently my job after several months of going cold turkey and after several more months of not having a job, sleeping all day long, and wrongfully taking my depression out on my boyfriend who i am lucky enough to have love and support me i started taking the pill again in a lower dosage. i have found a new job and have gotten my perspective back. unfortunately, i have still not been able to prove to myself i could do this without the adderall. i applaude your efforts and wish you the best of lucks. i hope that life will once again be normal for you and that perhaps one day i will be free of the drug and be able to feel that way as well.sometimes i feel as though my doctors have made me a drug addict, i do not think i can function with the same energy i used to again without drugs and that is not something you ever want to have to say

clduby

replied yesterday 14:32

New User

BPII

I have been on adderall for about 5 years now. I went to a new pdoc and we were talking about my up's and down's while being on adderall. He said it didn't sound that I had add. He thought I had bipolar II with a anxiety issue. I've gotten on lamictal(going on 2 months) and i feel better. I have gotten off adderall for about 3 day's but I'm been tired(withdrawal). I notice the only time i can't focus is when I'm have anxiety. I want to wait until my adderall withdrawal symptons are gone to mess with the anxiety. They could be from the symptoms. Has anyone ever heard of BPII instead of ADD?

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