Stimulants Help recovering from 7 years of prescription stimulants (Vyvanse & Adderall)

[blueslidepark]

so i have a long-winded question for anyone that has some advice. i’ve been prescribed stimulants for narcolepsy & ADHD for about 7 years with long stretches off that severely interfered with work, school, & my mental health leading me back to them again. i was titrated up to 70 mg of vyvanze a day previously & now i’m prescribed up to 60 mg of IR adderall a day. i can’t bring myself to take something every day bc i feel like i have to recover from them a few days a week which i plan for & overall, my life is very functional. i got prescribed a new drug called XYWAV to take at night which basically is supposed to knock you out into a very deep restorative sleep & allow you to function off stimulants. i’m eager to find a way to get off stimulants entirely but haven’t decided if i want to try XYWAV yet. anyway, my question is are there supplements you guys would recommend to take in addition to the adderall to keep my brain healthier? i lead a pretty healthy lifestyle, don’t drink, eat healthy, regularly work out and get enough sleep (lol). or in the case the new medication works for me, are there supplements that will help my brain/body recover from using stimulants long-term? i have an appointment w/ my sleep doctor to ask the same thing & decide about XYWAV but if y’all have things that have worked for you, i’d really appreciate the input!

 

[Nurse Ratched]

If i were to ask you where you want to be in 5 years time what would you tell me.? Still want to take adderall and vyvance....just in lower doses?

Have never heard of XYWAV

Are you trying to get off the stimulants altogether or just reduce them? Do you need them for ADHD still?

Instead of trying to ask people to explain some stuff to me I find it much easier to ask them....Where would THEY like to be in 5 years time. No stims at all? Only prescribed doses and no abuse?

For me it makes it easier to answer.

 

[blueslidepark]

thanks for your response. i think i would like to live a life off of stimulants to the highest degree possible. i don’t like that i’m taking such high doses. ultimately, i want to find the least harmful solution for my narcolepsy for the long-term, not short-term.

some more background is that i have a medical condition called POTS which stands for Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome which means my blood pressure stays low so my heart rate speeds up to compensate. i take midodrine to combat the effects of stimulants on my heart rate but just generally never saw stimulants as a long-term solution to my problems and more a tool to get to a place where i could function how i wanted. i think a low dose could potentially be helpful for my ADHD although i’ve worked hard to improve my overall executive functioning holistically. i just don’t want to be leaning on them to keep me awake.

XYWAV is the brand name for what is essentially GHB. it’s prescribed to me to take 2.25 g at bedtime then 2.25 g more 4 hours later in the night. I can titrate it up to 4.5 g 2x a night, 4 hours apart, the goal being to get deeper restorative sleep at night and thus get off stimulants. this is obviously under the care of a doctor but i talked to someone in the discord chat about it who said they thought stimulants would be way less harmful in the long run than GHB and i’m now rethinking the effects of using that as a long term solution. it seems like a scary drug and this is the only medical condition it’s approved for but apparently has basically fixed people’s narcolepsy at the root.

 

[negrogesic]

So your aim is to use GHB to get off of stimulants? And your doctor is aware of this?

GHB will not induce a sleep so restorative that you no longer need stimulants (especially if you have been taking stimulants for years).

Your doctor is really prescribing it for that explicit purpose, to help you get off stimulants? Keep in mind GHB is quite addictive, especially if you have an addictive personality.

 

[Skorpio]

Mixed GHB (sodium oxybate I'm sorry) salts is like such a sleazy concept for extending a patent. I love it.

I had a few paragraphs typed out warning about using GHB as a sleep aid, but then reread your op and realized that you have narcolepsy, and this is the primary indication of GHB.

I would definately have an earnest conversation with your doctor about addiction potential and plan to taper if you discontinue, but this isnt the bad idea I initially thought it was.