Stimulants My thoughts on adderall/ritalin addiction as "soft narcotics"

[GetMeOutOfThisCRAP]

Unsure if this is the wrong thread location or not at the moment, but quite honestly I have not *thus far* seen any negative effects of pharmaceutical stimulant abuse. Provided, I normally just live out most of the month like a fairly normal person without stimulants--only really use in high doses for a week or more. I've been going on with this strange addiction for about 3 years now (but more before that just not consistently like the past few). While the thread might be misleading so far, I just in time have come to agree that adderall for example is a soft narcotic. I do eat well and work out (at least weekly) which could make the negative effects not noticeable for longer. One definitely can ruin their entire life with adderall alone, but inevitably the size of the script/money required to buy outside legal means would just be too unfathomable. Tolerance would always stop one who could not stop themselves. Not only tolerance to the drugs themselves, but how the body is damaged by pharmaceutical stimulants to degrees. Like anything, it will eventually catch up to me I am certain of that. Yet meth really just is too much of a different beast. Many have made the claim on this website that "low-dose meth is less damaging and unhealthy than high high high doses of adderall." I'm sorry I just 100% do not see it at all. The difference in behavior from even irregular and mild meth users alone is not the same planet in my opinion. Thoughts on any of this? Experiences with adderall abuse too could be helpful. Just trying to gauge peoples thoughts on stimulants as a soft narcotic when pharmaceuticalized. That is a good word.. "pharmaceuticalize" your drugs.

Adderall and oxy/percocet will always be the two drugs that I will consider myself to be an addict over. Nothing else is equally as potent in effects regarding euphoria, but to me it is quite apparent within my life that oxy/percocet is a much more dark and hopeless place than the adderall ever was. Adderall never locked me in place and forced me to eat it unless I wish to feel like the grim reaper. Not even close to that lol. I am kind of regretting ever touching something beyond marijuana or adderall and its been a while since I used opioids day after day after day. I am still recovering from that crap. Can't help but feel that to a certain magnitude I will never recover fully from opioids even if in theory I was permanently clean from them forever onward. They took something out of me and I don't know if adderall could ever do that, and I still love both equally despite not wanting to ever indulge on opioids like the good ole days for months and months. That was not recreational in any way. Nothing at all is recreational about a drug that turns you into its bitch.

 

[Jabberwocky]

I admit I get pretty confused or maybe bemused by people who talk about their addiction to a scripted amphetamine or stimulant like it’s a life or death situation. Of course, I respect that everybody reacts differently to different substances but I think of say Dexamfetamine as a really benign drug that I’d have real trouble abusing even if I really wanted to. At one point I had something like 2,000 x 5mg pills of it stockpiled and even in the middle of a long meth binge when I hit a supply problem I never really felt like gobbling the dex as an alternative.

Other stimulants like meth and coke though I seriously respect as hard and potentially hugely dangerous drugs.

On the other hand on numerous occasions when I’ve been given plenty of strong opiates after being wounded or after surgery I’ve taken some for a few days and always left most in the box or handed them back because they don’t do much for me. So I struggle to understand how people go from having a bit of surgery to living under a bridge with a raging heroin addiction in 6 months too. Not that I don’t care about or have compassion for people that do. I just can’t imagine how it unfolds over time or what people feel as it happens.

 

[falsifiedhypothesi]

Oh boy, you're about to have the meth community jump down your throat for that take on meth vs adderall use.

I think it's more nuanced but i'll save my opinion for another time

 

[4meSM]

In many EU countries meth is an exotic drug and pharmaceutical amphetamines aren't really available. The only widely available form of speed is a heavily cut powder or paste containing anywhere from 5-40% of amphetamine sulfate mixed with caffeine and other random stuff. Of course some people still get badly addicted to it.

That's just an example.
The "hardness" of a drug has more to do with the context in which it is used than with its intrinsic properties.

 

[DeathIndustrial88]

When I was stimulant naive, adderall & the like were an amazing time.

But then doing methamphetamine for years and years and going back to pharm stimulants, they are just no where near how they use to be (even with a long period of meth abstinence thrown in there). I was still able to eat and go to bed on some adderall, which I could never do after doing meth.

I think these lower stimulants have a lot more potential to help addicts stay away from meth or other whacked out stimulants. Sort of like how bupe & methadone is used. Although I have my issues with those (mostly bupe) and how ineffective they can be for really helping cravings in the long run. But it's a different class of drugs.

I was actually surprised that adderall felt so mild and calming after trying it again after years of methamphetamine abuse. It didn't get me all whacked out or pro-sexual or anything, it was just a nice mood & pick me up and I still was able to eat and pass out that night. It wasn't a very high dose but if it had been the same dose back in my teens and early 20's, it would have rocked my world I bet.

But after having used meth for so long, I can only see gaining therapeutic benefit out of something like adderall or ritalin at this point, which is also fine by me.