Stimulants A question about amphetamine tolerance

[MrTambourineMan]

Hello. I am a new user, but have been lurking for a while, and enjoyed the intelligent conversations.

Long story short, I was just yesterday diagnosed with ADHD. Ironically, I had gone to my counselor at my university with questions about anxiety, and after an extensive conversation she asked if I ever considered whether or not I had ADHD. I had not ever thought about it, but after doing some research, I was struck by how much the symptoms of the disorder matched my day to day life. It was as if I was reading my autobiography. So she referred me to a psychologist, and sure enough, I was diagnosed and prescribed 10 mg of Adderall to be taken twice daily.

But here is my concern. I am a freshman in college, and last semester I used my roommates Concerta to study on several occasions (I want to say less than ten but more than five). I remember they were 32 mg, and I normally just took one. I noticed tolerance built up rather quickly.

Fast forward to this semester and my abuse of ADHD meds increased a little. There were two occassions where I snorted adderall to get revved up for parties. Two weeks ago, I consumed 200 mg of Amphetamine salts over a week (it was midterms, but I also liked the euphoria). I noticed during that week span how rapidly tolerance developed, but I was also taking 40 mgs at a time (amphetamine salts XR).

I realize it was very foolish of me to abuse these medications. I take full responsibility for that. But I have a major concern. Will this make my prescription worthless? I want the therapuetic, not the euphoric effects of this drug. I have ADHD, and I want to treat it. But I am worried that my abuse of ADHD meds in the past has built a tolerance in my body and therefore my medication will not help me. I have read that amphetamine tolerance is quite difficult to eliminate. Did I abuse amphetamines for long enough to create a permanent tolerance? If not, is time the only way to reset my tolerance? I am willing to put off taking my medication for as long as it takes so that it will be effective and my condition can be treated.

Thank you in advance.

 

[blight12]

No, you should have nothing to worry about and should in theory have zero amp tolerance right now.
Dopamine is very forgiving in terms of abuse and tolerance.

You could for example binge high amounts over 5 days to a point where its hardly doing anything positive anymore and then only require 2-3 days or a week max off the drug to reset the tolerance, at least thats my experience with amps.

So you already had anxiety before being diagnosed? Anxiety can also definitely cause or seem to manifest almost all supposed ADHD symptoms. Im surprised you where not treated for anxiety first before going the ADHD route. May I ask if there was any specific reason the psychologist diagnosed and treated for ADHD instead of anxiety? Have you perhaps been on or tested other anxiety meds before but they never helped? Like benzos or an SSRI maybe?

 

[piller97]

Considering it was only 2 weeks ago that you were abusing amphetamines.
I wouldn't be surprised at all if you didn't feel significant effects from your prescribed 10mg.

If you wait another couple weeks, and be careful with your use.
Then you probably won't have any tolerance issues.

Amphetamine tolerance is difficult, it develops extremely easily and can be difficult to shake.
I suggest you do a lot of reading online about it.
But keep in mind.......the only definite way to prevent it is by regulating your usage.
Less IS more.

~p

 

[tricomb]

There's no way that your abuse rendered the medication's efficacy worthless. Adderall is poorly absorbed via the nasal route, so honestly when you were snorting amphetamines it meant less reached your bloodstream vs an equal amount taken via the oral route.

200mg of amphetamine in adderall form, when I read this I was concerned that you were taking this daily, but you then said it was over a week.

I'm not trying condoning their abuse but that is really not that much in the short and medium term view IMO. I think that you need to think about the long-term of all of this, do you see yourself relying on these pills when you graduate? When you get a job? When you enter a relationship and maybe get married? In retirement? Because you suddenly have this label "ADHD", that does not mean that those of us with it are deficient in amphetamine, it's very fine tuning of brain and body chemistry that western medicine likes to treat by prescribing speed. Just think about the bigger picture here, since you are already beginning to see the changes and that there IS a bigger picture here, what with tolerance and all, your dose and the good it does for you academically or psychologically or physically vs the bad thing it does to you academically, psychologically, and physically, etc.

Anyways, I guess what I want to say in shorter terms is you're clearly developing a relationship with this drug and lifestyle, and before giving you advice, it would be better if you have thoroughly thought through everything, and you don't seem to be thinking about anything more than your tolerance to the drug, I'm just bringing up that you should learn more about the chemicals you put into your body and the effect they have, like amphetamines and their neurotoxicity, like how snorting adderall is ineffective and a piss poor percentage reaches your bloodstream in comparison to the oral and other routes of administration and by snorting it you're only causing sinus and respiratory damage.

Besides taking a fixed dose if you must take it at all...then:

-avoid binging and any situation where you have to take more and more and more to reach a desired level you likely aren't going to reach.

-start doing a few things to reduce harm like your nutrition, since appetite loss is so common with speed, you need to be sure you eat every meal of the day and not junk food, you need to eat food with substance.

-Remember hydration, and drinking tons of water is also not the solution since you have to remember electrolytes, so drink stuff like juice, gatorade, pedialyte, ensure, etc.

-Take a complete multivitamin

-Certain supplements have shown to have positive effects in amphetamine users, for example Chelated Magnesium (the chelated form is much better absorbed than the traditional oxide form) Omega-3 fatty acids, (at the very least, take a complete multivitamin, omega-3 supplements- the more the better, and chelated magnesium ~300mg/day). Chelated magnesium when taken with your amphetamines, has reportedly (and in my experience with methamphetamine) helped keep the dose you take the same and constant without loss of efficacy.

##I definitely have to comment on the Chelated Mg's ability to reduce side effects, making the whole experience less frantic. It is an NMDA antagonist, there are others you could use instead but I would try the chelated magnesium first.

The pH / Alkalinity levels of your urine have been linked to how fast your body metabolizes amphetamines, a lower pH brought on by an acid, like citric acid ingested via consumption generally resulting in diminished effects, or a shorter duration, compared to taking something alkaline like milk, since a higher pH level can mean a dangerous increase in potency of effects, primarily side effects, but I do know that some people add a bit of baking soda to their oral amphetamines, but I do not recommend that you attempt to alter your bodies pH to potentiate amphetamines, if anything just remember this for when you're coming down, it might make you feel better to drink some orange juice.


So begin by performing a search....

Learn about bioavailability, interactions, think about more than just tolerance issues, because it's not like there's any secret cheat code stored on the internet to unlock no amphetamine tolerance.