Doing Not So Good With Quitting Adderall

[LaurenfromMI]

The thing is, I'm on 900 mg Lithium now and 200 mg Lamictal which is helping immensely. (I am Bipolar.) I don't get as high on the Adderall anymore and I am trying real hard to take as prescribed (10 mg twice a day) I even told my psych doc to cut me down from 20 mg to 10 mg and I'm finally taking my Bipolar meds which are helping soooo much. I also take Xanax and I take it RESPONSIBLY now. I realize I really need it. Not just because the Adderall tends to increase anxiety but because I have really bad anxiety anyway. I have since I was a kid. It also helps me sleep. I love the shit. I take .5 three times daily and stick to it. When I don't take it I get angry and agitated which has a lot to do with Bipolar Mania and that's without the Adderall. But I just got the new lower dose Adderall and I really hope I stick to the dose. I can't be staying up for days and not eating with Bipolar disorder. I even start to hallucinate some really freaky shit when I do that and then am forced to go to bed. I really am ADD so I it helps a lot. I can concentrate so well and my motivation and creativity is incredible. Not to mention the positive thinking. I also isolate a lot less as long as I'm not up for days. LOL. Then I don't go anywhere understandably. I'm a really intelligent and creative person which I think makes Adderall most attractive to those kinds of people. I don't just get high and party. I write. I read. I take awesome pictures. (I'm a photographer.) Many are self portraits and I don't mean the naked kind. I'm good at modeling anyway, but sometimes I'm even better on the Addies. I'm on Facebook and everybody raves at my pics. The two on this profile I took myself. Everything becomes so interesting. I been on it for two years now though, and one thing I notice is that my tolerance and even creativity is slackening off. I don't mind it though because sometimes I would be so arrogant and over confident and I HATE that. That is not me. Anyway...I hope the mood stablilizers help to keep what I would call Bipolar drug induced mania down. I just wondered if anyone else has experienced what I have experienced with this particular med.

 

[LaurenfromMI]

P.S.--In the last two years I have quit ALL illegal drugs. Even weed. And I do not drink alcohol AT ALL anymore. The last time I did I was taking Adderall at the same time and it was stupid. They both canceled each other out and that's a great way to get alcohol poisoning because you don't feel it. Alcohol is the WORST substance for me. I lose total control and for some reason EVERY time just about I get a craving for cocaine, which is why I decided to drink it with Adderall. I HATE cocaine, so I don't get that at all. Once I even got in a cab and went to all the way to Detroit to score and really, really regretted it the next day. I would buy 8 balls when I did it because why bother getting less when you know you will always want more...then I would basically OD if I didn't have alcohol to level it off and being Bipolar and off meds my mind would race so fast it was like being in hell. I swear to God, it was sooooo bad. Then came the crash and the feeling like nothing I ever did in my life was right. That drug can go to hell where it came from IMO...

 

[Shucklet]

Hell, I've no history in any of these, so I prolly shouldn't post at all. I just wanted to say that from the sounds of your post, you're trying to be more responsible in areas that you know have given you trouble in the past, and that you should give yourself credit for that.
You sound like you're trying to minimize the risk of abuse by talking to your doc, sticking to the dose etc and that's nothing but a good thing. Stick at it, someone with history in these areas should hopefully weigh in, but you sound like you know what the right thing is.

 

[Carl Landrover]

Sounds like you're doing well. I remember reading some of your posts a while back when I first started using stimulants and they scared me pretty good. I've had a brief period where I had difficulty getting out of bed without having some coke, but never been that bad with adderall/concerta.

Been using it more lately and it's a bit concerning to me, so it's always nice to hear of someone who got their usage under control, especially since you were taking a greater amount at previous points.

 

[Captain.Heroin]

Unless it created a lot of problems in your life, I don't think of weed as something worth quitting.

I think you're doing a good job with your Adderall usage, just take less/none some days, and try to space out the days you do use the prescribed dose.

I'm especially glad you don't drink anymore; alcohol is the worst drug in the world and it's not a good drug for anyone IMO. Cocaine also sucks. I would never use cocaine if I had a steady Adderall prescription. I haven't used it in a long time, it's just not that appealing to me.

Have you tried utilizing other treatments that Adderall also works well with? I would try taking magnesium supplements, and omega 3 supplements (4:1 ratio of EPA to DHA is recommended).

I would also suggest to eat a really well balanced diet; a meal heavy in fruits and vegetables can really give you a boost of energy. This is ideal when you're trying to go through with your life not needing amphetamine, though you may be used to the boost of energy amphetamine gives you.

Good luck!

 

[unsettled]

Can you still feel the Adderall on the Lithium and Lamictal? I'm just asking because I had to see a Psychiatrist yesterday because my Doctor refused to prescribe me my anxiety/sleep meds anymore, he referred me to a Psychiatrist to handle all of that stuff. Oddly enough the Psych wants me on Lamictal, she thinks I'm slightly bipolar, not extreme, but enough to require a mood stabilizer. I also take small amounts of Adderall sometimes daily, and I was wondering if the Lamictal would cancel out the Adderall. As it turns out I can't afford the Lamictal right now because I don't have insurance and it's ridiculously expensive even in generic form.

I used to abuse Dextroamphetamine quite a bit, but I was able to quit for a long time and now only take small doses, usually only when I need to work. I do understand how hard it is to quit and how easy it is to keep taking more than you need especially when you're creative and use it to create, but I think moderation is very possible especially when you've been to hell and back with it like I've been.

 

[Colmes]

Hey.

Not only am I an ADHD patient who is on dextroamphetamine, but I have also written several Graduate school level essays regarding this topic, as I found GREAT difficulty getting off of vyvanse. When I needed to get off of dexedrine, the lethergy ONLY lasted about 2 weeks....but the motivation was still ...I dunno. If you have any questions, since i know exactly how you feel, feel free to pm me.

 

[graugeist]

I do not understand why you are prescribed a stimulant if you have bipolar disorder. Stimulants tend to trigger mania in people who have bipolar disorder. If your psychiatrist feels that you need Adderall, though, I can't really argue with that; he has the training in pharmacology that I do not. If you abuse your Adderall, though, you could very well trigger a manic episode and make your symptoms far worse than normal, even while you are on other medications to treat bipolar disorder. Perhaps that can give you more incentive to quit: If you keep abusing Adderall you could trigger a very serious manic/psychotic episode and who knows what you may do if that happens?

It sounds like you are asking for trouble by continuing a medication that you have abused in the past and has caused you to stay up for days and hallucinate, which is really not very good for bipolar disorder as you said. Maybe you could talk to your psychiatrist about switching to another medication that could treat your symptoms, maybe something that is not addictive?