Have any of you been on amphetamines for years then quit?

[CrimpJiggler]

If so, did you get withdrawal symptoms? I was on high doses of dexedrine for 5 years and I quit last year but have been on and off benzos and antidepressants and stuff during that time period. I've been off everything for a few weeks now and I have no symptoms besides one. This restless ADHD feeling. I genuinely have ADHD but it seems to be back with a vengeance now, much worse than it was before I started taking dexedrine. Have any of you experienced this? If so, do you know how to counteract it? Benzos didn't help at all with it, trazodone helped a bit and gabapentin seems to help. Besides that, I haven't found anything that helps. I thought it was a benzo withdrawal symptom but I just took a small (10mg) dose of dexedrine and the restlessness is gone.

 

[blight12]

The restlessness began right after you stopped and has not improved? Not sure about ADHD but perhaps it could be some form of anxiety, which is possible after regular stim use. If it was this more stims would also help. Though if benzos didnt help its unlikely...

Also consider you might be feeling normal but it seems unpleasant due to the lack of the useful stimulant effects. Amps provide super focus and allow inhuman periods of sitting still or performing low physical activity tasks, in comparison to normal. A normal state that is unfamiliar after so long would feel very frustrating in comparison i am sure...

Why did you stop, if the ADHD was not gone yet. Regardless, congrats for ending a dangerous doctor condoned amphetamine addiction, however i am aware some patients actually need it. Hope you come right and can consider some other options before going back on the amps.

 

[Toz]

Not more than 1 year, I felt no real withdrawal but I've been through opiate withdrawal so many times amphetamine was real easy when compared to it. It basically made all ADD symptoms return and made me feel extra tired and weak for like a week or so.

 

[Swimmingdancer]

It's common for your ADHD symptoms to return, at first worse than they were before - called "rebound" symptoms - but it should improve fairly soon. Just try to eat really healthy, drink lots of water and get lots of sleep and use coping strategies for your ADHD. There are non-drug options for learning to function with ADHD.

Are you also trying to get off benzos as well?

 

[Toz]

It's common for your ADHD symptoms to return, at first worse than they were before - called "rebound" symptoms - but it should improve fairly soon. Just try to eat really healthy, drink lots of water and get lots of sleep and use coping strategies for your ADHD. There are non-drug options for learning to function with ADHD.

Are you also trying to get off benzos as well?

While it works, I can get by without medication, after all I was diagnosed with adult ADD and I had always managed to keep really good grades in school without having medicine or the diagnose. However, without it I feel lethargic and unmotivated. I will still do things simply because they must get done, if I have written it on my whiteboard then it will be done at said date, however taking on the task requires alot more effort and feels alot more taxing for me than it would when I am on stimulants. I don't really think the stimulants make me more concentrated, I can focus if I have to anyway, it's just that it takes more energy to do it. I also get really antisocial if not taking medicine, but I've been that my entire life. It is very possible to get by without drugs, but it's easier with them. If the side effects are not bad, I don't see a reason as to why not to use the medicine.

 

[Swimmingdancer]

While it works, I can get by without medication, after all I was diagnosed with adult ADD and I had always managed to keep really good grades in school without having medicine or the diagnose. However, without it I feel lethargic and unmotivated. I will still do things simply because they must get done, if I have written it on my whiteboard then it will be done at said date, however taking on the task requires alot more effort and feels alot more taxing for me than it would when I am on stimulants. I don't really think the stimulants make me more concentrated, I can focus if I have to anyway, it's just that it takes more energy to do it. I also get really antisocial if not taking medicine, but I've been that my entire life. It is very possible to get by without drugs, but it's easier with them. If the side effects are not bad, I don't see a reason as to why not to use the medicine.

While I personally have a lot of opinions on the topic of whether or not to medicate ADHD, as someone with severe ADD who has chosen not to use stimulants, I was directing my post at the original poster, who obviously wanted to get off the Dexedrine for whatever reasons

 

[CrimpJiggler]

Why did you stop, if the ADHD was not gone yet. Regardless, congrats for ending a dangerous doctor condoned amphetamine addiction, however i am aware some patients actually need it. Hope you come right and can consider some other options before going back on the amps.

The side effects were too bad, it made me depressed and anhedonic half the time and gave me mad insomnia, during the last year or so I using opioids to remedy the side effects and they worked brilliantly but the site I was getting them off was shutdown and I could no longer find an affordable source for them. I switched to benzos but I knew that if I kept on that I would end up in serious trouble with withdrawals so I just quit everything. I actually quit the dexedrine more or less last year but had a few short relapses and I was using benzos and trazodone on and off for a year or so. On and off the keyword there, I don't think I got really addicted to any of those drugs. I took my last dose of trazodone 10 days ago and considering I can sleep, I don't think I'm withdrawing from it. The trazodone somewhat covers up this agitation but not completely.

It's common for your ADHD symptoms to return, at first worse than they were before - called "rebound" symptoms - but it should improve fairly soon. Just try to eat really healthy, drink lots of water and get lots of sleep and use coping strategies for your ADHD. There are non-drug options for learning to function with ADHD.

Are you also trying to get off benzos as well?

Have you experienced this? I didn't have this agitation (at least not this intense) before I started the ADHD meds. I think it might be akithisia which is commonly caused by dopamine deficiency. People with Parkinsons disease and people on dopamine blocking antipsychotics commonly experience it. Its restless leg syndrome but its not confined to the legs. I get it in my chest and face. Amphetamines and ritalin do the polar opposite to me, they make me so relaxed I can sit in one spot for hours without moving a muscle. I'm hoping the agitation is not due to damaging dopaminergic neurons. Luckily, I'm immune to anxiety (I think I have naturally high levels of GABA, that may be part of the reason why I have low dopamine activity) and insomnia ordinarily, I didn't even miss a single night of sleep since quitting the benzos and trazodone. I'm going to try out selegiline soon as it is supposed to be good for remedying post amphetamine symptoms. I took the year off college to sort this shit out, that gives me loads of time but I hope I can function again by next September because I'm struggling to do anything at the moment (you understand what I mean since you have severe ADHD too). The plus side is I have plenty of time to experiment with finding remedies and solutions. I discovered that gabapentin remedies my ADHD symptoms very well. I'm gonna brew some b. caapi tea up tomorrow and test that out (its an MAOI which has been shown to remedy Parkinsons symptoms so it may help with ADHD).

 

[Swimmingdancer]

How long since you last took dexedrine?

I haven't tried selegiline but I did find that b. caapi helped with my akathisia (I know the feeling you are describing very well) and my ADD, let us know if it helps for you.

Are you trying things like diet and lifestyle changes, therapy, self-help, meditation, etc for your ADHD and/or other issues?

 

[sweetsweetcyanide]

I was on Adderall for years. After abruptly discontinuing I had a lot of anxiety and restlessness

 

[CrimpJiggler]

Shit I went and relapsed for a couple of days. Took about 50mg of dexedrine and 2mg of etizolam to sleep. 4 months into this year off college and i dont know if im even making any progress. Im gonna do extreme things from now on, first im gonna do an ayahuasca session in Amsterdam and if that doesnt help, ill do an iboga flood.

sweetsweetcyanide: How long did you stay off the dexedrine and did the restlessness wear off? I dont get anxiety thank god. Just that restlessness and complete lack of motivation to do anything.

 

[Jabberwocky]

Well I've been on amphetamines for the past year now at therapeutic doses and not abiding it - and I can say that I even sometimes forget to take my dex from time to time, or even just don't take it all for say a weekend. I suffer from ADHDx and they help enormously. However, if I were to stop taking them completely I'd be quite scared at what I would be left like - I'd probably go back to suffering from ADHD, and I would be back to my disorganised, hyperactive and unattentive ways. I don't know theough, hopefully through the use of them I've developed more concentration skills, as I've said sometimes I just forget to take them as I feel I don't need them and can concentrate well..

 

[emkee_reinvented]

after a 7 year long prescribed add binge first methylphenidate and from 2007 dextro-amfetamine.
I stopped about 2 weeks ago after talking it over with my psychiatrist and noticed absolutely nothing.
Luckily i didn't feel more depressed or letargic but still amazed of the forgivefullness of this stimulant.
However i was not taking my 35mg 45mg prescribed top doses anymore.


But then again taking a double or triple doses of 30 or 45 instead of 15mg in one go went by totally unnoticed.
I seems like an abnormality however!
Methylphenidate was an entirely other beast 10mg had my hart pumping, sweat oozing and coldness in extremities.
Stopping alway resulted in depression and letargy except the time I switched to dextroaphetamine.

And yes besides the fact I am off meds first time for long some add signs shown up distracting me is very easy.
All these add treats make people restless although there nothing wrong with you but the pressure of the world is on top of you right.

 

[Swimmingdancer]

Im gonna do extreme things from now on, first im gonna do an ayahuasca session in Amsterdam and if that doesnt help, ill do an iboga flood.

Do you mean ayahuasca as in the traditional brew made from b. caapi and p. viridis? (just asking cuz before you were talking about just b. caapi). Let me know if you want any info about it, I have a lot of experience.

 

[Pill2Chill]

I was addicted about 2,5 years. You will be very depressed, tired and hungry all the time for like a month and then you will appreciate life again. That's how long it took for me anyway.

Good luck, you can do it!

Benzos helped immensely after that, but in the long run I got addicted to those instead. No good.

 

[blight12]

With long periods of non use I notice that I do seem to appreciate the feeling of being sober somehow, so hopefully its not all to be bleak. I just go back due to habit, not really since being sober is worse, but thats just me though...