Stimulants Can you retain social/empathic effects of Adderall with weekly/bi-weekly use?

For someone who wants to use amphetamines for social effects (talkativeness, confidence, etc.) instead of alcohol, how would they go about retaining the social effects of the drug? I have heard that regular use produces a similar sort of "loss of magic" that you would expect with MDMA.

Would once weekly use be enough to keep these effects with continued use?

Alcohol for some reason does not work well for everyone, some people do not feel significantly more confident with alcohol, or by the time they drink enough to lower inhibitions it makes them depressed and unsociable as a result. These people need some sort of alternative.

The less you use it and more health precautions you take, including (subjective) vitamins/minerals and supplements for the slowing of tolerance, yeah once a week or longer, should work, if you keep the dose low as possible.

When did OD acquire such a litany of Moderators???? I've clearly been slacking...

OP, there are some subjective and objective elements surrounding your question. Objectively, save for a few individual variables, you are going to be dealing with your tolerance to Amphetamines. The subjective aspect is going to revolve around what exactly it is you are looking for from the experience. I'm sure you've heard in your travels the phenomenon of "chasing that first high". I'm not talking about the first high of say, a Crack Cocaine smoking session, I mean, your very first experience with a chosen drug. My point is that, you frequently here people remark that subsequent experiences with a particular drug seem to diminish in intensity.

The first experience with any drug is without a doubt going to be a very powerful experience for the individual. But, with anything, including Ice Cream Cake, after your fi9rst experience, which will undoubtedly be really great, each experience further just won't seem so new or incredible or different. Drug use, just like everything else will become more pedestrian as time goes by and your usage continues.

As far as the objective effects of Amphetamine go though, a biweekly hiatus in between each usage is more than enough time for your body and mind to reach homeostasis, so, conceivably, each experience with Amphetamine will have a roughyl identical effect upon you, as tolerance will not be a factor. Even weekly use should be plenty sufficient for retruning you to zero-tolerance mode.

If you can manage to keep your stimulant usage to more of a "Week-end" or "Special Occasion" activity, then you stand a much better chance at retaining the positive effects that Amphetamine can bring. When you start partaking regularly, pretty much with every drug, the effectiveness and required dosage are going to increase.

^ I think it really depends, actually, regarding your "first high" being the best. My first experience with heroin, for example, was actually quite disappointing.

Tolerance is a real bitch. I wish it wasn't even a thing, drugs would be so much better in general. But it is a thing, and unfortunately for most people to keep the magic going they have to take breaks from what ever drug it may be that you become tolerant to.

OP, how often do you take Adderall? What is your average dose? For some reason I am not as tolerant to Adderall as I am with other drugs like benzos for instance. When I started taking klonopin it was so nice! I mean SO nice, at even the smallest doses. 4-5 years later, taking it everyday I don't ever feel that same feeling I once felt from like 1-2mg of it, instead I just feel like normal person, nothing special, just normal from 3 to maybe 4mg a day. Adderall on the other hand, most people say they become very tolerant to it very quick, but I have been on 20mg a day of the IR tabs, and really not much has changed a whole lot, yes it isn't as strong as the first day I took it, but it still works pretty damn well after taking it daily now for the past 3 months or so. It does what its supposed to do for my ADHD, like increasing my motivation, making me a lot less hyper and rude when engaging in a conversation like I used to be as I would constantly interrupt people and butt in on their conversations without really realizing I was being rude, and it just uplifts my mood every single day. Hope it never changes, but it most probably will at some point.

Anyways OP I would try and keep the doses minimal enough to feel the effects you are looking for from it and refrain from using it more than once a week, and increasing your doses too much or at all. Because most people I know that take it just keep taking more and more Adderall, if they use it daily, to feel like they did originally when they began feeling its full effects and it just gives them more negative side effects than more positive ones they originally got from steady lower doses.

Ilove2nod said:

Tolerance is a real bitch. I wish it wasn't even a thing, drugs would be so much better in general. But it is a thing, and unfortunately for most people to keep the magic going they have to take breaks from what ever drug it may be that you become tolerant to.

OP, how often do you take Adderall? What is your average dose? For some reason I am not as tolerant to Adderall as I am with other drugs like benzos for instance. When I started taking klonopin it was so nice! I mean SO nice, at even the smallest doses. 4-5 years later, taking it everyday I don't ever feel that same feeling I once felt from like 1-2mg of it, instead I just feel like normal person, nothing special, just normal from 3 to maybe 4mg a day. Adderall on the other hand, most people say they become very tolerant to it very quick, but I have been on 20mg a day of the IR tabs, and really not much has changed a whole lot, yes it isn't as strong as the first day I took it, but it still works pretty damn well after taking it daily now for the past 3 months or so. It does what its supposed to do for my ADHD, like increasing my motivation, making me a lot less hyper and rude when engaging in a conversation like I used to be as I would constantly interrupt people and butt in on their conversations without really realizing I was being rude, and it just uplifts my mood every single day. Hope it never changes, but it most probably will at some point.

Anyways OP I would try and keep the doses minimal enough to feel the effects you are looking for from it and refrain from using it more than once a week, and increasing your doses too much or at all. Because most people I know that take it just keep taking more and more Adderall, if they use it daily, to feel like they did originally when they began feeling its full effects and it just gives them more negative side effects than more positive ones they originally got from steady lower doses.

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I don't currently take amphetamines regularly. I took amphetamines once and am thinking of replacing alcohol with it.

Let me explain. I really enjoy socializing, but I'm also a bit avoidant/anxious, and as a result when I go out to bars or clubs I find it really, really difficult to meet new people or keep conversations going. Male or female, it's the same thing. Alcohol no longer helps me. Even if I get really drunk I only lose some inhibition, and my confidence doesn't improve that much.

All I want is something that I can take instead of alcohol when I go out, just to give me the ability to confidently approach and make conversation with strangers.

Because I like to go out once a week, in an ideal world, it would be something I could take once every week that would be relatively safe and effective... I read a thread on here saying Adderall users lose the sociability aspect after 5 - 15 uses... I'm not sure what that means by "sociability", but I just want something to make me feel really confident, remove my inhibitions, and allow me to hold conversation better. Feeling like I "love" everyone isn't super important, even though it probably does help when connecting with others.

I'm also out for 4 hours on an average night so something that will get me through that time would be great.

Yes but you must increase the dose to get the same high because tolerance

So you have some kind of social anxiety disorder. Why don't you discuss this with your GP? There are numerous options that you could explore that don't involve the risk of amp addiction, from prescription drugs (beta-blockers, SNRIs, SSRIs etc) to cognitive behavioural therapy. Wouldn't you rather explore those options than have to rely on alcohol or addictive recreational drugs?

CFC said:

So you have some kind of social anxiety disorder. Why don't you discuss this with your GP? There are numerous options that you could explore that don't involve the risk of amp addiction, from prescription drugs (beta-blockers, SNRIs, SSRIs etc) to cognitive behavioural therapy. Wouldn't you rather explore those options than have to rely on alcohol or addictive recreational drugs?

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The problem with the safe MEDECINE for SAD is that they dont make you social, just care less in an apathetic way.

That's not strictly true - some people respond quite well to drugs like bupropion, moclobemide, mirtazapine and venlafaxine.

Sobrietysucks said:

The problem with the safe MEDECINE for SAD is that they dont make you social, just care less in an apathetic way.

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Not true! I have social anxiety and general anxiety and no doubt have drugs like klonopin and valium that I have been prescribed for over 5 years made me MUCH more social than I was before I took them, and in no way careless! I don't know what id do without them to be honest... They took me from being shy and and super quiet, nervous to talk to people I didn't know, and always afraid of what would happen if I walked up to people I didn't know and things got awkward, which they usually did back then and it sucked ass. When I got on klonopin that completely went away once I got on the right dose, and then I switched to valium and became even more sociable, now I am back on kpin and I have never felt more normal in my life since getting on benzos. They have helped me so much!

Ilove2nod said:

Not true! I have social anxiety and general anxiety and no doubt have drugs like klonopin and valium that I have been prescribed for over 5 years made me MUCH more social than I was before I took them, and in no way careless! I don't know what id do without them to be honest... They took me from being shy and and super quiet, nervous to talk to people I didn't know, and always afraid of what would happen if I walked up to people I didn't know and things got awkward, which they usually did back then and it sucked ass. When I got on klonopin that completely went away once I got on the right dose, and then I switched to valium and became even more sociable, now I am back on kpin and I have never felt more normal in my life since getting on benzos. They have helped me so much!

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Ohhhh Benzos are good . I recommend them. I thought you meant the stuff like ssri lol, those are nowhere effective.. I highly recommend BENZOS

CFC said:

That's not strictly true - some people respond quite well to drugs like bupropion, moclobemide, mirtazapine and venlafaxine.

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Can they make me into a social butterfly? I want something to change my personality 180. I tried buprion, made me worse anxious. Venlafaxine made me numb, but I could never approach someone unless I absolutely had to. It never gave me the DESIRE to talk to anyone and everyone about anything at all.... Mdma and Phenibut were the two best prosocial drug i tried

Oh and amphetamine when I first tried it also made me very social. But now it makes me irritable, robot, boring

Sobrietysucks said:

Can they make me into a social butterfly? I want something to change my personality 180. I tried buprion, made me worse anxious. Venlafaxine made me numb, but I could never approach someone unless I absolutely had to. It never gave me the DESIRE to talk to anyone and everyone about anything at all.... Mdma and Phenibut were the two best prosocial drug i tried

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People can respond quite uniquely to different drugs. This is why you need a doc with whom you can work through the available meds until you find something that helps. It may not achieve the total personality transplant you seem to want, but for most people this is the better long-term option, especially if it also includes some form of psychological therapy.

CFC said:

So you have some kind of social anxiety disorder. Why don't you discuss this with your GP? There are numerous options that you could explore that don't involve the risk of amp addiction, from prescription drugs (beta-blockers, SNRIs, SSRIs etc) to cognitive behavioural therapy. Wouldn't you rather explore those options than have to rely on alcohol or addictive recreational drugs?

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There are several reasons... Firstly I don't think many (if any) medicines will work for me. Everyone says they just feel like zombies on antidepressants and I am scared of that. I took citalopram and didn't feel anything really. I think it might have made me shed hair which lowered my mood even more.

I also don't know how safe it is to take things like Benzos every single day. I have taken 5 mg of Valium it makes me act floppy, I used to take it every day for work. Not even sure if I was truly less anxious or if it just took my mind off of the situation by distracting me with the weird sensation, because I still felt pretty anxious. Xanax makes me go to sleep.

I feel that normal medicines are a lost cause, and what if I wanted to take other drugs? Can't take some drugs while on these things. I also am scared about withdrawal, I'd feel like I'm trapped on the meds when I get in too deep or on a proper dose.

I know amphetamines work on the other hand, and I feel much more comfortable about taking something only once per week which is the only time I really need something. SSRIs etc are a longer term thing it takes a while to feel the benefits. I forgot about beta-blockers actually and will try those ASAP. EDIT: I just saw beta-blockers reduce physical symptoms but aren't very effective for things like removing actual psychological anxiety which I need to approach strangers. Maybe I should get Klonopin.

If you have general/social anxiety like I do, long-acting benzos like klonopin can be a wonderful tool to help you get through life without being shy or awkward around people. Plus they will kill off most if not all of the anxiety and nervousness you have in general, not just in social situations. If you do try them, be careful if you don't plan on taking them long term. I honestly think I will need them for the rest of my life and don't really care if I do, because I have come to accept that without them I am not a normal person, but with them I feel as normal as I possibly could feel and don't care if I have to take a pill like klonopin forever just to function like a regular person and not be too shy to talk to everyone. But if you only have these feelings every now and then and its not an everyday thing for you, then I would suggest using them sparingly, but to also take enough of them to feel what they have to offer, just wouldn't over do it. They are not for everyone, but they sure as hell have helped me.

If you are mildly happy with your real life Amphetamine's will always work at making you more social by ironing out the social phobia. If you have anxiety or develop a depression they do not work. Taking them at that frequency should retain definitely the core feeling of the amp it just will probably get less empathetic, but still a confidence boost/invincible eye contact and sex attraction demeanor for a very long time. I had social grounded euphoria for many months of daily use at pretty high doses of Adderall and it took about 3 months to need to take long breaks, switch to once a week, to reclaim contentment from it.

why don't you try therapy. it sounds like you have a social type of phobia that is inhibiting you from normal socialization routines. there is nothing normal about having to get drunk or sped up or bombed, etc, to overcome social boundaries between people. you may just be shy, but chances are you have feelings and issues inside of you from your formative years, whether that be as a child, or as a teenager, or most probably tied to your sexual development.

instead of opting for a bottle of vodka or a glass of wine, or in this example, a bottle of amphetamines, maybe you should think about talking to a therapist, just to start exploring the issue of what boundary wall is, in essence, making you alter your mind's chemistry to bond with another person...

it very well may be worth your time.

Everybody reacts differently to Adderall, they are really made for people with ADD/ADHD, narcolepsy, and obesity rather than people with having trouble socializing and have anxiety issues, although they can help in some instances, they usually aren't the best thing for that issue. Adderall is not meant for everyone. I take it daily to deal with my ADHD, and while it works wonderful for stopping a lot of the problems associated with ADHD for me it isn't something that makes me want to go out and talk to everyone and doesn't do a thing to ease my anxiety at all. However, I also take klonopin and have been taking it for much longer than I have been on Adderall. The only reason I take both is because I am one of the unlucky people who not only suffers from severe anxiety of all sorts, but also has severe ADHD as well. The combination of both drugs is great for me personally, and since being on both of these meds I feel like a new person, a better person! Just so much more productive and can talk to people without being rude and interrupting them during a conversation(due to my ADHD) or without being too shy and staring at the floor the whole time I talk to someone, because I cant make eye contact(due to my social anxiety).

OP, I would consider seeing a psychiatrist and figuring out exactly what it is you should be taking, and if they are a good psychiatrist they will take the time to try all different medicines and ways to go about seeing what works best for you! I am very glad I did, because before I took these meds, I was a total mess. So before just self-medicating all the time, go see a shrink and find out what could be a better alternative. I am very glad I don't have to self medicate anymore like I used to, taking random drugs all the time trying to find out how to feel like I should be feeling, it was unpredictable and didn't always play out how I wanted. It can take some time finding out what is best for you, but it pays off as long as your psychiatrist is a good one who listens, as I have had down right horrible psych docs before who I hated, and did nothing to help me whatsoever while charging tons of money. If you do decide to see one, look them up online first and see their reviews from other people, before going to some wack ass shrink who wont do a thing for you and wastes your time.