Eradicating Adderall Forever

[Anonymous91]

Hello everyone, I am 27 years old and I have been on Adderall since elementary school. I never built severe tolerance for the prescription or severely abused it. I guess I can say I might be abusing it? Growing up it was typically a 10mg IR with a 10mg XR and that would be my entire day. In high school, it would be the same except twice a day, and then in college, I remember it going to two 20mg XR per day. After all that, I remember it going from three 20mg XR per day down to three 15mg XR per day and now I'm back to 20mg XR as of today. My problem is that I truly feel like my 20mg XR only lasts me 3 hours, so I feel compelled to take 4 per day which screws me for the remaining days of the month.

I've been realizing that I can wake up, go to work at the office, take a 250mg Armodafinil to get me going (though it's definitely nothing like taking my Adderall) and be ok. Not great, but ok. However, once it hits 12:00 (lunch time), I have a serious need to get a nap in so I always go to my car, put the seat back, listen to some relaxing podcast, and get 45 minutes of sleep. When I wake up, I take my first 20mg XR of Adderall at 1:00pm, try to push until 4:30 to take my next one, and take my last one around 7:30. I typically fall asleep by midnight and get a solid 8 hours of sleep in before I leave for work the next day. My doctor, a psychiatrist that specializes in adult ADHD, would have no problems raising my dosage up to 30mg, however, I remember taking some that my friend had and it didn't really extend that 3 hour span of its effect on me.

I seriously can't stand the fact that I rely on this prescription so much. I can't stand that I can't wake up like any other normal human being and live out their day without taking Adderall. I can't stand going to the pharmacy every month and waiting for that text from CVS that alerts me that my prescription is ready. Last time I was out of my medication was a couple months ago when (thank God), I was in between switching companies and I had a good couple weeks off. I was out of my prescription for about 4-5 days where I was not myself. I slept for 18 out of the 24 hours of the day, waking up with the worst mood swings, and wanting to just bang my head against the wall. I felt helpless, I cried, I screamed, it was a complete shit show. I was a complete shit show.

I'm terrified of trying to get myself off of these things because as I mentioned earlier, it seems like I can be a normal human being for the first portion of the day. It's like someone seeing light at the end of the tunnel. Now, not to get you confused, but many days I didn't even take the Armodafinil and be just fine. In fact, the Armodafinil seems pretty useless to me because you're supposed to only take it once a day, especially at a 250mg dosage. Though, like I said, I still feel the need to get a nap in during my lunch break.

I was hoping for people on here who can really relate to my situation to tell me their solutions, their alternatives, or their ultimatums. I could really use all the advice I can get.

Oh and quick note, I know having a psychiatrist that specializes in ADHD is the ultimate key for all of this help, but I'm worried about him taking me off or giving me things that will put my job in jeopardy.

Thank you everyone.

[RachealCR]

I have the opposite problem. I'm that person who responds badly to everything. I developed alcohol and caffeine sensitivities in my late twenties, which sucks because I love coffee. Now, I can only drink one cup of coffee a day and nothing else. If I drink, I can only have one small glass or I have a bad reaction the next day. When I started Adderall a few months ago, my psychiatrist put me on a very small dose of XR, which seemed okay, but didn't really work all that well. So she upped it, and when that happened, I started having the same reactions to it that I have to caffeine. Then she told me that I might want to not drink coffee anymore, which for me is a hard NO. It's my favorite part of the morning, and I am sooo not a morning person. So then she told me to space them apart. When I do that it sometimes works, but usually I just feel like shit. So with or without medicine I'm hyperactive and distracted!

[Lovinit]

I relate I’m 37 been on adderall since I was 22. I’m taking 20mg ir three times a day and that works but I could take it 4 times a day but that’s gonna mess my 2nd week up. I asked my doctor to write my scripts for every two weeks. I can be impulsive. I’ve been feeling the things you said and I thought about things. And I remember before I was on medication I was in great shape. I ran 3mi a day hiked gym yoga I was a mover and I think before medications as a teenager I did that as a way to self medicate. I believe being that active helped I felt great when I exercised. Unfortunately I’m out of shape and 40lbs over weight and I have adult shit I have do so I’m making excuses for myself.

I’d like to get back in shape and see then about lowering my dose. Because I don’t want to have to depend on my adderall like have to now. Let me know your thoughts

[Lovinit in reply to Lovinit]

30mg ir three times a day my bad

[Fisherstan in reply to Lovinit]

So, you are taking 90 MG per day? Does it make you anxious?

[Lovinit in reply to Fisherstan]

No, the short term does last 3-4?hrs. So I take it 3X a day.

[F_RN_Dx_at_39]

If you haven't already, I'd recommend genetic testing. It will tell you/your prescriber what meds will/won't work for you. Mine showed that most traditional ADHD meds are unlikely to be effective enough for me.