Weaning off 3 years on Adderall XR, | ADHD Information
I am on meds right now to wean myself off AdderallXR and my whole life on Ritalin. My doctor says its going to be a process and stopping cold-turkey is very unhealthy. (i.e. severe depression, etc. etc.)
Once this month is over, we will start the 2nd phase of what I am going to do.
I hope everying is going well Pointgrinder and thanks for your story.
Have you noticed any other effects to your health for taking ritalin for the past 20 years? I often wonder if there is much risk to our health for taking stimulants over the long term.
I can sort of relate as I used to compete in triathlons and had good success at an elite level. Then I got a pretty bad stress fracture from overtraining and after a few months of partying too hard and crashing my car the Dr said I had ADHD and should take dexamphetamines. The diagnosis did make sense when looking back at my school years. That was about 2.5 years ago and since then I have been taking them everyday and I have finished uni, got a job, got engaged and bought a house. I don't like taking the medication and often debate whether I need it but when I look at the progress of my life I am not sure if I could do it without it. I think being a triathlete in my younger years sort of self medicated me. Since taking the meds I am way less physically active than I used to be and have put on a tonne of weight. I also sweat significantly more even when not exercising. I want to hopefully stop taking the meds in the near future and am a little concerned as to whether I will still function ok.
I hope everything goes well for you and I will be very interested to hear about your progress.
Take care
what meds are you taking mike that have made you gain weight??pointgrinder, why would you want to go back on the meds if you've become more creative and enjoy things you used to when your off them? I'm considering going off the meds because they just make me quiet and not much fun to be around. (I am on antidepressant also)
[QUOTE=Pointgrinder]Actually, I ENCOURAGE ALL OF ALL ADD/ADHDer TO BE AN ATHLETE. TRAIN FOR A MARATHON, TRIATHLON, OR DEDICATE TO SOMETHING TO PROMOTE DIET &GET THOSE ENDORPHINS KICKIN!
[/QUOTE]
Well said!! I certainly can't claim to have dedicated myself to athletics as much as you obviously have, but I do strength training 4 times a week and get some sort of aerobic excersize (biking, hiking, swimming, etc.) every day. Excersize, especially in endurance activities, stimulates many of the same neurotransmitters as stimulant meds (dopamine, norepy) so it's little wonder they enhance focus!
Mike, in terms of the long term effects. I have not experienced any. Only the tolerance of them.
Mike, still take those meds unless you have a serious game plan in terms of alternatives. Your progress is a direct result in understanding, monitoring and treating your disorder. Your mind will try to convince you otherwise.
Either its the natural route or/and other treatments, you got to have faith and be dedicated to your treatment. Continue what you are doing, because there are people out there that have ADD and can't put it together and we provide "Hope" to those struggling.
I do encourage you to dive back into triathlons. Not only its a good way to stay in shape, but its good way to EAT RIGHT! You remember, right? You can't eat pizza and then swim, bike and run....right? You can't really drink 3 beers and then prepare for a race, right? Counting organic caleries to make sure we are fueled correctly is essential to make our bodies work and those bad caleries are not only horrible to put into our bodies, but horrible for our sentitive ADD brains. A double wammy!
Buddy, I am taking a break from training because what happened, but I am starting to wean myself into training again. Running season is here, and TRI season is over. Its a perfect time to build your "base." I can help if you want??? Let me know.
Actually, I ENCOURAGE ALL OF ALL ADD/ADHDer TO BE AN ATHLETE. TRAIN FOR A MARATHON, TRIATHLON, OR DEDICATE TO SOMETHING TO PROMOTE DIET &GET THOSE ENDORPHINS KICKIN!
Pointgrinder38624.3340162037Thanks Pointgrinder for your very helpful advice. I agree it does make sense to continue using the meds while they are helping and I don't have any clear plan on how to come off them. I should probably focus more on finding a job/career I enjoy and want to pursue and use the benefits the meds provide me with to assist achieve this.
Good call about getting back into the tris I really miss the buzz of competing. I am just a bit concerned about whether taking the dex and exercising will put my body under too much stress. When I exercise on the dex my heart rate seems to be a fair bit higher and I sweat heaps more. This is probably more due to the fact that I am way less fitter than I used to be. I have noticed that the meds do make me focus much more on proper technique which is especially helpful for swimming and cycling.
Great to see you are getting back into some running again. Endorphins must be the best medication for all sorts of ailments. Please keep me updated on your progress.
Brookela I am taking dexamphetamines 15-20 mgs per day. I am not sure if they are causing me to put on more weight or it is the result of my way less active life.
Thanks for your hep guys.
I used to take Adderall 30 mg. I went off to try some herbs. When I was on the herbs I didn't notice any withdrawls from Adderall. I went off the herbs and I didn't notice any withdrawls from those either.
I tried Concerta over the summer and I went off right away because I was feeling depressed on them.
So now I am not on anything. Maybe I didn't take them long enough to experience withdrawls. I took Adderall for about 1 1/2 years.
I when I was on Adderall I didn't spend as much time doing the creative things in my life unless I scheduled them in. I was so entranced with the organization of everything that I could easily do on meds, that the creative part of my life took a back seat. I know that I still was creative, I just didn't spend as much time doing creative things.
I'm pretty good about drugs as at one points I was a junkie :(
I've had a different view on drugs as a way to experience something rather than just get high. When I took ecstacy I never really experienced the downed feeling a lot of people get cause I would just say it's the drugs and it was an experience to remember.
What I'm trying to get at is when going off adderall I'm able to stop completely from 30mg without much of a side effect. The only effects I had as being droswy for a couple days but after that would return slowly back to my old self. So weening off of it can be different for a lot of people.
Ritalin and Adderall do completely different things for me. I was bumped up to 40mg because my tolerance for the 30mg was as if I had never taken the medication in the first place. The 40mg didn't really help but produced more side effects. They switchd me to concerta(ritalin) for a month or so, then I'm back on adderall at 20mg which is working well for me. Sometimes you might just need to get your tolerance back down for a month or two, then you can go back on it and have it work for another 2 great years.
Theres several drugs out there that recommend cycles so that your body doesn't become immune to it. The first week or so after coming off adderall might be a bit hard though(all depends on yourself). Try to use psychology to tell yourself its the drug and just wait.
Ofcourse it's all up to you and I wish you the best of luck!
Fortunately, I never went down the drug abuse path. I believe staying in athletics had curbed all things that could hender performance.
yes, today i am still feeling some withdrawal symptoms today. Thanks for the luck, and I will need it. One thing I am going to take seriously is making sure I am being monitored closely by my doctor. Luckly, this doctor takes my insurance so its affordable.
Misterman, I will take note. Great suggestion...
Last night I went to a new psychiatrist for interesting side-effects from Adderall XR. I am 30 years old, diagnosed with ADD in the 3rd grade, taking Ritalin my whole life until Dr. Jon Heiser (not seeing him anymore) decided to put me on Adderall XR.
I am first to admitt Adderall XR worked wonders for the first 2 years. This last year on Adderall XR was very interesting. My moods started to swing, irritable at times, my sex drive shot thru the roof, my performance at work took somewhat a dive and what set things off...
..What was the main pivotal event that started to evaluate my nutrition????
Well, my body completely shut down lately. See, I am also a triathlete. I participate in a Triathlon Team studying the training, nutrition, and racing methods. Training and being on Adderall XR is new to me. On Labor Day, my body experienced electric pulsing, extreme fatigue, and exhaustion. Basically, my body was receiving a double dose of stimulates and it was throwing off my chemical balance big time. I went to two neurologust and getting an MRI this coming Friday. Both neurologist indicated it was a form of a "migraine" induced by my over-exhaustion. Guys, I was not doing anything different. Actually, I was backing off a little. No change in diet, and no change in training volume. The second neurologist said, I should look into Adderall XR or stop training altogether...
Well, it was also time to re-evaluate my doctors ablity to understand my current state. Like always, he was not responding. Never calls back and again late sending my prescription in the mail.
Last night, i went to another doctor. He wants me to "wean off" Adderall XR. He subscribe me Provigil and Welburton XR for one month. Second stage, he wants to re-evaluate and then the next step.
OMG, I am experiencing some serious withdraws. But I guess my body was becoming tolerant to Adderall XR. I was taking 30mgs and it seem like I needed more in order to feel like it was first prescribed to me. I am at work right now, its quarter end and I am writing this message (which it took 3x as long to write it) and I should be consulting banks about Business Process Management software.... I am major ADD right now, experiencing METH withdraws and taking anti-depressants.
So, if you have any questions. Feel free to ask. You can say, I have experienced it all in terms of living with ADD. The UP's and the Down's...Its hard and its definately beatable. I went from Special Ed in elementry school to graduating from University of California at Berkeley with a 3.4gpa in Political Science. Now, I am a software consultant, married and a recoving triathlete. :)
My son, 11, has been on Adderall for two years, except for summers. He has been doing great in school this year and we talked about it and he wants to try to it without the meds. He takes 20 mg. I guess I did not consider withdrawal. He does not seem to have a problem in the summer with not taking it. Now I wonder if I should talk to his doctor first. His doctor was alright with him not taking it in the summer. Questions, questions! wow thats fantastic!!! the part about you graduating, marrying and your career i mean..
did you find the ritalin helped you get motivated when you were a child??
the withdrawls will soon pass and you will be back to 'normal' again
PJJP39 - Yes, yes, yes! Please talk to your doctor. Just like any drug... including coffee, as humans, we become tolerant, which in turn, have withdrawals. Maybe its different for children, but I doubt it. I did the same thing at that age were in the summer, I did not take Ritalin....however, Ritalin is quite different than Adderall XR. I am not putting down Adderall XR. He just needs to be monitored very closely when on it and more importantly, off it.
Brookelea - Ritalin help me when I was a child? I never believed in ADD and that a simple pill can help me. I thought it was more than that. In which self-esteem gets effected a lot (NOTE TO PJJP39!). I started to get more consistant with Ritalin in High School and completely "dedicated" with it at Berkeley.
Yes, the withdrawals suck right now. and yes, I am concerned for my job. I can't focus on a thing. Trust me, this making me worried.
But the cool thing is that I am finding myself already more creative. On Adderall XR I found myself playing my guitar less and less. Interesting...