Marijuana Addiction + ADD | ADHD Information

I know how hard it can be to be willing to change your behavior when you
have a habit like that. I wanted to blame everything but the meds, and I
refused to believe that marijuana had any adverse consequences.
Dexadrine was the problem, and I really needed to take less. I still
believe that marijuana is completely harmless, but I think I am better now
that I’ve cut down on both the marijuana and the ADD meds. I eventually
hope to be off everything soon. I wish the best of luck to you, just realize
that these things are slow. I was smoking pot every day for about 6
months, and it was really easy to stop. I still take the ADD meds and I
rely on sleep aids. I have cut my dose in half in the last year, but I still
feel like I can’t sleep without help. Tapering down is a really slow
process, and can be intimidating at first.Thanks alot for the advice.  It helps alot knowing there are other people out there who had the same stuff going on.  Im going to my md in a week to discuss all of this with her.  Hopefully everything turns for the better.

-Jimmy
Jimmy,

Have you talked with your MD about possibly adding a short acting dose of Adderall salts in the evening or before your long acting wears off? Studies show that with the short-acting "extra" dose, it curbs rebound and allows the drug to wear off over a longer time period essentially helping with sleep. My husband is on a regimen similar to this and also has a cup of coffee or a pop in the evening and he sleep pretty well. I know he has also tried other remedies, including melatonin. No illegal substances though, as he is a recovering addict/alcoholic. What about concerta? I have noticed in my stepson that he has less of a rebound with Concerta than he did with Ritalin and we also have short-acting ritalin for him in the afternoons if he needs extra coverage or has a severe rebound effect. I know he is a restless sleeper, but he gets enough sleep and will sleep late if you let him. Hopefully, you get that using illegal substances is just that, illegal and any of them are habit-forming if you have the addictive personality/gene. Your increase in use is a grave sign that you have the potential for abuse of substances and I would stay away from those that are not under supervision of your physician. Good luck and I hope you find something that works for you, not sleeping is the pits! Hey everyone! I havnt been on a while and after reading this post you will see why.  I had been diagnosed with ADD about a year ago and back in january I was put on Adderall and have been taking it everyday since with great results.  Since day one of taking the Adderall I experienced insomnia as the main adverse side effect. For about a month or so I constantly was being prescribed different meds such as small doses of seroquil abd various other antipsychotics (I'm not psychotic) but that made me twitch and now I take zyprexia (doesnt work at all).  I also take paxil for anxiety/depression. 

    Well anyway after a month of going nights without sleep I decided to self medicate with marijuana.  Prior to this self medicating I rarely used marijuana due to it causing me anxiety, however I found now since being on Paxil, the anxiety was eliminated.  And at first I would only smoke a little bit each night after doing school work and it worked great and I found it eliminated the rebound effect and insomnia.  I read in another post about dexedrine contributing to alcoholism due to it elminating many of the rebound effect as well as the hangover or in my case the "burnt out" effect.

    As time progressed I found myself needing to smoke whenever and much more (1/2 ounce a week) coming down off the adderall and I found myself justifying my marijuana habit as just a neccessity if i plan on coping with ADD and the medication along with it.  I didnt realize how obsessed I became with smoking pot.  I could only make it through a day smoking pot and instead of using it just as an insomnia aid, I found that I was using the adderall just to cover up the adverse marijuana effects. 

    Its now been two weeks since I havnt smoked and I cant stand the insomnia and dont know what to do and I sure as hell dont want to self medicate.  So any advice with how to cope with the insomnia and  rebound effect (restlessness/numb/zombie and fatigue) that the medication leaves me with when it wears off.

    I know people out there specifically Glen W will post about how irresponsible I am for blaming a medication for turning me into a marijuana addict.  I know what I did and I take responsibilty.  So if anyone can relate to this, leave me a post please!

    Sorry this is so long.
  

   

   
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I use to smoke tons of pot.  Ask your doc if you can try ritalin or some other drug.  Perhaps adderall is not the drug for you.  I took ritalin first and actually liked it very much.  My doc wasn't totally pleased and wanted me to try Adderall.  Adderall worked for me as well.  It helped with my impulsive behavior better than Ritalin. 

Ritalin LA is what I took.  Give it a shot.  Adderall does effect sleep more than Ritalin in my experience.  After a while I adjusted and basically exhaust myself before bedtime.

The pot I'm very glad I gave up.  I have been pot free for over a year now.  I use to smoke pot daily for around 15 years.  I'm 37.  Since being on the meds...and not smoking pot...my life has improved dramatically.

I also smoked pot daily for several months last school year. I would
smoke at night so I could go to sleep because I was taking dexadrine and
I had anxiety and I couldn’t fall asleep. For the longest time I used the
dex like an on button and the pot like an off button.   I didn’t even have a
normal sleeping schedule and I stayed alone in my apartment all the time.
People didn’t see me much because I was busy working all the time or
smoking alone and being lazy.

I told my doctor what I was doing and she gave me sleep aids so i would
stop self medicating with pot. I’ve tried
several different things, including Ambien, Remeron and Rozerem.   I
liked the Remeron the best because it is actually a mild anti-anxiety/anti-
depressant and I have a feeling my insomnia came from the Dexedrine
exacerbating the anxiety problem. Unfortunately I had to discontinue the
Remeron after feeling great for about two months because my doctor was
afraid that it would induce a manic episode because I am at risk for being
bipolar. The best results came when i was able to get a steady night's
sleep, at a regular time every night as well as getting some regular
excersize and trying to eat better. You have to put a lot of effort in to
these things. When you can just use a substance to make things easier
sometimes you forget to take care of yourself.

My advice is that if you need something to go to sleep, quit the adderall.
I realized that I really didn’t want to taper down on the dex because I had
become dependent. Adderall is more addictive than pot, so really think
about which addiction is more of a problem.
pinkumbrella38921.8616203704i used to smoke pot daily,driving to work, at work when i could, on the way home from work, and at home till i went to sleep!! about a half ounce every 3-4 days!then i got injured at work(i work in a corrugated box factory)and failed the drug test. since then  i've been on adderall and i've been clean from drugs. i can't stress enough how pot addiction can sneak up on you and control your life my whole world revolved around finding time to smoke, finding time to score, finding a way to delay paying bills to have money to score. i'm so happy i got injurted at work, it made me do something about my ad/hd and my pot addiction. i hope you can put a stop to your pot smoking. it will only hinder your ability to get things done in life and to accomplish your goals!!!I did dabble a little with hash when i was younger , but i think nowadays most companies drug test prior to employment over here now. I work offshore on the oil rigs and we get spot checks very often.This is my first post.

I can relate to your story because I smoke weed almost every night. I'm
26 and I've been medicated since I was 21. Originally I started taking
Ritalin (20mg 4x day), and of course, I had insomia (who doesn't), but I
wans't used to it, so I was put on Xanax (1.5mg) to fall asleep at night.

To Long story short; I became dependent and went through hellish
withdrawls when I quit. 10 mg Lexapro was added to help with some of
the anxiety, but It wasn't enough to relax me or help me with the crash
when the ritalin wore off, (now it's the crash when the adderall xr is
wearing off).

So I started smoking pot almost every evening (normally just one bowl). I
find getting stoned really helps with the come down from ritalin or
adderall or whatever your favortie add pill might be. It helps me sleep
better. Relaxes me. And gives me an appetite, which I find nice after not
haiving one all day (I typically eat routinely-hungry or not).

In fact, on the nights I don't smoke (i just took a week break to see if I
could) i've noticed ihave a hard time falling asleep and feel worse once
those last few mg of adderall xr whear off in the evening.

I know a lot of people will think this is completely irresponsible behavior,
but I've been doing it nearly every night through college and managed to
get through with a 3.4 gpa with a B.S.

Weed has become my afterwork cocktail. You could say I'm addicted. But
consider this... I take adderall XR everyday, but I would say I'm
dependent, not additcted. Addictions tend to escalate. I never crave more
and more adderall or more and more weed, nor do I smoke during the
day/morning when the Adderall is working it's best.

I know it's not the healthiest thing to do, but it works for me, with no
adverse effects (other than the health risks of smoking weed). I'm pretty
sure, or hope, at least, that the combination of adderall xr (20mg 2x a
day, prozac (20mg..swtiched recently from lexapro) and a few hits from
the pipe is relatively benign.

It's not something I'm proud off, and I belive I wouldn't need to smoke if I
didn't need to take adderall xr everyday to have normal life. I just find it's
a safer way to take the edge off than having drinking, adding a xanax
addiction or taking more pharmaceuticals than I need to.

Anyway. Just thought I'd chime in.

OrangePillI can absolutley relate to your problem my friend. I smoked daily (with the exceptions of stopping for drug tests etc.) for about the last 3 years. I decided to stop for many reasons including money, my worries about its long term effects (if they even exist, who knows!), my social withdrawl when I was high etc.

I can sort of see how one can think they are addicted to it but I personally think it has nothing to do with the drug itself and more with the personality of the user. I just stopped 2 months ago and the only thing I noticed was a little difficulty in falling asleep but that quicky faded after a few restless nights.

How much Dex are you on? Ive been on 20mg adderal XR x 1 for 10 years. I dont even take it daily (I refuse to despite what my Dr says, I know when I need it and when I dont). Perhaps you can try a slow releasing amphetamine like the XR and try not to up the dosage. I dont have experience with the other medications you are on so I cant speak for there side effects.

In my opinion, with marijuana the addictions rise from the personality of the user and not the drug itself. It certainly is NOT physically addictive under normal circumstances. However if you are lets say depressed and just want to go out and party all the time to take your mind off of your other problems and are always looking forward to the end of the day when you can smoke up.....then I could see a mental addiction possibly. Keep holding out, try to go at least a few months without smoking. I am willing to bet this will all wash away with time. Good luck to you my friend.carbohydrate38922.0222569444