Quitting Adderall XR Cold Turkey | ADHD Information

I was Diagnosed with ADD at age age of 43 and put on Adderall XR 30mg 3 times a day. I have been takeing it for 3 years now. I am also being treated for Bi-Polar been through 4 different Depression med, Depacote 1000mg Klonopin 2mg and Vicodin 5/500 for stress and pain. I worked for the state (not going to say what one) for 15 years in the Dept. of Corrections and Mental Health and was fired when I was diagnosed with ADD. Anyway I had to get on medacad and they do not cover Adderall so I have been with out for 3 weeks and the withdraw's are so bad been in bed for days and very depressed.... CRY!!! anyone know of anything that will help with the withdraw's are very bad sweatting always hot, bad body ackes, no desire to do anything includeing liveing... any help would be great.

I have never heard of anyone having withdrawals from Adderall. The XR has a half life of anywhere from 4 to 14 hours, so if your last dose of the day is around 3 or 4pm, the drug is out of your system, probably way before you even wake up. So that means you would be having withdrawals every morning. I took Adderall XR for several years and then stopped for a year when pregnant with my son and never had any problems. I just stopped taking Ritalin because I am pregnant with baby #2 and have had no problems. I would talk to your doctor and see what else may be going on in your body. Are you female, because maybe you are starting menopause?? Did you stop taking your other meds? Don't know if they cause withdrawals.
I would also sue those SOBs that fired you. ADD is a condition that is under the protection of the American with Disabilites Act, so they can't fire you for having it. Hope you feel better soon.
[QUOTE=Zimwatt]Anyway I had to get on medacad and they do not cover Adderall so I have been with out for 3 weeks and the withdraw's are so bad been in bed for days and very depressed.... CRY!!! anyone know of anything that will help with the withdraw's are very bad sweatting always hot, bad body ackes, no desire to do anything includeing liveing... any help would be great.[/QUOTE]

Zimwatt

A couple of things come to mind. Regarding meds you may want to find out what meds medicare would cover. For example do they cover Dexedrine? Dex is somewhat similar to Adderall but has been around much longer and therefore is less expensive.

Some anti-depressants may help. Wellbutin comes to mind as having some benefits for ADD'rs.

As for getting over the lack of meds ... the feeling of hopelessness is indicative of depression. Getting over Adderall would not result in feeling that way unless you were suffering from depression. The tiredness should have gone away in no more than a week so I wonder if somnething else is going on or it goes back to having severe depression.

So, find out what medicare would cover, see a therapist or psych to discuss if you have depression and start exercising. That will be important to get your energy level of and help you to feel better mentally.

Best of luck to you.

MaxDad