Adderall SOS
wasn't irresonsible of you, it was horrendously irresponsible of your
doctor to put you on 240mg (roughly 4 times the FDA approved daily
dose). Your doctor isn't returning phone calls because he/she is likely
quite afraid; they could get into serious trouble for doing this to you.
Having said that, the size of your dose is too substantial to be tapering
off within just a few days. Even two weeks is probably not enough time.
It's very dangerous to come off of high doses of stimulants too quickly,
and you're running a high risk of making your depression (which I assume
you've got plenty of right now) far, far worse. Two weeks off to rest,
however, is a great idea.
I would suggest getting to another doctor ASAP to have them monitor
your progress. You'll probably want to go in once a week, if not more,
just to be checked out to make sure your heart is doing alright and your
mood is doing alright. Expect a HUGE dive in mood and a LOT of sleep.
If you absolutely decide against having a doctor monitor you, just taper
very slowly. I'd drop 10mg every 3-5 days. I know that's not as fast as
you'd like, but if things are shakey you don't want to make them worse by
adding serious stimulant withdrawal to the mix.
I wish more doctors realized that at FDA-approved theraputic doses
stimulants do NOT build tolerance. Many of them still believe you can
build tolerance at those doses, and they end up creating the very
situations necessary to build that tolerance by overprescribing.
Drink a lot of caffeine in the next few days; it'll help. If you can get on a
wellbutrin prescription (AND IF YOU ARE MONITORED VERY, VERY
CAREFULLY DURING THAT TIME), do it. It'll help alleviate the withdrawal,
but it can cause its own mood problems so you have to be watched
carefully. If you smoke, buy extra packs (this is bad for your health, but it
will help in the short-term with withdrawal). I'd buy a lot of smoothies to
stock; you won't have much appetite, but you'll make things much worse
if you don't eat.
And above all...do NOT abruptly cease such a high dose in the period of a
few days. It will make things much, much worse.
Good luck. Keep us all posted. Find another doctor who'll see you and
who specializes in ADHD.
I've come to the conclusion that i've been clinicly dead for about a year, but i have so much adderall in my system, my body has continued to walk around and talk aimlessly since that time. ....In reading this site, i found that 30 mg to 60 mg a day was the usual dosage, 90 mg is considered high.
I've been on adderall for 5 years and never researched the medication or questioned my doc on the dosage. My pharmist recommended i do so. My doctor currenly has me on 240 mg a day. (Two 30 mg, 4 times a day) Yes, I know now, very irresponsible and naive of me) Please don't bust my chops. Later, but not right now. I've tapered down the dosage since then to 180 mg a day and plan to go completely off Adderal in the next couple of days. I will continue staying on my Effexor.
I'm not a special case. I've been independent and successful most of my life. But i'm scared sh*tless right now. I've arranged two weeks off from work to try and work through this. Getting off Adderall was my idea, my doc hasn't returned my calls. i won't go into the nightmare my life has become, but i'm a shell of the person i use to be. i'm becoming more and more amazed at how the hell i could let things get to this point. I still have my house, my job, and close family and friends, but things are shaky.
I have some idea of what to expect this week from what i've read, but already, its worse than i thought. i feel very alone, and very scared. I'm planning to see another doctor this week for a complete physical. I live alone, but for the first time in my life, i see the need to have someone here with me. Just the thought of expaining the situation and asking someone is becoming overwhelming and i keep putting it off.
Any suggestions to make getting through this week and beyond, would be appreciated.
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