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July 11th, 2011 by MikeDo you have something to say that might help somebody get through the rough process of quitting Adderall? Say it!
I want this website to be a complete resource, not just one guy talking. And that means we need lots of smart people like you weighing in with their insights to help others get through it.
If you’ve got an idea for an article you’d like to write (or if you’ve already written it), send me an email: mike@quittingadderall.com.
A couple notes:
- Don’t worry if what you’ve written feels unpolished. I can help you format it for the web.
- You don’t have to be finished quitting Adderall to write about quitting Adderall. Whether you’re on day 1 or day 1000, you’ve learned a thing or two that might be useful to others.
- I cannot begin to express how therapeutic it is to help other people through the same thing you’re going through. Writing about quitting will help you quit.
Hey Mike,
I’m currently about half-way finished in a progressive wean from Adderall. Before Adderall I took Concerta for roughly 6 years, and Adderall for about 20+ months. This site has been a great help and I’d like to give back a bit by contributing an article on an original topic. I have a few ideas of topics to write about…so I’ll see what you think.
(1) Diabetes and Adderall/Stimulants: The Adderall/Concerta regimen helped with the management of my Type I Diabetes on a few different levels. It cut the edge off the pervasive anxiety often associated with living with chronic illness, while keeping my weight at a level very complimentary to maintaining effective glycemic control. While losing these benefits is a great concern of mine, I’d like to discuss the process as it relates to managing a chronic-illness (the impact it will have on different aspects of the illness, and strategies I have and will use to cope during this transition).
(2) As an RN it is interesting to notice the impact it has on work — energy levels, focus as it relates to multitasking etc., working wacky hours without the “help” of a major amphetamine bolster.
(3) My experience in reading, filtering, and integrating both the bleak and inspiring content found within articles on this website. In other words, finding a balance in listening to others and writing my own story, so to speak.
be well!
Hi Jacob!
Those all sound like excellent topics. Send me an email directly so we discuss and get you all set up! Send me email here: mike@quittingadderall.com
Also: If you sent an email to write@quittingadderall.com (listed on the page above) I didn’t get it. I created this page way to late in the evening and forgot to actually make the write@ forwarder work. It’s fixed now, but if you sent me an email there already I apologize for losing it!
Either address will get to the same place!
I am married anfd my wife is on adderol. I’ve been feeling her becoming more and more distant, but where my situation is different from the articles that i’ve read is that, I actually messed-up by keeping in touch with an ex-girlfriend. She found out about it and understandibly lost it.. She now says that we need space and distance to salvage our relationship…I agree i am willing to do whatever it takes to make it work. But i notice that the more work i do the more distant she becomes… I totally feel the pursuer distanter affect that the drugs show symptoms of. She has an inability to show me LOVE. I’ve never known this Che. I’m afraid to mention it to her because she’ll say “This has nothing to do with adderol and everything to do with your actions…ITS BOTH….She cries so much when we talk about it..She either crys or gets as COLD and DISTANT as anyone that Ive ever met…I feel like she wouldnt mind if I died, and just 3 weeks ago we were talking about having childern,now thats no longer a possibilty.. I HATE ADDEROL.
I am suffering with this drug, i just quit after 2 years. i need help, support, i dont want to go back on this evil drug, i have been robbed of my happiness, my friends, my career, I FN HATE ADDERAL! I bought L-tyrosine, L-Phen, amino acids, wellbutrin xl, HOPING this will help. I used to be a facebook person, i just lost interest, dont want anyone to see how much weight i lost. I need some support please so i dont go craving those orange pills again. i went from 170pds to `129! I want to live, breathe, eat, laugh, love again!! Please i need support. i feel like a zombie!
@Taylor – You have to wear the cravings down by gradual erosion. Each time you resist it successfully, it gets a little easier to resist for the next time…until it’s not hard to resist it at all. But if you give in and relapse, it can set you pretty far back the longer the relapse back. That’s why it’s important to avoid relapses at all costs (and I mean ALL costs), and if one does happen, jump back on the wagon immediately.
Also, another important step is to identify situations that make you crave the pill, and try to eliminate or soften them. For most Adderall users, the cravings are the worst at work or under the weight of big projects and deadlines. When most people quit Adderall, they start by avoiding big projects and deadlines completely, and then gradually work back to being able to handle them again. Quitting Adderall is all about re-learning to prioritize your own life goals over the needs of the moment. Getting off Adderall is the first such goal, and to reach it you will need to put it above every other goal imposed by work, school, etc.
You can totally do this. If your goald are to breath, eat, laugh, and love again, then you’re in luck, because those things come rushing back to you from about day 2 onward. It takes a little longer to be able produce again…but the breathing and laughing part starts pretty much right away.
THANK YOU MIKE! its been 17 days now and im ALOT better than i was the last time i wrote. I am doing good on my wellbutrin, my sleep schedule is a little off still, my energy kicks in during the evening. Like all of a sudden i have this rush of energy. I do feel almost 80% human again.. This drug does some really weird stuff to your brain! WOW, I can watch movies now. It is a bit hard for me to do anything online, As in before i could literally sit at my computer for 6-7 hours trying to solve a problem that seemed pretty meaningless.
its REALLY interesting that you mentioned what you wrote to me above because that is EXACTLY how it happened!! You said…….
“For most Adderall users, the cravings are the worst at work or under the weight of big projects and deadlines. When most people quit Adderall, they start by avoiding big projects and deadlines completely, and then gradually work back to being able to handle them again”
Thats what happened, I have this HUGE email list that i needed to send out and i felt like it was a deadline and that i HAD TO GET IT DONE ASAP!!!!! Needless to say, that was my breaking point, I gave up with the email list, (which i still have) but even trying to do it right now seems impossible!! SO, i have decided to work on it maybe 30 minutes a day. I was COMPLETELY ENGULFED in this Email list that i had for my clients, and my mind was about to explode. I felt like i wanted to take over my work, i wrote my manager some emails i recall stating how i wanted to be promoted to a leader position cause i felt i was capable of it from my experience. WOW!!! Im so happy i have a VERY supportive boss. I spoke with him about all of this. I have been off work for 3 weeks, taking care of myself. I am a massage therapist at a large fitness center for the top Hospital System in Texas. So, this pressure was on, i had to do this!!
ANd then i just crashed and burned!! My email list did not get done, yet i still have it and you are so correct, i have to take things very slow cause i will start thinking of adderall. I have cravings daily Some are BIG and some are very small. But each time i talk myself out of one i feel AMAZING!!
I can taste food again and enjoy it like never before. I hope to stay the weight i am but add a bit muscle tone to my twigs. I went from 170 to 129. I dont ask my friends or family to praise me JUST yet, cause who knows what tomorrow brings, im not out of the woods yet… but i see the light ahead. Im headed out of this dark jungle. Thank You!!
T
Hi Mike, I want to write about what’s it like to deal with acne from Adderall. I’m a 28 year old African-American female, about 5 days off addy now, and it’s plain to see that Adderall was the cause of a lot of problems in my life, and I want to write about finding the solutions to them. I have really sensitive skin and have always had acne issues, but never as bad as when i was on Adderall, and now 5 days off–with a diet of mostly raw veganism (lots of salad and green superfoods), a strict regiment of skin, nails, and hair vitamins, Organic Skin Detox tea, tons of water, plus a ton of overpriced beauty products and tools (yes, some are motorized. Motorized facial tools, girls are girly!), AND natural oils, shea butters, and essential oils——-AFTER ONLY 5 DAYS MY SKIN is starting to heal although I have mad nasty scars.
This acne is really hurting my ego because i used to model, and while I’m worried about weight gain, how much weight can i possibly gain eating salads?
I do have a home exercise step aerobics plan I have been too lazy to implement as of yet, but that’s in the works and wait until I get the facial steamer…
Basically (and no I’m commenting on adderall, lol) I want to write from a woman’s perspective, and not just that, but from a diverse voice—which is sorely underrepresented in the world of Adderall.
A fact I’m glad of frankly. I was too stupid and wanted a shortcut through life, and I sacrificed my beauty…getting it back though….thoughts?
@Siren – Sounds great! If you want to put together a full article in Word or whatever you’re comfortable writing in (hell, scan a handwritten article on notebook paper if you must), send it to me at mike at quitting adderall dot com and I’ll get it up on the site!