Kitten: my introduction

[Kitten]

In Feb of this year I decided that the cons of Adderall were no longer to my benefit and decided to quit cold turkey.  I spent a month weak, tired, irritable and unable to cope with all the "noise" of everything that was happening around me.  Driving, shopping, even conversations felt like too much to handle. 

They say that Adderall is not addicting but it is, maybe not in the physical sense for some but in the emotional sense I became heavily reliant on the pills just to be around people, to get out of bed; basically just to do the simple things that "regular" people get up and do day after day.  When I was first prescribed Adderall about 7 years ago, every few months I'd purposely stop taking them for an entire wknd just to reassure myself that I could stop.

 

To be continued.

 

[Songbird]

Hi Kitten, welcome to SA.  It would be helpful if you could create a signature with your med history, including all drugs, doses and dates (starting and stopping).  You can edit your signature under your Account Settings.  See this topic for more info: Please put your withdrawal history in your signature

 

I'm not sure who "they" are that told you Adderall is not addicting, but they are incorrect.  Adderall can cause dependence and addiction.  Like all psych meds it should be tapered off slowly.  We do not recommend cold turkey here. 

 

How are you feeling now?  Are you currently experiencing any withdrawal symptoms?

[Marmot]

On 6/18/2018 at 12:50 AM, Kitten said:

To be continued.

Welcome Kitten,

I look forward to the continuation of your story and I hope that you are feeling better. I also found adderall to be a pain, and I had been poorly informed about it. My daily adderall crashes got worse and worse over the months until they were pretty much debilitating. Like you, I would also stop the pills for a few days sometimes, but those days ended up being poor predictors of the actual withdrawal that happened when I stopped permanently. 

Take it easy,

Marmot

[Kitten]

On 6/19/2018 at 7:27 AM, Songbird said:

Hi Kitten, welcome to SA.  It would be helpful if you could create a signature with your med history, including all drugs, doses and dates (starting and stopping).  You can edit your signature under your Account Settings.  See this topic for more info: Please put your withdrawal history in your signature

 

I'm not sure who "they" are that told you Adderall is not addicting, but they are incorrect.  Adderall can cause dependence and addiction.  Like all psych meds it should be tapered off slowly.  We do not recommend cold turkey here. 

 

How are you feeling now?  Are you currently experiencing any withdrawal symptoms?

Thank you for the information, still learning how to navigate this site.  

[Kitten]

I want to be clear that I in no way condone quitting any psych meds cold turkey.  There are many people who have benefitted greatly from the same medications that I had been prescribed.  What is right for some, may not be right for others; my brother for instance suffers from paranoid schizophrenia and has had difficulty sticking to his medication regime in the past due to the side effects.  But for him the benefits outweigh the negatives, I would never encourage him or anyone else for that matter to follow my lead.  Self advocacy is crucial, please educate yourself and discuss a plan with a licensed psychologist and/or other health professional - do not try and go it alone.

 

I've never been particularly fond of talking about my issues, I realize now that's part of the problem.  I hold things in and have always been considered the "strong" one in my social circle, the one everyone comes to for advice.  I've signed up on this forum so that I can hopefully learn how to open up and perhaps even help someone else in the process.  

 

My thoughts are extremely fragmented at the moment, so you'll have to forgive me as it's difficult to convey my thoughts let alone process what is happening inside my head.

I'm feeling overly emotional, one minute I feel hyperactive and the next I feel like crying. I wake up with this massive ball of anxiety and rage. The physical symptoms have subsided, but the emotional ones have come through full force.

 

I've vowed to myself that if my depression worsens I will go seek an alternative PD for a second opinion and will resume meds if necessary.

 

In the interim I will continue eating healthy, exercising and practicing mindfulness.  I will keep you updated on my journey once I figure out the ins and the outs along with how to navigate this forum.

 

[Kitten]

On 6/29/2018 at 9:53 PM, Marmot said:

Welcome Kitten,

I look forward to the continuation of your story and I hope that you are feeling better. I also found adderall to be a pain, and I had been poorly informed about it. My daily adderall crashes got worse and worse over the months until they were pretty much debilitating. Like you, I would also stop the pills for a few days sometimes, but those days ended up being poor predictors of the actual withdrawal that happened when I stopped permanently. 

Take it easy,

Marmot

Marmot, Thank you for your message.  I've been off of Adderall since Feb of this year and not a day goes by that I don't think about it.  It's terrible but it was like my morning coffee, the first thing I'd do is take a pill before I could even get out of bed.  I miss it, I miss it alot and knowing this only fuels my desire to want to stay off.  

[Gridley]

Kitten,

 

Could you please add to your signature the date you started your taper of Effexor and the rate at which you tapered?

 

Account Settings – Create or Edit a signature.

 

At Surviving Antidepressants, it is recommended that a person taper by no more than 10% of their current dose with at least a four week hold in-between decreases.  The 10% taper recommendation is a harm reduction approach to going off psychiatric drugs.  Some people may have to taper at a more conservative rate as they are sensitive to even the smallest drops.  It's possible you tapered too fast.

Why taper by 10% of my dosage?

 

Are you experiencing any withdrawal symptoms?  

 

[Kitten]

Updated.

 

I definitely took the wrong approach and should have tapered, hindsight......

 

I'm going through withdrawal of a combination of meds.  I don't have any physical withdrawals at this point from Adderall, but I definitely miss and crave it.  All the more reason for me to stay off.  As of now I'm currently going through an entirely different withdrawal off of Venlafaxine XR and it's been a huge struggle. Again, hindsight... 

I've come to far the turn back now though.  I am open to seeking professional help should my mental health decline further but for now I want to continue trying to fight the good fight.  

[Altostrata]

Welcome, Kitten.

 

Adderall is well-known to be addicted. Your craving indicates you were caught in this.

 

What symptoms do you have from going off venlafaxine?

 

You've only been off venlafaxine for a month. Do you have any capsules left? Reinstatement of perhaps 10 beads out of the capsule might help. You can taper off that later.

[Carmie]

Hi Kitten, 

 

How are you doing?💚