Adderall is the brand name for an amphetamine-based prescription medication that treats symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in adults and children. It is sometimes prescribed off-label to treat narcolepsy.
The drug is composed of both amphetamine and dextroamphetamine, and the current formula prescribed by doctors is extended-release (XR), which is designed to be tamper-resistant and not cause an immediate high.
Tips for Home-Based Detox
If you do quit cold turkey and stay home, get your loved ones involved. Ask for them to check in on you regularly. They can help you prepare simple, nutritious meals so that you don’t have to think about what to eat if you are fatigued, depressed, or anxious. If you need a reminder to eat regular meals, you can have a friend or family member set a reminder for you, or come over and eat with you.
Make sure to drink enough water. Amphetamine withdrawal does not cause dehydration like some other types of withdrawal, but if you feel physically uncomfortable and tired, you will need to be reminded to stay hydrated.
Your physical aches and pains may benefit from soothing baths, gentle stretching, and relaxing on the couch with a good movie or book. You can also ask your friends and family for help exercising. Take walks, go to a gentle yoga class, or participate in other low-impact forms of exercise until you feel well enough to increase your workout routine.
Trouble sleeping is another aspect of withdrawal. You may oversleep, struggle with insomnia, or experience both for a week. You can set regular alarms and follow advice about how to overcome insomnia by creating a regular sleep schedule. You should also consider taking time off work to allow yourself to rest whenever you need to.
It helps to assure yourself that cravings are temporary and find a way to distract yourself when they occur. This is another place where your loved ones can help you. Ask one or two people you trust to be available to reassure you if cravings for Adderall become intense. Mindfulness or meditation apps, online videos, and written meditations can be helpful during this time.
Adderall’s Effects
Many people abuse Adderall for its stimulant effects. People who have attention deficit disorder (ADD) or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) do not get high from a regular, prescribed dose of this medication, but people who do not have this behavioral condition will experience intoxication, with symptoms including:
- Higher blood pressure
- Rapid heart rate
- Decreased blood flow
- Higher blood sugar
- Opened breathing passages for faster breathing
Many people who abuse Adderall do so because they are under a lot of pressure at work or school. They believe that Adderall enhances performance, allowing them to focus and study hard, stay up all night writing a paper, or spend very long hours at work. They also experience a euphoric high, making them feel good while the drug is active in their bodies. Then, when it is metabolized out, they will experience a crash that includes signs like depression, anxiety, extreme fatigue, hunger, and paradoxical insomnia or sleeplessness.
Adderall was the second most-prescribed medication to children between 2002 and 2010. While children who need this drug, along with behavioral therapy, do not develop an addiction to the substance, many adolescents and young adults without ADHD struggle with addiction to the drug, starting in school. Researchers at Johns Hopkins have found that nonprescription consumption of Adderall among young adults went up 67 percent between 2006 and 2011, and associated emergency room visits shot up 156 percent.
If you are one of the many people who struggle with addiction to and abuse of Adderall, you may have tried to quit before and struggled with symptoms of withdrawal. These are uncomfortable, but rarely life-threatening unless you relapse, which increases your risk of overdose. While there are no medications to ease withdrawal symptoms, like there are for alcohol addiction and opioid addiction, working with medical professionals to manage your symptoms is an important form of support, which reduces your risk of relapse and increases your chances of staying sober.
While you can theoretically detox at home, it is important to remember that getting support greatly increases your chance of success. Without professional help, you put your health and safety at risk.
Is Adderall Cut With Other Drugs?
Is Adderall Cut With Other Drugs?
If a person is getting Adderall from a pharmacy, only the substances listed above are in the medication. Any individual who purchases Adderall pills from a legitimate source can be assured that the substance is relatively pure.
People who buy drugs off the street from unauthorized sources may be paying for certain types of imitation or knockoff drugs produced illegally. People who get Adderall in a powdered form run the serious risk of getting a drug that is either cut with potentially dangerous substances or getting a different drug altogether.
Withdrawal Symptoms From Adderall
Withdrawal symptoms associated with Adderall are most often:
- Physical aches and pains
- Irritability, anxiety, and restlessness
- Depression and overall sadness
- Lethargy and fatigue
- Changes to sleeping habits, both sleeping more and struggling with insomnia
- Difficulty functioning in social environments
The experience of withdrawal symptoms lasts for about five days, although some people may develop a prolonged stimulant withdrawal syndrome that includes cravings, and this lasts for one-to-three weeks. Typically, the first one to three days involve psychological symptoms and sleep difficulty. The next week to 10 days involve increasing physical discomfort, which will eventually taper off.
An Australian study found that, among people who attempted to quit cold turkey without medical supervision, relapse typically occurred within one month after stopping the drug, even after the most intense withdrawal symptoms dissipated. In the study, participants did not report cravings as the cause of relapse, but they did report that enjoying drug abuse, peer pressure, depression, boredom, prolonged withdrawal symptoms, and the availability of the drug all led to relapse.
People who abuse Adderall “as needed,” for intense study sessions or long nights at work, are less likely to suffer intense withdrawal symptoms compared to people who abuse the stimulant drug consistently, just to get through the day.
More intense symptoms of the Adderall crash include:
- Struggling with phobias and paranoia
- Thoughts of suicide
- Intense hunger
- Sleeping too much
These symptoms can lead to relapse if you do not have encouragement and support to stay sober. If you can get social support from your family and friends as you detox from Adderall, you have a better chance of success than quitting cold turkey by yourself.
Help From Medical Professionals Leads To Safe, Successful Detox
The discomfort of withdrawal symptoms is hard to manage without understanding the process and getting support to stay focused on your goal. For many people, medical supervision during the detox process works best. Even if your withdrawal symptoms are mild or moderate, and your doctor believes you can detox safely at home, a high level of support is needed to ensure success.
With the help of a detox program, you can manage the symptoms, get counseling as needed, and even get referrals to rehabilitation programs after detox. If you just detox at home without medical help, you will not have immediate access to rehabilitation, and this behavioral therapy is crucial to understanding addiction and how to manage compulsive behaviors to avoid relapse.
Regardless of how you detox, you may experience mild mood swings, irritation, and occasional discomfort for a few weeks, with improvements occurring one to three months after the main withdrawal symptoms have dissipated.
There are no approved withdrawal medications to manage any type of stimulant detox, including Adderall withdrawal, but working with a doctor means you can get recommendations for over-the-counter medications, referrals to help, and even prescription substances in small, carefully monitored doses.
If psychological symptoms of withdrawal remain intense for more than a week, your doctor may prescribe antidepressants to ease your mood.
While you can withdraw from Adderall at home, you won’t get the benefit of medical knowledge if you do not work with an evidence-based detox program.
It takes time for your brain chemistry to return to normal, and getting social and medical support during this time is crucial to your success.
The process of overcoming addiction starts with detox, which ends your body’s dependence on drugs, but without rehabilitation and an aftercare plan, you are at greater risk of relapse back into substance abuse.
Coping With the Adderall Comedown
Coping With the Adderall Comedown
As a central nervous system stimulant, Adderall is consists of amphetamine and dextroamphetamine. The drug is primarily used to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and reduce hyperactivity while improving attention span. However, those who use the medicine for a prolonged period face Adderall detox, which can often be horrific. Although it doesn’t produce the same effects you’d encounter with benzodiazepines or alcohol, that doesn’t mean it’s without its own challenges. Adderall withdrawal is hard to overcome alone because of the Adderall crash.
When you abruptly stop the use of the stimulant drug, you will experience an Adderall crash. For that reason, quitting Adderall is not as easy as you might think. Many of us believe that because doctors prescribe these medications, they’re safe and have no side effects. On the contrary, however, you’ll experience unpleasant symptoms that include depression, trouble sleeping, and sluggishness. Although it may not feel like it initially, there are benefits quitting Adderall once you get past the worst of these symptoms. For that reason, if you need to stop taking the drug, you must work closely with your doctor. Below we’ll discuss why the crash happens and how you can deal with it.
Before detoxing from Adderall, please speak with your doctor. As was mentioned above, abrupt cessation can lead to an undesirable effect. As a stimulant, it can leave you feeling disconnected and sluggish once it wears off. When you stop taking it suddenly, you’ll experience temporary symptoms of withdrawal. If you do experience symptoms of withdrawal, please see your doctor immediately. There’s a high risk of returning to the drug within a few days of stopping Adderall to make the comedown go away.
Your doctor will watch you as you stop taking the drug, and they’ll look for signs of depression or thoughts of suicide, which are common. If you have severe depression, you’ll likely need antidepressants to get through the Adderall crash. Unlike other drugs that cause withdrawal symptoms, there aren’t medications that can alleviate the crash symptoms, meaning you’ll need to work through the symptoms by yourself. The length of time these symptoms persist is dependent on the dosage and how long you’ve taken the drug. Symptoms can last anywhere from several days to several weeks.
Since you’re unable to take medications, you might wonder how to get through Adderall withdrawal? Well, making sure you eat nutritious foods and getting exercise will go far in easing your withdrawal symptoms. If you’re having trouble sleeping, look into natural sleep enhancers like melatonin and make sure that you stick to a regular sleep schedule. Try to go to bed each night at the same time and wake up at the same time every day.Make sure to do something to calm your nerves before bedtime to help you fall asleep. Also, keeping your bedroom at a comfortable temperature will help you fall asleep. Make sure to turn off all of your electronics when it’s time to rest.
If you’re unable to cope with an Adderall crash alone, seeking professional addiction treatment may be in your best interest. As was mentioned above, medical detox is vital in overcoming the initial steps of an Adderall crash. However, it’s not enough to keep you off the drug in the long term. Since you’ll likely experience some after-effects from your Adderall use, committing yourself to an inpatient/residential program is crucial to ensure you stay off the drug. During a stint in residential treatment, you’ll go through various therapies and programs to provide you with the necessary tools to keep you sober. Fortunately, there are ways to battle Adderall addiction, but it takes work.
