Hi,
I am a 19 year old guy with a lot of fun in life ... I do have a great girlfriend, school goes pretty well and I have a lot of very good friends.
But I have been diagnosed with ADD in the age of 8, which never was a Problem to me. I just did my thing, got Ritalin for working (I should take it 5 days a week) and my marks were good and my friends the best.

But about 2 years ago I noticed that I abused a lot of drugs, mainly pot and Alcohol. And for having fun at the weekends i always take about 40mg-50mg of Methylphenidate a night beside drinking really much and smoking pot to calm me down, my friends joining me ... they all love to get high the substance isn´t that important. I smoke pot for about 4 years now and drink Alcohol for about 5-6 years. Both daily in a middle dosage, about 3 beers and 2 joints a day. The Ritalin abuse started about 3 years ago, I should take 40mg daily (2x20mg), my dose now is about 40mg-100mg, depends on wether I have school or I go out at the weekends ...

Now I am a really big fan of psychedelica, like LSD/Magic Mushrooms. I have had several really great "adventures" with several substances I wouldn´t like to be missing in my former life.

My questions:
Is it a higher risk for a person with ADD to get addicted to Pot, Alcohol than a "healthy" person ?

Beeing a big fan of psychedelics I read a lot of information about the substances on the internet and in books. Everywhere I look I can read it is a high risk to use them with a ... i call it "psychological disfunktion". Anybody got information about ADD and e.g. LSD ?


Thanks for reading :)



Dr_Strangelove

hi strangelove~
..........welcome to ADHD forums.

There is a wealth of knowledge here,on ADHD but, LSD
is'nt really a big topic here.

I myself love acid.
...you 't get addictted to it, you simply can not "get off" on it but once a week or better yet a month.

it is always enlightening to me, and shows me the beauty of life..
....as well as what is not beautiful in my life.

Of corse.....ADDers are gonna LOVE this drug because it's like toon town.
we're very random.

THAT part of it, makes me think if you use it steadily....
....as often as possible.

you'll end up beling a flake.

I have a person I want to introduce you to.

He is a human deluxe, only 22 years old....
....but he is a wealth of info on this subject and is also ADHD.

He's an admin on my board.

please check your messages...
.....I'll hook him up to you....and you to him...and the questions you asked
and see what he can tell you.

belive me he's a trip.

your friend

suzie

I'm not sure if you posted in a different forum that I responded to. Anyway, I strongly recommend clonidine for beating addictions. Ask your Dr. about it :)

My questions:
Is it a higher risk for a person with ADD to get addicted to Pot, Alcohol than a "healthy" person ?


I've read conclusions of studies done. They say that a treated ADHD person is on an even level with "normals" for risk of abuse. So if you are being treated with 40mg of Ritalin per day than I'd say you are just as likely as your friends to be doing this. If you weren't being treated, then I could see the desperation factor (to calm the mind, etc).

As you say you now need to take 40mg of Ritalin at once plus other substances "to calm down" as you put it you could consider perhaps raising your dose of Ritalin (probably not to 40mg BID or TID though) with your doctor. Then try to cut back on the other substances if that's what you wish.

thats why I suggest you visit my board for these issues.

..if you can stop doing something for an indefinate amount of time
it's a preference.
..if you can't, it's addiction.

the name of the game is to see how LITTLE you can be happy with.

......To need nothing, is having everything.

to not be an addict, is to be a rich man.
......being present in your own life, also....is real nice,
This coming from someone who missed 22 years of her own.
because of mutha ***** DRUGS.

...me.


don't be a chump too.


...like me.

treat LSD with respect - do not abuse it or it will eventually turn on you! As a seasoned tripper it not only happened to me but many of my friends! I haven't touched it in 7+ years and don't miss it.....i enjoy the beautiful memories!

btw, I am not supporting the use of illegal substances - yet I do support harm reduction for those who are going to partake anyway!

Thanks for your answers,
Yes, I would say I am addicted to Alcohol and Cannabis and Ritalin.
I use Ritalin more like a drug than a medication and have always been looking for different ways to get high.
But I don´t really a see a problem with my addictions, not yet. I have a fullfilling life and I am a good student, son and lover. I am often told in school that I look like not having slept the night bevore,because I had 6 beer 2 joints and a view lines of Ritalin on monday night, but I dont care, I get good marks, the teachers really like me and my parents don´t suspect a thing.

Well what I love about shrooms/LSD is that I can study myself. It makes me think HONESTLY about my actual situation. I use these substances with big respect and only about 5-6 times as year. I have tried a lot of drugs including cocaine, mescaline, MDMA ... the list isn´t too short. But none of these drugs have a potential like LSD. In my oppionion LSD is a very honest drug you can´t control (while tripping) and which shows you your limits in life.

What I maybe should add is that I love playing piano and i love playing piano even more when i smoke pot. I improvise (Blues, Jazz, Ragtime) so much better when I have smoked 1-2 Joints bevore jammin with my guys. Thats one of the things I don´t want to miss, maybe there are people who can understand this and give me some kind of advice how to deal with that, because that would be one of the biggest issues in quitting, the loss of creativity.


Thanks again for reading


Dr_Strangelove

HI & Welcome Strangelove,

I am surprised by the number of ADDers that enjoy Acid.I am a 40 yr old Newly diagnosed ADDer.I really only smoke weed now kind of like someone would unwind with a glass of wine at the end of a busy day. I need all my wits to chase down 2- 3 yr olds!!!I am not a fan of alcohol but in my 20's I did push my own liquor limits & I Smoked Tons of Chronic.Even up uintil I got Preggers & I quit cold turkey. Acid however was My Fav way back...I never seemed to get the halucinations that some get but I loved to people watch on it.I did not know I was Add then...I figured I was odd but really who isn't? Anyway I did not have percription drugs in my system back then tho...& quite frankly the misuse of them (scripts) scares me a bit, I am a pretty open minded try anything once type person but these meds mixed with street drugs seems to be like roulette. I have found though since medicated (almost 5 months) I don't really crave weed anymore even though I was chronic for yrs. I will still smoke it with hubby but I could take it or leave it now. Thanks to the meds! Just be carefull using a lot of stimulants!!!!!! I know it can be fun but I think it is more risky than some young people think. Man I feel old now saying that!

Good Luck!

I've found weed creativity to be mostly obvious **** that with intelligence anyone could come up with on their own, and in fact much better stuff when sober for T+3-5 weeks. Personally that is...

i know exactly what you are saying DR S about the weed & creativity! It does amazing things to my guitar playing - most of my best rhythm & lead pieces were born as a result of being stoned!
I can't ever remember a time when the old band played straight! However, there were some definite times were a little too much was smoked and we all started to drift off into our own little solos........which sounded like an obvious train wreck!

ahh great memories......this thread has made me smile :) thank you

peace

I never smoked with the right people... or people at all I guess... :( I was so ready to smoke tonight during my little melt-down but didn't! :)

the beatles smoke pot!

actuallly, reefer, like every other recreational drug, will turn on you too.




Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day
You fritter and waste the hours in an off hand way

Kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town

Waiting for someone or something to show you the way.

Tired of lying in the sunshine staying home to watch the rain
You are young and life is long and there is time to kill today.

And then one day you find ten years have got behind you
No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun

And you run and you run to catch up with the sun, but its sinking
And racing around to come up behind you again
The sun is the same in the relative way, but youre older
Shorter of breath and one day closer to death




---floyd

Mincan~
............can a bus bring you to me?

LOL

cannabus?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PybtBKSAtLM

can you tell my meds wore off?
....I can't stay serious, or on topic.

Hi Dr.,

Suzie pointed out your post to me.
Wether or not it poses more of a risk for someone with ADHD to get addicted to pot or alcohol, I couldnt say. In my opinion it would probably be about the same..

I spent most of my early 20s (im actually 28), smoking pot on a daily..more like hourly basis. LOL. Due to legal troubles I had to quit..
The main downside to pot, is well.. it can make ya lazy, but it seems to effect different ppl in different ways... Theres always the potential legal troubles .

Alcohol I was never a huge fan of,but from what Ive seen its not a good thing to be addicted to..And if you make a habit of driving under the influence, you will have legal troubles.. trust me thats no fun.

You say your doin well in school and everything,do you foresee any of that **** becoming a problem? If ya stopped to think about it long enough..youll have your questions answered.

Oh and then theres psychadelics.. Cant say a bad thing about em, love em myself..have for a long time, and still do quite often:) I dont use them recreationally though, to me they are tools. And like any tool.. they can be dangerous, but as long as you take the advice someone gave above and treat em with respect..you should be fine.

I dunno where your from, but I will still say this. If there is one thing I couldnt stress more about psychadelics..is KNOW your source, be sure you can trust who its coming from. I stopped dosing L a few years ago simpley because the stuff alot of these kids are pushing lately isnt even L..Couple of the big names that were distributing most of the real L got busted..makin it in an abandoned missile silo LOL

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4176/is_20031130/ai_n14564183

And even though its still out there, the majority of what goes around today
is "other stuff", LSD-25 takes skilled and well connected hands to make..So now alot of people are substituting with other lysergamides like ALD-52, whats worse is you got these "research chemicals" people dont know much about yet that are in heavy circulation..some are active in small enough doses to be laid on blotter and sold as LSD.. Ive messed around with pure forms of some of these substances and regretted it,chemical burns in your nose, blisters on the roof of the mouth..nasty ****. Alot of that crap gets put into "x" pills today too, its been a loooong time since ive seen any real, clean sassafrass.

Read pihkal, tihkal, know what your lookin for, know what questions to ask..KNOW YOUR SOURCE, dont settle for garbage. Even family fluff is questionable today.

Other than that , as long as you can handle the eminent ego death that will no doubt occur when dealing with high quality psychadelics..

enjoy, and trust your instincts.

Thanks for you answer ulatek. I usually take Magic Mushrooms ,Hawaaiian, dried and directly from Amsterdam (Smartshop) :) I lid acid only once, a great thing but I don´t have a safe source for it so I preffer the Shrooms because I know how much I have to take and they are always the same quality.

About the drinking, a Doctor said to me about 3 years ago I think, that she thinks I do have a higher risk of getting addicted to any substance because there is a "drinking history" in my family. My father is a daily drinker (not very much about 1 Liter of Beer at the evening) and I can see that behavior in our whole family. She said there might exist sth like an "alcoholic gen". What do you think about that, I mean it does sound weard to me that this gen should even exist, but do you think it can inherited that you get an alcoholic
?



Have a nice weekend.


PS: I hope my English isn´t too bad because I´m still quite waisted from last night.

( She said there might exist sth like an "alcoholic gen". What do you think about that, I mean it does sound weard to me that this gen should even exist, but do you think it can inherited that you get an alcoholic
?

Hey Dr_Strangelove

I don't know if there is an actual "Addiction Gene" or not but there is an awful lot of research & info Families with a history of Addictions.I think that there is more of a chance but it is not the only reason for addictions. I came from pretty straight parents...mother never smoked anything or was drunk a day in her life & I was almost 19 before I ever saw my dad drunk (& boy was I embarrassed) They would have a social drink now & then, Christmas, dances but not much more then that. My brother, Sister & I all have tried booze & drugs.My brother now 50 still smokes weed regularly(not sure of any other drugs now but has tried a lot) Never drinks..Much like myself. But my sister gave up rec drugs in her late teens or early 20's & now only drinks (Socially but I hear she can hold her own) My self I have been a chronic weed smoker 20 yrs, used acid in my 20's many times...did shrooms a few times but never though I was high (too used to cid I guess) Never liked Cocaine...just too scared of it I think & only a few years ago tried Extacy which I liked at first but didn't like the comedown, too clenchy!!! But I dont like to drink. So we have no history of addictions on either side but look at me.Now that I am on meds it is the first time ever I really feel i can quit weed. Now My hubby comes from generations of Working alcoholics..& i dont know how they worked because Im talking heavy drinkers....2 quarts wouldnt fizz one of them. Now He (hubby)prefers Weed to Booze but it is a very BAD Weed Addiction!! Who knows the ryme or reason. Just be careful As you seem to be.

What do you mean by "bad addiction" ? Does he not have any motivation, because that´s what I hate about pot, if I calm down I get really down and a lack of motivation. Then I take a stimultant (e.g. Methylphenidat) and the party goes on.

What wonders me is that I have a very high tollerance on Alkohol and Weed. But I was always the guy to drink most and smoke most, I weigh about 60kg (I know I am a lightweight xD). Do you think people with ADD can take more alcohol etc. that other people ?

Let me give you my perspective . . .

I was a pretty heavy drinker and a daily pot smoker for years (heavy weekend alcohol binger, like wake up the next day wondering what you did last night because you blacked out sort of drinker) in my twenties. I was too cautious and protective of my brain to take acid (which my little brother was virtually addicted to in his teens), because I knew there was a lot of stuff in my brain that I didn't really want access to. Then later when I had a psychotic episode due to too much Ritalin and stress and some other stuff, I realized I had made the right decision. Ditto on other drugs -- I knew I would love anything that made me feel good but was protective of my life. I was also a 2 pack a day smoker. I loved to party and did it often.

The problem is, drugs are enjoyable but they have a way of sneaking up on you until you are in a virtual stranglehold that you don't know how to get out of. Even though I never robbed anyone for my drugs of choice, and most people looking at my life from the outside had no clue, I was ashamed of what I was doing and knew that I was heading towards alcoholism and lung cancer from smoking weed and cigarettes.

In your teens and twenties, your youth can carry you, but it takes its toll. If I hadn't been smoking weed and drinking so much, I probably would have gone back to school and got a PhD or at least a master's. What I regret most is the wasted time and the wasted opportunities to be of service to people. You are not much service to others when you are wasted. You may be entertaining, but what does that really do for other people?

What truly sold me on quitting everything was first marriage -- my husband does nothing except drink a beer (and I do mean one beer) every Friday, and he was straight with me that he didn't want me smoking anything. Once I married him I quit it all and promised myself I would never lie to him, and so far, so good (almost six years).

Then I had my child and promised I would never let her watch her mother do anything I wouldn't want her to do, so I quit drinking entirely and will never drink again (I consider myself a prime candidate for alcoholism and, with the struggles I've experienced, I would not trust myself with it). Now the only substance I ever use, besides two cups of coffee a day, are Reese's Cups once in a while :) I have been through a LOT of burdening things that I would have coped with using drugs, but instead I got divine help and have made it through and matured through it all. You just don't mature when you're using drugs.

Please know I am not judging you at all, I just think that you may want to consider weaning off the drugs while you are young so you don't end up with a lot of regrets.