i am very curious on this issue because of my situation. please read

this isnt o oOOO look how hardcore i am type of deal , i just want to share and get feed back on what ya think of my habbit. by the way the guy that stayed up for 100+ hrs. fukn insane bro gotta hand it to ya dunno how u did that , most i go is 3 days and its really rough .

ok so anyways this is about adderall and sleep deprevation. i believe sleep deprivation ****s you up alot. i however enjoy trying to stay up as much as i can till i can actually have my body and brain agree on sleeping.. ive been taking adderall since hrM march of 08 , it all started lannin with my friend he had 10 mg all split in bits and pieces.

so he was like yo here blah blah anyways i took like 5 mg and i was like wow dude wtf is this , its amazing. he said adderall , now i used to take adderall and ritalin when i was a lil kid 10-14 , im now 25. anyways long story short , i ended up going to the doctor/shrink office and said im havin problems focusing do u have anythin that can help? He said take this test for adult ADHD so i did , circled pretty much every right answer , pretty much alot of focusing questions this and that pretty simple.

so bottom line of story , for 4 months almost now , i really started gettin addicted to it and i have a script for 30 mg twice daily , of XR's i need about like 4 @ Least of the XR's daily and if its generic 8. cause they last about half as long. so i usually have to also have to look to buy illegaly. which sometimes aint easy , i need to be on it to function and i sleep about a pattern of 2 1 2 , meaning stay up 2 days sleep 1. wash rinse repeat for the last 4 months. and i have taken up to 300 MG. i pretty much have gotten all the side effects. blue balls are the worst.

any idea on how to get off it? doH.

anyone? :[

Sleep is very improtant if your sleeping 1 night every 3 days its a danger to yourself + innocent people around you.

Tapering off may be safer then going cold turkey. Check out rehab/12 step/addiction on webmd?

If your going to do it yourself set a firm limit to pass/fail. Prehaps even one or two weeks.

If unsuccessful ask your family for help. Your employer/school may offer some type of assistance as well.

If the side effects of withdrawl are bad it may be safer to discontinue with the help of a doctor.

BobC

Psychosis followed by death. Good luck with that.

Psychosis followed by death. Good luck with that.

Death from sleep deprivation, AFAIK, is pretty rare.

Hardcore sleep deprivation does take a massive toll on the body, and combined with amphetamines *will* cause psychosis eventually, but I think of equal or greater concern is proper nutrition...

On Adderall, I sleep around 5-6 hours each night. I could sleep longer, but have a busy schedule. In a rare moment, I slept 11 hours the other day... felt like a disaster all day long, not doing that again.

i already went to caron foundation for liquior , i know all about NA/AA and that jazz. but adderall has been my crutch and i havent drank since with it. what do you mean pyscosis then death? i kno about going pyscho but how does the death follow?

i read somewhere that u cant quit cold turkey if high dosage has been goin on so i t hink @ least or u get psycho along the lines , i get pretty ragey when i dont have it , and i can literally shut down and not function @ tiems without it . so i was just curious on any suggestions , and u made me laugh the guy who said good luck with that . thanks ~ -.-

Sleep deprivation can kill you or make you insane. I think that is what the above poster meant.

How to get off?

Take half of what you are currently taking for 1-2 weeks and then take half of that, and then half of that, etc.

You really should talk to your doctor/shrink about this though. I am not a doctor, but on anti-depressants that is typically what they do.

If you can't sleep. Take Valarian Root (extract if you can) and that should help knock you out.

You're really wearing out your brain from all that amphetamine abuse. You're turning into a meth head and that's a scary condition. Haven't you seen the pictures?

well my problem is i enjoy staying up as long as i can , its like being cracked out i always found that enjoyable. i kno where the road leads , however do u kno how much of a long term effect a long term effect is ? i started in april of 08 . id say i take if i can get it which its really hard illegally imo , about i need @ least 120 mg daily but i go to take up 8 generics daily and if i have xr's about 4 and sometimes mix em. well thanks much

but thanks for all the info you gave me much appreciated sir

You don't have ADHD. Lying and abusing drugs by non-ADHDers is exactly why people with ADHD are miserable. Doctors are less willing to help and less willing to prescribe substances that would be beneficial for ADHD (Desoxyn, Dexedrine, etc...).

well my problem is i enjoy staying up as long as i can , its like being cracked out i always found that enjoyable. i kno where the road leads , however do u kno how much of a long term effect a long term effect is ? i started in april of 08 . id say i take if i can get it which its really hard illegally imo , about i need @ least 120 mg daily but i go to take up 8 generics daily and if i have xr's about 4 and sometimes mix em. well thanks much

but thanks for all the info you gave me much appreciated sir

Staying up too late will ruin your body. Your body does a lot of its recovery when you are asleep. Staying up too late consistently will give you a liver that isn't 100% not to mention a brain that isn't 100%, but you can already see that.

You don't have ADHD. Lying and abusing drugs by non-ADHDers is exactly why people with ADHD are miserable. Doctors are less willing to help and less willing to prescribe substances that would be beneficial for ADHD (Desoxyn, Dexedrine, etc...).

How do you know he doesn't have ADHD?

Some people with ADHD get stimulating effects from amphetamines. Approximately 20% of people with ADHD don't receive the "proper effect." Myself included. So I wouldn't generalize on that.

your obviously one to jump the gun . ACTUALLY I DO HAVE IT. im just a drug addict ya douche. ive been prescribed ADHD since i was 9. GG~

relax duders.

okay. so, be proud of yourself for wanting to take these steps. i imagine it isn't easy to admit, especially to a crowd of people who may regularly take stimulants. we are for more defensive about this stuff, because when people give it a bad rep we feel our chances of lessening the stigmas start to diminish.

tapering off is the best idea, because as i'm sure you know with alcohol, quitting cold turkey results in an inability to function. try and remember that you're not functioning because you are addicted, and NOT because you can't function normally. in time, you will get better. like i said, be proud of yourself for these steps that you are taking. use the pride to motivate yourself. if you can quit the booze, you can quit this.

some tips: find a hobby or things to do, projects and what not, to distract your mind while you are tapering off. i would also suggest a healthy diet (at least for awhile) so that you will feel better physically. and perhaps some exercise once you start getting more sleep, because for some it gives a similar rush.

once you quit, there are non-stimulant options and natural remedies that can help ADHD. keep your hopes up. this is only another stepping stone of learning in your life. you will look back and be proud of yourself for quitting, and see how much it has helped you grow as a person.

good luck. and be nice, no name calling :P

If you're taking 300mg a day, then your brain is going to be swiss cheese in short order. I'm sure it's hard to actually die from sleep deprivation, but at that dose dying from heat stoke or heart attack would not surprise me. Actually lots of things could happen, but my first post was simplifying. Psychosis can be caused by amphetamine abuse without any sleep deprivation, too, and having scurvy from using it at high levels can also kill you in a dozen ways.

Putting yourself through this just for 'lanning', well, I can only think that some people are beyond help and you would find some way to darwin yourself regardless.

In short, you should really consider asking your doctor about taking benzodiazapines for the short term for sleep, and should tell him that you are having problems sleeping. Or even seriously consider an anti-psychotic to block specific dopamine and some to an effect serotonin. Risperidone and even more so quetiapine come to mind.

In reference to what was said above, long term effects on adderall can include:


sleep deprivation (which is mildly to moderately delusional on both auditory and visually delusional, this is how some people in the ancient times reported psychological hallucinations).
erectile dysfunction (some theorize because of the rise in dopamine, I agree to that)
anxiety/nervousness (increase of norepinephrine)
psychosis (increase of dopamine and serotonin, which causes visual and auditory hallucinations - hearing and seeing things that are not there/do not exist, and anxiety. An increase in dopamine activity in the brains mesolimbic pathway has been positively correlated with schizophrenia)

Those are the main ones that I would think would have the most common occurrence.

Have you ever seen requiem for a dream? Imagine becoming Sara Goldfarb's character and thinking a fridge would eat you. Sounds like it could never happen? Well, I certainly hope it would not happen, but with the pattern that I have read, there is a real possibility of you being in that state of mind.

Please, get some help and let us know how you are doing with some updates. Remember, ask your doctor (or even emergency care places) about taking a long acting benzodiazapine, or the antipsychotic quetiapine.

Putting yourself through this just for 'lanning', well, I can only think that some people are beyond help and you would find some way to darwin yourself regardless.

I'm not trying to defend a drug addict, but I've done a lot of "Darwinian" stuff myself. I did some really stupid things when I was a stimulant addict. The habit threatened to take my health away, and I kept going. The thing is, it makes you slowly "bonkers" and then you lose all your inhibitions. At that point, taking a recreational dose for a couple weeks straight, getting incredibly sleep deprived, and then crashing, looks a lot more attractive than it would if you were sober. This phenomenon of "daredevil behavior" seems to be fairly unique to stimulant abuse/addiction.

Yes I did get incredible consequences and health problems from my habit, but as I said, it makes you lose your marbles, and you can't reasonably stop in such a psychotic state. I still have some of the health problems that my habit of 4 years ago caused. So I hope he can learn from my mistake and stop, before he gets the longterm effects.

My suggestion is rather than getting criticized in a forum full of people who don't tolerate amphetamine abuse, he should go another forum that deals with addiction.

ecu20 good post.

And I'll I was thinking while reading these posts was "requiem for a dream"
....rent it, buy it or borrow it but watch it!

I understand EXACTLY how you feel.
....the trouble is.

If you are ADHD, and an addict like me.
.....abstaining is not recovering.

eventually, you'lll self medicate, and that would be WORSE on you than
if you really need adderrall.

my advice to you is to get serious.
.......I have someone hold my meds because I'll act a fool too.
I have settled into the fact of what is handed to me one time a day.

...If you are'nt ADHD.

Just quit, you'll be ok in a couple weeks.

finally,

......The sleep deprivation is what really screws your mind/body up.

it does more damage than the drug itself.

I'm getting the feeling
.....you just don't know how you are supposed to feel on these meds.

I had the same trouble.
.....basically, if your personality changes, if you ENJOY cleaning, if you can't sleep
you did too much.

it's for focus.
...to lift the fog.

not to walk the earth in limbo as the undead.
...I know it's fun.
but, you'll be sorry.

trust me. *smiles*

..I also administrate a methamphetamine recovery board, if it applies, you are welcome.

n short, you should really consider asking your doctor about taking benzodiazapines for the short term for sleep,

Ohh like the addiction to a stimulant isn't enough of an addiction????

Sorry but I would not recommend giving benzodiazepams to any one who is an addict outside of a controlled {read hospital} setting . . .. . handing him a bottle of xanax would be insanity {IMHO}

Ativan valuim xanax = Crap just give him a gun with a few bullets it would be quicker ????




To the member who wrote the initial post - Yes people who abuse their medication for any reason make it harder on the rest of us who do not therefore sympathy may not be forth coming. Besides addicts do not need sympathy they need to be told straight up they will listen if ready if not they won't.

If you can not taper your self down then you will probably have to admit your self to some form of controlled environment such as a hospital - You will be winding up in one shortly any way so you might as well do it willing now while you have the choice and enough brain cells to be worth saving. The longer you do this to your self the more damage it does to your brain

Poor sleep patterns even do physical damage to those who are bipolar and have days without sleep thing occur "naturally" {without drugs}

I know I sound cold but I am one of the people your behavior hurts so excuse me if I do not offer this advice with sugar coating .

Ohh like the addiction to a stimulant isn't enough of an addiction????

Sorry but I would not recommend giving benzodiazepams to any one who is an addict outside of a controlled {read hospital} setting . . .. . handing him a bottle of xanax would be insanity {IMHO}

Ativan valuim xanax = Crap just give him a gun with a few bullets it would be quicker ????

First off, what I recommended was a SHORT TERM use (read 1-2 MAYBE 3) days of a benzo. Preferably talk to the doc for a long acting benzo, not one of the shorter acting ones such as alprazolam, or diazepam.

I said short term just for that reason. Benzodiazapine addiction is a very real problem with anyone, not just people that are addicted to other substances.

Comparing zanax to comitting suicide, come on now :rolleyes:. You and I both know that 2-3 pills of a benzo for a couple days worth of sleep will not make him become addicted. That's like saying we shouldn't give an amphetamaine addict who had surgery a post op. opioid based pain killer because they "might" abuse it. He needs something that will help him sleep and calm down. Benzos have a valid and wide theraputic range, and has been proven that when used sparingly as needed, it has a low incidence of addiction. You bring the addiction and withdrawls in when you take it upwards to a week or more at a time.

I do agree with you that hospitilization for observation to "normalize" would be a good option for treating this.

ok so obviously sleeping 1 out 3 days is bad for you.

however i pull an all nighter at least once a week using adderals. that should be fine guys right?
(btw I am not prescribed and i do not take it regularly and I am not addicted)

i i pretty much have gotten all the side effects. blue balls are the worst.

any idea on how to get off it? doH.


lol, you too? lol, i thought that was just me!:p

hat's like saying we shouldn't give an amphetamaine addict who had surgery a post op. opioid based pain killer because they "might" abuse it. He needs something that will help him sleep and calm down.

First of all an addict would get pain medication in a hospital recovery room

Sorry but I would not recommend giving benzodiazepams to any one who is an addict outside of a controlled {read hospital} setting

They now have non-narcotic pain medications that come in handy for just such occasions and that is what most drug addicts get a prescription for when they leave the hospital.Those in drug addiction recovery programs request them

According to those who claim they have with draw from stimulants they sleep all the time when they first stop taking the stimulant medication.

So apparently if he stops taking the damn stimulants he would fall asleep on his own no guns, benzos or booze required.

The OP needs to stop taking the damn stimulants if the OP can't do it on his own he needs to check himself into a control environment such as a hospital. . . He needs to go though a drug addiction recovery programs like every one else who is a drug addict or alcoholic - getting addicted to prescription medication does not make any one some sort of special drug addict - they are a drug addict just like every one else who gets addicted - Hell the body doesn't know the difference between chemicals out of a baggie or chemicals out of a bottle - it is all biological and psychological responses based upon genetics and combined with a bad mind set and crap coping skills

I have no sympathy if with draw sucks I say GOOD -

The only reason I don't take up smoking again is because withdraw from nicotine sucked big time and I do not wish to go though it again. . . if I don't light up another cigarette I don't have to. . . I am far from clueless when it come to addictions.

First of all an addict would get pain medication in a hospital recovery room



They now have non-narcotic pain medications that come in handy for just such occasions and that is what most drug addicts get a prescription for when they leave the hospital.Those in drug addiction recovery programs request them

According to those who claim they have with draw from stimulants they sleep all the time when they first stop taking the stimulant medication.

So apparently if he stops taking the damn stimulants he would fall asleep on his own no guns, benzos or booze required.

The OP needs to stop taking the damn stimulants if the OP can't do it on his own he needs to check himself into a control environment such as a hospital. . . He needs to go though a drug addiction recovery programs like every one else who is a drug addict or alcoholic - getting addicted to prescription medication does not make any one some sort of special drug addict - they are a drug addict just like every one else who gets addicted - Hell the body doesn't know the difference between chemicals out of a baggie or chemicals out of a bottle - it is all biological and psychological responses based upon genetics and combined with a bad mind set and crap coping skills

I have no sympathy if with draw sucks I say GOOD -

The only reason I don't take up smoking again is because withdraw from nicotine sucked big time and I do not wish to go though it again. . . if I don't light up another cigarette I don't have to. . . I am far from clueless when it come to addictions.

It's still no reason to be cold and show no empathy for him whatsoever. I was in his shoes 4 years ago and I received horrible consequences from the addiction. The consequences you get are enough, you don't need people rubbing salt in the wounds.

You still want to ridicule me for what I did? It nearly destroyed everything I had. I still suffer daily from longterm effects.

I nearly lost all my health from what I did. I got much more benefit from people showing empathy (not necessarily sympathy), than from people saying "you f*****g idiot" to me. Addicts are oppositional people.

And I would like to say that pretty much every amphetamine addict is acting in a very Darwinian way.. but that doesn't mean this is a dumb group of people. Drug addicts are not generally a "low IQ" group.

Encouraging nasty remarks to people hurting themselves with addiction is not really the way to go. Addiction is a form of self-harm a lot like SI or even anorexia. Self-loathing drives the behavior.

The more ridicule you pile on such a person for his self-destructive behavior, the more self-destructive he could potentially become.

Scare tactics are not always helpful.

Respectfully...
...I am prescribed valium, and I NEVER run out.
I NEVER take MORE than one, IF THAT.

......it's like apples and oranges.

I have sat here for 3 years, looking at the same bottle of jose quervo gold.
...covered with dust.

booze is not what I'm addicted to.
....Valium is not what i'm addicted to.

gambling is no problem
opiates are no problem
crack is no problem.

speed is a problem.
....but it's also a solution.

that's why someone holds mine, to allow it to remain a solution instead of a problem.

never trusting a (drug)addict with benzos?

really would depend on the person. people who've been addicted to drugs won't automatically gulp down anything mind altering. I'm sure you know that though. Most drug users are IME more careful with safety then most people think.

I can understand some of you guys are angry over the OP abusing his meds but it comes with the territory. Saying he's not ADD is pretty ridiculous considering drug use is common among us.

How do you get off it?

Stop taking it. You'll feel like crap for a while...mostly tiredness, no motivation. It's not life threatening it might just be a bit unpleasant. reduce your dose slowly if you can't handle going 'cold turkey'.

http://users.tpg.com.au/adslxs8o//amphetwd.JPG

In the future if you decide to keep using or use stimulants again - make sure you figure out a plan so it'll be hard to abuse your meds.

some ideas -
Have a trusted person give you your dose daily or maybe organize to pick up your dose from the chemist weekly or even every couple days. This way you don't have heaps of tablets you can binge on if you slip up.

Putting yourself through this just for 'lanning', well, I can only think that some people are beyond help and you would find some way to darwin yourself regardless. -I bet a lot of the public think the same thing towards us with regards to having ADD and treating with stimulants.

That's bloody awful dude...saying someone is beyond help is cold.

We should try to be a bit more understanding considering this is a support forum.

Do you have ADD captain sanity? You could have ended up in his place if we're going by statistics. Plenty of intelligent, logical people have become drug addicts.

i was up for 10 straight once.what happens after 5=6=7 days or so the brain will try to force sleep it will put you into R.E.M. state when you are still awake.This is its way of trying to shut you down.The fusion ofvisuals of such results in what looks like reality in the distance and i translucent video in front of it(between you and say the tv screen)This gets interpreted as A hallucination.
sory bout the bad spellin
havent taken meds yet today so dont feel like bothering
lol\
damn pressed to many buttons:eek::p

You need sleep. I had a psychotic break due to lack of sleep and too much Adderall. Sad but a learning experience. Please sleep.

About a year ago i had a major psychotic break from dexedrine and plain old insomnia. I went way off into paranoid delusional land and thought there were snipers in trees and i could see their laser sights on me. This culminated in a mass delusion and seeing shadow people. Luckily i had valium and antipsychotics at my disposal or i really would have went off the edge and ended up in a psych ward. I still have a weird sort of PTSD from it but i havent told my doctor.

If you must abuse stimulants and you shouldnt, know your boundries and if you start even getting the slightest hallucination/visual distortion stop taking the damn drugs. Benzos also help immensely if you start getting crazy but that creates a big circle of addiction thats equally as bad. Eating and sleeping are half of the equation for psychosis so remember to eat and stay hydrated.

I always took my meds responsibly before but even more so now. Respect the drugs because they will make you suffer if you dont.

My sleeping issues from withdraws from heroin .
Ya i am an accomplished self distructor:mad:
besides no sleep i could not hold food down for 2 weeks and no liquid stayed down for a few days.
but hey cold turkey sucks.
just quit smokin 2 weeks ago 2
I refuse to allow anything to control me any longer.some people have past skeletons i have a holecaust:(
sorry bout the spelling etc.

i found ya usually hear whispers at first then shadows then it gets really weird.was up 5 days over self medicating w/street meds
swswswswswwwwwswsw:eek:

About a year ago i had a major psychotic break from dexedrine and plain old insomnia. I went way off into paranoid delusional land and thought there were snipers in trees and i could see their laser sights on me. This culminated in a mass delusion and seeing shadow people. Luckily i had valium and antipsychotics at my disposal or i really would have went off the edge and ended up in a psych ward. I still have a weird sort of PTSD from it but i havent told my doctor.


I was a stimulant addict for a while, and after a while I started getting pieces of these episodes almost every time I used amphetamines, even just 5-10 milligrams and the paranoia came on very quickly. But the sleep deprivation makes psychosis a lot worse. One can't "wish himself out of psychosis" even though I was aware that the psychosis was not real. It's unbeatable on your own.

A common pattern for amphetamine addicts is usually 2 weeks of daily use, then you can't take the beating anymore, and you have to sleep. That's how it was for me. Now my ADD and motivational problems are a lot worse, I have longterm anhedonia (can't enjoy anything like I used to), and I live with this strange "pressure in my head" symptom every day of my life. All a result of stimulant abuse.

I pushed my addiction all the way to the breaking point, where my health was truly in danger, and I was simply too "unhinged" to want to stop. It's really a bad situation for everyone... tweaking makes you slowly insane. You can't make a good decision anymore, it just doesn't even seem worth the bother. You have to be sober long enough for psychotic thinking to go away.

I've always called it "the dark trip"
....it reminds me of halloween style LSD.

I never belived anything I saw.
.....even tho I stayed up 14 days at a time, and slept 3 for a year.

I also had PLENTY of "shared psychotic episodes"
....where 2 or more people see the same disturbing image?

it's like seeing thru vampire eyes.
...like being seduced by the darkside of the force.

once you've escaped reality for long enough, you can't always come all the way back.

....you can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave.

now I'm so crazy, i don't trust my own judgement, because, I made such bad choices in the past..

death
institutions
jail.

Does it count when you have taken your meds during the day as normal and a new drilling rig is on the 40 acres behind your property laying pipe into the ground. :cool: I am not upset about it as the property is my SIL's but dang I need to get some ear plugs for the next ten days or so (well at least I have something to blame my insomnia on :D). Maybe I will get a Sasquacht outfit and scare the crap out of them - we are in the middle of nowhere and that just might work. Just Teasing.

sleep deprivation, and malnutrition, do more harm than the drug itself.

The fact that you are open and honest about what you are doing is huge. You are asking for help so your on the right road. :)

i already went to caron foundation for liquior , i know all about NA/AA and that jazz. but adderall has been my crutch and i havent drank since with it. -

Sounds to me that U just switched one addiction for another -GO TO TREATMENT!!!!