ADD medications for people with addiction problems

[Mee]

Should ADD medications be given to people with a history of known substance abuse addiction problems ?

[oegboy]

I think it depends on what kind of substance addictions your prone to...

I know that I'm very prone to becoming addicted opiates, but I don't feel that I could ever become addicted to stimulants(i.e. Adderall) mainly because I only take Adderall when I have to, and I've gone every summer and holiday break without taking it ever since I've been on it.

[saskman]

I am living the dilema of stimulant addiction. I was prescribed Ritalin to combat tiredness while taking Paxil. Not only did it correct the tiredness I found I could read like a bookworm. Until then, ADD was not even on my radar map. Two years later and yada yada yada my doctors won't precribe stimulants because of the hell I went through abusing the stuff. Now I'm in no mans land, in that my ADD symptoms are in full flight, but otherwise I'm good. On one shoulder I have a small devil telling me to go back to the doctor and beg for a second chance, on the other shoulder a little angel telling me to stay the course.

[mctavish23]

Mee,

My opinion is yes, as I am one of those people.

However, I'm speaking more about my own personal story and circumstances than giving it carte blanche'.

Each person is different and unique in and of themselves.

I've been in recovery for 17 1/2 +years now and work a daily 12 Step program.

All my docs know I'm in recovery,as does my workplace.

I've posted on this at lenght before, as similar questions have arisen from time to time, so I won't go into details.

Feel free to look those up.

The way we approached this was to actively involve not only both docs(primary care and psych), but also mywife and sponsor.

I went to great lenghts to try and avoid having to try a stimulant.

So we dealt with that by trying non stimulamts (Wellbutrin, Effexor & Straterra) first.

One of the other deciding factors here, besides my wife's support, was the input of my sponsor, whom I have tremendous respect for.

He is a judge and is open with his recovery.

He reminded me that there is a Chapter in the NA (Narcotics Anonymous) Big Book entitled, "More Will Be Revealed."

What it says is that if an addict takes medication from an informed physician, for a legitimate medical problem, then it's okay.

That way, I knew I'd done everything in my power before trying stimulants.

It's actually kind of funny now, because I'm on Adderall and get no "buzz" or high and have no cravings.

I'm also much older now and I think that might have something to do with it.

In the now closed thread Adderall omg, I posted on the 3 stuides coverng a total of 13 years, which showed that the use of ANY stimulant for a person with ADHD, reduced the risk factor for Substane Use Disorder by up to 85%.

The second of those was a literature review. I went back further to 20 years, and found nothing to the contrary.

I've also seen these data referred to many times.

Hope that helps.

[saskman]

I am to the point of second guessing myself. Am I the ADD person looking for help or am I the ADDict looking to go on another run? I'm sure the doctors would be thinking something along those lines. If I couldn't stop myself over-dosing previously, what would stop me now? Just thought of a new license plate ADD-ICT

[beccablue]

you didn't mention whether you had ever been diagnosed with ADD or previously had symptoms of ADD.

i am a recovering addict but i've never even been tempted to abuse meds that i need. i've been physically addicted - for example, i had a horrible time getting off of klonapin- but i've never taken more than i absolutely needed. whereas when i was a heroin addict, i took as much as i could.
i am not a doctor, but i know a lot of people have a "rebound effect" after stopping a drug. it takes a while for your system to adjust.

i would definitely recommend being honest with your doctor about how you feel and how you use any prescription.
i know that "only you know if you are an addict" but if you take way more than prescribed or lie to your doctor to get more that is more a sign of addiction-which is a different illness than ADD. try going to an NA or AA meeting - it's always a good place to share and meet people even if you aren't sure that you're an addict.

Good Luck!

[saskman]

Never diagnosed. I'm a poster boy for ADD however. The first book I read on the subject my jaw dropped. Everything I took as a personal shortcoming was classified as a symptom. I'm definetly a stimulant addict. A stimulant addict with ADD. I've embarrassed myself all along the way. Lieing to doctors etc. As someone in recovery I'm sure you've heard it all before. This too makes it tough to go back to my doctor. I have a phobia about the ten step program. My brother is in recovery, maybe that's part of it. thanks for the input guys

[mctavish23]

I was diagnosed in 1972 when it was called Minimal Brain Damage...lol.

[saskman]

I took you're advice McTavish and read some previous threads. Took about two minutes and I found the sentence that sums up my situation.
If you stray away from your addiction recovery, you will be at greater risk to relapse. If you don't receive adequate treatment for your AD/HD, you're at greater risk for relapse.

[DudeNica]

I use to crush wellbutrin and snort it, hoping to be able to concentrate even more and get more work done... It didn´t work, later on I tryed the same thing with ritalin, it still didn`t all it did was help fall deep into a depression. After about 8 months of treatment for the depression I am starting to battle the ADHD symptoms with wellbutrin again, This time I am aware of the dangers of fooling with these meds, and will take them exactly as prescribed.

[casinowife]

I'm a recovering vicodin addict and I know I will always be. This has helped me because I'm aware of behaviors that lead to addictions, the lies that you tell yourself like I'll only take one tomorrow to make up for taking so many today. Yes, I worry about becoming addicted to Adderall but I should be based on my past behavior with vicodin. I know what I have to do to stay on track and when I feel myself slipping back to addictive thoughts I'm honest with myself and I tell my husband and my therapist. I made a choice to abuse vicodin every day just like I make a choice every day to not use it now. As long as I stick to my prescribed dose I'm good but the second I abuse it I'll quit right away. I didn't work this hard to get off vicodin to go out like that.

[meadd823]

It's actually kind of funny now, because I'm on Adderall and get no "buzz" or high and have no cravings.

Me too McT...I abused stimulents but not like other "speed freaks". They would do more and more of the drug. I have seem people "do" an enitre gram at once....even then I though they were mad.

I was clean and sober for 2 years. The only thing i noticed is that I did better in school when I was "doing drugs". My mother was the one who gave a book on adult ADD. Funny I didn't read the book until after I was no medications.

I have been on stimulent therphy for 12 years, Adderall on seven of them. I do not have any cravings, no do I experience a "buzz". I frequently forget to take my medications so I know I am not addicted to them.

So yes people with addiction can be treated with ADD medications if they are ready to quit behaving like addicts. My ADD doctor believe I was treating my ADD all along, I was even using the right medications to do it. I only used speed in the amount necesssary for me to get my homework done. I was not interested in downers, alcohol, or drugs that made me see stuff that wasn't there!!!!!

[barbyma]

I've thought recently about the 10 years I smoked. I never developed a physical addiction, but the psychological one was SO STRONG. I still dream about pulling smoke into my lungs! -- quit 9 years ago.

I wonder now if I never developed a physical addiction because it's a stimulant; I was self-medicating.

Another interesting thing that's occurred to me lately (totally off-topic, BTW) is that I started getting bad headaches right behind my forehead about 10 years ago. My doctor said it was sinusitis (I've always been prone to this), even though I didn't feel congested. Ever since then, I've treated them with pseudofed somewhat successfully. Now pseudofed is the ONLY decongested that will work on these headaches.

A couple of weeks ago it hit me -- OMG, the headaches are exactly the same as the headaches I've been dealing with that I KNOW are ADD related. Of course pseudofed helped -- it's speed! I've been self-medicating for years and not even aware of it!

What an idiot I've been. And I call myself a psychologist! Argh.

[stanzen]

i am a recovering addict but i've never even been tempted to abuse meds that i need. i've been physically addicted - for example, i had a horrible time getting off of klonapin- but i've never taken more than i absolutely needed. whereas when i was a heroin addict, i took as much as i could.

Me too McT...I abused stimulents but not like other "speed freaks". They would do more and more of the drug. I have seem people "do" an enitre gram at once....even then I though they were mad.

Lots of good posts here.

I never got much of a thrill out of stimulants before I entered into sobriety. I certainly did try to abuse them (unsuccessfully).

I didn't need stimulants to stay up all night drinking or to help me use other drugs.

I didn't try stimulants medically until last year after I had about 15 years sobriety. I beleive I could have used them a lot earlier in the process, for sure. I could have used them back in 2nd grade!

The odd thing is, when I take holidays from the meds, I still anticipate that I'll crave them. Then I don't crave them.

This is the residual of my drug-addict brain, acting unsucessfully drug-addict-y.

Full-tilt Addcity.