Help with detoxing off Adderall and Suboxone

[greeneyes23]

I have been clean a year now thanks to the help of suboxone, then right after a year at 16mg. a day i tryed adderall and it made me feel all that energy and the last three months ive been taking an average of 65mg a day if not 70. I am really disapointed in myself and wish that i hadnt have tryed the adderall. I was doing good. But depression kind of set in, not mentioning alot of stress and a friend offered me one and i tryed it. So I guess im needing some experience,strength, and hope. Wondering how hard withdrawals really are coming off adderall and suboxone. Im not sure if i should come off the suboxone because I know for a fact if it wasnt for the suboxoen i would be on opiates again. But the adderall has got to stop. Is it best to taper or just stop cold turkey? What happens if i do stop cold turkey? Anyone with any advice would help.

[Aries0489]

That comment is one I have found to be more helpful than any I've read in many searches & such throughout my addiction. Thank you for your brave & honest post as we often lie to ourselves and adopt ways of making irrelevant/false reasoning for ourselves in order to allow ourself to continue use of stimulants. Your post enabled me to more freely embrace & Accept what I have yet to fully allow & what I have instead been denying or hoping to convince myself had different core causes as of course we never want our choice of substance or self medication to be what is causing such negative self/life changes when we currently depend upon that very drug; regardless of its damaging effects.

Your story is so much like my own.
This drug is capable of tricking even those who feel they have great self control or are very self aware into suddenly loosing sight of who they are & can allow one to believe entirely- that they must continue taking these drugs (stimulants in general) which makes those addicted feel hopeless as the dreaded feelings of severe tiredness takes over at every attempt to withdrawl self from further use. For someone who adored those feelings & effects brought on by the heightened energy in the first place to even fathom days of sleeping or weeks of feeling such dramatic loss of energy & Drive- including the loss of ability to stay awake with the added fret of having to accept to even temporarily neglect those regular daily task for which we have for so long tried to bring ourselves to finally just fully complete- quitting seems more than a miserable losing battle & feels Its quite impossible when imagined or attempted even briefly by those who aquired or were driven to stimulant addiction initially for the very opposite purpose of accomplishing tasks in less time & more efficiently enabling us to complete more tasks all together. quitting is hard to find realistically imaginable .

As u said- productive & positive energy from stimulants last only a short while... However the want to trigger even just the effects/feelings which are still achievable (despite loss of all beneficial feelings/effects only felt at first) & even tho one can only increase feelings of reward although not near the reward and only damaging for ones self at this point, it's still felt as a "reward" mentally (reward through dopamine increase) which does not end regardless of failure completing all needed task or the loss of important relationships & even ones morals & values so what once was experienced as amazingly life changing turns to feelings of hopelessness, disphoria, anxiety & the like while cravings only increase.
Sad addiction to experience or to have a loved one experiencing
BUT- many have recovered & many will find more ease in their ability to quit after learning of others who shared so many similarities in their own addiction; as seeing it is possible in alike situations is always an eye opener!  

[SUNandRAIN]

I took adderall for a year and a half.  For the first 6 mo I took 60 mg/day then started taking (on average) 120mg/day.  It was great at first.  I WAS super-mom!  I was able to accomplish more in one day on adderall than I was in three adderall-free.  That lasted about 2 months.  Then just totally destructive.  I was not myself.  I withdrew from everyone.  It affected my children and my husband.  God bless my husband for putting up with me!  
I quit cold turkey.  (Arranged for my husband to watch the kids, take my responsibilities, etc. for 4-5 days.)  I am still a little tired.  It has only been 5 days since I quit, but honestly, I was expecting the withdrawals to be much harder.  I slept for the first two days nonstop.  (Considering I was pulling all-nighters on a weekly basis, my body needed that rest.)  Plan on quitting when you know you have a couple of days to just sleep.  Plan on feeling groggy for a few days after that.  But know that however hard that grogginess is, it is going to be well worth it.  Feeling sub-human on adderall is just not worth the small sacrifice you will have to make by being free of that evil drug!  Have you ever seen the movie I Am Legend with Will Smith?  I swear whoever wrote that screenplay was on adderall or familiar enough with it when he/she created the "people" that had been affected by that virus that made them angry, antisocial, pumped with adrenalene, and just down-right mean.  Anyone who came in their path was affected by them.  If you are having a hard time letting go of the positive aspects of the drug's influence on you, think of that movie instead and hopefully that will be motivation enough to get the hell away from it!  It overcomes you to the point of taking YOU away from who you are.  I ended up taking it just so I could function the next day.  Disappointed always in what I wasn't able to accomplish though my intentions were pure.  Getting fixated on the nonessentials, etc.  
Stay strong.  Tell friends/family that you can trust so that you have accountability.  As long as you keep it a secret, you haven't really given it up.  
I hope this helps you.  I wish you the best.

[Michelle_Shawn]

I have just stopped taking suboxone. I was on it for a very long time. During the 3 1/2 years I was on it, I was always very involved in recovery. If it weren't for that sobriety I wouldnt be where I was today, nevermind off the suboxone. The withdrawal has been very difficult. Even though there is no physical W/D from the adderall, stimulants really mess with your head. I think it would be a lot to stop at once. I would talk to you doctor. But in my opinion I think you should stop using the adderall and when you feel mentally stable and grounded, taper off the suboxone. At this point 2 more months I dont think would significantly effect your physical detox. And as others have suggested, definitely get to as low of a dose as possible.

[TysonRed]

Ive taken adderall over the years, never was it prescribed to me, I just took it for the huge boost of energy. I think the longest I took it was for about 2-3months almost everyday before it became hard for me to get, so I had to quit. I didnt have any physical w/d's at all when I stopped, I missed to energy it gave me but it really wasnt too hard to quit. Now as far as the sub goes you want to get down to lowest dose possible before you quit. I was on sub for 18wks, eventually got down to a crumb every day (.25mgs) for about 7-10days then I quit. I didnt go the every other day, then every 3rd day and so on, I really just wanted to get it over with. The first 10days were pretty rough, but I started to feel alot better after about 2weeks. The biggest problem I had was trouble sleeping, moderate depression/anxiety issues and eventually the everlasting cravings that probably wont ever go away. Its always best to seek some aftercare, theres so many issues that continue on after you go through the physical aspects of any opiate detox. Its such a cliche but getting clean is so easy compared to staying clean, thats a lifelong daily commitment you gotta make with yourself. For sure you dont want to cold turkey of the suboxone, its best to taper down especially when your still at 16mgs/day. With the adderall, I only have some brief experiences with it, but I never had a problem when I quit. But I know of many people who have had problems, its an amphetamine, so its very addictive. Hopefully some more people come by with more experience with adderall, Im not sure what the safest way to detox off. I wish you all the best with your recovery, you gotta want to quit, its not easy but life without opiates is truely priceless. So much less stress and anxiety of the daily grind of worrying about pills. Keep posting here for support, theres tons of helpful people here that you can benefit from. Take Care!

[cathy5841]

i took adderrall for years..i only took 30mgs oper day...i just stopped.  i was tired for a week or so, but had no physical w/ds.  i dont crave the adderall.  i have rwad some ppl do.  if i were you i would cut my dose in half for a week then just quit.

as far as the sub goes you need to taper off it till you get down to a crumb every 3 days...good luck..let me know if i can help ya