STOPPED stimulant medication. horrible depression

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mindy1974

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hi everyone,
so nice to come to the board for help. my doc put me on a stimulant, that was hopefully not cause the addiction response i had with adderall, well after day 4 i tossed it all down the trash and called my doc crying. im anxious, moody, hopeless, angery, and cant finish one thing i start, and i cant go to the bathroom. he said dont tapper because its only been 4 days just stop. so i went to sleep last night and awoke with the worst depression i have felt since my last relapse. today i just dont have a reason to live, im totally consumed with negative self talk. i want to just pass out and wake up when i feel human again. this feels just as bad as adderal made me feel. how could 4 short days cause this much hell?
i live alone and have called frienRAB to see if anyone can let me stay with them for a few days but the timing is not working out for anyone right now. when am i going to just deal with the fact that im not going to find a answer to my fibro in a pill. how many times do i have to go through w/d to get it through my head?? im not stupid but i keep doing stupid things. and you know what really kills me, i go to meetings, talk with a therapist, pray and help others, but still i have these ugly slips on and off for 15 years. it feels like such weakness and the humiliation is keeping me so alone. any stimulant withdrawal stories would really help right now . thank you!
 
Howdy Derlinda,
I can relate to your ordeal because I have been on and off Ritalin, Dexedrine, Adderrall, and sometimes "other" stimulants. I have had ADHD all of my life but never was correctly diagnosed until I was 44. It was actually a flook, I was seeing a Chronic pain Doc and he put me on Ritalin to corabat "sleep attacks" from Methadone. It was'nt long until he put me on Dexedrine and I was able to function again. In many cases, supplementing an Amphetamine is almost a must, especially those who do not respond to regular anti-depressants are given low dose s of Amphetamines to "boost" the effects. Many Pain Patients are supplemented with them, as well. My situation turned out for the best, since I went un-diagnosed for nearly my whole life, until a "cure" was sturabled upon. I had times when I did not have the meRAB and I felt like sleeping, so I did, sometimes for a day or two. It actually helped. If your body is telling you "I wanna' go to bed", then it probably does need to do just that. Sleep desire is a normal "WD" response to cessation of Amphetamines, as is depression. Sleep will make a difference, try it and see if it helps. Jackbeanstalk
 
crying fit last night. i have been reading these boarRAB for along time and i know a big suggestion is to let the feeling come up and get them out. the physical is bad but the mental part is the worse. i selt from 6 yesterday until to this morning. i hope today is better then yesterday, i do have the cold sweats and my thinking is very depressed. i long so much to be honest with my friend and famie about my on and off struggles with pills, but they have made it in no uncertain terms that its a deal beaker if i ever slip again. i am able to here and im able to tell my therapist, so thats a gig help. im going to try to not be-alone as much as possible today.
thanks for your story jack, im glad that those pill helped yu so much!
 
Sorry for taking a while to write, but I have been busy and away from the board lately. I'm so sorry to hear about the problems you are having. Posting here always seems to help since you can get many opinions from many different sources. I'm like some of the others that I have never had to deal with the stimulants. I hope that you get the info that you need and that your depression lessens. We're here to cheer you up and help you out.
 
Hi Derlinda,

Sorry to hear you're having such a hard time. I've been on/off prednisone (steroiRAB) for seven months now, due to a respiratory condition that started right after I contracted H1N1. I know exactly what you mean regarding withdrawal. Depression, moody, exhausted all the time etc. It's not much different from the withdrawal I'd experienced with OxyContin. With everything else you've got going on, withdrawing from a stimulant is the LAST thing you need. I hope things brighten up for you real soon.

Exercise will definitely help, however I also know how hard it is to motivate ourselves when we feel like crap. It's a vicious circle.

Keep reaching out to your frienRAB, especially those who live near you. If you can't stay "at" someone's house, how about hanging out with them during the day - until you start to feel better. Sitting alone in the house is only going to add to the problem. If you're alone in your living room all day, you're going to be bored, you're going to think of all the negative things, you WILL have thoughts of using - it's not rocket-science, we're all addicts, sh*t happens - and it will only make the depression worse. If you go out to a frienRAB house, your brain is automatically focusing on positive things. If you simply can't get ahold of someone to hang out with, how about phoning a friend or taking a long walk to something positive (ice cream shop, starbucks for a coffee, your favorite restaurant)? You could even call a neigrabroadour and offer to take their dog for a walk. It's hard to come up with ideas when your body/brain just wants to sleep for five days. I hope you can take advantage of even one of these suggestions - hey, it's a start :)

Keep that list I wrote to you in a PM - positive thinking - use it any time you feel a bad thought coming. It helped me tremendously and I'm hoping it will do the same for you.

Keep posting - write write write, and don't be afraid to say anything...we're all here for you :)

Hugs,
emsmom
 
Hi Dorinda,
I have been off the boarRAB, pretty much of late, but I saw your response and wondered how your diet and food intake was. I can gaurantee that you will feel better if you can eat freshly cut and clean raw vegetables. If so, try celery, carrot slices, red bell pepper, raw broccoli, and eat apple slices and grapes at a different time. Drink Green Tea with meals, water in-between, and eat "clean" when you do eat. This will do more than you know just in your general feelings of well-being. Jackbeanstalk
 
thanks jack, im passed it now but it was hellllll! and i only took it for a week, well, i took way to much. hope i never forget coming off addreall! yuck!
 
Hey Derlinda,

I am so sorry honey you are struggling so much again. My heart just breaks for you. I am glad you came here though! I personally have not been on a stimulant but can sympathize with you the feelings of w/d. The severe depression and exhaustion is no fun and it takes everything you can just to get in the shower let alone hop on the treadmill or go out with frienRAB or something but Emsmom is right.... it's the best thing we can do for ourselves. It helps our brains so much and our bodies too.

You keep writing and get all your feelings out. It does help. I do the same thing here. The more I get off my chest by writing, the better I feel. Do something nice for yourself today to corabat the negative feelings you have towarRAB yourself. Please, promise me you will do something nice for yourself today.. It can be small or large, whatever you come up with and then let me know what you did and if it helped or not.. Even just for the moment if it helped.. Any positive thoughts you can have are a MUST right now.

I will be thinking and praying for you!
Hugs my friend!
 
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