Lizrox

I know I post a lot about things and have a very negative attitude sometimes. For that I apologize.

When I went to detox in January my energy came back pretty quickly after discharge; in a matter of days for some reason.

Now, I have no energy to do anything. I know if I popped an adderall I would be superwoman but I understand I can't do that. I CAN but I can't.

I asked my pdoc how long it takes to "get your energy back" after years of amphetamine abuse. He said 3-6 months but it can vary. I wouldn't be surprised if I had to wait 3-6 years for my energy to come back. After all that adderall I abused; My body is totally sleep deprived and out of wack.

I know some people may not believe this but I can sleep for almost 24hrs straight. Not kidding at all. I have to force myself to stay up. I even had to cancel my appointment with the therapist tonight because it was at 8pm and I knew I would be to tired to even drive there.

I try to eat right, excersise, but I am just so exhausted. I drink monster juice as well; tons of it. I can drink 5-6 cans and still sleep afterwards.

I take seroquel as well; that may be a big part of the problem. It hasn't been in the past; but that was when I was popping amphetamines left and right.

My mother is actually a dr. She could give me the $ to go to rehab; but rehab statistics are so grim. I would probably relapse after anyway. Why waste her $. I remeber my last rehab. They said 80-90% of the people that walk out the door will relapse again in their lifetime. I'm not so sure if I believe that though. In rehab your protected, they teach you about relapse prevention, how to deal with cravings, coping skills, but AT THE END it's up to you.

I actually heard that vitamin B-12 shots may help. Will ask my dr. about that.

I just can't live like this anymore. I have no life; and I miss my adderall. I used to be the life of the party; now I'm like an old lady..

Mark75

I think so!!

I've been where you are... it sucks totally and it was the reason I had to try multiple times to finally break clear of stimulants... Because like you, I was taking sleeping pills to go to sleep, I had to... with all that Ritalin I was taking... The key for me was to get off the sleeping pills... only then did I begin to feel somewhat normal. But I had a rough couple of weeks.... Like I mentioned in another thread, I am two years off the stimulants this week.... I feel fine.

Get clean, completely clean... then maybe you can start and get recovered. Exercise, read, eat good, sleep like a normal person...

Don't waste your time and money on Vitamins, OTC energy potions, etc... nothing (well, that's legal and non addicting) will help get your energy back while you are on seroquel... If you need help sleeping, there are lot's of suggestions floating around this forum... I like valerian, meditation/relaxation music, avoiding caffeine, especially late in the day... stuff like that.

Lean into this recovery thing... it's a hard road at first, but it gets better, and better, and better... I promise. Being the life of the party all the time will take it's toll, then, before you know it ... you really will be an old lady, before your time...

Angelic17

Lizrox, you will get your energy back. It takes time. You have only been off of the adderall for 1 month. Give your body a chance to adjust. Be good to yourself. And try to think positive. Be proud of your self for staying off of the adderall for 1 month. That's great. You can do this. If you think you CAN or if you think you CANT. Either way your right. I read that in a book called Your The Greatest By Frank McGuire. And it stuck in my head. I never forgot that. Turn your thinking pattern into POSITIVES Lisrox. You CAN do this. Let your beautiful little girl be your motivation.

Zak

Quote:
Originally Posted by Lizrox

I take seroquel as well; that may be a big part of the problem.
That was my problem,and eating right,time and vitamins.

dreamscape

With all the resources we have nowdays NA/AA etc..........relapse happens when we don;t want it anymore and recovery happens when we've had enough.

BrokenChains

Thank you for starting this thread. It helps me not feel so alone.

I abused adderall for about 2 years. Now I'm not taking it anymore and I'm unmotivated and have trouble finding the energy to do anything.

I'm also recovering from a long alcohol addiction and between the alcohol and all of the pills, my body is depleted and wiped out.

Some days I just have to keep putting one foot in front of the other and try to make myself get stuff done. I just take things a little bit at a time, otherwise I get overwhelmed.

The body is healing. It takes a while to sort itself out. That's what I'm holding on to. I have only been sober since July 1 so I'm in the healing process myself.

Angelic17

BrokenChains, Congratulations on 27 days, and you will get your energy back in a couple of months. Hang in there and welcome to recovery. Life is going to get so good for you. Be proud of yourself for the few weeks you have clean. :ghug3

Lizrox

Broken Chains, welcome to SR. Keep reading and post.

Yes, we have deprived our bodies so much with the adderall over the years; that our bodies are just just"wacked out."

I remember tons of sleepless nights, not eating at all; and our bodies are playing "catch up."

Our bodies will recover; it's just going to take time.

Liz aka Lizrox

PS- I'm sorry the font was so little on this post.

BrokenChains

Thanks so much!

I've been struggling with cravings really badly for the past 2 days but I've just been plugging along and pushing on through them. I DO NOT want to have to start over and go through this early recovery stuff again.

I'm trying to get motivated to go out and exercise and every day I tell myself that I'm going to do it, but I haven't yet.

I don't listen to the lies of the addict mind. It keeps trying to remind me of what it 'imagined' was good, but I know the truth. It felt horrible being up after sleepless nights, and the muscle aches and pains and all the depression afterwards. No way do I want to go back to that.

I put my body through hell. I had a 2 bottle of wine a day drinking habit and when I got the adderall prescription, I'd abuse it in high doses so the prescription never lasted long. Same thing with painkillers.

It felt so good to wake up this morning and not head for the wine bottle or the pill bottle. I am so grateful for recovery!

Thanks for being there for me!!

tsmba

Sounds as though you have some good insights, and maybe a little time to act on them. For me, feeling antsy is a good indicator that I need to get busy, doing the things I know I need to do, but am probably letting slide. One thing I have learned is that in a head-to-head struggle with my addictions, I will *always* lose.

Willpower and gutting it out are only temporary (at best) solutions. When I find myself struggling, it is time to take action in order to reduce that struggling. I know some of the warning signs, and choosing to ignore them is perilous!

SoberJune282010

I just went through this energy problem, I woke up feeling great, did exercise and about mid morning and the rest of the day I had no energy at all. I felt that I could close my eyes and sleep for hours.

Google vitamin B1 for addicts. I went and bought some and have been on them for 3 days now. I can say what a difference this has made for me. I have all kinds of energy. Certain types of abuse impair your body from processing carbs and other garbage in your system.

I can say it does work and will now be advancing to a B complex. Check into it anyway!

loveon2legs

Hi Liz..
I dabbled with pills on and off during my alcohol career...and for the first few months of my sobriety all I wanted to do was sleep and sleep and sleep... I guess our bodies just needed a rest from all the sh**t we put in it...uppers.downers,all arounders....try, like I have started to do eat better...lots of veggies and fruit.....our bodies need a cleanse, I'm 6 months sober now and feel pretty good on most days....I take serqueol as well sometimes, and in the morning feel so groggy.....going to talk to my doc.....

Be well,

Lizrox

BrokenChains, when I get those adderall cravings; I get them daily; I just tell myself this is my disease talking; it's not really me. I try to do the exercise thing, eat right, all the things they tell you to do; but they aren't the ones with the deadly disease we have; some maybe??Sometimes I do feel like giving up.. I can't imagine myself never using adderall again.. I am going to have to make a big effort though. They say your addictions (DOC) can change; mine have.

I went from Alcohol, to benzos, to tramadol, to Vicodin, now adderall. It's like what's next??

You made a great step by posting here, it can help a lot.

BTW- my dr gave me 60 -30mg tabs of Adderall every month, and one 20mg. script every month. The insurance even approved that high of a dose; I was shocked.

When I went to the pharmacy to pick up my pills everyone looked at the way I looked (I didn't take care of myself). I hate the person I became on Adderall yet I abused it anyway.

threegirls

lizrox
my dr. gave me the same amt. of adderall too plus i was taking it from other people. i had a pretty expensive and bad habit......but i was reading your earlier posts and it sounds like you know what to do. please get to a meeting. i know you can do it

ZombieWife

My husband is a recovering meth addict and it took about a year for him to stabilize. But, he was also smoking (cigarettes), drinking a LOT of soda, taking ambien for sleeping, eating a metric assload of junk food.

It seems that when he quit smoking, weaned off the caffeine and started focusing on how he was eating, things started to fall into place.

For me personally, (not someone coming from a stimulant addiction), what I eat and put in my body has such a HUGE effect on how I feel and how much energy I have. I've realized how sensitive I am to sugar and gluten and after cutting those out, it's been like the veil has been lifted. Not saying it's your diet, but don't be afraid to consider all angles and possibilities.

One thing I've noticed is that there are a few people here who were prescribed seroquel. He's also taking that for sleeping. Just an interesting observation.