Adderall & Alcohol
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2014
Posts: 3
Adderall & Alcohol
I am struggling with an addiction to adderall that has led to alcoholism. I'm reaching out in the hopes that someone understands dual addiction. Or can help me make sense of this- when you become addicted to a medication your doctor prescribes to fix a problem, what are you supposed to do when the medication is gone? For me the existing problem is still there on top of dealing with the effects of addiction. This feels impossible. Where do I begin? I've been to AA, and while I love the fellowship I sometimes feel out of place.
Thanks for reading, and hope everyone is doing well today.
Thanks for reading, and hope everyone is doing well today.
Member
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: Fort Worth, TX
Posts: 38
I personally don't have a history of dual addictions, but I was addicted to meth for a while. Sounds to me like you have several areas that need to be looked at and seriously addressed and corrected.
1. The underlying diagnosis for which Adderall was prescribed for in the 1st place. (I'm assuming ADD/ADHD).
2. The now addiction to Adderall
3. The subsequent addiction to alcohol.
This is a lot to handle at one time, for any person!! There is a saying that I heard several years ago, and I live by it when I feel overwhelmed.....How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.
You mention that you feel out of place at AA. Do you have a sponsor yet? And if so, have you started working the steps yet? Maybe go to NA too? Work the steps, REALLY work them and some questions should start being answered! Good luck to you and stay strong!!
1. The underlying diagnosis for which Adderall was prescribed for in the 1st place. (I'm assuming ADD/ADHD).
2. The now addiction to Adderall
3. The subsequent addiction to alcohol.
This is a lot to handle at one time, for any person!! There is a saying that I heard several years ago, and I live by it when I feel overwhelmed.....How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.
You mention that you feel out of place at AA. Do you have a sponsor yet? And if so, have you started working the steps yet? Maybe go to NA too? Work the steps, REALLY work them and some questions should start being answered! Good luck to you and stay strong!!
Member
Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 187
Sounds like some counseling might do you some good as well. Understanding why you turn to substances to fill a void, and what exactly that void is that needs filling. Are the Aderall prescribed? I would start by telling your doctor that you've become addicted if you haven't already. Hang in there, we're rooting for you!!
Member
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 1
hi Converse,
Good to hear from someone whose addiction sounds similar to my own. I was prescribed adderall for ADHD at the age of 17. I realized very quickly that I loved everything about the drug. Adderall was never really therapeutic for me - it always felt recreational. It didn't take long for me to discover the joys of mixing it with alcohol. Thing quickly spiraled out of my control. I drank and pill-popped for six and a half years before joining AA. Reading AA's Big Book really helped me clear up any lingering feelings about being an alcoholic. Still, I can relate to feeling out of place in the meetings. I did too, at first. But, I kept going to the damned meetings (b/c I had so much time on my hands without the addy/alchy) and the more I listened to people sharing in meetings, the more I realized that lots of people who're alcoholics have also used and abused other drugs as well, and that my story was not so different from anyone else's.
Life without adderall is different and I'm still adjusting to a slower pace I guess. I didn't believe that I could do anything (laundry, write an email, finish a book, go on dates) without adderall or alcohol or, preferably, both. But, I'm learning that I can and that life is actually pretty good without them.
Best of luck to you!! feel free to reach out!
Good to hear from someone whose addiction sounds similar to my own. I was prescribed adderall for ADHD at the age of 17. I realized very quickly that I loved everything about the drug. Adderall was never really therapeutic for me - it always felt recreational. It didn't take long for me to discover the joys of mixing it with alcohol. Thing quickly spiraled out of my control. I drank and pill-popped for six and a half years before joining AA. Reading AA's Big Book really helped me clear up any lingering feelings about being an alcoholic. Still, I can relate to feeling out of place in the meetings. I did too, at first. But, I kept going to the damned meetings (b/c I had so much time on my hands without the addy/alchy) and the more I listened to people sharing in meetings, the more I realized that lots of people who're alcoholics have also used and abused other drugs as well, and that my story was not so different from anyone else's.
Life without adderall is different and I'm still adjusting to a slower pace I guess. I didn't believe that I could do anything (laundry, write an email, finish a book, go on dates) without adderall or alcohol or, preferably, both. But, I'm learning that I can and that life is actually pretty good without them.
Best of luck to you!! feel free to reach out!
Member
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: New Orleans, LA
Posts: 985
I was given ADHD medication as an adult (concerta). It was pretty easy to get it prescribed; I was overwhelmed with tasks, fit the description of ADHD, had trouble choosing one task (especially if it was boring), had hyper-attention regarding other things (could spend untold hours working on music projects or doing research), but couldn't bring things to fruition.
I quickly found that you could drink on top of the med & voila!! - it is just like drinking on cocaine - excited, social, intense, & most significantly, you can drink & drink & drink with extended limits. Perfect for the alcoholic...
I quit it all. For me, it was a drug. A clean, doctor prescribed, excellent drug which accelerated my drinking.
Is it challenging to get around to folding my laundry? Yes.
Guess what. There are a lot of folks inside & outside these rooms who live with big piles of clean wrinkly laundry. Am I less "intensely motivated" at work? Yes. But I'm also not hung-over, and I'm not behaving like some wacko speed freak without even realizing it.
I lost the most important romantic relationship of my life during the period that I was taking ADHD meds. People later told NE that I was not "accessible.". I believe them. I wasn't me. I liked artificial me - I liked the lack of sleep, the productivity, & most of all, my seemingly magical ability to drink tons of alcohol without being so "impaired."
I much prefer myself clean & sober. That's me - over there- that sometimes inefficient girl in the wrinkly clothes, who is able to love, to listen, & to feel. I'm happy.
Go to AA, go to NA, go everywhere until you patch together a community that feeds you strength!
It is a challenging combo, but there are lots of non-drug strategies for ADHD - nutrition, organizational tools, support groups.
The most powerful thing I've found is to resist the accomplishment, busy-busy ethic of our f***ed up society & just be me, the way my higher power made me. To love my challenge & my way of seeing & doing things. To find the gifts in it (there are many).
I quickly found that you could drink on top of the med & voila!! - it is just like drinking on cocaine - excited, social, intense, & most significantly, you can drink & drink & drink with extended limits. Perfect for the alcoholic...
I quit it all. For me, it was a drug. A clean, doctor prescribed, excellent drug which accelerated my drinking.
Is it challenging to get around to folding my laundry? Yes.
Guess what. There are a lot of folks inside & outside these rooms who live with big piles of clean wrinkly laundry. Am I less "intensely motivated" at work? Yes. But I'm also not hung-over, and I'm not behaving like some wacko speed freak without even realizing it.
I lost the most important romantic relationship of my life during the period that I was taking ADHD meds. People later told NE that I was not "accessible.". I believe them. I wasn't me. I liked artificial me - I liked the lack of sleep, the productivity, & most of all, my seemingly magical ability to drink tons of alcohol without being so "impaired."
I much prefer myself clean & sober. That's me - over there- that sometimes inefficient girl in the wrinkly clothes, who is able to love, to listen, & to feel. I'm happy.
Go to AA, go to NA, go everywhere until you patch together a community that feeds you strength!
It is a challenging combo, but there are lots of non-drug strategies for ADHD - nutrition, organizational tools, support groups.
The most powerful thing I've found is to resist the accomplishment, busy-busy ethic of our f***ed up society & just be me, the way my higher power made me. To love my challenge & my way of seeing & doing things. To find the gifts in it (there are many).
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