So I’m making this post to gage some peoples perspectives. I was diagnosed ADHD around age 12, I was majorly disruptive in school so I wonder if it was more of a “try it out and see how it goes” rather than a real diagnosis as the disorder can’t really be proven with something like a blood test. Anyway I found out the medication could be abused eventually, not exactly sure when. I would chew the pills, take extra ones, snort it, drink heaps of alcohol with it and even profit considerably from it (not going to go into detail on that, those). Anyway… I have at times used it appropriately to good effect and seen results in my life. It makes me like a zombie but in a way that’s better than being a wayward nutcase.
I’m in a bit of a bad place, I’m pretty down. I feel like it could help me. In someways I wanna be that zombie and not feel, but also it helps me think before I act or speak (discipline helps with that too though)… it also does help me with study… it’s deeply linked to my drug abuse… but I feel like I need something to help. I considered lexapro (antidepressant) I’m a bit worried about that one, definitely don’t like the potential to gain weight. I have some undiagnosed heart issues so the Ritalin could f me up…
Any thoughts anyone. In my mind as long as I didn’t abuse the medication e.g take an extra pill, chew it etc, I would be still sober but if I crossed that boundary I mean… it’s not like coffee where you know you have a few extra shots and your wired… it’s a far more serious drug…
Any help or advice would be appreciated.
Before anyone tells me yes I’ll talk to my doctor, I’m going tomorrow, I want your advice though.
You dont need it. Dont do it. Its a step slope down, you sound like you already know this. Your smart. Make the smart decision and choose not to take it again… Your properly just in a hard place at the moment with the break up and things in your life currently changing? Don’t choose ritilan, nothing good will come from it. You don’t need a doctor to tell you this. Your smart Duncan
I’ve been telling myself I don’t need medication for years. I’ve fought through a lot without asking a doctor for help, and the last time I did regarding antidepressants he said the same as you. I remember a friend telling me once, “what would you rather do, want to die everyday or take a medication that made everything a little easier”… I’m just tired of fighting.
I believe that if taken for the right reasons then there is no harm in trying. As you say, you’ll talk to your dr first. I would also make sure they are aware of the possible potential that the temptation to abuse it may occur so that they are able to strictly monitor the dosage and usage and keep in very regular contact with you.
As a side note there are many different anti depressants and not all cause weight gain. And there are also a few different meds available for ADHD. Discuss all the options with your Dr. If you go down the adhd medication path just be very sure it’s for the right reasons and keep an open and honest dialogue with your Dr, as you know they have the potential to be addictive and that’s obviously not a path you want to be going down…
And no, if you’re taking a prescribed medicine for you health and well being it is absolutely not cheating in your sobriety.
I’d be right there on the fence with you. Throughout my sobriety I have been on mental health meds a couple different times mostly for anxiety and depression. When being prescribed them I specifically requested medication with no abuse potential given my history. If you have a genuine need for them it may be worth investigating, but from reading your post it looks like you are trying to alter your mood. I’d be very wary in that case. Be honest with yourself about your true motives with wanting to do so.
I’m also from New Zealand and I went through the same process a few years ago at the age of 25. I had the perspective that it was a prescription medication, so how bad could it really be and in the beginning it did do me a lot of good. But i’ll echo what other people have said already - do not take Ritalin lightly.
It’s genuine purely synthesised stimulant that is highly addictive. If you take to it, like I took to it, it will feel like the ‘limitless’ pill and you will increasingly become dependent more and more reliant on it to function. I ended up loosing everything because of that drug - my girlfriend, my home, my bachelors degree, my relationship with my family. Homeless and fighting to get off it with a doctor telling me i needed to stay on it. It truly fucked my life up and the worst thing was it happens so gradually you don’t even see it happening. I became a different person - a junkie and severely mentally ill.
I had to work so hard to come back from Ritalin addiction, and it is one of the main reasons i became dependent on booze even worse afterwards/the main reason i became heavily addicted to smoking. I lost 30kg on it and was consuming 200 mg a day - going through a month prescription in a week, then suffering from chronic fatigue and other withdrawal afterwards, only to be waiting for my next script.
If I could go back, i never would have touched the stuff. It’s pretty much legal cocaine man. They just dose it down and expect you to moderate. If you are already an addict, i can speak from experience and say it’s very very hard to moderate.
I’m on Adderall, for the same reason, ADHD. I was diagnosed later in life at 27. I had a bad reaction to it back then, it made me rage. I went off it and never looked back until recently. I’m used to my ADHD, but it drives other people crazy, mainly the doctor who prescribed it
I refused for close to a year. I’m glad now that I decided to give it another shot. I think it was the missing piece of the puzzle. It keeps me much calmer, and more focused. I stopped clenching my teeth, thank god because they all have bad stress fractures. I already had to have two replaced.
I can see Adderall or Ritalin being abused by people who don’t need it. It doesn’t have the same effect on folks with ADHD. Typically the opposite. I would listen to your doctor, express your concerns, and if you decide to go on it, request frequent follow-ups. Not sure how it is in NZ, but in the US you can only get one month at a time due to it being a controlled substance:)
I take antidepressants and antianxiety medication along with Adderall. I’m so grateful to have access to this medicine and I would advise trying medicine first as that’s the most tried and true treatment.
I take Ritalin for my ADHD. I take is as prescribed by my doctor.
Ultimately health is about balanced living & accountability. In this case, you’re accountable to your doctor, who has prescribed a balanced amount. You stay healthy by staying balanced and accountable.
Attendance at recovery groups will help as well. Don’t let your recovery stagnate, and you’ll stay safe.
So, if the pharmacy world suddenly lost the recipe for making stimulants how would folks survive? Or other addictive meds? We addicts & alcoholics have a funny way of going back to our old ways…especially if we have access to something with abuse potential and we are given the greenlight by a medical professional. I know this as I’m one and a colleague just got caught abusing his adderall and his mother drug was opiates. To keep his license he’s back to rehab and starting another 5 years in our monitoring program…I feel, happy & healthy inside our own skin with little to no substance influence is the way to build the best coping skills. All this drunk has to say.
If I didn’t take my medicine I would not be able to keep my life in order. I would then have a higher probability of drinking. Not everyone is the same.
I fully agree we’re all different. Just saying common things are common you know. The steps helped me get to a spot where I could tackle life and still not want to drink or use. No bad side effects from doing them either, cost free and always close by in times of stress & pain. Best wishes
Are you working? keeping active? gym, exercise ? I find that when my daily routine Is scheduled in tight and I make sure I have full days and I’m exercising in the mornings everyday 5 days a week, my head space and over all general happiness is overflowing. I know it sounds cliche and basic, but It sounds like you need to be stimulated mentally and physically and to be kept busy, if you daily routine is packed tight scheduled in with work and excerise, it can help dramatically… What’s your daily routine like from the time you wake up till the time you go to bed, what is a typical day for you?
Yeah I think I need to get my daily routine sorted but I make it so hard. My routine is absolute crap at the moment. I have no routine and what is there certainly isn’t healthy or helpful. I am capable of a better routine but idk it feels hard when your headspace is so Fd up.
I know its hard, but you have to work on it. It makes the world of difference. Just Start small by setting your alarm for 7am every morning and get up and go for a walk at the same time every morning. Its hard getting up and out , but after about a week it will be easier and your body will look forward to it. Even if your just walking for 10 tens mins to start with. Just get your body and mind into a place where it has a daily task at the same time everyday. Even if its cold and rainy… I know how easy it is not to get out of bed and sleep till 3pm and do F all , all day and stay up till 3am watching Netflix and repeat the same thing all over the next day… When I started pushing my butt outta bed at 7am even though I felt like death and was misreble as f , something changed in me once I begun walking around in nature in the morning… Your in nz Right? Your out in nature living someone you can get out to and go for a light walk? Start there. Give your self a small daily goal of doing it at 7am everyday . I promise you will see and feel change after about a week. You can push through this
