My ADHD MEDICATION ADDICTION/ABUSE.

Jesse Y · ‎25-01-2023

Hey everyone I hope everyone is staying safe.

ABOUT ME
- so at age 20 I was diagnosed with attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and was prescribed a popular ADHD medication. For the past 10 years I have experienced depression, social anxiety, obsessive ruminating thoughts and a bipolar diagnosis All of which I did not have before starting my medication. I have now become addicted and abuse my medication and can’t go a day without it. I have tried giving up cold turkey which was unsuccessful and have also tried slowly reducing my dose with doctors help but could not give it up. I discussed my addiction with my psychiatrist who said that he had never experienced a patient being addicted to ADHD medication which I feel is untrue. I was wondering if anyone has experienced ADHD medication addiction and if anyone was able to detox from it and how they did it ? I feel that because my medication is given to me by a medical doctor that an addiction to it is not recognised or taken as seriously as other addictions. I can’t thank everyone enough for your support.

also I feel that when I’m very depressed I have obsessive thoughts about my ex partner yet I have the best girlfriend a man could ask for right instead front of me! If anyone has any advice on how to stop/prevent the obsessive thought cycle about my ex I would be so thankful.

white knight · ‎26-01-2023

Hi, welcome

I think there is an unwritten rule- seek a second psych's opinion on addiction.. You can also google "ADHD medication addictive" and search for your medication and gain basic knowledge beforehand. All the mental health issues post initial diagnosis and the advice for them cannot be answered here, sorry.

Re: "I feel that because my medication is given to me by a medical doctor that an addiction to it is not recognised or taken as seriously as other addictions". There might be some truth in that, again it is another reason to get a second opinion from another psychiatrist. I'm not discounting the psych's views given, but for your own peace of mind only.

Obsessive of intrusive thoughts- now there is something I hope to guide you with. 35 years ago I had 12 months therapy following a major work incident. My therapist recognised this and taught me how to avoid/eliminate such wandering thoughts.

Ask yourself "is that thought realistic... is it likely to happen"? eg a fear of your ex knocking on your door, or tracing you, or stalking
As soon as you assess that it is unrealistic then change activity you are doing, any change is advantageous. eg stand up, go for a walk, do the dishes, pat the dog, ring a friend and talk about what they want to talk about and so on. Distraction is a tool most elusive but effective. I used to have a big jigsaw puzzle in a spare room and I'd do 20 pieces, after that those thoughts were gone.
Seek therapy, there are many other techniques
Tackle anxiety https://forums.beyondblue.org.au/t5/anxiety/anxiety-how-l-eliminated-it/td-p/183873
Reduce worry https://forums.beyondblue.org.au/t5/anxiety/worry-worry-worry/td-p/87808
Remain firm with your determination.
Switching mindsets. https://forums.beyondblue.org.au/t5/staying-well/switching-mindsets/td-p/274532

https://forums.beyondblue.org.au/t5/staying-well/30-minutes-can-change-your-life/td-p/154525

TonyWK

197543 · ‎13-04-2023

Hi 🙂 I also have ADHD with bipolar and take meds for both. ( I’m in my 40’s). With my ADHD meds I started wondering if I was developing an addiction because I can’t go without it. I think you will find it is less of an addiction but more a dependency and that’s ok. ADHD can be debilitating at times so it’s OK to take medication to help it. Next time you take it , take your daily dose only, keep yourself busy and you will find you will get through the day fine. Once you do a day it will help subside your fears. ADHD medication can easily be abused so I don’t understand why the psychiatrist is dissing your concern; If you are on long acting though there’s a very, very low chance. Hope this helps. As with your bipolar, some of the symptoms of your ADHD may have been bipolar as symptoms can cross over and this may not have been recognised. If you haven’t already I would suggest looking into medication for this as you can get psychosis ( I did) . ADHD meds can trigger psychosis so please look into that.

look after yoursrlf

cheers

Tayman · ‎18-04-2023

I think you need an ADHD review. I've found the adult ADHD society (at least the NSW one) to be really good & really helpful in finding good psychiatrists that really understand & manage ADHD well.

I couldn't imagine not having my meds, I feel like my life would totally fall apart without them, which may, on the surface, read as an addiction, BUT in reality, I have a brain functioning problem, called ADHD & in the same way a diabetic needs insulin to function, I need my ADHD meds to function, which is different to an addiction, but the way ADHD & it's meds are portrayed in society, it can make people feel like they have an addiction if they say they NEED their meds that allow them to function normally.

With true ADHD, I'm not sure it's possible to abuse meds, as they simply create "normality", so if you're feeling a need to use them differently to prescribed, then I'm thinking the prescribing was wrong, or the diagnoses may have been wrong, given you have other conditions that can mimic ADHD symptoms, but won't necessarily respond to ADHD meds in the same way ADHD will.

I have no idea what's going on in your case, could be standard ADHD & your meds are right & other conditions just came on in your 20's & have nothing to do with your meds & you just need reassurance of that, or it could be your ADHD meds are wrong for you personally & you need a different one that has less impact on your other conditions, or it could be you were misdiagnosed & need meds for a different condition & when on those, you will no longer feel the need for the ADHD ones & will easily be able to stop taking them, I really don't know, but I feel like you really need to see a good adult ADHD specialist to really unpack the various issues you have & figure out what's really going on.

I've seen a number of different ADHD docs over my life, most have been fantastic, but some have been doozies! There really is a huge range within them, & my ADHD is really simple & responds really well to basic meds, so I'm easy to treat, so if they're bad even for me, I hate to think what they'd be like with complex cases! So I really think it's worth going down that path first of seeing a good one & making sure a good ADHD specialist feels you're on the best meds for your specific conditions & symptoms.

Tayman · ‎18-04-2023

I did also say the following on the bottom of my message, but it apparently was too long to post, does anyone know if there's a way to see how close you are to the character limit while writing a comment, before hitting the reply button?

Anyway, last bit I said was

All the best with it, it really does make a HUGE difference if you get your ADHD meds right & I'm suspecting in your case, there's probably better options than you currently have. You may find a medication switch fixes all the issues with the one you're currently on & it might be totally natural for you to dispose of the lot & never want to touch it again once you get an alternative med

geoff · ‎18-04-2023

Hello Jesse, may be your psychiatrist should focus more on your OCD, because when you are struggling with this it can then develop an addiction.

Geoff.

Life Member.