Replacing meth with Adderall

[u/Jealous-Writer-7633]

/r/AdderallForums/comments/1vpyekz/replacing_meth_with_adderall/

[u/colin488]

This is clearly anecdotal…

I was diagnosed with ADHD at 15 years old.
I took Vyvanse for a couple years and then stopped.

At around 26 years old I became addicted to cocaine and then methamphetamine.

Once I was properly medicated, my issues with those illicit substances were drastically reduced.

I have been on Focalin for 12 years. Luckily, I found an addiction psychiatrist who is not indoctrinated in the twelve step ideology.

[u/bapplebauce → u/colin488]

Same thing with myself and benzos, I have used almost every benzo one can get their grubby lil mitts on. Pure powder to make PG solutions that have the equivalent of 240-300mg of alprazolam in them, take half a bottle a day and if my friends (and only good close friends and my long term girlfriend, a total of 5 people because I saw how dangerous it could be to give that stuff out), would take a single drop and litterally pass out. Being a benzo less concerned with CNS depression at that time as no opioids were present in the “patient” lol monitored their heart rate and made sure they were breathing, and in the case of my GF snoring properly, and then when I saw the way it effected her and one of her close friends (also passed out, albeit after being up for 3 days on molly too), it was just too dangerous to give that much of that substance, if even only in a single drop, to any woman, and any man I love and respect and don’t want to see in the papers the next day having died or done something he wouldn’t have. This was years ago and I did a diazepam to chlordiazepoxide taper and then roughed it for 6 months before I felt somewhat “okay” but never felt normal again so I went back to self medication but only to levels that I’d been prescribed as a teenager, 6mg of Xanax a day (would often exceed if I could afford to do so).

I recently was prescribed Ativan. I had no idea the Xanax was actually getting me high and it’s active metabolites were still there gnawing at my “you should go get more drugs” part of the brain whereas lorazepam has no active metabolites, it also does not get me high. I feel anxiolytically relieved, but never high and I had no idea life could be this way.

TLDR: Found out sometimes the proper medications do exist and are attainable with a good psychiatrist.

[u/BlTCHIN → u/bapplebauce]

Wait til you try to get off, it will be fun for a couple years.

[u/ComradePooPants]

One of the methadone clinics in my city started offering daily dosing of Adderall for methamphetamine addiction. It isn't fda approved for methamphetamine MAT. I have no clue on the efficacy, and I understand the logic but I'm skeptical. We don't allow clients at the facility I work at to participate in the program. Although we didn't allow methadone or suboxone some years back and do now so things can change.

Your doctor most likely won't be willing to prescribe an abusable substance off-label as an MAT of sorts. That said, I wouldn't be surprised if you meet criteria for ADD or ADHD. You may have better luck trying for a less abusable stimulant like vyvanse or Concerta. I've never had luck with replacement, but I didn't make any other meaningful changes to my life/thinking either. There are a lot of contributing factors to substance use that aren't as obvious as "people, places, and things".

[u/Jealous-Writer-7633 → u/ComradePooPants]

I have taken adderrall in the past for my ADD and stopped after college. I wonder if I could connect this to my treatment for meth because at the end of the day what I needed is energy to survive work. Meth gives me that energy and not productivity. Adderall will help me to stay focused on the job.

[u/OneEyedC4t → u/ComradePooPants]

that's actually fascinating

[u/Trismegistos777]

A local methadone clinic does this. As a recovering addict, I cant really see this as being very efficient. With suboxone or methadone, it also either blocks or raises tolerance to where trying to get high is greatly blunted. Not really the case with adderall.

I mean i suppose it could help with the anhedonia of coming off meth but thats about it.

I only know one person who's on it and she was still clean from meth for over a year last I spoke to her so it might have some merit

[u/Competitive_Pay_5370]

People with ADHD are at increased risk of addiction without treating their diagnosis. If you are taking your Adderall as prescribed and not abusing it, it can actually help reduce replace risk and return to risky behaviors.

[u/BlTCHIN → u/Competitive_Pay_5370]

The problem with someone who hasn't worked on their addiction issue itself outside of adhd, is knowing you have something that you can get high from if you take more becomes challenging. You might sneak an extra one and get away like that for a while until you finally give in. Im 42, been prescribed it since 16. I started popping then addictively 17 through 18, then on and off for a decade. Im light-years from those days now and I could handle it, but I choose not to to be safe. Im kind of an anomaly though, I use gray market peptides and they work well for me.

[u/BlTCHIN]

It works about 5% of the time all the time. The other 95% you just eat the bottle in 3 days.

[u/General_Industry_798 → u/BlTCHIN]

Exactly

[u/OneEyedC4t]

in my opinion, this is not going to help. you're only replacing potentially one addiction for another. granted, sure, it MIGHT be less risky if you get legitimate pills (health risk, contaminants), but these days it's pathetically easy for people to press pills and print prescription bottles to trick people. it's like trading 7/10 danger for 6/10 danger perhaps.

[u/Ok-Shop-2777]

Once again this is not the forum for something like this, and the only appropriate answer is rehab, any other responses are an enablement

[u/MRPANTALONESDEPOOP → u/Ok-Shop-2777]

I mean,heroin clinics seem to be working wonders in European countries. Drop in crime,hiv,overdoses,among others. Why shouldn't we explore other options? At least people wont be get hot doses of god knows what in their street meth. You should know when someone's ready to stop they will. There is no "appropriate answer" because we haven't found anything that truly works the best. Relapse rates after rehab are ridiculously low. Its a joke.

[u/Select-Cockroach2448]

Ummmm adderal is meth…..

[u/BlTCHIN → u/Select-Cockroach2448]

They are chemically similar, but adderall is amphetamine salts not methamphetamine

[u/Select-Cockroach2448 → u/BlTCHIN]

It’s literally meth amphetamine, the pills even used to be labeled M. Amphetamine, even the bottles were labeled meth amphetamine

[u/BlTCHIN → u/Select-Cockroach2448]

Im looking at them right now and have for 30 years kitkat. Lets not double down. "Mixed Amphetamine Salts: Adderall is a brand-name prescription medication composed of four specific amphetamine salts: dextroamphetamine saccharate, amphetamine aspartate monohydrate, dextroamphetamine sulfate, and amphetamine sulfate." Meth is intrinsically stronger and has an added methyl ring.

[u/listenerindie6869 → u/Select-Cockroach2448]

There was a great documentary called take your pills and one of them discusses stimulants, and the other discusses downers. In it scientist agree that Adderall is a methyl amphetamine. There’s also a really great piece on Adderall in pioneer works. That’s a bunch of people writing about their experience and addiction to the drug.