Quitting Adderall isn’t easy for many people because it is a drug you can become addicted to and dependent on. Whether someone uses Adderall by prescription or recreationally, there are side effects and risks.
Many people use Adderall and similar stimulants as cognitive enhancers, and there’s a risk of serious adverse events like cardiac death and addiction.
Below, we talk more about what this drug is, how it works, its abuse potential, and what to know about quitting Adderall even following a period of heavy use.
How Does Adderall Work?
Adderall is a prescription medication that acts as a central nervous system stimulant, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Adderall XR is a brand-name drug that’s an extended-release version.
Doctors prescribe stimulant drugs for treating ADHD attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Less often, You might use the medicine to treat narcolepsy, a medical condition related to daytime sleepiness or falling asleep at unusual times.
In someone with attention deficit disorder, Adderall can improve focus and concentration. Even in people without the condition, it may have the same effects.
Adderall is a brand name, and it’s a combination of the prescription drugs amphetamine and dextroamphetamine.
The medication works by affecting chemicals in your brain and upping the effects of neurotransmitters like your dopamine levels.
When you take a daily dose as a healthcare provider instructs you, it’s generally considered safe, but still, side effects are possible. Adderall’s potential side effects can include:
- Restlessness
- Headaches
- Increased body temperature
- Stomach pain
- Nervousness
- Problems falling or staying asleep
- Dizziness
- Dry mouth
- Changes in vision
Serious side effects of stimulants can include seizures and shaking, hallucinations and paranoia, and worsening mental health conditions, including anxiety and depression. Heart problems, and even sudden death!
Other serious side effects of Adderall, especially with long-term use, include:
- High blood pressure
- Increased heart rate
- Irregular heartbeat
- Higher risk of heart attack or stroke
- Digestive problems like nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea
- Loss of appetite and weight loss
- Shortness of breath
- Cardiovascular events and heart conditions
These symptoms and adverse events require immediate medical attention.
If someone regularly uses prescription stimulants, especially if they abuse them at larger doses, they may experience withdrawal symptoms. These can include:
- Sleep problems, including sleeping too much or too little
- Feelings of uneasiness
- Drug cravings
- Hunger
- Irritability
- Anxiety
- Panic attacks
- Fatigue
- Lack of energy
- Phobias
- Depression
- Suicidal thoughts
- Worsening symptoms of bipolar disorder
Adderall Addiction
When you take Adderall at higher doses than your doctor prescribes, your risk of serious side effects is higher. You are also more at risk of addiction and dependence on the central nervous system stimulant.
- The potential for abuse occurs when you intentionally take large amounts of the stimulant to feel high.
- Adderall is meant to be used by oral administration, so taking it any other way than this can also increase the risk of addiction. For example, some people crush and snort this addictive substance.
- By contrast, when a doctor prescribes the medication, they do so at the lowest possible effective dose. When you use it as you’re supposed to, the risk of addiction and dependence is low.
- People abuse Adderall and take high doses or use it more frequently than prescribed to improve their mental performance. It’s a relatively common drug of abuse on college campuses among students who want to stay awake for prolonged studying periods.
- When someone uses large doses of the medication, the stimulant effects can raise dopamine levels, creating a euphoric high.
- Since it has an addiction and dependence risk, Adderall is a controlled substance in the U.S.
- People most at risk of Adderall addiction in the United States are teens, college students, and young adults, simply because they often use it.
- Particular types of people who might be at risk of addiction include students and athletes, individuals with high-stress jobs, and people with eating disorders who use it to lose weight.
Signs of Adderall Addiction
Since Adderall affects brain chemicals like dopamine, it can trigger a reward response in the brain. That reward response is what can cause an addiction. While someone initially uses the stimulant by choice, when they’re addicted, it’s compulsive use. Their brain is compelling them to keep using it at this point.
Addiction can also be accompanied by physical dependence after a prolonged period of use. When you’re physically dependent on a substance, your body adjusts to its presence. Your brain and body can no longer function normally without the presence of the substance.
Some of the signs of substance use disorders include:
- Having cravings for the drug
- Sluggishness when you don’t use it or being unable to function
- Spending a lot of your time and money getting the drug
- Taking bigger doses to get the same effects you once did from smaller doses
- Continuing to take Adderall even though you know it has adverse effects
- Giving up other activities to take Adderall or recover from its effects
With an addiction, effects can include migraines, severe weight loss, aggressive behaviors, and various other mental and physical health problems.
Diagnosing Adderall Addiction
If you notice signs of problematic Adderall use in yourself or someone else, you should speak to a health care provider.
If you go to your doctor to talk about your use of the substance, they will go over your complete medical history and your usage of Adderall. Your doctor will want to know what dose you use and how often you’re using it.
They’ll likely go over the symptoms you are experiencing from taking the drug. They might then recommend you to a mental health professional who can make a diagnosis using the criteria for addiction from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.
Adderall Abuse Recovery
If your goal is quitting Adderall, you have different options. If your addiction only involves one substance, and you have a mild or shorter-term addiction, you might receive help on an outpatient basis.
The goal of treating your addiction will be to help you with actually quitting Adderall and get to the root causes of your addiction. For example, if you work in a high-stress job and start taking the drug to improve your performance, you might work with a therapist on healthier stress coping strategies.
For more severe or long-term addictions, you might start your recovery through supervised detoxification for withdrawal symptoms. There aren’t specific medications approved for Adderall withdrawal and detox treatment, but a medical team can monitor your vital signs and treat symptoms as they occur. You can go through detox on an inpatient or outpatient basis.
If you’ve been using the drug for a long time, have co-occurring mental health problems, or have a problem with multiple substances, you might need an intensive outpatient program or inpatient rehab.
Regardless of the particular setting where you receive help, your treatment will likely focus primarily on behavioral therapy.
ADD Treatment Options in Southern California
Addiction treatment of any kind is about looking at you as an individual and a whole person. You aren’t like anyone else, and your addiction isn’t the sum of who you are. These things have to be part of your counseling or treatment program to be effective in the long term.
You also need help for mental health issues and psychological symptoms that may have contributed to your substance abuse or occurred.
For example, people with depression might self-medicate with a stimulant to improve their mood and reduce symptoms like fatigue. Until you deal with that mental illness, it will be difficult to have a long-term recovery from addiction.
If you have questions about treatment centers, quitting Adderall, or treating psychiatric disorders in general, reach out to the Story Wellness team confidentially by calling (866) 476-2823. We’re based in Orange County, California, and provide a broad range of mental health services. We’re happy to answer any questions you might have.
