HOW to stop taking adderall without WEIGHT GAIN??

Wow you described exactly how I feel. I just stopped taking it a week ago. I couldn't handle being a zombie anymore. No laughter, shut myself in etc. It started to do the opposite of what it was supposed to do. So scared of getting fat now, but started running everyday a couple months ago knowing I wanted to stop the prescription soon so hoping that helps...I'm afraid it just will shock or slow my metabolism or something even if I exercise ? Yes, addersll helped me to focus for a period of time, but turned me into an awful person. Not fun to be around, no desire to talk about things, irritability, basically just lost me entire personality and motivation. Really not sure why I kept taking it, I think I was just sick of switching prescriptions etc. All in all, before adderall, I was 100% a happier stable person. My advice, it's fine to take it, but if your doctor is telling you to take it every single day, DONT. Only take it when you really think you need it!!! im 5"2 and weigh 102 lbs and my doctor had me on 40-60 mg a DAY! I thought this was ridiculous, as did other doctors when I told them. The best alternative to prescription medicine From what I have learned is exercise, and focusing on your health and staying busy. This drug stripped me of all my creativity. I've lost 2 years of art and being who I am. I've only been off it for a few days, and this morning I caught myself singing in the car and laughing at jokes. I'm happy.

Thanks for your encouraging post! Really needed to read that. I'm trying to quit too. Hope your motivation continues! Good luck.

I was wondering if anyone has tried a rehab type program or another holistic detox program? Perhaps I'm in denial, but I'd like to think that my weight is due to working out regularly and attempting to be as healthy as possible with my dietary choices. However, I have horrible withdrawal symptoms that make me gain more weight than I would normally... prior to developing a high tolerance and dependency on the drug. Also, I do identify with many of the same problems as the other posters. I found that most of my problems happened when my dose was too high or I was abusing the dose that I was prescribed. I have been on 60 mg of XR for about three years now and I have been on adderall consistently for about 8-9 years. I'm 26 years old, currently. I don't feel most of the terrible "irritability" symptoms that I used to feel when I was first prescribed, but there are definitely times when I feel lonely and I've realized that a lot of my burnt bridges were due to my prior abuse. Right now, I'm bartending full-time and I'm trying to go back to school. I'm pretty introverted when I'm not at work, but I'm definitely able to be friendly and gregarious around strangers etc. After reading some of the other posts, I'm a bit concerned that I'm still isolating because of the drug and not because I'm shy and sick of constantly being cheerful and empathetic to hundreds of ridiculous random humans and shallow acquaintances to pay for school. The irony is that it doesn't help with my concentration or weight loss anymore. After being on it for so long, the good/bad/in-between side-effects have mostly vanished. I'm worried about my hair and nails quite a bit, still. Some of it has to do with getting older, naturally, but the adderall certainly doesn't help. I have surprisingly nice skin for someone with my habits, but I'm not keen on accelerating any signs of aging. I'm mostly worried about traveling and having more freedom of movement. I get really stressed every month because the withdrawal can throw me off...even if it's just one day. Also, I can't stay on my parents health insurance anymore (26 years old. woo.) and my living expenses are really high without having to pay an extra 300 dollars a month to fill my prescription. I refuse to increase my dose anymore, despite the medication no longer being effective. I feel totally adhd, again, and it's great. I'm just afraid of the withdrawal symptoms. They can be so bad, that I'll start abusing my prescription, again. I've tried a few times and it's a total nightmare. In every aspect of my life... especially socially. I feel like an addict because it's holding me back from true spontaneity. I want to be able to run off and travel on a whim with a romantic partner and it's always thoughts of my medication that hold me back. I hate the stress of refilling every month and shelling out so much money. I can't run away and live in a romantic exotic country with some dreamy guy because I don't know how to get adderall in (costa rica, paris, etc. etc.) ... I'm worried about gaining weight at first, but I'm more worried about having adderall be my ball and chain forever. I went to this forum because I'm thinking about taking a semester off and using my bartending money to check myself into some holistic rehab type situation to avoid all the social, academic, work pitfalls etc. in the privacy of some sauna in the desert. Think Jesse Pinkman from Breaking Bad...right? Perhaps doing a proper rehab or in-patient detox program could help with all the issues we are so afraid of? Ugh! I want to get off adderall, too, and my heart goes out to everyone that is struggling so hard with it. Also, if you have any experience with a rehab program, please message me! Best! ^_^

What outward bound trip dos you do? How long was it ? Did it help? I'm trying desperately to quit Adderall but I've gained so much weight and I want some kind of a Bootcamp program to help work off all this e tea weight I s gained.
Help wanted !! Thanks. 

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I took my last adderal December 10th and I also take Wellbutrin Prozac and topamax. So I mean, i need those because I am bipolar but I also quit drinking. I don't want to be on an amphetamine if I am in the program.

Point being- I haven't experienced any bad side effects. I'm 5'9 and still don't eat much and still am thin. I like food when I want it and when I don't I don't eat. I work out daily and way better now that I'm not high or hung over always. I would use it to drink like a demon and of course stay up when necessary and also to fly at work. My life did not ever get better on it. It got way worse. It intensified everything and I became a faster, more aggressive version of the nice me I used to be. I'm finally more me again. sure I have ADD but I can deal with that- and doesn't matter - I have other medicine that is not a stimulant amphetamine to help and in other areas. So with that- I say, do what you feel but know you won't gain weight if you eat healthy and do cardio or intermittent fast and know you want to stay thin and be awesome. Just be who you want to be.

I was prescribed 20mg XR in the morning, then 10mg IR in the evening. I took it almost every day for two and a half years for school purposes, but decided to come off it recently. I too was deathly afraid of the side effects, but I could not have made a better decision. I started taking the drug every other day for about two weeks, then went cold turkey.

To those who are going through the withdrawal process currently, keep going! I promise you will eventually return to yourself.

The first week was the hardest for me, and my advice would be to sleep and eat as much as you please. I slept about 12-15 hours per night during week one, and gained about 5 pounds the first week. Headaches were insane, I had the worst mood swings, constipation, and drug cravings. My body and bones also ached like I had just worked out, but I truthfully laid in bed most days and did nothing.

After the first week, I started to feel like myself again and began working out, doing daily activities, etc. My appetite returned to normal along with my sleep schedule, and the headaches started to go away. I also started to do hot yoga, which helped me feel good both mentally and physically.

I have now been off adderall for a month, and I feel great. Not only am I happier, I look at the world in a completely different way than I have been for the past two years. As for my weight, I've actually lost 7 pounds since initially going off the drug because I have been eating healthy and working out 5-6 times per week. I haven't had any drug cravings, and I never really crave bad food anymore either.

In sum, I want you all to know that adderall does not define your weight - YOU DO! Don't let weight gain be a reason to stop taking the drug. You will eventually return to feeling like yourself.

Hello- just wondering what life is like now that you have been off adderall for over a year now? I'm in the same boat you were in- been on adderall for twenty years and want to stop taking it. I only take 7.5mg a day but I know how foggy my brain is when I go a day without it. Also did you ever end up gaining any weight? Thank you!

I was on Vyvanse for 3 years. It was AMAZING. I could pay attention in meetings, exercise was more effective because I didn't get bored five minutes in, didn't get lost thinking about random topics while someone was trying to talk to me and I lost 20 lbs. I watched what I ate and worked out 3-4 times per week. After the second year, I started having blood pressure spikes and random chest pains. I would go off the med for a week then the chest pains would return a few months later. I decided a year ago to go cold turkey and I was terrified of the weight gain and going back to not being able to function mentally like I had been. However, with the chest pains and blood pressure issues, I was sure I was headed for a cardiac episode if I stayed on it long term (it is legal amphetamine). I continued working out 3-4 times per week and started tracking every calorie, eating about 1,600 calories a day and I watched the scale slowly climb. I went down to about 1,200 calories a day and my weight finally stopped climbing but my weight would not drop until I dropped my calories to 1,000 (i'm 5'7) and increased my workouts to 5 times per week (we're talking runnung a 5k and spin). A few months after going off, I developed raging insomnia as well. I went to my doctor and my bloodwork looks fine. He suggested the Vyvanse may have wrecked my metabolism. He said he had another patient who was on phentermine for years and discovered it wrecked her metabolism when she quit it. I know how to lose weight. I did it successfully several times before Vyvanse but now those methods no longer work. I am so depressed not being able to fit in my old clothes. I'm technically overweight by the BMI scale now. However I fear how bad I would be in the future if I stayed on this c**p longer. I was constantly thirsty on vyvanse no matter how much water I chugged. My skin looks so much better being one year off of it. I see now I was dehydrated and I think at least a pound or two of the weight gain may be just my body holding water like it's supposed to now. I have been tempted so many times to go back on it. I'm one year without it though and trying like hell to find a way to cope without the drugs.

everything you wrote is exactly me but I haven't stopped yet and I want to. did you stay off?

Thank you for such an encouragement. I would love to talk more as I have so many questions. I too purged and still struggle. I fear I'll lose all control when completely off my vyvannse. I don't like the idea of being on a stimulant my whole life though. I worry in the Lon get run I'm destroying my immune system and metabolism. My skin is looking dry too. But! The weight thing I the only BUT HUGE thing from me stopping!

I don't know about Adderall but I know for sure Vyvanse is prescribed as a weight loss drug. Just saying.

I am getting ready to turn 33, and I have been taking adderall since I was 15, also at various dosages. It helped me get through high school and college, and well basically life. I'm now finally ready to quit this medication for good. I have gone off of it for weeks, even as long as 2 months before, and with daily exercise and very careful healthy eating, I was able to maintain my weight. As I get older I worry about my overall health, I have actually just recently wore a 24 hour heart monitor to have my heart checked.
I like most of the women here am very focused on my weight, and have struggled with an eating disorder most of my life. At this point, I know I don't really need this medication to function, just like that it helps me maintain my weight. However the past few months sleeping has been a nightmare, and having to take sleeping pills makes me feel like a zombie the next day, and I struggle to function at work. I'm just really ready to close this adderall chapter of my life, and just live a normal life like everyone else, even if that means struggling with my weight, but really most unmedicated women have to workout and eat healthy to maintain their weight. I just want to know what my true self is like, no pills, no sleep deprivation, just me! This will be a struggle be adderall has been my crutch for so long, it's so scary, but very exciting too. God please give me the strength!!

I been taking it since 2010. I lost 90lbs with weight watchers, over the past year and half I have gained 30lbs. I read some where that it does something with your blood glucose and adrenals when taking over long time. Hence my weight gain

I got off Adderall last January because I started having very serious heart problems. Now I have a defibrillator that frequently shocks me. I know taking Adderall for 10 years couldn't have helped. A heart transplant is the conversation my doctors are currently having with me. Oddly the thing I'm most depressed about is the 15 pounds I've gained. I'm trying so hard to get it off and I just don't know what to do.

Hi!!! I really like you and relate to you. I am going through exactly what you did. I would love to exchange emails.  I'll share my story and struggles with you there. :)

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