Should I stop taking my ADHD meds

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I was diagnosed with ADHD when I was very young. So young I can't remember how old I was at the time. Anyway, at the time I was prescribed adderal. A couple of years after that, I ended up switching to Vyvanse. I have been on one or the other for as long as I can remember. As far as effectiveness goes, I do note that on the days when I forget to take my dose I am wild and uncontrollable, with almost no impulse control, which is not what I am like at all when I do take my pills in the morning. However, recently I have thought about weaning myself off of it. Allow me to explain.

given that when I forget to take it, I become energetic and chaotic, I was actually quite surprised to find it listed on this site as a stimulant. I thought it was a depressive, suppressing my impulses so that I could more easily control myself. I further believed my theory because I am usually (while on my pills) a very unemotional, unmotivated, and lazy person. Then one day I forgot my pills and I noticed that although I was chaotic and generally unhelpful to my mother (whom I was shopping with at the time), I also realized I was feeling much more happy and upbeat than I usually am. When I made the decision to look into the drug before asking my doctor to help me get off it, I came across its side effects on drugs dot com (can't post links as a new user or my post wont go through. just search vyvanse on that website)

1: discouragment
2: feeling sad or empty
3: loss of interest or pleasure
4: depersonalization
5: panic states (rarely)

I have been taking these meds all my life. It is impossible for me to say with certainty that the symptoms are side effects of this drug, some other natural phenomenon, or simply part of my personality/life experience.

That being said, As I mentioned above, when I forget to take my pill, I feel like a heavy blanket has been lifted off of my emotions. I am far more volatile, but in some ways that is a good thing.

If I wean myself off of them slowly, I believe I could learn to control myself without the meds. I am not the child I was when I started taking them. Additionally, I am in a situation right now where there are no significant intellectual demands on me (just physical ones), so my need for focus is not as intense as it was when I was in school.

Does anyone have any thoughts on my story? Similar experiences? Advice?

(Disclaimer: I had no idea which forum to post this on. I apologize in advance if this thread is inappropriate for GAD and moved

I can only speak about my own experience... I've been on adderall for about 10 years but not for ADHD even though it's an ADHD medicine (and therefor a stimulant, as they all are - ADHD folks have opposite effects for stimulants and depressants - caffeine also probably makes you sleepy I would bet, or at least NOT more awake).. anyway, I take it for fatigue and noticed it helps with my chronic depression as well, so told my doctor and because of that I've stayed on it all these years. When I miss a dose I become depressed very quickly. I recently went to an ADHD specialist, a psychiatrist with both his MD and also a PhD, who invented the use of QEEG for ADHD purposes, and he used it on me on separate days, both on and off my meds.. as it turns out my ADHD medicine makes my brain work harder but be LESS efficient, so we know I do not have true ADHD - also my brain waves didn't behave like the ADHD brain does... it was a very interesting test and I learned about myself doing that, definitely.

But point being, because I don't have true ADHD, my experiences with ADHD meds will not be accurate for someone who DOES have true ADHD I'm sure, so this post may not help at all.

But I'm responding because my ADHD meds DEFINITELY have an effect on my mood. And that was part of your question. Hope this helped.

You don't mess with medication treatment without consulting a doctor. You MAY, however, want a second opinion.

Btw, the reason you felt better after not taking a med once can be caused by the act itself. Most psychiatric meds (like those which treat ADHD/AS) take time to effect, and you might feel the effect of the meds 1-2 weeks after you took them. Since you take them pretty often and regulary obviously it doesn't matter now.

However, go consult with professionals and ask those who care about you as well.

Good luck!

We can't answer that for you.

I took dexedrine for 2-3 years. At first it was very helpful, but then I learned it was contributing to my problems. I've now been off of it for a few years and would never go back. The reason I've been able to get off meds has been that I figured out the root medical causes of my symptoms & how to treat them naturally via mostly diet. ADHD/OCD/Tourettes/ASD symptoms are all minimized and I'm happier and healthier than ever.

Long story short: It's intestinal. Cleanse the intestines via mostly diet & probiotics, and get your enteric nervous system firing properly, and your brain falls in line, too. I've been sharing this here for a couple of years now.

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