Thinking about getting off stimulants is a massive hurdle that most people just aren’t ready for. If you or someone close to you is finally ready to stop an addiction to Adderall, the first thing you’ll actually have to face is detox. It’s that one necessary, gritty first step before any real healing happens.
The process is a vital part of recovery, but let’s be real, the fear of it stops people from even starting. It’s just uncomfortable. Most people constantly worry about what happens when you stop taking Adderall, especially when hit with the physical tolls of withdrawal. Checking into a luxury Nashville rehab makes this whole phase feel a lot less intimidating and way more manageable.
For anyone quitting Adderall after 10 years of heavy use, the following timeline will help you see what’s coming. There will be uncomfortable symptoms, like Adderall gastrointestinal side effects or cravings you can’t get past. In the face of these side effects, if you decide it’s time to seek help, head to a recovery center near Nashville, like Apex Addiction Recovery, to get support.
Detox isn’t easy, but it’s doable with the right team behind you. If you need a Knoxville treatment facility, Apex Substance Use Disorder Recovery can help with Adderall withdrawal symptoms, like diarrhea. Plus, a Tennessee detox program like ours can explain why mixing Adderall and tums is a bad idea or how to handle Adderall and bloating and weight gain while you stay close to your roots. Reach out to Apex Recovery today if you are ready to end your Adderall use.
What is Adderall?
Understanding what Adderall is can help provide important context for the detox timeline. Adderall is a prescription stimulant that is most often used to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). It is also used to treat narcolepsy, a condition where a person uncontrollably falls into a deep sleep. Adderall is the trade name for a drug that combines two different stimulants: amphetamine and dextroamphetamine. Adderall is typically prescribed in pills ranging from 5 – 30 milligrams; there are normal timed release and extended-release versions available.
How Adderall Affects the Brain and Body
Adderall and other prescription stimulants have a very high potential for abuse. Adderall works by increasing the activity for the neurotransmitters dopamine and norepinephrine. Dopamine has specific pathways in the brain. These pathways help regulate motor function, reward response, and emotions. When Adderall the increased activity of dopamine in the brain produces feelings of pleasure and euphoria. This response is an important component of addiction.
Adderall’s action on norepinephrine is responsible for many of the stimulant properties of the drug. This neurotransmitter is used to help stimulate the sympathetic nervous system in times of extreme threat or stress. This is known as the body’s “fight-or-flight” response, a term used to signify events that require an extreme response to survive. When norepinephrine is released it constricts the blood vessels, increases respiration, improves focus, and increases blood pressure and heart rate. Taken together these responses help prepare the body for making fast, decisive action. Both of the stimulants that Adderall contains help produce the effects that individuals feel when they take the drug. These effects include:
- Improved focus
- Increased energy
- Increased heart rate
- Increased blood pressure
- Increased respiration
- Decreased blood flow
- Decreased appetite
- Decreased fatigue
The stimulant properties of Adderall have made it a drug that is popular with high-school and college students. Teenagers and young adults take Adderall to improve performance in school and at work, to juggle multiple time-consuming commitments, and enhance their memory and test performance.
Adderall Side Effects
Like most drugs, Adderall has some side-effects. These side-effects become more pronounced and intense the longer an individual uses Adderall or the higher the dose of the drug they take. Some individuals may experience a few of these side-effects over the time they are using Adderall, while others may experience none of the side-effects at all. Chronic, long-term substance abuse of Adderall will most likely result in some negative impact on the physical and mental health of the individual. Side effects of Adderall include:
- Weight loss
- Headaches
- Anxiety
- Faintness and loss of consciousness
- Sweating
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Dizziness
- Muscle spasms
- Hallucinations
- Difficulty breathing
- Confusion
- Chest pain
- Muscle or joint pain
- Fast or irregular heartbeat
- Seizures
As the list of potential side-effects indicates, there are substantial risks with prolonged use of Adderall at high doses or outside of prescribed levels. Foremost among these is the potential for developing seizures or hallucinations. Extended periods of time with heightened blood pressure or heart rate can also lead to cardiovascular damage. This makes it important to identify Adderall abuse early on and get help to overcome the addiction before damage can occur.
What is Detox?
Most people who haven’t gone through prescription drug rehab aren’t aware of what detox is and why it is important. Detox is often thought of as separate from the recovery process. While this is accurate, this way of thinking fails to do justice to the importance of detox to long-term recovery. Detox can instead be thought of not as a treatment, but as a necessary first step for treatment to take place.
Detoxing is the process through which the body is cleansed of drugs prior to entering addiction treatment. The idea behind detox is that treatment is less effective if you are still under the influence of recreational drugs you are abusing. There is also another element to detox, and that is navigating the withdrawal process.
Understanding Adderall withdrawal and tolerance
When you use Adderall and many other drugs, over time your body builds up a tolerance to them. As your tolerance to the drug grows you must use more of the drug to achieve the same effect. Your body becomes used to the presence of the drug and adapts to that presence. Once you stop taking the drug, your body must go through an adjustment period before it begins functioning normally. This process of readjustment is known as withdrawal.
Withdrawal from stimulants like Adderall is difficult for most people to navigate on their own. Most people that have to go through withdrawal look forward to it with anxiety because they know that it is a challenging and uncomfortable process. Most people wouldn’t be able to engage with the recovery process if they still had to go through withdrawal after it was done. Instead, a more effective approach is to help individuals navigate the withdrawal process prior to entering addiction treatment. This allows them to enter treatment for Adderall addiction with a clear mind and body, and with the physically grueling withdrawal process behind them.
How detox manages withdrawal symptoms
One of the most important differences between detox and withdrawal is that within a detox program medical professionals are able to administer medications that can help alleviate withdrawal symptoms. For example, with Adderall, one of the most common mental withdrawal symptoms is depression. Within a detox setting in Tennessee, individuals suffering from depression as a result of withdrawal may be administered anti-depressants so their symptoms can be alleviated. Through the targeted administration of certain medications, medical professionals are able to help make the detox process easier and safer.
Adderall Withdrawal Timeline
Withdrawal symptoms for Adderall usually begin within 24 hours after the last dose. Most symptoms of Adderall will subside by the end of the second week, but some symptoms might persist for weeks or even months after you have quit Adderall. When looking at this timeline it is important to keep in mind the timeline for detox and the symptoms experienced vary between individuals. There are a number of factors that can influence how you experience withdrawal and how long the symptoms last. The factors which can influence the withdrawal process include:
- Length of time you have abused Adderall;
- The dosage of Adderall you are taking;
- Your metabolism, weight, and health profile.
Initial Withdrawal
The initial withdrawal from Adderall typically begins within 24 hours after the last dose. Many people begin to experience withdrawal as a “crash”. During this initial period, many people feel lethargic and tired. Some may experience extreme hunger as the effects of the drug wear off and their normal hunger returns.
The First Week
Throughout the first week of withdrawal, physical withdrawal symptoms will manifest, peak, and begin to subside. Most people experience withdrawal symptoms of increasing intensity over the course of the first couple of days, with physical withdrawal symptoms peaking in intensity 3-4 days after they have stopped taking the drug, and then eventually reducing in intensity. These early withdrawal symptoms tend to involve stomach turmoil such as nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Many individuals will experience increased hunger as well. Difficulty concentrating is very common with Adderall withdrawal, though this symptom can persist long after physical withdrawal symptoms have subsided. Depression, anxiety, and fatigue are all very common as well during the first week of Adderall withdrawal.
The Second Week
Throughout the second week, most of the withdrawal symptoms you are experiencing should be diminishing. Most of the physical withdrawal symptoms should subside towards the end of the first week and the beginning of the second week. Some individuals continue to experience powerful fatigue, headaches, and achiness throughout the second week and beyond. Mental withdrawal symptoms may continue throughout the second week of withdrawal and beyond. Some individuals have recounted having mental withdrawal symptoms persist up to a month after they stopped taking Adderall, though most people will notice a reduction in symptoms by the end of the second week.
Symptoms of Adderall Detox and Withdrawal
Alongside a timeline, it is also helpful to have a firm understanding of what the most common Adderall detox symptoms are. Here are the most common symptoms an individual going through Adderall detox might experience:
- Headaches
- Depression
- Suicidal thoughts
- Anxiety
- Fatigue
- Trouble concentrating, thinking or forming thoughts
- Muscle aches and soreness
- Drastically increased appetite
- Weight gain
- Sleep problems
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Desire to use Adderall again
physical tolls of Adderall withdrawal
Adderall withdrawal symptoms are usually not life-threatening, but nevertheless are challenging to navigate without support. Physically you may feel extremely tired, finding it difficult to get out of bed or engage in your regular everyday life. Your nutritional and gastrointestinal health may experience issues readjusting to normalcy. Usually the symptoms that come with gut dysregulation include experiencing diarrhea, vomiting, or nausea in the days after they have quit.
Mental Fog and Depression
Adderall withdrawal may cause depression and increase negative or suicidal thoughts for anyone experiencing them. Simply ignoring mental health symptoms can be helpful, but oftentimes heavy thoughts like these should be addressed through medical intervention if they grow out of hand.
When you add mental fogginess and fatigue to the equation, most people experience difficulties carrying on with normal tasks until these symptoms subside after stopping Adderall. Many people who take Adderall aim to achieve greater productivity and enhanced clarity, so experiencing withdrawals like these can be a major drawback to their commitment to treatment.
When going through withdrawal and facing mental sluggishness or depression that occurs, you must remind yourself of the greater benefits that exist outside of Adderall use. Right now decisions may seem difficult to make or normal interactions and tasks may seem daunting, but slowly you will regain the ability to function normally without using the drug.
Signs of Adderall Abuse
Adderall abuse has lifelong side effect, so once you realize that you have a problem it is paramount that you seek help to address the addiction early on. Early intervention for yourself or a loved one who is struggling with Adderall abuse will help you realize a successful recovery. The earlier you intervene the lower the risk of developing potentially dangerous side-effects. The most common signs of Adderall abuse are:
- Loss of weight
- Boundless energy
- Lack of fatigue or little desire to sleep
- Withdrawal from friends and social circles
- Periods of intense activity followed by a crash
- Financial trouble
- Exhaustion
- Difficulty concentrating
If you have been taking Adderall and aren’t sure if you need to get treatment there are some key warning signs that may help you make the determination. If you have a prescription for Adderall and are using more than you have been prescribed, it can be an indication your use has become problematic. Similarly, if you attempt to stop taking Adderall and find it is too difficult, this should be taken as a sign that it is time to get help. There are no firm rules for when it is time to seek help for problematic Adderall consumption.
Once you begin seeking more Adderall than your prescription allows for, that’s when you can know that your use has begun spiraling out of control. You may see it impacting your performance at work or school, which are both indications that you need to seek outside help. Err on the side of caution rather than brushing off your use. It may be difficult but reaching out for help as soon as possible makes the recovery process much faster and easier.
Treatment for Adderall Withdrawal and Addiction
Adderall detox is a physically and mentally grueling process. There is no benefit to understating the difficulty, but the process is entirely manageable with specialized medical support. Those initial withdrawal symptoms usually surface within 24 hours of a final dose. Generally, these physical symptoms do not begin to subside until the first week has concluded. While most of the acute physical hurdles resolve by the second week, lingering psychological issues like depression or sleep disturbances often persist. Identifying rehab cost factors can help those early steps easier for anyone considering a 30-day rehab program to navigate this transition confidently.
The most effective way to address what happens when you stop taking Adderall is under direct clinical supervision. Many of the physical manifestations, specifically Adderall withdrawal symptoms like diarrhea and other Adderall gastrointestinal side effects, can be eased through targeted medications. For those seeking a specific therapeutic environment, we offer a luxury Nashville rehab experience alongside assistance locating Christian rehab programs for individuals who wish to integrate faith into their recovery journey.
Our medical teams assist in managing issues like how to stop stomach pain from Adderall or the discomfort of Adderall and bloating and weight gain as your system stabilizes. It does not matter if you are quitting Adderall after 10 years or have only recently recognized a problematic pattern of use. Securing professional intervention is the most reliable way to prevent serious health complications. While we focus on our core services, we can facilitate connections to specialized elderly addiction treatment and unique rehab for mothers to ensure every patient finds a viable path forward. Call Apex Recovery at (877) 881-2689 to discuss our protocols or to understand why mixing Adderall and tums is dangerous during the detox phase.
