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Mental Health (Expert Forum)
Zoloft and adderall addiction
Answered by
Roger Gould, M.D. - Mental Health, Wellness
Questions posted in the Mental Health forum are being answered by Dr. Roger L. Gould, author of the Mastering Stress and Depression program and affiliated with the UCLA. Department of Psychiatry. Topics covered include anger, attention deficit disorder (ADD), bipolar disorder, dementia, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), learning disabilities, memory, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), panic, personality disorders, phobias, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), schizophrenia, stress, transitions, and work problems.
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Zoloft and adderall addiction
by gmert6464, Feb 01, 2005 12:00AM
I decided to seek treatment for ADD/anxiety after a year in college, my grades had dropped and my concentration problems were becomming harder to work around. I was given small dosages of ritalin (10mg), zoloft (50mg). I was not at all fond of the ritalin and stopped it almost immediately, but continued the zoloft (increasing to 100mg)
The zoloft had a positive effect on my social interactions, I was more outgoing, more able to stand up for myself, in general no longer paralyzed by 'what people thought of me.' When I started to develop a slight apathy, and weight gain related to that apathy, I was reduced to 50mg zoloft. About a year later I was prescribed adderall (10mg XR) and noticed it had a tremendous effect on my attention and concentration.
When I graduated from college and got into the routine of the working world everything fell apart. My slight apathy became crippling, virtually destroying my social life. Even simple tasks, like getting an oil change, or clothes shopping, or mailing a package can end up taking weeks of being constantly put off. I am constantly tired, no matter how much I sleep, and have often found myself sleeping 15-16 hours a day on the weekend, and on weekdays even on my lunch hour. I gained forty pounds in less than a year, sixty pounds total since I started taking the zoloft. I don't get excited, or happy, or sad, or depressed. I can count four or five times in the past year+ that I have felt a real emotion. Otherwise my mood ranges from 'okay' to 'fine' and I don't particularly care about anything.
About six months ago my rx to adderall was increased to 20mg XR. Out of sheer boredom one day I took 40mg and for the first time in over a year I felt 'real'. I accomplished (and felt) more in that one day at work than I had in the month before it. On adderall I feel emotions, I get frustated when things go wrong, I get excited about things upcoming, I care about myself, about maintaining friendships, about keeping my life in order. Basically, I am fully function on the adderall in high doses.
I have started to buy adderall illicitly if I can, and I have been taking as much as 60-70mg twice a day, or 120 mg XR per day. Typically this lasts 10 days before it is no longer available, I have a day of mild withdrawal, then 19 days as a zombie again. Though I still have few side effects when I do take the adderall I know I can't take any more without hitting 'near toxic' levels.
How could a single life change turn a mild side effect of Zoloft into a crippling one? Though I have some 'control' over how much adderall I take, I am aware I border on addiction. How could adderall be the only thing that makes me feel real? Stopping zoloft scares me as the typical withdrawal symptoms are stronger versions of the symptoms that already cripple me. But unless I can stop the zoloft, reducing or stopping the adderall is not an option. And if stopping the zoloft doesn't help? I'm lost here
The zoloft had a positive effect on my social interactions, I was more outgoing, more able to stand up for myself, in general no longer paralyzed by 'what people thought of me.' When I started to develop a slight apathy, and weight gain related to that apathy, I was reduced to 50mg zoloft. About a year later I was prescribed adderall (10mg XR) and noticed it had a tremendous effect on my attention and concentration.
When I graduated from college and got into the routine of the working world everything fell apart. My slight apathy became crippling, virtually destroying my social life. Even simple tasks, like getting an oil change, or clothes shopping, or mailing a package can end up taking weeks of being constantly put off. I am constantly tired, no matter how much I sleep, and have often found myself sleeping 15-16 hours a day on the weekend, and on weekdays even on my lunch hour. I gained forty pounds in less than a year, sixty pounds total since I started taking the zoloft. I don't get excited, or happy, or sad, or depressed. I can count four or five times in the past year+ that I have felt a real emotion. Otherwise my mood ranges from 'okay' to 'fine' and I don't particularly care about anything.
About six months ago my rx to adderall was increased to 20mg XR. Out of sheer boredom one day I took 40mg and for the first time in over a year I felt 'real'. I accomplished (and felt) more in that one day at work than I had in the month before it. On adderall I feel emotions, I get frustated when things go wrong, I get excited about things upcoming, I care about myself, about maintaining friendships, about keeping my life in order. Basically, I am fully function on the adderall in high doses.
I have started to buy adderall illicitly if I can, and I have been taking as much as 60-70mg twice a day, or 120 mg XR per day. Typically this lasts 10 days before it is no longer available, I have a day of mild withdrawal, then 19 days as a zombie again. Though I still have few side effects when I do take the adderall I know I can't take any more without hitting 'near toxic' levels.
How could a single life change turn a mild side effect of Zoloft into a crippling one? Though I have some 'control' over how much adderall I take, I am aware I border on addiction. How could adderall be the only thing that makes me feel real? Stopping zoloft scares me as the typical withdrawal symptoms are stronger versions of the symptoms that already cripple me. But unless I can stop the zoloft, reducing or stopping the adderall is not an option. And if stopping the zoloft doesn't help? I'm lost here
Doctor's Answer
by Roger Gould, M.D., Feb 02, 2005 12:00AM
, Feb 02, 2005 12:00AM
It doesn't sound like you are seeing a doctor..you should, and preferably a psychiatrist who can do therapy and manage your medications. That is what is necessary now...you are in the danger zone with Adderal....you have to decrease both adderal and zoloft.
For your weight, and to help with insight into your life that eating and lethargy is blocking, I suggest you go to www.masteringfood.com; but also see a therapist/doctor.
For your weight, and to help with insight into your life that eating and lethargy is blocking, I suggest you go to www.masteringfood.com; but also see a therapist/doctor.
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dave
Then I took a look around and saw how much damage I'd done to myself, to my relationships, to everything in my life, and how little I cared about any of it. And it wasn't until quite recently that I really sat back and thought and realized what started the ball rolling. Once it was going, zoloft only made it easier to ignore what should have been obvious signs that I was falling out of touch with reality.