> For the month or so that it worked, it was pretty awesome. Unfortunately, that feeling didn't last more than maybe six weeks.
Sort of similar. I found every wrong road I took (supplements, diets, physical) helped - for 2 weeks and then never again. Stims turned out to be my right road.
> All stimulants are addictive and you will have physical side effects from discontinuing use.
I love those side effects though. It is so nice to stop taking them and feel cozy and rest for a few days. The best description I have for it is that it feels like when you get home from a hard days work and are tired and go sit down in your sofa and just relax. Just that the feeling lasts for days! Awesome, right?
I hate being on the meds and I never take them when I don't work, but I have to take them to do any kind of work requiring focus like for example filling out a form.
I think this varies highly from person to person. As someone who takes one to two days off a week, when possible, I must say I get some pretty brutal withdrawal side-effects.
None of the side-effects are really dangerous or life-threatening by any means, but they are still somewhat disabling. I've been taking my medication for about 8 years now, and I am starting to feel like the medication:
1. Has drastically diminished it positive returns
2. Is starting to take more away from me than it's giving back
Not sure, what other option I'll move to, but I do not have many of them left since I have tried almost all the various stimulant formulations multiple times minus Desoxyn.
> Since starting: I'm less angry. I'm less annoyed. I have the ability to listen to my spouse talk to me. I'm not jittery or jumpy any more.
THIS! Absolutely this.
Bit crazy that these are also the symptoms of someone on withdrawal from amphetamines and other stimulants†, huh?
But wait a sec... we had these before going anywhere near medication?
Could it possibly be we've been living a life of dopamine withdrawal?
† I was going to say "amphetamine addiction" but stopped myself... a significant number of these poor folk are self-medicating to escape the constant agony of their inner turmoil. They just couldn't get what they needed under the supervision of modern medicine, and micro-dose their intake so it delivers the beneficial effects and minimises the side-effect.
> I stopped taking L-Theanine because I would experience a noticeable comedown of apathy two days later.
This was also my experience, but not two days later - the same day. I'd take L-Theanine, feel okay for a few hours, then feel extremely irritable and anxious for the rest of the day. More L-Theanine didn't help.
> just the general feeling like you're on a drug bender even though you took just one.
As someone who has been on Vyvanse (prescribed) for a few years now, I can say that this feeling definitely goes away eventually. Unless I drink a lot of really strong coffee…
>The anti-psychotics made me feel nothing. I don't know how I can explain this to someone who hasn't been there, but it's like your emotions just cease to exist. In theory, they worked, but a complete lack of emotions and creativity simply wasn't worth it
The thing that's always scared me away from meds is the worry that I'll have a similar experience, but knowing that withdrawal (particularly for SSRIs) can last for months and lead to symptoms that look like depression itself.
> a recovery period of months and years with horrible side effects like anhedonia, panic attacks, sleep issues, brain fog, cramping
These are all anecdotes - I don't believe there is actual evidence for this being the case. With such reports, it is frequently the case that there are other factors that influence this as well (for example, getting off of multiple drugs at once or an external factor that influences quitting, but that also makes you sad). I'm not saying it absolutely can't take a while to feel normal again, but you should take this frankly histrionic type of reporting with a grain of salt.
Given no other type of input, you should expect to be average. On average, it takes a week or two to get over coffee and you may miss it for a while.
This needs more context, because unlike stimulants, you can't quit guanfacine instantly or you'll feel pretty ill. You have to taper off it for a week or two.
Also, you can't drink on it (enjoyably) and it made me feel tired and emotional.
> I take phenibut about 1x/week, I have been for about 2 years now. I think it's generally pretty OK for me, though I've started to worry that it impacts my memory a touch, at the edges.
You're addicted, you just don't know it.
> it is wild that you expected to be able to be able to take drugs daily for weeks without withdrawals
If you're referring to benzos, the doctor said it would be fine. If you're referring to phenibut, I wasn't taking it every day. Maybe every few days or maybe once a week.
> Some antidepressants can have terrible withdrawal symptoms too - I went through the worst couple of weeks of my life after tapering off dosulpine, and I know someone else who had it rough after tapering off a tricyclic.
Apples and oranges. Not all withdrawals are equally bad.
Savvy healthcare providers will switch you to Fluoxetine, which has an extremely long half-life, and then taper the Fluoxetine.
Phenibut's withdrawal symptoms are on another level entirely, especially when people take abuse-level dosages to feel temporary euphoria: https://www.reddit.com/r/quittingphenibut/
> I think they only work if you got anxiety or something
Probably something to that. I didn't feel much at the prescribed dose. Being curious and foolish, I took 3x. Did feel that. Socially effusive. Good sleep. There was a physical aspect. A warm glow, muscles that felt relaxed rather than stiff. Like waking up in warm sun after a particularly good night's sleep.
People without anxiety, who aren't literally and metaphorically tense, probably get far less of that. But that's what it does for a really anxious person like me, especially with a bit too much. So of course I did it again the next day.
You quickly come to long for, or believe that you're just better off, in that state all the time. But there is tolerance. It stops working like that at the same dose after a few days in my experience. So, take more. I was in big trouble within a month. That's the psychological addiction in my experience, the strong desire or preference for being in that state, emotionally.
I couldn't stop. No physical consequences but intolerable withdrawal mostly of rebound anxiety and insomnia. I eventually got off them with a very long taper. ~5 months with the dose adjusted weekly. No significant physical withdrawal. At the right dose of a long-lasting benzodiazepine, I felt like before I had started taking them, more or less. I did have to learn to deal with the psychological need to be more disinhibited than normal. If I could do that, and not escalate doses, getting off would be possible. It was, and I haven't taken any since the last dose of the taper. I think about that state and sometimes I do long for aspects of it, but they're not really cravings anymore. Only get those for nicotine.
Headaches (the most frequent symptom my wife experiences, as do my friends), excessive sleepiness, exhaustion, shaking hands, etc...
It's possible, however, that I may have been slightly more tired, but beyond the threshold of noticing this; or slightly slower reaction times. This isn't a scientific study.
Meaning what? That's a broad-enough statement to be meaningless. If withdrawal symptoms include grumpiness, listlessness, and boredom, I get withdrawal symptoms every time I sit in traffic.
> tried to see if I had gotten past the point of needing it by tapering off
A small point, but the "discontinuation effects" for these meds can be severe, and they can make people think they still need to take the meds. This keeps people taking meds for very long amounts of time.
Some people are okay with the side effects, and they've made an informed choice about the risks of taking these meds long term.
The Guardian newspaper has been running a couple of stories about long term use. I think they're a little bit alarmist, but the personal experiences are useful.
Sort of similar. I found every wrong road I took (supplements, diets, physical) helped - for 2 weeks and then never again. Stims turned out to be my right road.
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