Focalin Addiction!! (Top voted first)

My first semester in college was a disaster as I began at the age of 25 and only 3 months after leaving an all together different environment in the military where I served 4 tours in the Middle East. I never missed a class and yet my GPA at the end was a 1.75. I literally couldn’t absorb anything in class, fought off falling asleep more often than not, and couldn’t seem to apply my discipline to making myself sit and read. So, in the Fall of ’05 I began taking Focalin 10mg and the difference was night and day. Not only did I retain information from class, but I was able to sit down and read without losing focus, I actually enjoyed it, and my second semester GPA was a 3.63! Now it is the beginning of Fall 2008, I graduated in May, and have started an already successful career at a law firm. I know, what’s the problem right? Well, if you notice I’ve been on Focalin for 3 years now and to say I’m hooked on the drug would be an understatement. I’ve taken enough before to exhibit at least 3 of the listed signs of overdose such as, sweating, dizziness, jittery, etc… What’s worse is that my job requires me to sit at a desk all day…..ALL DAY and without Focalin that’s just not possible for me and I know that about myself, but I don’t just take it at work. I get urges to take it afterwards and have even stayed up for 3 and 4 days taking one pill after another every couple of hours and browsing the net, reading books, writing out goals, plans, what have you and I can’t seem to stop. Focalin used to make me so sociable and I’d love talking about a variety of things with different friends, people from my classes, and even strangers, but now I’m the opposite. I’m anti-social, and I’ll be as awake and as focused as you can imagine and yet I don’t want to do a thing. I won’t eat, but I’ll maybe write for a while, browse the net a bit, read some, but nothing sticks anymore like it used to. One task, one pill is a thing of the long gone past. If I stop using the drug my performance at work will drop considerably, making me the 1.75 GPA guy all over again, but if I keep on like this I fear my performance in life will drop drastically. I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place and any advice will be greatly appreciated. I need to find a way to taper off the amount because the 10mg twice a day I’m prescribed doesn’t even touch the tolerance I have built for Focalin over the last 3 years. Help!!

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I have adhd and for some reasOn i am perscribed a 40mg focalin and a 10mg focalin xr every morning. I accidently took 3 times tht (i take them from the bottle n 3 fell out n i didnt realize till it was to late. That was like 10/ 15 min ago. My heart rate is 94 bpr when i t usually is 67 bpr (im athletic i know my resting heart rate) am i goin to have a heart attack? I cAnt tell my parents they will think i am trying to get high help!!! They wont understand and i need to know iff imma be okAy??

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While I can't say I'm feeling the effects of addiction by taking Focalin, I do relate a lot to the original poster's predicament. I found this doing a search online for primary articles on the neurobiology of focalin and potentiality for addiction. It's more related to dependence as a response to incentive-motivation, which is a theory of addiction. In my opinion, it's perfectly reasonable unless you begin to exhibit detrimental signs like severe weight loss from appetite reduction, etc.
If you go back to the original post, you'll see that the initial positives turned to extreme negatives. This is happening to me, but I'm also aware that I have SAD (seasonal affect disorder), and that could likely be influencing this change in physiological behavior.
Research is expanding, and I'd like to consider novel ways to model this kind of behavioral development at an anatomical level by considering what's happening to things like the glutamate receptors in the central nervous system, mitochondria, as well as neuronal plasticity. There is so much to consider, but I think there's definitely an explanation for this because it's happening to many people.

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Would anyone be willing to revive this post with me? I have found I am addicted to ritalin and focalin. 80% wants help, the other 20 doesn't. But I've taken the first step and informed my family so that they can support me. I've handed over my pills to my husband so that he can regulate them for me (so I only take 100 mgs a day as opposed to 200) while I try to beat this demon. For the love of God, I TOOK MY SONS AND HE HAS BEEN WITHOUT FOR ONE WEEK! AND HE IS ONLY 10 AND NEEDS IT! I'm not a horrible mother I swear, I just suffer from this horrible addiction. It's the only thing that gets me through my day! I live a miserable life and sometimes I feel like it's all I have! Does anyone know if there are any programs for this type of addiction? Or are we on our own? ANY help/support would be greatly appreciated!!!

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Hi.....I'm also a mom. I went to a shrink because my friend told me "He will give you anything you want"....I just wanted to have energy and lose weight. Well, I did!!! I lost 15 lbs and was SUPER woman for over a year. Then, I took too many and thought I was gonna die !!!! Since then I get anxiety when ever I took them, but couldn't stop taking them because I had them. After my last scripts I promised myself that was it NO MORE !! They have no long term studies on this medication and what if I die? What will my kids say....? "Mom was popping pills to lose 15 lbs and now she's DEAD?" .....Since I stopped I put ALL my weight back on PLUS another 5 lbs.....It's so hard not to call and make an appointment for more pills. But I keep saying to myself "I will lose the weight again NATURALLY and I will be healthy and ALIVE for my kids".....It is an addiction and I hate my friend for sending me down that path and I hate this doc for writting scripts for any and everyone......I thought about reporting him to the boards......keep strong....and take one day at a time ;) Good Luck !!!!

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Michael, I find your post EXTREMELY interesting! Please, as you do more research or as more studies are done and finding found would you mind keeping this small post in mind and respond back with your new information? It doesn't matter if it's a year from now, or more, as long as we have our same email addresses we'll be notified as to your reply and able to read what it is you wrote! Thank you so much in advance! - Susan (I'm the one who revived the post in August)

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hey there, I dont have any answers for you, but I'm glad you posted, because I'm going through the same thing right now, and I just dont know what to do. I started taking adderall xr, when I started my career as well, and couldnt stay at my desk all day, and to focus the way I needed to, I just couldnt do it, so I was diagnosed w/ adhd, and started on adderall xr.
but now it has turned into something else....addiction, and I cannot keep doing this, but I dont know what the answer is. I cant talk to my doctor, because I fear he will stop presribing my adderall, and I cant even seem to function if I dont take it. I just want to be back to normal again, on a normal dosage, being able to take it or leave it. well good luck to you.

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I myself have been down this path of focalin and ritalin addiction. When I was about 14 years old I was prescribed focalin xr 20mg and I knew that it could get you high so the first time i took it, I took 3, after that I was hooked and started taking up to 150 - 200 mg a day, and then eventually got ritalin once the focalin didn't get me as high. I stopped after about 2 years and now I am 18 and have graduated high school. Benadryl is a good method of coming off of it but the withdrawl will make you feel like hell but you have todo it before it makes you crazy. Stimulants are a horrible addiction that can be just as serious as cocaine. A thing that helped for me was to think of how stupid it was to think that i could ever live like that and to realize all of the people i was hurting and the relationships i was missing out while i was speeding in my room.

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One thing that would probably solve most of you people's problems with abusing focalin is to just tell your doctor/parents/who ever gives it to you, that you don't want to be on it anymore-cut yourself off, as it is hard to build up a physical dependence on it unless you're taking huge doses over long periods of time, so obviously this will be more effective if you catch yourself earlier than late. Yet even if you're using large amounts, focalin is not an opiate, in that it can usually be discontinued cold turkey (or by tapering down the dose if it's really high) without many if any fatal side effects...as is the case with most stimulants(cocaine, amphetamines etc), what many of the previous posters are experiencing could be described as an intense (in some cases) psychological addiction, and not the physical addiction that some of your minds have convinced you that you have. Always consult you're doctor though when deciding between stopping cold turkey and tapering the dose as your situation is unique. It can be done quite easily though, as opposed to quitting harder drugs. I know because I'm currently experiencing a relatively controlled addiction to focalin , be it on a lesser scale, as I snort a good 75-150mgs of the xr formulation in a sitting at once-or sometimes twice, as ill spread that dose out- a week, and have done so for the last 6-8 months.
Yet with my extensive experience with drugs, both"hard" and pharmaceutical, I know that each comes with its own challenges as well as its own solutions -Hard drugs, though usually more potent than the other, require lots of money for their yet easier to obtain addiction to be caused; and pharmaceutical drugs, due to the fact that you have a script for usually cheap/free, make chronic abuse easier to do, and with this access plus prolonged exposure ends you up with an addiction. See the connection? My general point is that if you end the script, there goes the addiction; you can't really walk up to your drug dealer for focalin like you could to the pharmacy. Come on people, use your reasoning skills and don't let yourself fall into a downward spiral; you didn't wake up addicted, you had to work at it.. IME most drugs, save methamphetamine, can be used, though usually sparingly, responsibly without tying on an addiction-yes even heroin, all you need is self control.
For example: I've flirted with cocaine (very similar to focalin, though better IMO) numerous times and can get it more readily than Focalin as well as at any time I want it, but because it costs so much and I have so little, this has kept me from even worrying about an addiction(sorry rich people with access, you're f***ed lol). But since focalin comes to me for free, makes it easy to get, but there's only one place I can rely on getting it-the prescription bottle...
Therefore, I say that "simply isolating oneself from the drug" will solve your problem of addiction because of my experience with a "controlled" addiction to focalin. Even months into it, I notice that half way between doses that I'm not really feeling any cravings for it (due to my unique situation, I only get access to 7x25mg pills once a week which eliminates any tolerance built up the previous week while maintaining relative control of the addiction) . So even if I were to get a craving, it can't be satisfied until I gain access to it again few days later-in which case when I can get it I've also noticed that its very hard to turn it down, resulting in my cyclical abuse. However , the fact that those "mid-week" cravings aren't intense by any measure, and moreso decrease in level of intensity as time between doses increases should give you hope. This if anything, has shown me that if I were to say, move away out of accessibility of the drug that I would survive, and would do so quite easily (every now and then I've skipped dosing up for 2-3 weeks without negative effects).
I've thought about isolation as a way to get off the drug because I leave for college soon, and my accessibility to it is going to end-with bittersweet feelings I predict though, as I won't have to worry about it all the time but I also won't be able to get geeked up every week. Although, it's for the better in the long run that it will end within the next five months, because of that deadline, I've remained using it weekly and will probably continue at this pace, if I don't eventually decrease dosage amounts before that time comes, with the knowledge that those cravings for the drug are simply in my mind. I'm not worried at all about it, and many(most) of you should worry much less. Lol It may be a good high but really? it's not f***in meth or crack, so suck it up, realize where you stand, and take action!

Good luck to you all and remember one thing: if you cut off your access, to focalin at least, you end your addiction...plain and simple.

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I don't think I've quite reached addiction-level with Focalin, but it's getting there and my life is a mess in general. I'm a 25-year-old male who dropped out -- essentially failed out -- of graduate school, where I was studying to be a clinical psychologist (go figure), close to three months ago.

I've been prescribed Focalin since August and, for the first time, I noticed actual effects from an ADHD medication. Frankly, I love the drug. In general, it didn't help enough with concentration and productivity for me to succeed in grad school and regularly fulfill my responsibilities, but it boosted my mood a lot (I have what I'd call moderate-to-severe-range depression). I describe it as having some antidepressant qualities, which is probably true, but even in therapeutic doses, I think these effects at times are, at least qualitatively, basically a mild euphoric high. Sometimes the Focalin makes me feel as though I've put on rose-colored glasses, makes me feel alive, like the world is full of excitement and possibility. Having done my first-year grad school internship at a substance abuse clinic, I know a fair amount about addiction, enough to know that I'm starting to go down a dangerous path, psychologically and behaviorally.

Close to a month ago, I finally tried snorting it, and it's hard not to think about it, to plan on when I can do it based on the schedules of those around me so I can have several uninterrupted hours to be high. Not only do I like the effects, but I even like the process of preparing it -- {edited for safety reasons} the burn in my nostrils, the sweet taste/smell of the drip, etc. I almost feel high before I even snort it. It makes me euphoric. I love listening to music on it, even feeling my heart race.

I am miserable in general, and sometimes I think being on it is the only thing that makes me happy. I know it can only lead to bad things, tell myself I won't do it again once I start to come down from it, and I'm already making some excuses for weird behavior. Because I sometimes get cold-like symptoms after snorting it (coughing, dry throat, sniffles, etc.), I texted my girlfriend yesterday, knowing I would see her later that night, telling her I'd sort of been feeling a weird mix of unusual motivation and sickness (what else but a stimulant would do that?) -- a description I thought would satisfactorily explain any weird behavior she might see.

I feel it getting out of control, and it's only a symptom, self-medication, of larger life problems with depression, lacking direction, etc. I know all this but still want to do it. Just writing this makes me excited to do it tonight and stay up listening to music and watching movies. Having not even taken it in 35 hours, I'm already feeling some flutters in my stomach and a more intense heartbeat, and am mentally cutting down my Chinese food order to account for appetite suppression.

I appreciate your taking the time to read this and knowing I'm not the only one struggling. I feel and wish the best for all who have posted. Any suggestions, comments, experiences, etc., would be greatly appreciated.

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Having a "weak mind" has not one single thing to do with drug addiction. I am the strongest person I know and I also know that I have given my very best effort to NOT taking some particular drug and been completely unsuccessful. I have lived through pain so severe that most people would never be able to comprehend it. I put myself through graduate school without help and starting with $400 to my name. I have lived through hospitalization in a psych ward for depression so intense I was planning suicide. I have had electroshock treatments. I quit a ten year, high dose physical dependence on benzodiazepines, at home, alone without sleep for five days. But I cannot keep myself from taking the stimulants prescribed to me for fatigue and depression. I have flushed hundreds of pills down the toilet because I knew it was the only way to stop taking them.

So, to the person who says that "weak minded" pair shouldn't take stimulants, perhaps you should spend some time educating yourself as to the nature of addiction.

to everyone who keeps saying "ask your cycle l doctor, he's the one who knows your history and will know what you should do" I have thus to say:
When I told my psychiatrist about my issues with stimulants and that I wanted to quit taking them, but that I was worried about the withdrawal, he informed me that there "WOULD BE NO WITHDRAWAL." My physical doctor has prescribed medication to me that would have killed me yet I had taken it - there was a fatal drug interaction with another med he knew I was taking. The point is that most doctors in the U.S. are under-educated, uninterested, too busy and seeing too many patients. They would not recognize you if they saw you in the street - in fact they don't recognize you from one appointment to the next. Doctors are not the Godlike figures we are told to believe they are. You must take what they tell you with s large grain of salt and then read about your problem yourself. You have to be your own doctor now.

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I'm going to agree with James. I'm the guy, Alex, who wrote about being addicted to Focalin on March 16, 2013. I've been on Vyvanse for close to a year. I'm on 40 mg, I haven't abused it, not even once. It gives me some sleep problems but whatever, my cravings are much less than when I first quit Focalin. My psychiatrist says crystal meth addicts have been successful with Vyvanse, and no matter how addicted you are to Focalin, you are probably not as bad as even a mild to moderate crystal meth addict. The Vyvanse gives you a little boost without getting you high or making you feel like you HAVE TO be high. In fact, that little boost may help with the cravings (maybe not for everyone) more than taking nothing would.

I quit Focalin basically on roughly April 11, 2013, except for maybe insufflating half a pill I found about a month after I quit. So it's been about 17 months. I know it hasn't been that long in the grand scheme of things, but it's been long enough that I feel I can offer some perspective. With the perspective I have, I will say that time heals all wounds. I won't say I never have any cravings, but they are much MUCH less for no logical reason other than it has been a long time.

I accept that I understand something that I didn't understand previously, that is, something that I didn't understand when I worked with addicts. What I didn't understand is that addiction is lifelong. I accept that some part of me, even if I live to be 95 years old, will say, "damn, I wonder what it would be like to insufflate Focalin again." As long as you admit that and realize you are not impervious to it, you have a chance. Recognize that, whether or not you used to think you have "an addictive personality," some part of you now does.

You can't pretend the positives don't exist, even as you concede that the negatives outweigh the positives. The fact is undeniable: If you get super super high on Focalin or coke or whatever (even if you in general are a super depressed person), you will probably feel better for those few hours or half hour or whatever than you will ever feel again in your life. You will feel better than someone you know who is generally super happy all the time, without drugs, has felt at the best time in their life. Don't pretend that's not true. Denial is not the answer. As much as it's hard to accept, the way to convince yourself not to do drugs is that even though you will never feel that good again, feeling pretty happy and good much of the time is way more important and, ultimately, fulfilling than feeling insanely good for those short periods of time.

You can't just get rid of the high. You have to replace it with something. For me, exercise is fantastic (I think exercise is especially important if you have ADHD). I have lost 35-40 lbs since I quit drugs. I won't pretend that the best exercise endorphin high compares to the best Focalin high. But it's good. And you feel better about yourself as a person. I promise. Because you did it with your own free willpower.

Here's the takeaway. Focally is good, really good, no doubt. But it's best to try at "real life," even if you fail. Focalin, any kind of speed, is temporary, and you feel so s***ty afterward. And despite that, you will do it again and again and again. Just remind yourself that it is only brain chemicals that are making you feel that way. My favorite phrase (steal it if you must) is that it is a "filet of dopamine with a garnish of norepinephrine."

If you are drawn to Focalin, you may, like me, be highly prone to depression. But just try to keep fighting any other way you know how. No drug can substitute for a great relationship, for a human connection. I still wouldn't sacrifice anything for my relationship with my girlfriend. I love her far more than anything else, and despite my Focalin and other BS, despite the fact that she is extremely anti-drug, she stayed with me -- long-distance -- and is still with me. She gave me another chance even though I didn't deserve it. Life will give you another chance even when you don't deserve it.

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I quit cold turkey.. it's more than a week past now, my nerves are shot and my body hurts. I went through a mental break. Your body and brain are going to be fighting through tricks feeling or thinking you are dying. It's probably not a good idea cold turkey, but I did it. The doc said to taper. I didn't, I don't trust my doc. I told him I'm an addict, he put me in focalin, Iate almost the whole bottle 2nd week in. I'm doing better now, but tapering was probably the way to go. Good luck to those in this stuff, it's not for everyone, especially the highly addictive. Tell your doctor's if you are so you can get the right treatment or else you are forever chasing your tail.

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Mark and Nicole- Addiction is a disease, just like cancer and heart disease. There's nothing shameful about having addiction as a disease, except eventually it will make you crazy- getting your next fix will be the only thing you think about. I know, I have it myself, and I've been around it my entire life, and I can tell you that NOTHING good ever comes from this disease. I've seen MUCH good come to the lives of those of us who finally get into recovery. But we couldn't do it while still using the drugs, and we couldn't do it alone. Please consider talking to your doctor-and being honest. I don't believe anyone ever really starts to take a medication with the intention of abusing it and becoming addicted to it. Treatment centers are wonderful if you really WANT to break free- and it is possible, I've been clean for 3 years now. God Bless.

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Mark, I appreciate your comments and am in your boat as well. It has been a difficult situation to discuss with anyone. This has been going on, off and on, with me since I started my undergrad in 2000. I have been able to stop for short periods at times because I force myself to do so. I have stopped taking it a few times for more than a month or so. But it's always been during a break between my education or something. Now I am graduating with my second Post-Grad degree. I know I have to focus on living a more regimented life now and that this behavior is not only unsustainable and costly, it can be deadly. I have gotten to the point at times where I stay up for long periods. This has even led me to desire alcohol and to smoke like a phen when I take it. I don't think other people around me have any idea of the problem. I am scared to talk to my Doc as well. I wondered if you had had other related habits that went with your Focalin addition? In any case, I guess we all just have to face the reality at some point and take steps to cure the problem. Honestly, that could even come with explaining that you need a few weeks off to deal with a family issue. I've done that before. Usually that was enough time to get myself off the med and back at some functional level. When I've done that, other stimilants suffice to keep you concentrated to some extent. In my experience, I begin to feel the effects of coffee again. I am going to be dealing with this in very short order because it is necessary to the wrest of my life success. Hopefully, once I'm in a more regimented professional environment, I will have a greater ability to accomplish a job that has my interest. I would suggest for you that you pledge to do the same. Take that time to deal with your disease. You don't need to necessarily explain it to your employer. Tell them that you will be needing a few weeks off in the near future because you need to take care of a loved one or something while their caretaker takes a trip. I know that's not an honest thing to do, but, in this situation, you don't need to go back to a professional office where people know you have been battling an addiction. Then, you just have to keep on keepen on with the regular modes of life. Your concentration and focus will improve with time and as you get back to a regular routine. In any case, I will likely do the same. Call the doctor and tell them you are moving, that you no longer want the medication. That way it will take a lot of effort to get a new prescript (and you won't have the concentration to do it, lol). I obviously am not the best advice giver on this topic. I know I can overcome this, though. You just have to know that and make it happen because your life depends on it, I guess. I will make my pledge to that. Anyway, I cannot tell you how much I appreciated reading your entry and realizing I am not alone.

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Hi, my name is matt. I started taking Focalin XR in the middle of my 11th grade year. At first it seemed like a miracle. I could finally concentrate and my grades started to go up.its 2 1/2 years later and now its more of a curse. I need to take it and most of the time its double what im perscribed. Ive lost so much weight and im not the same person i was before. Now im detoxing to try to get a job (drug test Merijuana) and im not who i should be, i cant think strait and my emotions are way out of controll. Recently, i said things to the woman i love that i would have never said in a million years and its killing me. The problem more so is how highly addictive it is. Im gona go cold turkey because i cant be this person anymore, i want to be me again, i want to be able to think clearly.

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look...this isnt like weed...its very addicting and also very easy to become dependent to this drug.
i take it. ill pop two 30 mg focalin rx pills about once a month. and when i do, i have the best two days of my life. i dont have adhd so it might effect me differently then someone with it. when i take it i just feel pumped to be alive. i could be in the waiting room at the dmv and make 10 friends and have a baller time. just dont take this drug if you are a weak minded person that cannot control your body or more importantly your mind...
if you are weak minded and give into cravings then dont do it. just thnk, if your caught with focalin and your not perscribed to it...its a felony. so just dont be stupid and be careful with it. i personaly love it when im having a stressful week. or when i have to do yardwork i take two and just get pumped to mow the lawn. and if the john deer breaks down, its awsome to just fix it. its life crack, so be careful.

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The same thing is happening to me!
I'm a 15 year old girl and I used to be exceptionally bright in school until I was about 12 years old when I started to really decline. I couldn't do assignments, and I literally felt like I couldn't do them even if I wanted! I continued to be mediocre in school all through 9th grade, getting report cards that would have an A, B, C, D, and F on them. I had always resisted getting medicated for ADD since my brother was medicated for it and I thought it was embarrassing. Then at the end of 9th grade I finally decided to give it a go, and was prescribed Focalin XR. I started taking them and my grades really did improve!
Anyways, when I got these meds naturally I took way more then prescribed (which was/is 10 mg,) swallowing 2 then 3 then 4 then 5, not even for recreational purposes but because I wanted to be as super as possible! The results weren’t as astounding for me as they used to be, and then one day it occurred to me to snort the pills. I did at home for the first time, and it was amazing! Just 2 and I was speeding! Then school started and I realized how much I need them. I bring my spoons to school and crush out the beads in between class and snort in the bathrooms. Not even my closest friend in the world knew this until a couple months in, when I finally told her.

Within the last two months I've gotten out of control. Not just with the pills anymore, but they’ve inspired for me to do more. Smoking weed, ecstasy, coke, pain pills and anything I can get my hands on. I have built up quite an immunity to the pills to the point that I have to save them up and plan when to use them, and dip into my brothers pills. If I don't do at least two everyday, I am completely dead at school and feel very sick. I can't stay awake in school even on double my dose, and my grades are slipping again. But now the pills aren't even about school, but everything! I'll save them up so I can snort a good amount to get high and party, for important exams, for social confidence, and energy in sports. Even worse, is I've developed a pinch of an eating disorder because instead of eating I'll just pop pills. I'm 5'8 and was relatively skinny before and very athletic, and I went from 140 to 127 in two and a half weeks, my cheeks starting to sink in and everything. My weight fluctuates often because of this, dropping as low as 126 to as high as 146. I just have so many uses for them it’s ridiculous! Due to my limited amount though, I’ve recently started to replace them with other drugs to save my script, and am completely draining out my money which I work hard to earn.

My main dilemma though is this:
My doctor (psychotherapist) is a very good person and I really like her, but I know the boundaries very clear. I cannot be honest with her about my many problems because she will tell my parents since I’m a minor, and that can’t happen. Not because I’m just a teenager afraid to disappoint her parents and get in trouble, but because this is an entirely different game for me. My parents are strict Roman Catholics and VERY anti-substance, or basically anything. (I.e. iPods are “items of Satanâ€.) They have told me this before (in complete confidence that I’ve never abused substances) that if they knew I even TRIED beer, they would send me to a mental health rehabilitation center since addiction and alcoholism runs in my family, and that once the trust was broken I would be on lockdown for the rest of my life. I am not exaggerating one bit when I say this, and I’m not just trying to complain, but my parents truly are insane. So the problem is if I tell my doctor the truth that I’m addicted to my medication or that I use hard dope (cocaine etc.) then she is required by her job to tell my parents. From saying nothing, I will continue to slip in school since the meds cannot sustain me anymore to benefit me academically. I have tried to conspicuously convince her to switch me to another medication or raise my dose so I have more to work with, but I do not want her to suspect that I am using them irresponsibly so I have to be very subtle. I have however told her short excerpts on my new drug use, leaving out the coke and pills, and she is worried just from that and says if I don’t cut down or try anything heavier that she will be forced to take me off medication completely because she fears I’ll have a heart attack from mixing the Focalin with drugs. So do I tell the truth and risk ruining my family relationship? Or keep her in the dark, and come up with different means of getting more medications and just feed into the addiction more? Neither are good options really, and my appointment is the 16th. This appointment is going to greatly affect my life. HELP!

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Hello, my 8 year old son was perscribed focalin for his ADHD and took it for a little while to be abale to stay in school. but after a while i noticed that he was not the same child. he would just sit there in a daze and rock back and forth in the chair and beat his head in the sofa back and forth until he went to sleep. i stopped him from taking it and pulled him out of school because they were going to exspell him if he wasn;t on the medication to keep him calm. i home school both of my kids now. i was affraid it was gonna kill my baby boy who already has a heart merma and is ODD AND ADHD. I'D RATHER DEAL WITH HIM AT HOME THEN HIM GETTING HURT OR DIEING OFF OF THESE PILLS.

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Dillon - I'm assuming you've had an addiction to these drugs at one point and time otherwise you would not have known that they make you feel like Superman or a loser?

But then again...by the sound of your "tone" It doesn't sound like you have and that your words of wisdom spoken so intelligently were just taken from a friend of a friend of a friend?

Either way, black and white, loud and clear, you have just boldly judged MANY people for something you no little or nothing about. Even more sad, you do not personally know these people or their stories.

Had you told me just two years ago that at the age of 45 I was going to become an addict I would have laughed in your face!

Now let me ask you this...have you NEVER made a mistake in your life? Please don't judge me or any of these other posters who are dealing with a demon! They never intended for it to go this far or to get so out of control!

So Unless your name is Jesus Christ and you have never made a mistake, broken a commandment, told a lie, disliked one of your neighbors you have no right to judge anyone.

My advice to you would be to worry about yourself and your own shortcomings. Work on those shortcomings, (I don't know you but I know one of them is being judgmental) therapy is a great place to start. Work on becoming a better person, and finally go to church on Sunday and ask God for guidance and forgiveness.

I do it every single day and He walks with me every step I take. Take care of yourself Dillon...I pray this is one shortcoming you will NEVER have to live through!

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Hey,

So to start your post it extremely similar to my own personal experience in many ways. I started taking meds for add in 7th grade and have now been on them for about 9 years. As most when i started i went from D's and F's to making honor roll. At this point though in college i am taking 90mg of concerta ever day, as well as snorting various amounts of focalin. At first in college taking the extra focalin helped me study which turned into snorting it to study and now its almost become a daily thing needing it before going out, to the library or anything really. I accept i am addicted but I dont know how to stop and I keep fighting inside between being addicted to a drug and needing to stop and at the same time scared that if i do stop i will go back to the kid I once was unable to learn, unable to read and generally unsuccessful

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