Adderall helping Ativan withdrawal symptoms?

Hi everyone! Quick background, have been on 3mg Ativan daily for 5 years (with a previous 6 mg Xanax prescription for 2 years). I was in a shooting in 2012, and started having intense panic attacks. Queue my Xanax prescription that led me down my 7 year journey of daily benzo use. I have done SO MUCH work in learning how to naturally cope with anxiety - exercise, mindfulness, CBT work, sensory techniques, and I actually think my underlying anxiety has gotten so much better, but the Ativan was tricking my body into believing the withdrawals were my anxiety disorders,

 

Anyway, i have been on my taper for about a month now - I went down to 2mg daily - and my withdrawals have been practically non - existent! I have done a similar taper before in previous years, but they were not by choice (doctor was out sick/on vacation with NO substitute physician and I needed to stretch my prescription), and my withdrawal symptoms were awful! I was having intense flu-like symptoms - head cold, swollen lymph nodes, intense anxiety and an overall feeling of "disconnected".

 

The only difference this time around was my new Adderall prescription. I have only been on it once for a few months back in 2015 after I was diagnosed with ADHD, but recently, I have been drowning at work and my home life and my doctor has attributed it to an uptick in ADHD symptoms  He put me on 10mg Adderall once a day, and OMG, I have not noticed one withdrawal symptom. I actually think the Ativan was acting as my "focus medication" - when I would take the Ativan, the  racing thoughts would go quiet and I actually would have a solid 1-2 hour window of significantly increased productivity and focus. The minute it wore off, my racing thoughts and distractibility would be back. I would be insanely anxious I was not getting anything done, and was constantly worrying (which is why I felt like my underlying anxiety disorder was the root cause).

 

When I took the Adderall, I had similar effects - my brain was FINALLY quiet. I felt calm, at -ease, and able to focus. I even have gotten better and longer sleep. I have sometimes even forgotten to take my Ativan dose because I have not felt like my body or mind has been missing it at all.

 

I know I'm still in the very beginning of my taper, and could be due for worsened withdrawals, but the whole Adderall thing has got me so curious! Logically, I would think the Adderall would exacerbate the withdrawal symptoms, but it seems to be doing exactly the opposite. Anyone have similar experience with ADHD medication significantly helping the withdrawals?

 

I also am aware that this can be viewed as "switching one addiction for another", and I will be partaking in Adderall use with great hesitancy - not taking it every day, not EVER increasing the dose, and emphasizing non-medication coping skills. But honestly, if this is helping me with the Ativan withdrawal, I'm all for it!

 

 

I guess , you must do what you need to get off from this stuff mate, your not the first one i saw that felt like an stimulant was helping  with symptoms,  what happens if you dont take it? Dont want to encourage you of not taking it, just asking , before your morning dose, how do you feel? I saw online about how people experience anphetamine like drugs withdrawal, is not anything like benzos and different from other classes of psych drugs, still its not good and easy,  but nothing like other drugs (ADs, APs, benzos , gabapetinoids and others)

 

previously from using adderal, This feeling of disconection was like not being grounded, centered,  or not own to earth, or well conected to reality , that brings a sort of anxiety?

I guess , you must do what you need to get off from this stuff mate, your not the first one i saw that felt like an stimulant was helping  with symptoms,  what happens if you dont take it? Dont want to encourage you of not taking it, just asking , before your morning dose, how do you feel? I saw online about how people experience anphetamine like drugs withdrawal, is not anything like benzos and different from other classes of psych drugs, still its not good and easy,  but nothing like other drugs (ADs, APs, benzos , gabapetinoids and others)

 

previously from using adderal, This feeling of disconection was like not being grounded, centered,  or not own to earth, or well conected to reality , that brings a sort of anxiety?

 

 

Thanks for the response! So before I take my first Ativan dose in the morning, I feel a bit sluggish and my body tends to feel really tight and tense (neck, back, jaw pain). I also can’t seem to get rid of the brain fog. The adderall helps with all that immensely. My mind is clear so I’m not feeling that sense of being overwhelmed and exhausted by the tasks ahead of me. When I don’t have work or anything I need to focus on, I won’t take my adderall to give my brain a break and not become as dependent. During that time, I just feel like I normally do - unfocused and overwhelmed. When I do take my adderall, I notice no urges to take my Ativan (probably because it was serving the same function as the adderall in quieting my brain).

 

And the disconnected feeling I was referring to was like a flashback to depersonalization and derealization symptoms I used to get REALLY bad when I used to have panic attacks. During those panic attacks, I was convinced I was going insane and would never recover. So now that “disconnected” feeling I get during withdrawals brings horrible feelings of dread, thankfully, I have not experienced this at all during the withdrawal process.

 

Got it, this is a really difficult process,  hoping that it keep this way (manageable) i had this feelings of lossing my mind and feellings of going insane, not only  "disconection " or derrealization,  worst than that,  it resolved , took a lot of time to get better, just letting you know that

 

As from this relief, it could be a relief comming from other biochemical factors in the brain,  like dopamine reliefing your sense of anxiety driven by this process ,  if your being able to taper/decrease your dose without crashing, thats good, keep moving forward and stay strong

I'm 7 years off benzos and one of my main symptoms left is bad brain fog and lack of motivation. So I'm getting a prescription for adderall because not being productive at work is not an option.hopefully it works for me like it does for you. Wish me luck

Hey how is it going with the Adderall? My psychiatrist wants to start me on it today. I am starting a new job and can’t continue to deal with his brain fog and insane anxiety and lack of focus.

I'm 7 years off benzos and one of my main symptoms left is bad brain fog and lack of motivation. So I'm getting a prescription for adderall because not being productive at work is not an option.hopefully it works for me like it does for you. Wish me luck

 

Doesn't Kratom make you more productive already?