Everyone is different. It’s a mixture of several disorders afterall. For me this is how it works. Same with my girlfriend who is also ADHD like me.
With Adderall, no euphoric upper effect from stimulants unless we use a very high dose. No physical withdrawal symptoms, just back to how we are unmedicated, e.g. easy to get mentally exhausted from anything mentally taxing, difficulty paying attention to a single task, reduced executive function, etc. But it’s not something that happens immediately. It’s once the tasks become overwhelming that we notice we didn’t take our meds. There is not really an immediate sign assuming I had a good night’s rest and I’m not already burnt out.
Caffeine on the other hand has more of a physical withdrawal for me if I don’t have it. And, especially if I’m also on Adderall, and I really load up on it, I do sometimes get that high, “tweaker” feeling. And if I have too much too late in the day, it can keep me from sleeping. (Though, some people with ADHD I know actually use caffeine to fall asleep since it helps them avoid the mind wandering so much.) Besides the same issues as above, I do get headaches late the first day and if I had been overdoing it for several days and stop, cold turkey, I can get migraines around the second or third day.
But I never have a psychological desire to have the medication or caffeine nagging at me like true addiction. I do get what that feels like such as from not having an orgasm for a while like if I travel and don’t bring a vibrator and really end up turned on from hormones. But I’ve never had anything like that from stimulants. Even crack cocaine that I tried a few times, many, many years ago.
Everyone is different. It’s a mixture of several disorders afterall. For me this is how it works. Same with my girlfriend who is also ADHD like me.
With Adderall, no euphoric upper effect from stimulants unless we use a very high dose. No physical withdrawal symptoms, just back to how we are unmedicated, e.g. easy to get mentally exhausted from anything mentally taxing, difficulty paying attention to a single task, reduced executive function, etc. But it’s not something that happens immediately. It’s once the tasks become overwhelming that we notice we didn’t take our meds. There is not really an immediate sign assuming I had a good night’s rest and I’m not already burnt out.
Caffeine on the other hand has more of a physical withdrawal for me if I don’t have it. And, especially if I’m also on Adderall, and I really load up on it, I do sometimes get that high, “tweaker” feeling. And if I have too much too late in the day, it can keep me from sleeping. (Though, some people with ADHD I know actually use caffeine to fall asleep since it helps them avoid the mind wandering so much.) Besides the same issues as above, I do get headaches late the first day and if I had been overdoing it for several days and stop, cold turkey, I can get migraines around the second or third day.
But I never have a psychological desire to have the medication or caffeine nagging at me like true addiction. I do get what that feels like such as from not having an orgasm for a while like if I travel and don’t bring a vibrator and really end up turned on from hormones. But I’ve never had anything like that from stimulants. Even crack cocaine that I tried a few times, many, many years ago.