Negative Thought Loops on Meds

Adhd is a dopamine deficiency. There's not a drug that directly initiates the brain to produce dopamine, so the current treatment for adhd is stimulants. As the name suggests they stimulate the brain and thus the production of dopamine. Stopping adhd meds with a severe anxiety disorder can throw you into a high anxiety period bc the brain sees the loss of a consistent production of dopamine as a threat. Therefore, when you stop a stimulant as a person with adhd, your brain produces cortisol bc it thinks its dying. If you have an anxiety disorder this makes the choice to go off the adhd meds difficult because of the excessive amount of cortisol produced for someone with an anxiety disorder in a brains perceived life or death situation.

I would make sure to be super compliant on ADHD meds. Swings in dose in the bloodstream can cause mood swings, it's a powerful class of drugs. Non compliant use can also vastly increase the risk of dependence

It’s not magic. Those are the effects of stimulants on the brain. 🧠

I noticed this recently too. I don’t often go on meds but i’ve been finding university impossible and like i will not accomplish anything and I had a whole spiral about everything going wrong, however 3 days ago i started meds again i suddenly have this sense that everything will be ok and that its all manageable. Its so strange how much of a difference it is. I managed to watch two whole lectures i needed to catch up on and took in everything and made a whole flow chart in preparation for a test. Before meds i hadn’t been able to take in a single thing and had done zero work for weeks. Its like magic.

Hi dear. I have been on either adderall or vyvanse since I was 13 and I am now 33. I can promise you any stimulant medication is likely to cause these type of withdrawal symptoms. Some might even call it a “crash” of sorts. This sounds like a very normal reaction to suddenly stopping or crashing off medication. What has helped me is taking a lower dose, but consistently every day. Hope that this helps. 🙏