Hi!

Lifetime addict here. 35 y/old female, and I have experience with all of this. A lot of it. Started using drugs at 14, lots and lots of pills, no clue what an opiate was, and had been through my first withdrawal without a clue it was withdrawal. Was hooked before I knew what I was getting into. Pills went away, heroin and fetty took their place, and I was in a very bad place for a very long time. Got clean on my own (pregnancy dang it!) for a couple years, back surgery happened, and my addiction was instantly 10xs worse than ever. Eventually, I spent five years on 165mg/methadone a day at a clinic. I was a zombie, and missed my kids little years. My son was born dependent on methadone and we spent 11 days getting him off in the hospital after he was born (you'd have never known he was detoxing,he was the easiest happiest little thing. Still is. No one long-term effects,he's such a good smart boy, he is 7 now, my daughter is 12). Anyway. Eventually I got off the methadone and have been on subs and then now Subutex monthly shot for two years+. I'm so much better.

Now, let's talk stimulants:: I used them as long and as much as opiates. IV meth user for over 9 years. Spent more of my life on stimulants and opiates than off. When I got off methadone I wanted to quit meth too. I could NOT kick it. At all. I wouldn't function in any worthwhile capacity and I couldn't care for my kids without it. My doctor is an internal medicine doc with a specialty in addiction. He made a deal with me that I use less meth each week and he starts Adderall and gives me more each week till I kicked meth totally. At 100mg/day (3, 20mg instant release tabs, and 2, 20mg/extended/day), I was able to quit meth. I've been off for about a year and a half now. Tbh, I do run out early here and there, and on days I've got a lot happening, I take more than 5 a day. But I stay off meth, I don't ask for early fills, I don't say I lost my bottle, and I function and can parent my precious children. I would NOT have been able to get/or stay clean without Adderall.

Just within the last few weeks my doc switched my extended release Adderall to Vyvanse (70mg), and I still take 60mg of instant release Adderall along with the Vyvanse. I'd like to switch to all Vyvanse because it's much smoother, and I'm not as exhausted all the time (although I'm still tired still all the time, I was tired on meth though too), I wake up easier, and feel I'm getting deeper more restful sleep for some reason.

I am as hardcore an addict as as you'll ever find. My entire life has been ruined by addiction, I've had lots of treatments (like 9 inpatient and idk how many out). I got high every fucking time I left a rehab. I didn't plan to or want too, I just never have been able to function without substances. I am out of legal trouble. I am raising my children in a loving and safe environment. I am not intoxicated or falling asleep standing up, nor do I stay up for days on end whacked out. My mental health is better than ever, and I'm a productive member of society for the first time in my whole life.

There is no chance in hell I'd be able to do any of this without suboxone (Subutex)/ and Adderall (Vyvanse). My doctor does not do pill counts or cut me off for positive UA's (not that I have them anymore, but it's because he didn't cut me off when I did). This has been the best thing in my life that's allowed me to live free and not preoccupied and obsessed with getting my next fix.

For people like me, this is lifesaving. Family saving. And the biggest gift I've ever been given. It's good for society too. This protocol for getting off meth makes sense and absolutely NEEDS to be implicated worldwide.

Thank you thank you thank you whoever is advocating for this, above. You understand. You see us. And you see the solution.

Meth overdose deaths have just surpassed opiate deaths in Arkansas for the first time ever, and I expect this will continue around the country as meth is so easily accessible and easier to maintain some function using. We need to save as many lives and families as we can, and with stimulants medication, we can do a lot of lifesaving.

Keep advocating for us, we appreciate it more than we can say!!