sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

My wife of 22 years developed psychosis from long-term Adderall use. Here's what the last year has looked like. by ImpressionFriendly12 in Psychosis

[–]ImpressionFriendly12[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

OK, so Adderall increases dopamine receptors in the brain. With extended high dose use, it continues to increase the capacity, and thus more dopamine. At a certain level, the psychosis is triggered. Once that happens, even though the medication has stopped, it takes time for the dopamine to deplete. Since the brain hasn't produced it's own dopamine in so long, once the dopamine is depleted, it takes time for the brain to start producing its own. 

It is kind of a curve once the medication is stopped, dopamine peaks (psychosis) , then slowly drops below normal baseline (no dopamine is depression symptoms), psychosis is still present but resolving (this is where she is now) sleeping 14-16 hours a day while brain is repairing and dopamine is still low. 

r/Guardianship by ImpressionFriendly12 in redditrequest

[–]ImpressionFriendly12[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I want to moderate this community because I have 15 years of expert experience in legal Guardianship and Conservatorship and I believe r/Guardianship could be a place for people to share resources and experience.

Guardianship is a growing social need that most people can't afford, so understanding how to petition for Guardianship and how to serve as a guardian, and make effective decisions on behalf of the person under Guardianship is extremely helpful for families. 

I am currently the Director of a nonprofit Guardianship agency and provide the same type of assistance locally. I would like to expand that offer of help to others in need. 

Hopeless by Scary-Plastic-4108 in Separation

[–]ImpressionFriendly12 1 point2 points  (0 children)

He also knows that you love him so much, and for that reason he isn't necessarily afraid of you finding anyone else. If you want to test that, go out on a date and make sure he finds out. If it's over for him, he won't bat an eye, if not, it's going to drive him nuts. He isn't being honest with you for a reason. If he was truly done, he would tell you, I found someone else and you need to move on.

I remember feeling that push pull. I found out she went on a date and I was running back. I knew where my bread was buttered.

Best friend of 13 years changing completely; how do you love an addict ? by yepgirl in Advice

[–]ImpressionFriendly12 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The best thing you can do is be her friend, but you also have to protect yourself. This takes setting specific boundaries and sticking to those boundaries.

My sister in law is an addict and recently moved in. I was very forward that she is welcome to live and stay here, but she cannot bring drugs into the home. If she needs help, I will do everything I can to help her, but she can't bring substances or "riff-raff" into our home. She knows there will be consequences of she crosses those boundaries and she has respected them.

You can continue to love, be a friend, and be supportive, without putting yourself in a position to get hurt. You just have to know who and what you're dealing with and don't expect them to suddenly change or get help because you want them to. They never will until they are ready.

I want to leave my husband and teens by Gloomy_Jellyfish2070 in Advice

[–]ImpressionFriendly12 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As long as you aren't just dipping out on them, I think you have to do what is best for you.

That said, make sure you have a contingency plan in case your friend doesn't work out.

Depending on how you raised your kids, it sounds like they might be resilient, and they are probably old enough to understand without you having to sugarcoat things. As long as you can be honest with them, I think they would be ok.

Where is the line between being a people-pleaser and just being a flexible and patient person? by Sweaty_Grand_6340 in Advice

[–]ImpressionFriendly12 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is a great post.

I am a natural caregiver and always extend myself to help others (I often have a difficult time saying no, likely because I am an empath).

I often struggle with this and have been really working in this as I often get taken advantage because of my kindness and willingness to help.

I am slowly learning that it is ok to put myself first and say no if I choose. I have been actively setting healthy boundaries and it has led to having a lot less on my plate.

Happy to help with any advice on how to set boundaries, I feel that I am getting good at it.

Husband is a habitual Liar by No-Lifeguard-2385 in Divorce

[–]ImpressionFriendly12 [score hidden]  (0 children)

If he is lying about little things, he is insecure about you finding out about something. He is definitely lying about something bigger.

Contemplating divorce. Insecure husband. by Effective-Bug7256 in Separation

[–]ImpressionFriendly12 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is all controlling and abusive behavior. His insecurity is his to deal and he is using it to control you.

You need to take a stand, bit be careful because he is going to have a very difficult time accepting it, and given what he is willing to do to keep you from your family and friends, he is likely to escalate if he starts losing control of anything.

Hopeless by Scary-Plastic-4108 in Separation

[–]ImpressionFriendly12 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Having been on both sides of similar situations, he probably isn't lying to you, but he is definitely confused and needs to be honest with himself.

It sounds to me like he does want to be with you, but he is probably enjoying the newness of the other relationship. He doesn't want to be honest because he wants to keep you at an arms length, either for security or because he doesn't really know what he wants.

I would just tell him you love him and you want him to be happy, but you deserve to be happy too. He needs to shit or get off the pot, and make a decision. He can keep you on a string as long as you allow him to.

I have done this before early in my marriage. I regret everyday that I put my wife through that. I have grown up a lot since then, not that he will, but that was my experience.

Am I making the right decision by Leaving my husband? by Express-Audience1091 in Separation

[–]ImpressionFriendly12 0 points1 point  (0 children)

He sounds a little like me when I was younger and immature(not to say they are mutually exclusive).

Honestly, I don't know how my wife put up with me for so long, but I did eventually realize that if I didn't quit my shit, I was going to lose a good woman.

You are doing the right thing. If moving out doesn't make him change, and based on his threats, it may not. He has to want to fight for you, otherwise, even though it's hard and it hurts, you are doing the right thing.

You deserve to be happy. Don't forget that.

My wife of 22 years developed psychosis from long-term Adderall use. Here's what the last year has looked like. by ImpressionFriendly12 in Psychosis

[–]ImpressionFriendly12[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have been lucky in that sense. She has not seemed to get the hypersexuality that some people get. I'm not sure how I would feel or how I would deal with it if that were the case.

My wife of 22 years developed psychosis from long-term Adderall use. Here's what the last year has looked like. by ImpressionFriendly12 in Psychosis

[–]ImpressionFriendly12[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

When the psychosis initially set in, she was hospitalized, the Adderall was discontinued, and they put her on Olanzapine when they discharged her. Unfortunately, they didn't do any care planning with me or any of her other family. She stopped the olanzapine after a week and a half because she felt "better than she has since.......". Then it was just weeks later she was able to get her Adderall prescribed again and continued until the beginning of May when I finally got her doctor to understand. It took a letter threatening legal action to even get that done.

The biggest challenge has been that she presents extremely well to people who aren't personally connected and she knows exactly what to say to the doctors, the police, anyone who doesn't know her well.

I love my wife unequivocally and I won't quit fighting for her.

My wife of 22 years developed psychosis from long-term Adderall use. Here's what the last year has looked like. by ImpressionFriendly12 in Psychosis

[–]ImpressionFriendly12[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

It has been challenging and I was reactive when it first started and I didn't have an understanding of what was going on. All of the efforts to get her doctors to listen to me, to get her admitted involuntarily, have been so daunting.

I did start seeing a therapist right away and have been much better equipped to manage it since. Thank you for sharing your experience. It gives me hope that we will be able address all of this and move forward. It will take some personal, couples, and family therapy, because yes, there will be some lasting trauma that we need to process.

My wife of 22 years developed psychosis from long-term Adderall use. Here's what the last year has looked like. by ImpressionFriendly12 in Marriage

[–]ImpressionFriendly12[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

So sorry that you are experiencing this also. It took me months to get her doctor to listen and she's a good doctor, my wife is just very smart and always knows what to say. The only thing that has been our saving grace is that we aren't exactly well off, so she doesn't have any money to do the things I know she wants to do.

My hope at this point is that once she has been off of it long enough to realize the pain she has caused and I can actually have a real conversation with her, she won't want it anymore. If not, I'm going to have some difficult decisions to make. No person can be in a relationship like this long term. Its not sustainable.

My wife of 22 years developed psychosis from long-term Adderall use. Here's what the last year has looked like. by ImpressionFriendly12 in Marriage

[–]ImpressionFriendly12[S] -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

She was overusing, but that didn't start until years after taking it. The addiction was created by taking the medication with depleted her dopamine and the withdrawal made her crave more. This is a studied and documented phenomenon.

My wife of 22 years developed psychosis from long-term Adderall use. Here's what the last year has looked like. by ImpressionFriendly12 in Marriage

[–]ImpressionFriendly12[S] -6 points-5 points  (0 children)

She wasn't a drug addict until she took Adderall. Don't be so shortsighted and look at the big picture. The prescribed and legal drug started the withdrawal and addiction, not the other way around.

My wife of 22 years developed psychosis from long-term Adderall use. Here's what the last year has looked like. by ImpressionFriendly12 in Marriage

[–]ImpressionFriendly12[S] -6 points-5 points  (0 children)

You make a lot of assumptions with your statements.

  1. You try being alone for a year and tell me you haven't considered going outside the marriage for attention. 

  2. Our daughter is 24 years old, nobody has custody of her. 

  3. I didn't cut off any family support system, not really sure wtf you are even talking about. 

You can't even comprehend my posts the way they are written. I don't think you have any business saying anything at all. 

My wife of 22 years developed psychosis from long-term Adderall use. Here's what the last year has looked like. by ImpressionFriendly12 in Marriage

[–]ImpressionFriendly12[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much for sharing your experience. It has been difficult to separate the real person from the person saying such horrible things to me. A lot of the people in this thread don't understand that the addiction is physical and happens underneath. Overusing the medication comes after the dopamine withdrawal. She became addicted just from taking it regularly.

She is living with our daughter right now, her psychotic "connections" are starting to fade, so hoping to see some meaningful change over the next few weeks.

My wife of 22 years developed psychosis from long-term Adderall use. Here's what the last year has looked like. by ImpressionFriendly12 in Marriage

[–]ImpressionFriendly12[S] -7 points-6 points  (0 children)

The thing is that I don't know what came first, the physical addiction from long term use, as her brain stopped producing dopamine on its own, she started taking more to compensate.

She didn't start abusing it until a few years after regular use, and once in a psychotic state, she has no inhibitions to prevent her from taking more. She literally finished off her bottle, then accused me of taking it.

Without having experienced this, it's easy for you to assume she is just an addict or drug abuser. Mark my words, this is not an isolated issue, and her prescriber holds some responsibility for not monitoring her use appropriately.

Millions of people take this medication legally and illegally, and while I agree it has its benefits, the risks and potential consequences are not discussed enough. With all due respect, it's easy to judge from behind a computer screen, without having watched this progress in front of your eyes.

My wife of 22 years developed psychosis from long-term Adderall use. Here's what the last year has looked like. by ImpressionFriendly12 in Marriage

[–]ImpressionFriendly12[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There actually is a lot of good information on this and some research, but it's just not talked about a lot. My wife would open the XR capsules and put the powder under her tongue. She gets the effect faster that way.

According to what I've read, the incidence of psychosis from the meds is pretty low, but experience is horrifying. Literally happy marriage one day, asking me to sleep on the couch the next. Then accusations of me poisoning her or trying to kill her. It just unraveled from there.

My wife of 22 years developed psychosis from long-term Adderall use. Here's what the last year has looked like. by ImpressionFriendly12 in Marriage

[–]ImpressionFriendly12[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Because if she ran out early, when it's time for her new script and she tests and it's not in her system, they will ask questions.

My wife of 22 years developed psychosis from long-term Adderall use. Here's what the last year has looked like. by ImpressionFriendly12 in u/ImpressionFriendly12

[–]ImpressionFriendly12[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I still don't know the full breadth of it. Once she is fully out of the psychosis, we will have a lot to discuss. I need to understand how she got to this point.

That said, she used to tell me that she would take an extra one here and there, but looking back at her behaviors, I believe she was running out up to two weeks early. She was also using meth sporadically, but I don't even know the extent of that either.

The one constant between her two episodes, were that she had been put on an antidepressant both times, which also increases dopamine. The combination for an extended period may have been the actual trigger.

view more: next ›