# Dexedrine's terrible comedown depression



## HideMyFace (Aug 12, 2010)

Yeah, I see that my post is kind of hard on the eyes 

Adderall/Dexedrine have probably been the most useful meds that I have every taken. For the duration of its effects, I feel like I can do almost anything and the world just feels much more "right." After about four hours after taking it, the comedown/crash is terrible. It is like the complete opposite of what I had felt while it was in effect. Terrible depression sets in and lasts for a couple of hours - not too long but it is so hard for me to cope with. If not for the manic-depressive like properties induced by Dex, I would not even hesitate to take it, and would probably use it more than the one day a week or two that I am currently doing.

School is starting in less than two weeks I am afraid that when it does, I might just be forced to take more Dex for consecutive days. The thought of having a grand time at school and then coming home every afternoon wanting to cry and feeling like total crap scares me. 

Any ideas to smooth the comedowns? What I have been taking to help a bit are clonazepam, gabapentin, rhodiola rhosea, tyrosine, and magnesium. I'm not sure if any of these things help at all with it except for the clonazepam. 

I've tried spacing my dosing of Dexedrine IR - 10mg, then after about 1-2 hrs, another 10mg, and then repeat as needed.
I had since stopped going over 10mg/day, as it seems the more I take, the harsher the comedown. 

Sorry about the organization of my posts, but my brain is fried... :sus 
Any insight or suggestions would be appreciated.

Oh and yeah, I had done multiple searches of the forum and have found only suggestions of taking or doing the things that I have already been doing.

And... can someone explain what exactly happens within the brain when you come up then come down? My simple understanding is that all of the neurotransmitter release is destroyed by MAO and the result is low levels of these neurotransmitters in the body's attempt for homeostasis. 

Again, sorry for my crazy post organization. 

Any contributions would be great.


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## Noca (Jun 24, 2005)

Try Adderall XR and take benzos to bypass the crash.


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## Ash09 (Apr 27, 2009)

Try using a lower dose or switch to an extended release form like Vyvanse or Adderall XR.


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## Bigbird (Feb 25, 2010)

How long have you been taking the dexedrine? From what Ive read the crashes decrease over time and that your body just needs to adjust to it. By only taking them twice a week I dont believe you are giving your body a chance to adjust. You might want to consider taking them on a more regular/consistent daily basis


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## IllusionalFate (Sep 10, 2008)

After I started 20mg memantine per day, it eliminated the amphetamine crash. It also greatly protects against the development of tolerance, so you can use amphetamine much more often.



HideMyFace said:


> And... can someone explain what exactly happens within the brain when you come up then come down? My simple understanding is that all of the neurotransmitter release is destroyed by MAO and the result is low levels of these neurotransmitters in the body's attempt for homeostasis.


Releasing agents like amphetamine force the release of stored catecholamines (norepinephrine and dopamine), so after it wears off the newly-synthesized pool of dopamine is depleted. You return to baseline after the enzymes tyrosine hydroxylase and DOPA decarboxylase synthesize enough dopamine to regenerate the original stored supply in DA neurons, and exocytosis resumes. At least that's my theory.


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## crayzyMed (Nov 2, 2006)

Id say its just a problem of receptor downregulation since the half life of amp is double its duration (enough amp still in your system wich should be releasing DA) and redosing works, so there still is enough dopamine to be released.

Dopamine depletion also is only a problem with neurotoxic doses i think (since dopamine depletion is one of the markers of toxiticy). ADD patients also take the same doses daily for years indicating not much DA depletion going on.


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## crayzyMed (Nov 2, 2006)

Memantine is a great comedown killer IME, ive been feeling off all week because of taking too much stuff last week and memantine immediatly makes me feel better. It only does that on 20mg tough, not on lower doses.
But offcourse YMMV.


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## HideMyFace (Aug 12, 2010)

@Dr House & Ash09, I have tried XR and it did absolutely nothing for me but keep me awake at night. I'm not sure if it being generic has any bearing on this.

@Bigbird, I have been taking Dex inconsistently for about four months now. I will probably try taking it a couple more days a week like you have suggested.

@IllusionalFate and crayzyMed, thank you for your thoughts on this. And about Memantine, I was considering taking it before, not really anymore. It probably would work great with Dex but I don't want to deal with its side effects.


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## crayzyMed (Nov 2, 2006)

Memantine is pretty much known to be side effect free (except the initial brainfog) but that quickly passes.

Taking it consistintly can reduce the crashes but also the positive anxiolytic effects due to tolerance, so watch out for that, i'm guessing a SSRI can also work very well against crashes like memantine (didnt compare them) but SSRI's have more side effects then memantine. Except that memantine appears to have been found to decrease cognition in 30mg a day, but thats generally a effect you dont notice or can be overshadowed by a stimulant.


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## euphoria (Jan 21, 2009)

IllusionalFate said:


> Releasing agents like amphetamine force the release of stored catecholamines (norepinephrine and dopamine), so after it wears off the newly-synthesized pool of dopamine is depleted. You return to baseline after the enzymes tyrosine hydroxylase and DOPA decarboxylase synthesize enough dopamine to regenerate the original stored supply in DA neurons, and exocytosis resumes. At least that's my theory.


Makes sense, but how come it happens with methylphenidate as well? It doesn't force the release of catecholamines.


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## IllusionalFate (Sep 10, 2008)

euphoria said:


> Makes sense, but how come it happens with methylphenidate as well? It doesn't force the release of catecholamines.


Acute transporter blockade leads to acute presynaptic receptor downregulation which leads to decreased firing rate of catecholaminergic neurons. Once DAT regains function the presynaptic receptors need to upregulate again in response to the transport protein clearing out the synaptic cleft.



xenobiotic said:


> ...the presynaptic neurons have trouble transmittin all that dopa to postsynaptic neurons becuz those neurons aint designed to fire and receive that much data constantly hence dysphoria, anhedonia shows up among other nasty stuff.


Amphetamine and methylphenidate/other NDRIs inhibit neuronal firing.


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## HyperdimensionalRubixCube (Sep 12, 2012)

Thats strange because dexedrine for me lasts for 12 hours before I come down. The effects it has on me are quite the opposite to you. My social skills are terrible and I get these bouts of depression but it cures my ADHD. Anyhow, what I have discovered to be the ultimate comedown remedy are opiates. Unfortunately they are really hard to get and expensive. I'd recommend trying gabapentin as its not addictive. Also l-theanine really takes the edge off comedowns.


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## thephantommenace (Aug 4, 2012)

Funny I did not have any crash on Adderall. I took 60mg in one day (this was only my third time taking it) and I thought I was going to experience a terrible comedown because of what I read on forums but I didn't feel anything. 

I had some negative side effects while on the drug such as teeth clenching and inability to sleep for one night but after that I felt normal.

Just my experience.


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## istayhome (Apr 4, 2012)

I've only taken stimulants a couple times and never notice a comedown, but I am a very inexperienced user. I tend to just feel good and be active and it slowly fades away to baseline. I could see that daily use would really cause some problems due to the law of duality building up and the "down" after being "up" becoming significantly greater.


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## GotAnxiety (Oct 14, 2011)

The crashes will potentially get worse from the wear and tear on your body unless you adapt some how. Amphetimine mess with sleep and appetite two main factors as well they decrease activity levels that we need too survive and to keep depression at bay. Im just coming of of 12 days of using adderall and it bloated me up made my bp high 160 over 100 and decreased my sleep and that was only from 12.5mg to 25mg a day. everyone different altho i personally may not be in the best health and this may not be a drug for me.


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## jonjacob (Aug 28, 2012)

Be super careful with dex. I used 30mg a day for about a year and it took me like 2-3 months to feel normal after, I mean 100% normal. It releases so much dopamine, you really shouldn't use it in any case, I mean its speed, lets be real here. I did get employee of the year tho, LOL. Now I can hardly make it through a day of work


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## imrj (Jan 20, 2009)

jonjacob said:


> Be super careful with dex. I used 30mg a day for about a year and it took me like 2-3 months to feel normal after, I mean 100% normal. It releases so much dopamine, you really shouldn't use it in any case, I mean its speed, lets be real here. I did get employee of the year tho, LOL. Now I can hardly make it through a day of work


come on....Dex is not that devilish.....taking 2-3 months after being on any drug of (SSRI, stimulant, etc) is quite normal....dont give it a bad rap because of that and its not speed, not even close....


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