I've been meaning to post this thread for a while, so here it is. To give you aa little background I'm a 20 yr old junior running for a D1 school. I've been taking ADHD medicine daily for almost 12 years. I took concerta for 10 years and switched to adderall 2 years ago. My freshman year of college I felt concerta was causing me to be on edge (I took 54mg), so I wanted to switch medications. I started on 10mg of aderrall, which was not enough at all, and built up to 25mg XR by the end of the school year.
Obviously adderall helps with running, but I have heard a lot about it being detrimental to performance in the long run. I am also worried about the strain intense training on adderall may have on my heart- I've had high blood pressure since I was 17, and have to take medicine for that, although the heart doctor doesn't seem to think its due to adderall.
Anyway, when I don't take adderall, the effects are not good, especially with running. I feel so much more pain when I run (especially in the legs) and I feel heavy and sluggish in general (yes, I know addy lowers perceived effort). I've done a lot of research, and I know withdrawal is to be expected from this stuff, so I'm not shocked. However, i feel a lot of guilt that adderall is one of the major reasons for the moderate success I've had, and I'm worried I'll suck without it.
To finally get to my point, I'm considering going off of it once I'm done with college. I'm considering beginning to lower my dosage now, but I'm worried it will really mess with my running. I've also heard going off of ADHD medicine temporarily causes metabolism to go to zero, resulting in a big weight gain. I'm already on the heavier side for a runner, so I can't afford for this to happen. I have one year left after this spring, and I'm looking to make the most of my last few seasons, because after college, I could care less about how well I run. As of the past year I'm a 25:10 cross guy, 31 flat 10k (track), and looking to go 30:30 this spring.
Has anyone found themselves in a similar situation or have any stories/advice about their experiences training with adderall/going off of adderall? It would be much appreciated.