Stimulant Addiction Treatment

Stimulant Addiction Treatment

Stimulant Abuse and Addiction

Often, drug abuse and addiction begin with a prescription. Prescribed medications for ADD, ADHD, weight loss, and narcolepsy are considered stimulants and carry a high risk of dependency and abuse when misused. 

Stimulants increase the body’s activity by temporarily increasing mental alertness and physical energy. This pleasurable feeling can be highly addictive.

Someone with ADHD will experience a calming and focusing effect when they take stimulant prescription drugs. However, someone who does not have ADHD is likely to experience the opposite effect. And become highly stimulated. 

There is a debate as to whether medications like Adderall, Ritalin, and Vyvanse are necessary at all since children often outgrow the symptoms of hyperactivity. Some experts contend that hyperactivity is a normal part of childhood.

Adults with ADD or ADHD can learn behavior and thought modification techniques to improve their thinking skills and mood without using stimulants.

Getting Help for Prescription Drug Abuse

Prescription drug rehab can help anyone who:

  • has become addicted to a prescription from their doctor’s office
  • has developed a drug abuse problem 
  • began illegally misusing prescription drugs

People who take prescription stimulants often develop tolerance due to the chemical effects of these drugs. Then require a more significant dose to feel the same impact they once felt with a smaller quantity. This cycle can lead to misuse, doctor shopping, and obtaining pills illegally.

Even people who’ve never had a prescription for a stimulant often seek them out because of their potential performance-enhancing effects. However, research proves that students without ADHD who use stimulants receive lower grades than those who do not use them.

Inpatient Methamphetamine Rehab

Meth damages the mind, body, and spirit of an individual. Pockmarks, open sores, deep facial lines, and aged, darkened skin are outward signs of their inner psychological pain.

People addicted to meth struggle with a stressful life magnified by the roller coaster of highs followed by repeated crashes up and down until the toll is meted out in poverty, prison, or death.

Unless the person addicted to meth gets help in recovery. If you or someone you care about is on the downward path, getting them into a stimulant addiction treatment program could mean saving their life.

At Elevate Addiction Services, for example, meth and other stimulant addiction treatment involve four main phases:

  • detox & physical stabilization
  • physical healing
  • emotional healing
  • aftercare planning

Each client at Elevate is offered individualized care and does not move to the next treatment phase until they are fully ready. 

At Elevate, aftercare is planned from the start of treatment. Elevate offers aftercare through our facilities as well as encouraging clients to enroll in local support groups. 

Prescription Stimulants and Rehab

Prescription stimulant drugs are composed of a similar biochemical structure to meth and have the same potential for dependency, tolerance, and abuse. 

Ritalin and Concerta are classified as methylphenidates, while Adderall, Dexedrine, and Vyvanse are considered amphetamines.

Long-term heavy use of stimulants such as those listed above results in serious health risks, including:

  • sleep problems
  • no motivation
  • panic attacks
  • headaches
  • depression
  • anxiety
  • hallucinations
  • tremors
  • suicidal thoughts
  • organ damage
  • brain damage

As the number of diagnoses of ADHD increases, the number of prescriptions has risen to match, causing the misuse and nonmedical diversion of stimulant drugs to increase. 

Stimulant addiction treatment has become a mainstay in professional rehab centers today.

Detoxing From Stimulants 

Simply being dependent on a brain-altering drug is problematic enough to seek treatment. People with adult ADHD can successfully get off ADD and ADHD medications and enjoy life without being tied to psychotropic medications.

Part of our mission at Elevate Addiction Services is to help people attain optimum health through holistic means. 

We provide professional guidance in weaning off stimulants for people struggling with dependency, abuse, and addiction. This allows them to see what life can be like drug-free.

Adults who have been taking prescription drugs long term, even since childhood, can become free and realize they don’t need to live with an addiction to stimulants.

Desoxyn Abuse 

We know what the devastating consequences of meth addiction can do to a person, but did you know the same substance, methamphetamine, is the sole active ingredient in Desoxyn? 

Desoxyn is another prescription drug for ADHD, similar to Ritalin and Adderall, but more potent.

Desoxyn can be a very dangerous stimulant and is prescribed less often than the others because of its injurious nature. Desoxyn has been known to trigger psychotic episodes and mood disorders in individuals who have not previously had mental health issues. 

Overdosing on Desoxyn can cause serious cardiovascular events.

Desoxyn detox requires a supportive and supervised environment due to the extreme withdrawal symptoms. 

Desoxyn withdrawal symptoms include:

  • aggression 
  • violence toward others
  • risk of suicide

There are no medications approved to manage Desoxyn’s withdrawal, so individual recovery focuses on managing behavioral strategies through other therapies.

Vyvanse Addiction Treatment 

Vyvanse was initially introduced as a safer alternative to Adderall and Ritalin. Medical professionals claimed that taking one dose per day in an extended-release formula would offer less potential for abuse. 

However, Vyvanse is now rivaling Adderall when it comes to the drug of choice for college students cramming for tests on campuses across America.

Because Vyvanse, like other stimulants, alters the user’s brain chemicals, it has severe adverse side effects when taken recreationally. 

It also causes chemical dependency quickly. So, even a short-term recreational user needs to taper off slowly or suffer withdrawal when desiring to quit using Vyvanse.

Ritalin Abuse 

Ritalin is mostly prescribed to children and widely sold or given away to other students who want an edge in academic success. 

It is also commonly abused by professionals, athletes, and anyone looking to improve their performance and energy.

It stimulates endorphins, so people often feel good or high while taking it and quickly become hooked. 

If desiring to quit using Ritalin, individuals will go through a non-life-threatening withdrawal phase but may experience symptoms such as:

  • extreme fatigue
  • depression
  • irregular sleep patterns

Ending Ritalin addiction usually involves gradually tapering off the drug, and then the rehabilitation process follows that of other stimulant drugs.

Finding Stimulant Addiction Treatment

Abuse and dependency on prescription stimulants share much in common with the street drug meth. And in the case of Desoxyn, meth is the active ingredient.

Once a person or their family member realizes how dangerous these drugs are, they can begin the process of recovery. Imagine how great it will feel to be yourself without needing a potent drug like methamphetamine.

Contact Elevate Addiction Service to learn more about how you or your loved one can start your recovery journey today!

Alok Krishna Md Medical Review E1609434241710
Medically reviewed by
Alok Krishna, MD
12/01/2020

  • Overcome Addiction at Elevate Addiction Services

    Elevate is currently offering immediate enrollment in inpatient, outpatient, or telehealth programs. Reach out today to learn more.
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Elevate Locations


Treatment Resources



elevate addiction services logo
Is an accredited drug and alcohol rehabilitation program, that believes addiction treatment should not just address “how to stay sober” but needs to transform the life of the addict and empower him or her to create a more meaningful and positive life. We are dedicated to transforming the despair of addiction into a purposeful life of confidence, self-respect and happiness. We want to give recovering addicts the tools to return to the outside world completely substance-free and successful.
elevate addiction services logo
Is an accredited drug and alcohol rehabilitation program, that believes addiction treatment should not just address “how to stay sober” but needs to transform the life of the addict and empower him or her to create a more meaningful and positive life. We are dedicated to transforming the despair of addiction into a purposeful life of confidence, self-respect and happiness. We want to give recovering addicts the tools to return to the outside world completely substance-free and successful.