Re: Vyvanse

[Anonymous]

I’m hoping to get some help here, as my husband’s psychiatrist is out of country for several weeks and I’m feeling stranded.

My husband is bipolar and ADHD. He found out he was bipolar the bad way: he had hit a low in life and was prescribed anti depressants, and for the first time tried Concerta, and when that had no positive effect, Adderall. What I slowly saw happen to my husband was really scary. He basically lost his ‘care’ for people, including our kids. It became dangerous to live in the house with him and I did have to call the cops on him. When he finally saw his psychiatrist again, she quickly told him to get off all the medication and gave him Serequol. He ‘came down’ in a couple weeks, but it took months to repair the damage and fear our family had.

His psychiatrist wanted to get him back on ADHD medication, Vyvance this time. I asked them to please wait until he had the Seroquel figured out, as it made him very tired. With the slow release medication he was able to function fairly well. 2 weeks ago I said that I was OK with him trying the Vyvanse, under the condition that if I saw a similar reaction and told him to get off it, he would, or at least consult with the psychiatrist. I’ve noticed his irritation is getting up high again, his eyes dart around a lot, and he is losing his ‘care’ again, example: I had cut myself badly when cleaning up some broken glass, when I told him I was cut, he stayed at the computer and said “OK”, just like I had maybe told him I was taking out the garbage.

I question myself if I’m looking too closely for any similar symptoms, but it all is so familiar and I’m afraid it is going to be worse and we will be back at ground zero again. The psychiatrist told me that Vyvanse is missing the component that triggers mania and that it won’t affect him. But she also had said that if we see any similar behaviors to stop it right away, and she said she wished it came in a smaller dose.

So here are my questions that I hope someone can help me with:

What are the clear ‘positive’ effects that Vyvanse will have? My husband says he can’t tell if his concentration is better or the same.

Does Vyvanse give you lots of extra energy? Husband loves the energy he has regained and this may be why he doesn’t want to go off it.

Can Vyvanse trigger mania in bipolar people, even when the are taking bipolar medication?

I would like for my husband to be able to treat both, but I’m beginning to think his ADHD won’t be treatable by medication. He responded very well to counseling before he went on Vyvanse, but everything he seemed to learn through it seems to be gone now.

Any help would be much appreciated.

REPORT ABUSE