Name that feeling!

[nellie]

Yikes Carrie! I started on 20mg of Vyvanse and yesterday ( after nearly 6 weeks) got an increase to 30 because I was boosting with coffee. that’s a 30% increase – you increased by 100%. Don’t think that’s a good idea – ever!

According to the dosage info on the Shire website they say the following:

“In patients who are either starting treatment for the first time or switching from another medication, 30 mg once daily in the morning is the recommended dose. If the decision is made in the judgment of the clinician to increase the dose beyond 30 mg/day, daily dosage may be adjusted in increments of 10 mg or 20 mg at approximately weekly intervals. The maximum recommended dose is 70 mg/day; doses greater than 70 mg/day of Vyvanse have not been studied.”

Anyway hope your day isn’t too spaced out !

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[Carrie]

Sheesh your telling me! 60mg was way too much! Very stupid idea! 40mg will be enough. Im just so sick and tired of trying to find the right one. I think this will be it though! By the end of my night shift I was feeling better. I took the 60mg at 1830 and it wore off at about 0600. But not a nice feeling at all. That will learn me! hahahaha

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[Anonymous]

my doctor put me on Vyvanse 50mg from the beginning. it sounded a little weird since I had only been taking methyln ER three times a week and I’m already an anxious wired person. I’m glad I didn’t have any bad effects! any other stimulant I had ever tried (methyln ER, caffeine, pseudoephedrine) made my heart race and my hands shake. this stuff never did. I felt a bit like an emotionless robot for a few days and that was about it. I think I had a few days of extra poor sleep (my sleep is usually subpar even with my sleeping meds). It lasts about 11 hours for me, but takes an hour to start working.

i once foolishly mixed methlyn ER and caffeine because I was too exhausted to drive one day ..the result was absolutely disastrous. I was then too anxious and wired to drive home. I then experienced a three night insomnia streak. it is like it created street meth in a chemical reaction in my brain.. even the day after..that feeling wouldn’t go awayyyy. will never ever ever mix caffeine with this stuff again. or any stimulant. I didn’t touch anything resembling a stimulant for a week after this.

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[nellie]

Well Carrie so glad to hear that it turned out ok – was thinking about you all day! So have you tried it on 40 then yet? I had 30 yesterday for the first time and it’s pretty intense compared to 20. I had to work all day and, since it involves computer work, was glued to my screen . Not so sure it’s a good thing though since I was so focused on one task.

Will have to see if I still like the effect of this drug after a week. Sugar, like you caffeine seems to really affect me and the intensity of vyvanse. I used to be a caffeine addict and now noticed I’m far more sensitive to it. I gave up my morning coffee this week and on day 4 – let me tell you I’m sluggish and can’t wait for the vyvanse to kick in. The hour seems forever!!! I used to drink coke and coffee all day for self medication but gave up coke last year and cut down on the caffeine. But cold turkey is a pain however I think it’s the only way to really assess the medication.

Weird thing about Vyvanse – the really calm and day is way longer feeling that I had when I first started taking it is gone.

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[Carrie]

Trying to 30mg for a month then will go to 40mg. I dont know how I feel about it yet. Today I took Adderall 20mg hahaha oh gosh. Wanted to compare. Feels pretty much the same. My husband and I can ALWAYS tell as soon as my meds wear off now. Its really funny. I become very mischievous and a hyper nutter. This time of month I ALWAYS get SUPER hyper and “irritating” but the ADD meds tone the hyper itch down, and the Fluoxetine is keeping me away from the random rage and super depressed bouts.

Recently I have just gotten into Caffeine. Energy drinks like Red Bull. WOW! They make me feel AMAZING! Is it REALLY that bad for you? Sheesh we take stimulants already! People drink coffee all the time! I was thinking about buying caffeine pills. I only drink the Red Bull on a night shift. *shrugs*

Talking with my ADD coach Ive realized that I NEED adventure, new things and the unknown. Recently I have been ignoring that and thats why my itch and cravings for destruction have been so high these days. I LOVE adventure! Going new places and just exploring, meeting new people, and the unknown! As a Kid I would get up early and take off into the mountains and come home as it started getting dark. I would either head up the mountain exploring, go down to the river, or explore all around the canal. Once I could drive and became a teen I got “too busy” for “those things” then got pregnant and had 2 kids before 20. So I lost part of my childhood. Had to grow up pretty fast. But I wouldnt change it for anything! Now that I have some time to stop and reflect I am learning about myself and my own needs. LIKE ADVENTURE! We talked about some things ive always wanted to do like make it to the top of “Old Baldy” (the mountain in my town), hang gliding, going to an orchestra… working and traveling in other places! WOW! Im excited for what the future holds!

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[Anonymous]

nellie,

i think that you will probably feel weird for awhile going without caffeine, especially if you are used to drinking so much of it. Do you get the detox migraines? Your kidneys will thank you for this I’ve never been able to tolerate caffeine or pseudoephedrine (makes me shaking and anxious), so really weird that I can take that much Vyvanse without any bad effect. I think it is something to do with the sympathetic nervous system and norepinephrine. You know..i don’t think I feel that calm either. I still have decreased anxiety in general, but not the chillness.

carrie,

all substances (legal) in moderation I like adventure too. the daily activities of life do not always satisfy me. I think you are probably so much fun to hang out with if I worked with you, I would never finish anything lol.

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[nellie]

Sugar, yes I think it must be partly the caffeine withdrawal that’s making me feel weird. I had the headache only for about 2 days and now I’m just tired. But yesterday when the vyvanse kicked BOY I was in overdrive!!! Today maybe not so bad, i took it at 7:30, went back to bed and slept till a little after nine. When I woke up I was “awake” but tired. So made some decaff to trick my brain but not so sure that’ll work.

And Carrie – I hear you – I CRAVE adventure! Haven’t had enough of it recently so I think that may explain my mood come to think of it. All I’ve been doing is focusing on the boring stuff to get my life organized so will have to do something to stimulate that need soon. A friend of mine asked me to go backpacking with her on the week-end and I was so tempted until I suddenly got a picture in my mind of how my basement looks and I’ve got house guests coming in less than 10 days so declined. SO what did I do? Decided to re-organize the kitchen yesterday instead cuz everything was falling out of the cupboards. I took everything out and swear I nearly had a nervous breakdown when I saw all the stuff in front of me.Still not finished – so so much for the basement project! Should have gone backpacking wouldn’t have made a difference!

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[Carrie]

Sugar – hahaha Yeah I work with some ladies where I rather just talk and visit with them than work! Would be fun There are less side effects with Vyvanse because of its molecular make up. I dont really get any side effects which confuses me because then I dont know if its working hahahaha but I know it is because my focus is still there!

Nellie – I JUST HAD A REVELATION THIS MORNING!! WOOOOOOOOOOOO! I have learned this week that if you dont feed that craving of adventure, even your back packing, you wont have the energy to clean those silly clutter piles! Need to go with out guilt!!

Heres the awesome revelation I just got this morning!!! I FINALLY got the concept of ONE WEEKLY FOCUS and how to break it up into SMALL chunks!! For example… I was scrambling through the pile on my dresser looking for my hair elastics when I thought “man I wish this was organized….” then it hit me!! “ONE WEEKLY GOAL!! MY DRESSER!!!!” and then DAILY I can do a bit at a time and work out a system to make it stay organized!!! THAT IS SO MUCH EASIER!!!!!! I FINALLY GET IT!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

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[nellie]

Carrie good going

Really Good idea as for the weekly goal and breaking it up. But I just have to figure out how to clean out my basement in a week and still have time for other stuff I have to do!! I think I bit off more than I can chew with this. I have house guests coming on the 1st of September and starting to panic.

And so true as for the adventure part. I noticed that ages ago but I always get back into a rut.

Now I’m having a revelation: I don’t plan one – I just wait for an opportunity. Hmmm ok so now I have to redesign my life!!!!

Signing off to put in on paper….

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[Carrie]

Im still trying to figure out how to get over the everyday things like laundry. Well I have an idea how to tackle that one, just gotta do it now! Things that take more time I guess such as… well I cant even remember right now.

This is my second night shift and I didn’t sleep today. I slept from 8am to 11:30am then got up and played some xbox, took some Melatonin and slept until 4pm. Yesterday and today I took 60mg of the Vyvanse again, but this time without the Redbull. Its amazing!! Gosh do I ever love it!! Not as many side effects as the Adderall, I just have to take it once and it works really well! Now I just need to learn how to deal with that burning itch then they wear off or when its too late in the day for me to take them like coming off a night shift. Im going to ask my doctor for some Dexedrine 5mg to help with that. I think it will be good. So far this month my PMS has been good. No mood swings yet! Woot! We will see how it goes!

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[Carrie]

Just a little update I guess on these “feelings” and how my meds are working. The prozac is still working great and the doctor has increased my Vyvanse dose to 50mg which is great. I guess coffee doesnt work well with Vyvanse either. I thought with the caffeine content being smaller than that in an energy drink that it wouldnt effect me. But nope. Terrible idea!

During my work day of 12 hours, I normally take my dose of Vyvanse at 6am so it will start working by 7am, then it wears off around 4pm which sucks because my day isnt even done. Then I get home and act michevious and impulsive which my husband and I both cant stand. So I have decided to not take my meds for work but for home life. I can cope at work fine without them its just when im at home trying to deal with kids etc etc etc. The only thing I like them at work for is that they stop me from tuning out while others are talking to me. But I always repeat instructions anyways, I just feel bad and hope they dont notice how I am zoned out. Ah well. Ill survive. Im going to try that out and see how it goes!

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[Anonymous]

This thread is both awesome and disturbing. As a newly diagnosed I am finally feeling a sense of unity? or relief that I am not alone. I have suffered through this “itch” unknowingly for my entire life. The disturbing part is that I have the unfortunate label of being a unecessary risk taker and even disciplined for it at work. I am a Marine and a cop…. In hindsight I am lucky to be alive and able to walk and talk. However my world doesn’t slow down until the feeling of death is very close.

It makes is hard to feel comfortable in your own skin and a jerk to have to be around.

More to think about, just what I need…

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[Rick Green – Founder of TotallyADD]

This is an amazing thread. Carrie hit on something very crucial, that we can struggle to make sense of what we are feeling. On the most basic level, it can mean that we don’t realize we are hungry… until we are starving. Then the signal finally gets through. Like it has to reach a tipping point and then it’s a flood. I was interviewing Dr. Anthony Rostain last week for some new videos we’re making for this site and he said that ADHD/ADD kids can wet themselves not because of trauma or something physical, but simply that they don’t sense they need to pee.

Consider that your brain is bombarded by about 2,000,000 bits of information a second from your various senses, but you conscious mind can only handle less than 50 bits of information a second. So your brain has to do a lot of filtering out. Right now it’s probably filtering out what your legs feel like as you’re reading this. Or the noise of the furnace. Or the buzz from the florescent lights.

ADHD brains don’t quite filter that same way. So things like how we feel, even whether we are hungry, get lost in the tornado of incoming data. No wonder ADHD people talk so fast. We’re trying to get it all out before we forget!

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[Carrie]

Rick, you are absolutely right! 2 months later, with medication now sorted out and working with a coach I am learning how to SLOW DOWN and listen to what I am feeling and think about why Im feeling the way I am. Funny you bring up the “pee the pants” scenario… I am bringing my son into an ADD specialist and when he was younger he would get so distracted he would forget to go to the bathroom and go in his pants. It was very aggravating!

Also “No wonder ADHD people talk so fast. We’re trying to get it all out before we forget!” I found once again, overwhelmed by feeling excited (over the littlest things) I didnt know how to control it and would talk one million miles an hour to get all that energy out and share my excitement with others… and then would think of something else while talking to them about topic A and get waaaaaaaaaaaay off topic and lose myself as well as the person I was talking to. My coach pointed that out. With medication I can tell myself to STOP! SLOW IT DOWN! YOU DONT HAVE TO TALK!! Funny thing is, even though I would get excited so quickly, that excitement would fade away just as fast hahahaha

Welcome MentalChaos!! Very awesome name by the way! That about sums it up yep! Yes it is nice to know there are others like yourself. I always felt like I was on the outside… A complete whack-o especially with that “itch” no one could keep up with me and nothing would satisfy it!

I havent really posted on this topic for a while because things have leveled out for me and have been going well… I really am in awe of medication. No longer in denial! My hormones during my lovely lady time of the month are still crap physically but meds have evened out my emotions which HAS BEEN AMAZING!! LIFE SAVING/CHANGING!! My ADD meds calm down my “mischievous/itch” 100%. WIthout them I eat and eat and eat…. or get drunk, or start arguments with my husband for the fun of it, or start a play fight that always ends in someone bleeding like I mentioned before hahahaha I can now stop myself, I can NOTICE my feelings and stop and think about why and whats going on to evoke them and then how to manage them! A coach has really helped too. I tell her problems im having, relationship wise, work, etc and tell her what I feel and she helps me understand those feelings etc etc.

Things have truley been amazing. Not perfect no… but incredible. I couldnt imagine my life without medication now. As a matter of fact… I ran out for about 4 days…. I drove my husband nuts because I would crank up the music and run around the house (no joke) then jump on him. And I ate and ate and ate and ate and gained 10lbs!! CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT!! UGH!! So I made an emergency trip to go get more meds so my clothes can fit again hahaha PMS has been a dream. When in denial about the meds, I stop taking them until I have a HUGE RAGE FIT and realize “Oh crap!! They still work! Ill go take them now….” My husband can ALWAYS tell when im on them or not. I now am learning about who I am, ADD, PMS and all and how to work with myself… and for once I can say that I do like me, craziness and all!

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