Started Today

[Anonymous]

I was finally able to get my Vyvanse medication yesterday (50mg) and took it for the first time this morning. I’ve been absolutely floored by the experience already. I have a bit of dry mouth (did not drink any morning coffee though) and am a bit “buzzy” from not eating breakfast (I’ll make sure I do it from now on.) But, I am absolutely amazed. Not only have I been able to focus better, but emotionally I’m angry and overjoyed all at once. Angry, that I missed out on things from the past due to my inability to truly focus, overjoyed because I am where I am today despite this “impairment” all my life (I’m 39, have co-authored three strategy guides and more DESPITE).

I’m also overjoyed because my daughter is also recently diagnosed (it’s why I went to get diagnosed) and seems to be doing better. The fact that she’s getting an “early” jump on this and that I’m in a place where I can understand what she’s going through, is such a huge relief.

I’m assuming the “buzzy” feeling is more from lack of food this morning, but wanted to find out if anyone else has had this experience and had eating breakfast (protein) mellow it out or not. I’ll be trying myself tomorrow, but wanted to get some input from others who may have experienced this.

I even noticed a bit of music in a song that I enjoy and have heard a gazillion times that I had never noticed before. It was astounding since I’m such a music lover /junkie/pusher.

Anyway, it’s only day one, so I’m keeping a journal of all my activities, how I feel, times etc, but overall, I’m feeling truly great and like I can accomplish absolutely anything. I may even take over the company some day. ;p (I kid.)

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[quizzical]

Wow – you’re starting off at a way higher dose than I did! I started on 20 mg Vyvanse and moved up to 30 after three months, then to 40 just recently.

Even so, I was super-buzzy on the first day of the medication. I was all blissed out in the morning, then at mid-day I felt a little too revved up. (I’d exercised, so that probably contributed to the pounding heart!) By the second or third day the buzzy feeling calmed down, but the improved focus was still there.

I never skip breakfast; I’m a cereal junkie so I haven’t got any personal empty-stomach experience to compare, but I’m sure eating something would help! In fact, my doctor’s kind of amazed because I actually gained 3 or 4 pounds since starting the meds. Obviously they’re not dulling my appetite any!

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[Anonymous]

Awesome to hear. Yeah, I’m not sure why he started me at 50, but so far, it doesn’t seem “bad”. I’ve only had the dry-mouth for the most part and am making sure to drink plenty of water.

I’ve been in two meetings so far and was able to really pay attention and focus and actually… enjoy the conversation and take part without any nervousness about speaking up and sharing ideas.

I have to get moving on exercise again since I know I’ve had good experiences with exercise helping sans medication, so we’ll see how it goes with.

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[nellie]

I’ve been on 30mg of Vyvanse since the summer ( so about 7 months). When I first started I took 20mg for about a month and I really noticed the medication kick in.Like you Quizzical I felt very calm and an hour really seemed 3 times as long. Now I don’t really notice it, it’s very subtle.. However, if I drink more than 2-3 cups of coffee in the morning I feel quite buzzy.

I also tried one of those blue lights recently to see if it helps me wake up in the morning. I was drinking coffee at the same time and boy did I suddenly feel really buzzy! I don’t like the feeling so have been careful to not overdue the coffee. I also find that I don’t really feel the effect of the medication if I don’t get enough sleep.

In terms of eating, I have to be sure to eat breakfast because I find I get tired/sleepy if I don’t and the brain fog feeling comes back. Not sure if that would be the meds per se or just that I’m not getting enough sleep and the lack of food is not helping with energy levels.

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[Anonymous]

Hi Nellie,

We are using the blue light and also the wakeup light (both by Phillips). I find the wakeup light the most useful, it gradually increases the light (to the level you pre-determine) over a half hour period until the alarm. So your body is getting signals from the light in the room that it’s time to wake up. Then I sit with the blue light (doing morning meditation) for a half an hour. I am minimizing caffeine these days, never was a real caffeine junky, but I find it’s a bit of an irritant for my bladder.

Sleep is really important for me, but I have a sleep disorder, so I’m paying really close attention to that. We’re using the amber glasses at night and really starting to quiet down an hour before bed if we can.

Yesterday I felt very strange before my second dose of meds at 11:30, I guess I hadn’t had the right breakfast, I was feeling weak, light-headed, luckily I had a lunch prepared to eat, so i took my meds and ate it and all was well. The ADHD psychiatrist I saw said that we (my husband and I, not sure if this applies to all with ADHD but it might) should be eating smaller more frequent meals, like 7 a day rather than 3. He also said that if you don’t eat breakfast, you’re basically starving yourself (and your brain) for too many hours. So we actually have a tiny snack before going to bed, and are trying to remember to snack a bit more frequently. The big meals really bog me down, I’m a vegetarian so it’s a faint memory now, but big Thanksgiving or Christmas meals (which my birth family still does) would cause everyone to slow down and sleep, it seems! Major brain fog.

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[Anonymous]

Well since this post, I’ve discovered that eating is essential. I think I also understand now why my doctor started me at 50 mg. Some of the ladies might be able to surmise.

So far it’s still going well. I’m not a “fan” of when it starts to wear off right now, but it seems to be mellowing out a bit too. We shall see. I’m not usually one for medication so I’m still waffling, but when I take it, I feel so much more myself and in control. I can feel without going off the rails so to speak and can accomplish more of what I want to accomplish and was only accomplishing before by sheer force of will and stubbornness.

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[nellie]

Well I really don’t think the meds workded today. I truly had no motivation and it took me all day to get one major thing done, namely take down my Christmas tree and put away the decorations. I had thought it would only take about an hour but it really dragged on. I did do some other stuff too but I found this really annoying. I got a reasonable amount of sleep, got up rested then had coffee while I sat next to the blue light and checked my email. Normally I start to feel like pretty good about an hour after taking the meds but today it just never kicked in. A Very annoying feeling!

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[Anonymous]

nellie, there’s little motivation factor in taking down decorations (other than reminiscing), I think all the thrill is in putting them up and anticipating the good times!

I’ve had a few days where I was really tired an hour after taking my morning meds (and even in the afternoon). It’s quite frustrating, I am trying not to increase the doseage without consulting with the doctor first, because once I double it, that’s the upper limit. I would prefer to take a lesser dose and work with any residual symptoms.

I’m starving, time for dinner!

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[nellie]

Well an interesting perspective no_dope, perhaps you are right.But it was such a miserable feeling. The major thing the meds have done for me is to alleviate the “I don’t give a %^^# feeling” I seem to have had. It was the first time I felt that way again since starting on medication.

Have you played with the dosage without a Dr,’s approval? I thought of upping the dosage but since I only have 30 mg capsule I can only double it which I don’t think can be a good idea.

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[Anonymous]

I’m not on Vyvanse, but another stimulant called Modafinil (for narcolepsy). He said i could take up to 400 mg total (200 mg 2x a day) but since I’m about to wean off a sedative med and see him in 4 weeks, I don’t think it’s a good idea to start experimenting. I need to keep one element stable at a time. If I have to go back on the sedative (he said if this trial didn’t work, I’d probably have to take it indefinitely), then I can start to experiment with dose.

The last few weeks, I’ve had days where I was tired even on the stimulant meds, although able to function since they do elevate levels of alertness for me, but as soon as work was over (ie – no more stimulation), I would crash. Excessively tired at 5:30 pm, sleep attacks while watching tv again, bedtime as early as 7:30 one night, many nights to bed at 9:00 pm. I’m supposed to restart my sleep log tomorrow night, so I can keep track of these events. Looking forward to getting through this stage (including another sleep study) so I can look more closely at the daytime symptoms and adjust if required.

Ritalin actually worked better for me, but the doc wants to try this drug, it’s not controlled as closely, it’s more gentle. But he didn’t rule out going to another drug. It’s frustrating because the light is on, the door is open, but I wonder if the lights could be brighter and the door open a little wider, in terms of the drug’s effectiveness. I don’t want to go overboard, but I don’t want to undertreat either. Hard to know what the balance is? I guess I’ll be bold and try a double dose if things stabilize for my nighttime sleep.

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[nellie]

I know what you mean by the door is open and the lights are on I always wonder if it could be better too. But I’m also getting fed up with the constant adjustments , I wish something would just work – period!

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[Anonymous]

Tuckman’s book has a chapter subtitled “Pills don’t teach skills”. On that point, I KNOW what i should do (I’ve read many management and self-help woo-woo books), but without meds and a lot of effort, I have trouble doing it.

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[nellie]

Yes I always say it gets rid of my resistance to do tasks that I don’t want to and I can execute in a more logical fashion. But yes learning the discipline skills isn’t automatic unfortunately. I still have lots of stuff I have to do that isn’t started! I’m currently working on eliminating steps in the tasks I have to do that seem to bog me down.

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[Anonymous]

I’m currently working on eliminating tasks from my to-do list. i have way too many, and I’ll never get to them, I had to be realistic. And I told my husband that we both need to be extremely careful about new commitments as we settle into life with meds and trying to change things.

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[nellie]

I have found that actually scheduling tasks for specific time of day helps keep them down to a manageable level.. Just making a traditional to-do list for the day usually ends up with leftovers – something I find discouraging.

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[Author]

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