Vyvanse

[Anonymous]

I was wondering if anyone can tell me more about the medication Vyvanse. The pros, cons and who has it worked for so far?

It is a drug called Lisdexamphetamine, and i think it is a stimulant.

Let me know

REPORT ABUSE

[Anonymous]

I’ll start by saying that I am not a medical professional but, my son (ADHD- like me) takes Vyvanse. What we were told by our son’s doctor is that it is a stimulant very similar to Ritalin but the difference is that it works on a time release (rather than trying to time out when to take the medication as with Ritalin). It has done wonders for our son and, so far, we have been pretty happy with it. To date we have not seen any ill effects( but different drugs react differently in different people). The only thing we did notice that for the first couple of weeks he was on it, he would become very irritable when coming down off of it, but that particular problem vanished after the first couple of weeks of use. Be warned, it’s not cheap. After our insurance picks up their part we still pay approximately $137 (US) for 30 capsules (a so-called “month’s supply” that we manage to stretch out to 6 weeks since we do not give it to him on the weekends). Hope that helps.

Almost forgot- he’s been on it for exactly a year now.

REPORT ABUSE

[Orion]

I started Vyvanse a month ago. The Dr is still trying different dosages on me to see how much I need. But I will say, so far, I love it. My body feels the stimulant, but It calms my mind . My mind is not racing as much and I don’t become instantly overwhelmed at times like I used to. My focus problems still need some work. And yeah, it is a time release thing. Sometimes, it lasts a good 12 hours or more. I have not experienced any negative side effects. It does suppress my appetite, but that is a good thing, for me anyway. I have no problems with irritability or insomnia.

REPORT ABUSE

[Anonymous]

anyone eperience headaches ?? I’m guessing it is mostly due to lack of sleep though.

REPORT ABUSE

[Anonymous]

I’ve been on Vyvanse for about a year and a half now, I believe. I love it. Before it I took Concerta, which worked very well for quite a while, but eventually, the highest dose still wasn’t enough. I take 70mg of Vyvanse now and it lasts me throughout the “plateau” of the day. On the decline (around 3:00, if I take my Vyvanse at around 8-9:00am), I take 10mg of Adderall to both steady the fall and to keep me going through the rest of the day.

One definite pro of Vyvanse is that the fall from it is not NEARLY as drastic as the fall from Concerta/Ritalin (which is what I was on before). I experience much less dramatic melt-downs or crashes than I used to on Concerta, which has made quite a positive difference in my self-esteem and mood swings towards the end of the day.

One con I have with Vyvanse is that I sometimes experience slight nausea, usually associated with a mild anxiety. This usually occurs as the medicine is “kicking in.” Once I am up and working or moving, the anxiety usually goes away. I seem to notice a slight increased in heart rate due to the anxiety as well.

The appetite suppressant effect of this medication can be both a pro and a con. It is a pro by preventing me from eating everything in sight, as I do when I’m not on my medication (most likely due to restlessness and impulsivity by not thinking before eating). When I was off my medication during a semi-short break, I gained around 4 lbs, and I am losing it again now that I’m back on my medication. This effect is also a con, though, in that it is very difficult to eat during the day. I don’t have much of an appetite when I wake up and usually (regrettably) skip breakfast. I am left with no appetite for lunch and sometimes no appetite all through dinnertime. I can’t tell if I’m hungry until my stomach growls, and when it does, I can barely get myself to eat anything. It’s also pretty awkward when you’re with friends and you’re the only one that doesn’t eat and just sits there doing nothing.

All in all, though, I am extremely pleased with Vyvanse and Adderall.

REPORT ABUSE

[Anonymous]

I was recently diagnosed with ADD and my doctor started me on Vyvanse. I’ve only been on it a few days, but I have already noticed a different in my ability to concentrate and clear my mind to work on the task at hand. Having just started the med, I’m on a low dose and it gets me through no more that 8hrs of work, if I take it an hour before I hit the office. I’ve noticed a few things that are different since I started the medication, but they can be caused by a number of things. I am experiencing the loss of appetite, not eating for an entire day because I’m not hungry and I didn’t realize my stomach growled, or because when I realize I haven’t eaten nothing sounds good and I can’t bring myself to force more than a bite or two of food. I am also having a very difficult time sleeping. For a few days, I was having trouble sleeping because of a loud neighbor, but even with that over with, I’m still having difficulty. Sadly, I have sleep problems anyway so I can’t tell if it is me or the med. I’m also having pretty bad dry mouth, but that can happen with any new med. Have any of you experienced some of these side effects and do they eventually decrease or go away?

REPORT ABUSE

[Anonymous]

I have been taking vyvanse for a month or so and the side effects are driving me insane. Within the first couple doses my apetite completley disappeared and eating became a real chore. Not to mention the lack of sleep. I started waking myself up at 7am in hopes it would fix my sleep pattern. For a while I’d get tired around 3am, wake up and 7am, take my pill and snooze a little more. Now though im still wide away around 3am only now once I take the pill at 7, i cant fall back to sleep anymore. Its been a week of this and still I am not sleeping like I used to. Of course, because of the lack of food and sleep, my concentration is gone. Also im getting lovely mood swings cause I have never slept so little in my life.

Starting tomorrow Im off this junk and getting my life back.

REPORT ABUSE

[magoo81]

Hi everyone, I see this is a fairly current thread, as opposed to the dizziness one that has a last comment of 5 months ago.

Anyway, haven’t written anything yet on the forum, but thought this might be a good time to do so. I’ve read some of the threads, and I appreciate everyone’s honesty and candidness regarding their experiences with ADD.

I currently am undiagnosed with a mental disorder. I’ve only had one meeting with a psychiatrist, not sure how I feel about it, he thought I might be going through an existential crisis. I know it’s more. But left with a possible ADD and so gave me 2 weeks of Vyvanse, 30mg first week, 50mg for the second.

No adverse effects from the 30mg, and although I have no control to compare to, felt like the drug was helping in some aspects of life.

However, today is the first day of 50mg and I would have to describe this is an adverse side effect. I’ve been very dizzy all day. The feeling of the couple of steps before you’d pass out (woozy, but hasn’t gotten to the level where you start sweating and forehead on fire, hard to describe.) Anyway, enough dizziness to say, no to driving for today.

Hard to know what to feel with a drug that fixes a condition I haven’t been diagnosed with. As much as the dizziness has really effected me today, I also was able to accomplish a lot, and didn’t get any feeling of anxiousness, which is often a feeling when tonnes need to get done.

So, I have a drug that has a crazy side effect at 50mg, but has allowed me to focus on a to-do list with a lot of things crossed off of it.

Not sure how common the practise is for doctors to say “hmmm, you might/might not have ADD, here’s a drug and take and see what it does”.

Anyway, not sure if I have a point to this, I just figured I should get a first post out of the way . Not knowing what I have, but believing it’s not just an existential crisis, there are some symptoms I don’t think that can answer, it’s hard. If anyone knows of a specialist in the southern Alberta region (I live in Lethbridge) I’d love to pursue a second opinion. Thanks,

M

REPORT ABUSE

[cakat01]

I have been taking Vyvanse for 4 months. I did have headaches the first 2-3 weeks. I sleep better than ever taking Vyvanse, but my doctor and I suspect that I’m hyperactive which explains sleeping better. I find the med quite calming. I take 40 mg in the morning and often get tired by noon, so I take another 20 mg. It did suppress my appetite a little for the first 2 months. I no longer eat out of boredom. I used to eat a lot of chocolate, but not anymore. I don’t notice much appetite suppression anymore–I get hungry at the usual times like I did before I started taking Vyvanse.

I have had dizziness, but I don’t think it is due to the medication. I dieted to lose the extra pounds I gained from all that chocolate, and I find that adding a bit more salt works to stop the dizziness. I eat something a bit salty, like a pickle or olive, which takes care of it.

REPORT ABUSE

[Author]

Posts