Vyvanse and grouchiness (and intro)

[Anonymous]

Hi everyone. My name’s Mike and I am pretty new to this forum. I am a 33 year old full time student from Surrey, BC. I was diagnosed with ADD when I was 25, but my own stubbornness wouldn’t let me believe that I had it. I got back into school a year ago now and since then I have begun to quickly realize how debilitating my condition can be. After struggling through the first semester and part of the second I realized it was time to step back and look at things a little clearer. I was sitting in my dorm room one saturday night with the worst hangover from the night before (I used to be a raging piss-pot) flippin’ through the channels and caught a glimpse of Patrick McKenna on tv. Being a bit of a Red Green fan and canadian TV supporter, I started watching. Turns out it was 5 minutes into “ADD and Loving It” and I got completely sucked into it. Well here I am five months later and in the best physical and mental shape I have been in in my entire life because I stumbled across that show. It opened up my eyes to something that I ad always blown off as “I can control it” or “it’s all in my head”. The fact of the matter it isn’t, and my life all the way back to grade 3 has payed drastically for it. I’ve done a lot of dispicable, immature and embarrassing things to myself and others only for the simple reason that I can’t start a thought process once the “go” button has been pushed… if that makes any sense. Now I am a very good person. I volunteer my time with BC Special Olympics, SPCA, and for years people have always come to me for a shoulder to cry on, but for some reason I used to do some of the most insane things (there’s a long list and I have the concussion record to prove it) to completely negate these good things that I have done making me look undependable or full of shite.

Anyways, all that has changed now as I am on medication. I feel for the first time like I can function like a “normal” human being. I have been on Vyvanse after learning about it from another website (Dr. Kenny Handelman) in October. Here I am now getting better grades (but not great) at school and able to function better. The only thing is I have noticed over the past month or so that I am getting VERY irritable and have found myself lashing out at people more and more. Last night I actually got into a physical fight as one of my buddies came home with my roomie drunk (I was sober) and pissed me off. I ended up throwing him through a wall as we were wrestling around. I am NOT a violent person in the least and was so embarrassed about it after the adrenaline wore off. I have had anger issues in the past but went through an intense 6-week anger management program a couple years ago to deal with it and has not been an issue since.

So my question is this, has anybody else had any sort of similar experiences with Vyvanse or other amfetamine based stims? I am not totally sold on Vyvanse as I know there’s something that can and will work better but at what cost or side effects? Not to mention Vyvanse is outrageously priced and even the pharacist couldn’t understand why I was paying for this stuff as adderall, ritalin sr, and concerta are MUCH cheaper. My car payment is less than this stuff!

Phew… thanks for taking the time to read this Once I get on a role it’s hard to stop but I’m sure I don’t need to tell anyone here that do I? haha. Cheers!

-Mike

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[Grayden]

Mike,

I’ve taken nearly all of the meds in my quest for the ‘right’ one. My son and I are on Vyvanse now and while we have not lashed out in the manner you described, I have noticed that Vyvanse is shorter acting and both my son and I seem more irritable/short-tempered and more prone to say something rude or unthoughtful. I would urge you try the different meds per your physician. I understand from my pharmacist that Adderal XR, Concerta and Focalin (? Focalin was useless for my son, why? I guess everyone’s metabolism is different…) are the top prescribed meds – with Vyvanse quickly gaining in popularity. Do titrate up the dosages to an effective level. I may go back to Concerta as I always felt energized and positive and productive….but hopelessly put off certain things, which is what I was hoping a med could correct, I guess.

Take care and report back.

Todd

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[Anonymous]

I have a generalized anxiety disorder, and was prescribed Vyvanse for my ADD by my psychiatrist, after trying Strattera and Biphentin.

It worked a little bit at first, and then stopped working, so he upped the dosage to 30mg. In short, I turned into a freaking basket case. I got rather snarky, saying completely bizarre things, and balling my eyes out. My moods became very noticeably unpredictable (which is saying something).

I’ve also been seeing a psychologist for the anxiety, and he became extremely concerned about it and recommended I stop. When I checked the FDA website, it clearly stated that Vyvanse should NOT be taken by high-anxiety people- a category which I definitely fall into. I don’t blame my shrink necessarily, I think it was just an oversight on his part, but I felt a lot better when I stopped taking the medication. (Although my self-esteem took a nice beating…)

After that experience, I told him flat out that stimulants were not an option for me.

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