Im new here! I would love to connect with anyone who can give me any tips!
I have just been diagnosed with Adult ADHD about a week ago at age 27, this has been a long life struggle of trying to work out why I always felt 'different' or why I felt like my brain was wired differently. It was miss diagnosed when I was a child which is disappointing but here we are now so I'm happy to finally understand myself better.
After a lot of different doctor appointments and one psychiatrist's appointment last week my psychiatrist wrote me a script for Vyvance 50 mg - I was super hopeful and excited to start this medication!
The first day was definitely interesting, I definitely had a LOT of energy, I finished tasks at work which would have taken me days of procrastination but also felt high anxiety all day, I cleaned my room, the bathroom, and the kitchen! (which never happens!) 6 days later the energy and initial anxiety have subsided but I have another side effect which is making it very hard to continue on this medication.
I take the medication at around 6:30 / 7 am every morning, I have no appetite for the majority of the day and by around 1 pm for the last 3 days I have had a distinct feeling of a 'come down' - I feel irritable, down, hopeless, lost, mood swings, etc
Has anyone felt like this? Am I going crazy? will this fade?
I don't personally know anyone else with ADHD and feeling slightly alone... I'm glad I have found this forum and would love to make some online friends with the ADHD superpower!
Thanks for reading!
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Josephine01
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Are you in the States? Are you taking Vyvanse or Vyvance? Just trying to clarify due to the spelling.
50 mg is a relatively high dose to start at, so I'm wondering if that's part of what's going on with your side effects. That being said, appetite suppression is not uncommon with ADHD medications but can resolve over time.
As far as the come down, Vyvanse is typically a long-acting medication that should last about 10 hours. I know some people feel they metabolize it faster. If that's the case, talk to your doctor to see if there's a way to do an additional dose of medication or switch to a different medication that may be long acting and sustain you better.
Bottom line, I'd suggest giving it more time but working closely with your doctor about your concerns. When I started Vyvanse I started at 20 mg and titrated up over a course of months to the 70 mg I'm on now. It's been a great medication for me, and all the side effects have subsided over that time.
Hello, Im actually in Australia, Sorry I meant Vyvanse!
Thankfully the next day, I actually decided to take it once i had gotten to work and with food, it has made the biggest difference! I defintley feel it kick in around 9:30 and has been smooth ever since - I was getting worried for a moment...
In the afternoon Ill have a coffee and it take me through to the evening.
I have been on 30g Vyvance for over a month now and primarily noticed dry mouth. But that has gotten a little better over the past months.
So I agree with the other comment - it helps to stay on it longer to really understand what it does for you. For me it’s like caffeine but better. I feel more alert and have more energy. Less fuzzy brain. I notice it in a subtle way if I skip a day.
The first weeks I think I had a weird mix of the drug acting combined with excitement about how it would help me. Now I pretty much ignore what the first week felt like because I don’t know if it was my excitement or the drug...
Thankfully the next day, I actually decided to take it once i had gotten to work and with food, it has made the biggest difference! I defintley feel it kick in around 9:30 and has been smooth ever since - I was getting worried for a moment...
I also have dry mouth in the morning too, its defintley made a difference to my life so far!
I have the same experience as you with Vyvanse. It works sooo well but only for about 5 hours and then I get that same crash as you described. I take a small dose of Adderrall as a booster when the Vyvanse is wearing off and it is a savior because I do not have any crash symptoms. But- I no longer have the same benefits as Vyvanse provides earlier in the day.
What have you done differently with the Vyvanse to reduce the uncomfortable side effects?
Vyvanse did not work for me I started out at 20 mg and then went to 40mg. I hit a come down about 2 pm everyday and was depressed, hopeless and mood swings. Cried all the time couldn't tell you why. Didn't want to go anywhere or be around anyone. I worked with my doctor and it was not for me. A lot of ADHD take Wellbutrin I can't take it either it causes the same thing crying etc. Listen to your body and talk with your doctor. It may not be the medication for you.
I was also diagnosed as an adult and medication has made a huge difference. I wish I had been diagnosed as a child so school would have been a positive experience for me. Either way, better late than never. Once diagnosed I was switched to a few different medications before finding one that worked with my body chemistry. For years I took Dexedrine, however, after surgery they no longer worked for me. The Vyvanse has been wonderful. My physician gradually increased the dosage until I was on one that worked for me. So, I take one 70 mg. capsule three times a day. The side effects leveled off after the first two and a half weeks. It takes a little while to adjust and get used to them for some people.
I feel simillar about schooling, I failed most of my subjects... not because i wasnt smart - I just wasnt interested in boring subjects! Only art and music...
The medication is working wonders now... I was woried the first week because I wasnt taking it with food and it was making me very anxious... I have started to take it with food and when i get to work instead. HUGE DIFFERENCE!
I feel it fade off around 1:30, then i just make a cup of coffee and that gets me through the rest of the day.
I was diagnosed at 25, however, should have been diagnosed at 6. When I look back over teachers comments on all my report cards it is so obvious that I had ADD (I know it is now ADHD but I never had the hyperactivity component).
The medication works better than anything else, however, as I have gotten older there has been a significant decrease in its effectiveness. Despite this fact, I prefer life on the medication at a reduced effectiveness as opposed to no medication at all.
Glad to hear the tweak you made is helping you. There are different meds and different dosages and nothing works the same for all of us. It’s ok to say to your dr you’re aren’t quite sure if you’ve found the right med. It doesn’t mean you haven’t got ADHD (genuine fear I know that finally getting an explanation via diagnosis it might be snatched away).
Example is my teeny tiny 12 yr old daughter takes 70mg of Elvanse (UK version of yours - same drug just different name) & my 6ft 5in 215lb husband takes 50mg & definitely couldn’t handle more. It’s all more complicated than I can get on why this is so (something to do with drug transfusion into blood & crossing brain membrane I think 🤷🏼♀️🤷🏼♀️) but good example of how differently we all react.
You’d normally be started on 20 or 30mg for two weeks, then review and maybe titrate up in increments, 30, 40, 50. Each for two weeks to assess if that’s the right dose for you.
You will metabolise it much quicker without food as I see you’ve already spotted. Worth experimenting with a protein-based breakfast for a week, eg scrambled eggs and a carb breakfast for a week — toast or cereal — and see if you notice any stark difference.
I’ve read reports of both working for people.
Also, aim to get your nutrients in early in the day as your appetite declines.
Exercise in the morning will also help mitigate your ADHD symptoms a bit so again, do experiment. ☺️
If you’re anxious, then worth exploring adaptogenic herbs to support you psychologically as you settle into your medication.
Hey! I’d ask about a different med. I just started Vyvanse this week (2nd med I’ve tried) and I felt really great. Only a bit yawn-y and tired but what I loved is not feeling the jitters I felt with Metadate CD. Letting you know because I DID feel more jittery on another med, and this experience helped me know how it COULD be on the right med. If this is your first med, your body could just be getting used to a stimulant though...hope any of this helps but definitely tell the doc if you’re feeling this all the time. There is a way to have meds work without the jitters/anxiety!
Hello Josephine01.
First, congratulations on your diagnosis. I say this because I know how helpful it is to finally have a sense of why you think and behave differently than many people, and start a new path towards better physical, emotional, and productive health.
That said, you're medication is not a fix all to this life long issue, but it's a tool, and you need to see it as such; A helper. The rest of your health/improvement journey needs to be a conscious effort on your part to think through situations, learn coping skills to help you better manage anxiety, and moods before, and as, they are occurring.
I take 40mg. I started at 30mg. You are on a higher than usual dose to start, at 50mg. You may want to discuss that with your doctor and see if a step down is a good idea for you.
Another thing, optimize your medication. I get to work at about 07:30, before most people arrive in my office. I do that because I work better in the morning, and there are fewer distractions, phones, and people talking or milling around. I take my medication about 08:00-08:30, and it kicks in about 40 mins or so; just in time to better deal with the office activity of distractions. this way I optimize the medication. I do have a comedown period; usually in the late afternoon. I will sometimes have coffee then, to kind of boost my stimulant. I've also noticed the more I do while on medication, the more I burn out in the afternoon.So, take it easy while you perform task on Vyvanse. Take your time.
Pay attention to your physical health. A regular fitness exercise program or routine will help you better manage your anxiety, stay healthy, and take advantage of your Vyvanse medication. EAT, but eat healthy.
For those of us with ADHD, anxiety is both our friend and enemy. I'm 53. I have adult ADHD. I grew up in the 70's when research on ADHD was just starting to take off. I wasn't diagnosed until after my youngest daughter was diagnosed about 6 hears ago, and since my diagnosis I've been working on better managing my ADHD, as well as coaching my daughter to better manage her ADHD. I try to pass on to her what skills I've learned in my life, what works, what doesn't, and I encourage her to practice mindfulness and calming skills as she learns to develop through life with this condition.
So, medication is a tool, not a cure. It's there to help you, not fix you. Some people call ADHD a gift, or even a "supper power". I don't like to say that, but lets pretend it is for a moment. There are some aspects of ADHD that make us special, we tend to be creative in many ways. We can hyper-focus at times. We tend to be insightful about others, and situations. Those are some of the "gifts" or "supper powers". So, learn to "Use the force" if you will. Recognize these gifts. Learn how to "leaser think", to focus on what matters and block out distractions. Your medication can help .
Can I ask why they put you on 50mg to start? The highest I went was 40mg and it gave me nasty anxiety so I stopped for a while. Now I’m on 30mg which is where I feel the best results.
Anyway!
For me it lasts 11.5hrs and I can count on it.
I take it at 5am and feel it kick in at 5:30-5:45am.
I eat breakfast as soon as I take it so I don’t get a stomachache.
The “comedown” is actually below blood sugar that you feel way more than a regular one because your body is stimulated.
The biggest thing with stimulant meds is loss of appetite. This can cause low blood sugar and in turn give you that hangry attitude but like 20x magnified.
I can’t recommend this as a great solution but the following is what works best for me.
5am take meds, 5:15am eat a medium breakfast with high protein and super high carbs to fuel my day. I don’t count calories and just try to eat as much as possible since I know once the meds kick in I’m not eating for a while. Around 10am I will have a small cup of coffee with a lot of sugar to spike my blood sugar back up. This keeps me from getting foggy, groggy, disoriented, and cranky at work. Ideally you should eat a meal! But coffee and sugar is what I try to do at the least. High carb protein powder is also a good thing to try as a mid day snack.
After that I don’t eat dinner until 6pm and I feast 😂 I once again eat as much as I feel my body needs “within reason”.
I definitely recommend trying 20mg for at least a week and bumping up to 30mg before taking straight 50mg. Also make sure you’re drinking lots of water. I aim for 1gal of water a day. If you workout at all try to do it in the morning so you’re not re-stimulating yourself before bed.
I have a few random posts about other things on my profile that may be helpful too.
Hope you have a good week and welcome to the group! It’s helped me get through many things and better understand the way ADHD affects me and those around me.
Hi! I just started today on vyvanse 20 mg. I felt very calm and kind of stuck. Found exhausted and yawning at supper time( not the norm) and all evening a terrible headache. Hoping things level out
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Medication for Inattentive ADHD and depression 
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