Recommendations for the Phoenix area.

[PhoenixGal]

Hey everyone, I was recently diagnosed with ADHD back in November at 28 years old and my doc put me on Vyvanse and after a few months I am now at 70mg. The problem is that my dose used to work great and lasted all day and now I can barely get a dose to last half the day. From what I've read online this happens a lot and there are even people who claim that their doc prescribes them another 70 mg a day to make up for it. But from what I understand it is far more common to get a booster in the form of Ritalin or Adderal. I have brought up this fact to my doctor now twice that the medication isn't lasting as long as it used to and that it is becoming an issue with work and school, but she just brushed me off with a joke about wouldn't it be nice if Vyvanse made a shorter acting pill and then just changed the subject. I am becoming beyond frustrated with her about this. Since becoming diagnosed with ADHD I have such a greater understanding of myself and since being on the medication my depression and anxiety has dramatically decreased and I am beyond grateful for the medication for it has truly helped with my everyday life and I don't want all that negative crap to come back into my life which is what I fear will happen over time especially if the medication continues to work less and less in the future. I am considering changing doctors but am nervous about starting all over with someone new. For the most part I really like my doctor but lately she just isn't listening to me. I believe her hesitance could be because I am a former addict, with 6 years of sobriety under my belt, or because she also diagnosed me with bipolar 2 with the ADHD diagnosis...which I am still not convinced I have...I still believe it is just depression with anxiety. But anyways does anybody have any thoughts? Or any recommendations for other doctors that specialize in ADHD and dual diagnosis here in the valley. Thanks for taking the time to read this, I appreciate everyone's help.

[susiehogg]

Find you a doctor who will listen! You can always go back to this doctor.....

[Lovinit]

You sound like you know what’s up. That’s great! Its taken me years before I began to learn about my adhd. Lucky for me I’ve always had a doctor prescribe me adderall. I take an extended release in the am and immediate release in the afternoon and works fine. I tried vyvanase once and I didn’t think it worked as well as adderall. That was my experience.

[Lovinit]

I live in Tucson! My doctor is great but I don’t know how you feel driving down

[Nick1913]

Hi

Welcome to the group.

I can’t make any recommendations about you doctor, but if she is not listening to you, and you are unhappy with what she is doing. ....

I do want to address the medication issue though, seems like as time goes on your body starts to make adjustments.... do you take any med free days? One that won’t hurt you or anything you’re doing? Sometimes these “holidays” helps prevent tolerance that your body develops. Depression and anxiety also seem to be a part of the ADHD realm. Seems like you said the meds are helping there too.....

I do know it takes time and effort to get the right balance of, meds - exercise- diet and music....😁 yes music relaxation helps....

You said work and school? Are the at the same time or are they one after the other on the same day.... extended release meds only last but so long....

Good Luck and keep us posted,

I would like to know how things turn out

[boymom00]

Yes! I am on 60 mg Vyvanse (dx'd in Oct 2018 at 31 yrs old) and also had trouble with it not lasting. My doc suggested a boost of 10mg Adderall, and that's what we do. For me, the "wear off" of Adderall was bad, I was irritable, etc. The Vyvanse was a much "softer" wear off, so my doc suggested taking Adderall first in the morning, and the Vyvanse a couple hours later, and that helps ENORMOUSLY. I had a lot of trouble getting to this point of 2 Rx's though. My doc suggested it in December, but then left the group practice she was in the next month, and the doctors I had to see for the next few months (until I could get my insurance switched to go back to her) treated me like an addict for even suggesting taking two different stimulants. I had one even tell me that I shouldn't take anything at all for my ADHD because I'm "just a mom."

[MK084]

Hi there, I take 30mg of Vyvanse daily and have for just over a year now. I too found it helped with anxiety and depression (I also see a therapist which helps however I still noticed the Vyvanse helping my overall mood as soon as I started taking it and I notice a difference if I don’t take it).

Anyways, I found my Vyvanse was wearing off in the afternoon when I took it all in the morning so my doctor and I played around a bit and I now take 20mg in the morning and 10mg late-morning or early-afternoon and this helped. I know taking a dose later in the day could keep some people up at night but it has worked for me so it may be worth a try!

Re: bipolar dx - this is where having a doctor with a lot of experience that listened to me (not just during one visit but over consistently seeing me every 3 weeks or so over the course of a year) was important - at first he thought I had bipolar disorder, but he eventually realized over time that I was seriously hurting and grieving over stuff I had kept to myself my entire life that had been really traumatic for me, and when I finally had someone to talk to about it, a lot of really painful emotions came up. That may not help with your situation but just wanted to share bc you sound like you have a good understanding of yourself and good insight, so if you don’t think you have bipolar disorder, you may very well not. I think it’s common for people to be misdiagnosed.

Also, if you’re working and in school, you’ve got a lot going on! That’s exhausting for anyone. Hope you give yourself credit for everything you are doing everyday, even if you’d like to be functioning a bit better. Good luck, I hope you and your doctor can figure out a mix that works!

[pinksugar]

Try Psychology Today website and i would consult with a psychiatrist that will listen to you and offer you different treatment/medication options!!