If you don't take your ADHD pills for a day, Will your ADHD be worse than before taking meds for a time?

[sharkticon]

I started taking Vyvance (currently on 40mg) back in October 2021. On Sunday I didn't take my pill because I wanted to get a better idea of how much a difference the drug is making. I just crashed and burned, and was basically useless the entire day. Felt worse off than having ever taken the drug in the first place. Is that normal? I was thinking maybe the first day is really tough and then things start to normalize (normal for being ADHD I mean). I didn't take any ADHD meds for most my life. I got on the drugs because I was failing at my job, but I seemed to always thrive on the weekends when I could do whatever. I was under the impression that once the drugs wore off, you were just back to your usual ADHD self, but it felt much worse.

[Gettingittogether]

This is a difficult one. I have not found that to be true. I skip meds just out of ADHD-ness on random days ... No, I am not useless on those days.

There is an illusion that might be at work here. I had this discussion with a buddy of mine about meditation. We both used to meditate regularly ... and then we would stop. When we stopped, we both felt like our minds were all over the place. The question came up: has meditation made things worse for days when we don't meditation.

We both concluded NO! We are simply more aware of how chaotic our minds are ... now that we had some peace through meditation.

You probably felt like you do now before you went on the medication. Your brain just didn't know any better at the time.

I know of no evidence that Vyvanse permanently ruins someone's brain. Now, it could be that you are relying on the medication for all your order and motivation. You want to make sure you are living in a way that supports the medication: decent eating, sleep, going outside, some exercise ... limiting carbs ... taking some time to plan and so on ... But we can't let the medication do all the work. We have work to do as well.

Analogy: I take a sleep medication, but only in a limited way. Why? Well because the medication does work when I've been away from it ... but if I stay on it consistently, I get lazy: I stop doing good sleep hygiene. I'll work on my computer up til sleep time, take the med and go to sleep. Well working on my computer up to sleep time is terrible sleep hygiene. And if I do that enough, then when I go off the med, I don't sleep well. My good sleep hygiene is stop any analytical thinking two to three hours before sleeping. I dim the lights gradually starting in the evening ... and so on ...

Just check on your life hygiene.

[sharkticon in reply to Gettingittogether]

Thanks for your thoughts. It could be just that I forgot how bad it is. I meditate and run for for 30min 5 days a week, and eat healthy (non of that was possible till I started taking vyvance by the way). Just still trying to figure this out. I don't think it does long term damage to my brain. It just seemed a whole lot worse than I remember when I didn't take it for a day. But it could have been just a hard day anyway, and it's become so much easier to regulate emotions.

I tried going a day without it because it does kind of feel like the effectiveness of the drug had worn off. I've been finding it nearly impossible to meditate and concentrate on things, and I thought maybe it could be other things. But come Monday and Tuesday I feel like I'm doing much better than than before Sunday (the day I didn't take my pill). My mind feels clear and focused, I feel like I know what I need to do, and I don't overreact to things. Really I'm just trying to figure out how it works and what to expect. Wondering if maybe I need to go to a slightly higher dose or something. I'll be talking to my General practitioner about it. But sometimes he doesn't seem to know as much about it as the community. He just goes off the DSM. And by all accounts I'm doing much better at work on the ADHD medication. I know I can't go back to the way I was without them. My life made a complete turn around due to a little pill. Well and I've been doing a lot of therapy. It just seems to loose a lot of its effectiveness after about a month and then it seems to work really good again after taking a day off.

[FindingTheAnswers]

Is it possible that when you didn't take your Rx, that your mind just went back to it's 'Pre Vyvanse' days? I take (2) 30mg generic Adderall. I break them in half (15mg each dose). When it wears off, it's like a tiny flame in the back of my mind. As time goes on, that flame gets bigger and bigger (for me old haunts and bad memories come back). Usually I'll take my Rx, and in 20 minutes or so, things are much better (Not perfect! But much better). Sometimes I'll realize the Rx has worn off and I won't take another dose. Why? Because,,,?Because I'm still used to 47 years of feeling like Sh*t and no one who understands, or even can have a reasonable conversation about what I'm experiencing? I really don't need this Rx and I'm just weak willed? I don't know. But I still remember hoe bad, horrible, the 1st 47 years were.

I agree with Gettingittogether, in that I have read nothing that any of the ADHD Rx permanently changes/ruins our brains. It DOES changes our brain chemistry for the better, while it's in our system. Yes, my Rx does help with better focusing. But it's also acts as an Anti-depressant, Anti anxiety, and definitely a mood enhancer. There were times when I 1st started taking it, after about 20 mins, it was like this calming blanket covering me (so this is what it feels like to be normal! (Closer to how most people feel).

If I stop or cut back on my Antidepressants because I'm feeling good and 'Don't need them", eventually I'll 'Crash and Burn' (That's been my term also!).

Do your own research (along with this Blog) to see what the 'Experts' say. Keep Going!

[sharkticon]

Yeah, my mind could have just gone back to pre Vyvance days. Taking the Vyvance almost immediately fixed a whole bunch of problems in my life. I just wasn't expecting to feel that low. And I just wondered if maybe it takes a day or two for my brain to kick in some of the chemicals that the Vyvance was doing for it. I've only been taking Vyvance since November, and it has done a 360 on my life. after a few years of trying all kind of things and medications, it was nice to find something that works. It has both calmed my anxiety and eliminated my depression. But it does feel like after about a month a lot of that goes away, but I am still doing much better on it than I was before taking it. Does that mean I consider upping the does a bit? I have heard some people say the first few days of taking it you do feel like you have more energy, but that part usually goes away. But I felt like I was starting to get depressed again, and my mind was getting all foggy. I was having a hard time focusing. Then I took a day off the drugs, and felt even worse. And then I took it again on Monday and Tuesday, and I am feeling and doing much better than the weeks before taking a day off the pill.

I dunno. It's hard because there can be all kinds of variables that can effect the way a person is doing. But I'm wondering if I need to up the dose, or if it makes sense to not take the drug one day a month or something. Does anyone do that?

[BlessedLady]

With the medication you learn a new way of living your life. Without the medication you are not able to do that. In addition, your system gets use to the medication. Not having the medication in your system throws it off. Your ADHD does not actually get worse. It just seems that way

[75ADHDgal]

no worse1 Many people only take their meds when they really need to focus . I am not on meds not because of a cardiac issue and my cardiologist has saud no stimulant meds . The osychiatrsiut iis not fond of non stimulat meds for primarly inattitive ADHD

[lostphone]

I take adderall XR with a prn short acting dose for extra long days. I get rebound if I miss a dose. On me that looks like irritability, the world is out to get me and total scatter brain. I recently had my Wellbutrin dose increased and that made a world of difference.

[Hobbiest5]

My Dr recommends taking a day off from my Vyvance once a week to give your body a rest, she says. I do this most weeks and certainly notice a difference between those days I’m off of my meds. I don’t announce it to my family and I don’t think they’ve noticed (at least haven’t ever said anything to that effect).I do know that as someone said earlier, medication alone isn’t the answer. Meditation is awesome, are you exercising aerobically 3-5 times a week? At the very least doing a fast walk for 30 min. When I don’t exercise in some way, I’m all over the place. Thing in your life HAVE TO CHANGE to accommodate the way you do things, see things, react, or don’t see things. Remember to PLAN and use the calendar (what ever kind works for you). Look at it at the beginning of the week to be aware of the week in its entirety, then look again at it to see what the next day looks like (and prepare for whatever's happening a head of time). Do this each night a couple hours before you go to bed. All these things work together in conjunction with the medication.

[sharkticon in reply to Hobbiest5]

yeah I run 30 to 40min a day. It's funny I have tried my whole like to make a habit of exercising, and now that I'm on medication I've made a habit of it. I think it's the first healthy habit I've ever created for myself. I'm actually doing really good on my meds. I meditate too. I don't think anyone else noticed anything when I was off them. It guess it wasn't super bad. I would actually get feeling that bad all the time before. But usually if I had something I really enjoyed doing I would my brain would feel clear, and since it was a Sunday and I didn't have to work, I thought I would be fine. But I just sat around and watched movies all day.

[will_change_later]

I've been taking elvanse (lisdexamfetamine) for 3 weeks now and have skipped the pills twice (on sundays, because I was curious - like you!). Both times I was very tired, overall didn't feel good and struggled to take care of my children (and myself). It was worse than my average pre adhd medication days and my husband got very worried. Monday, back on medication, was slightly better but I felt depressed. From Tuesday on there was a noticable improvement.

Prior to elvanse I had tried medikinet (methylphenidate) for a couple of months, skipping a day or two was no problem at all.

So, I would say my experience with skipping a day of lisdexamfetamine is very similar to yours (though I must add I've been staying up way too late recently; not enough sleep probably made those days much worse)

[sharkticon in reply to will_change_later]

yeah, I have found keeping a regular sleep routine helps.

[sharkticon]

So I decided I have just gotten used to things being much better now. Before I started taking the meds I was trying to quit my job and my wife wanted a divorce, and I felt depressed all the time. It's amazing how much you can forget after about 5 months.

My doctor also suggested that I try taking a break from my pills for a day or two once a month. He said for some people their brains keep creating more and more of something to maintain homeostasis making the meds less effective. So then taking a day off helps to reset all of that.