vyvance/Wellbutrin/Intuniv (guanfacine)

[LadyWolfe]

How many have took vyvance, Wellbutrin, and Intuniv (guanfacine) together? If you did, how was it?

[Gettingittogether]

I've taken Vyvanse and Wellbutrin together ... Vyvanse for ADHD, Wellbutrin for depression. Never took Intuniv

Are you asking if there were any bad side effects? The answer is no. As for effectiveness: there were things I liked about Vyvanse. There were times when Vyvanse just slowed down my brain and I could see life in such clear ways. But after a couple of years ultimately felt I wanted to go back to trying Adderall XR. I am currently on Ritalin and Wellbutrin. Will likely try Vyvanse again.

Just heads up: someone else's experience doesn't say much about what your experience will be on these meds. That's the big challenge. There is no magical ADHD med and no magical ADHD med and depression med out there. It's all trial and error.

Wellbutrin changed my life, got me out of a depression, gave me energy that was just amazing and it quieted my braing, so much so that I realized it was doing more than just combatting depression. That's how ultimately I got to an ADHD diagnosis. My brother took Wellbutrin (he had depression and ADHD : nothing. He felt absolutely nothing. I once stopped a Glaxo Smith Kline representative in a hospital outside an elevator to tell her that Wellbutrin saved my life. My brother (with all our common genetics) thought it was useless.

I've been on the same meds multiple times, like Adderall XR multiple times, same with Ritalin. Frankly, the first time I was on Adderall was very different from the second time. So even in the same person, meds vary in how they affect you from one time and context to another.

The best thing you can do is when you go on a med or combination of meds is to write down very specifically how the med affects you, good, bad or nothing. And get good at noticing effects (even side effects) and get precise in describing the effects to a provider. The more specific we can be, the more info the provider has to think about adjusting our medication regimen. What's tricky is sometime a med works and then we take on more responsibilities (this has happened to me several times). And suddenly, I think the med is no longer working. Well, in fact you could say the med is what allowed me to take on the new responsibilities and handle myself. So you want to keep some awareness of taking on new tasks. Not saying don't take them on, but just be aware of when you do. Because you might need a med adjustment.

Good luck.

Is there something specific you're worried about with that combination? In the past, i worried and over-worried and read and read about medications. I've stopped the worrying and researching about meds. I just try out things recommended by my psychiatric nurse practitioner and see how they work and how I feel and report it back to her.

[El-Eektrified]

I did, but in a different order… at first I was on Wellbutrin for ADHD but didn’t really experience improvements, my doc added Intuniv, because of the restlessness I still experienced, which eventually was really helpful, despite the awful side-effects I had to endure during titration… but after a few months, I felt more uncomfortable and had tremors not really understanding what was going on…. Why my body responded this way.. which might have been caused by Wellbutrin. But still don’t know…

My doc got me off Wellbutrin and replaced it with vyvanse, which is a much better combo and lastly an SSRI was added which improved things even more.

So, Yes it could be a good combo, it could not… guess it’s trial and error!

Why did they suggest this combination? Are you already taking some of these meds?

[HaroldandMaude07]

Yes for Vyvanse and Wellbutrin. Wellbutrin first for depression, Vyvanse added for episodic binge eating. My doctor probably suspected I had ADHD without actually saying it, lol. Not a bad combo, Vyvanse initially made me feel fantastic. After several months I started to feel a little bit overstimulated, in a way. Almost like I had a little edge to all my experiences, I don't know how better to explain it, probably that my nervous system was on alert most of the time, even in circumstances where I didn't need it to be. It was not terrible, though. Ultimately, I went off it and felt more calm. I am currently taking Phentermine, 18.25 mg. It is given to me almost 2 years ago to help with weight loss, which it has helped. It seems to be enough of a stimulant to wake up my brain without making me feel overly stimulated. The issue is that I will not be on this medication forever, since it's not supposed to be a long-term medicine.Since my brand new diagnosis, I now have a prescription for strattera. It seems to have mixed reviews and I'm a little bit nervous about taking it today for the first time, but we shall see how it goes.

Other non-medication things that have been helpful include cutting out or at least greatly reducing sugar. (When I eat sugar it seems to scramble my thinking further, to the point that even though it tastes good and is temporarily comforting, I feel terrible and it's usually not worth the sugar hangover). Exercise is also tremendous. I do a combination of slower jogging and weight training with some yoga occasionally.