Vyvanse

Wondering if anyone has experience with this…From 50 mg vyvanse to 30 mg and heart rate is still high. Anyone experience this and if so, how did you navigate through it for yourself for your adhd?

[Wasted71years]

Hi SunlightNStars

My first dosage was 20mg, then 30, 40 and currently at 50mg where the Vyvanse is providing noticeable help with the ADHD symptom I most wanted to overcome.

Even at 20mg there was some physical edginess due to the stimulants, although mentally I was very calm and sleepy not at all fired up. I found that after 2-3 weeks I adjusted and barely noticed the physical effects.

Same with each dosage increase - initially I noticed some more effect, like a few BPM increase in heart rate and a small increase in blood pressure. Again after 2-3 weeks, while I still had the increased heart rate and blood pressure it wasn't at a worrisome level to my or my doctor, the side effects that were the body sensations of stimulation were either gone or so light that it doesn't bother me.

For me, medication is a balance where I want to get as much benefit as I can from the Vyvanse with as little side effect or at least a level of side effect that is worth tolerating for the upsides.

Every person is different, in their reactions, the proper medicine, the doses, etc but this is my experience with Vyvanse.

[Hidden in reply to Wasted71years]

what symptom did it help the most with? It gave me motivation to get started and also I was constantly fatigued from masking symptoms. it took away my appetite and increased my heart rate as the negative effects. Didn’t know if that was common.

[Wasted71years in reply to Hidden]

Hi SunlightNStars

Masking was something I could deal with pre-medication, because once I understood my ADHD condition I could rewrite all the wrong thinking that led me to mask. I try to be clear and open now, which takes a great load off my brain and I feel so much better about myself and interacting with people. It almost totally resolved the RSD I faced for decades.

On the other hand, the things that awareness alone didn't handle were my big five symptoms:

Emotional disregulation where I would flare up for a minute way out of proportion to the trigger. My poor laptop got banged a lot when a neurotypical would just shrug it off. I ranted about other drivers actions when driving to the great displeasure of my family.

Challenges starting tasks until the last minute and procrastinating - I didn't feel the motivation until I was under time pressure.

Challenges finishing projects once the 'shiny' wore off. My life was a trail of partially completed projects and activities, where I would jump to something new and abandon the old with intentions of someday getting back to it.

Horrible working memory.

Problems organizing and planning - attempts to clean up my workshop only resulted in more DOOM piles and I couldn't build up a scheme and plan to address piles of things. I had to leave everything out on counters to see it, rather than set up folders or bins for categories of items.

I found that my medication is providing significant help with the first three of them.

I still feel the irritations of life but have just enough time to recognize what is happening, that is it not really a big deal, and damp down the feelings before they become a 60 second white hot eruption. Major improvement from the smallest doses.

I can keep going back to the same project I am committed to finish, day after day and week after week. I may need breaks where I chase novelty on Youtube or do other things, but I get many hours of work done every day. Very pleased with this.

I can initiate tasks that I realize I should do, planning ahead. The motivation is improved about 50% from what I would like it to be, and I can work on skills to move from there.

I am a bit better at organizing and straightening but this area is improved somewhat but not nearly enough for my satisfaction.

Working memory - don't see any change there, but I have not tried any controlled experiments to see whether there is a benefit or not. I am so used to overcoming the working memory with notes and other crutches that I really don't try.

[StoneJeweler in reply to Wasted71years]

I took Adderal XR for many years, my pulse was 90-110. Now that I am older, I passed. out while driving twice and totalled 2 cars. It took finding a good cardiologist to help my pulse get lower, tests showed that my heart was tired, and I was diagnosed with Heart failure. I was put on Vyvanse and Carvedilol to lower and strengthen my my heart. I had seen cardiologist before they just told me my heart rate was too high and to stop Adderal. I could barely function off of Adrenal, so I was put o n a low dose of Vyvanse which helped a little. I decided for me, I did not want to live as a zombie, and I preferred to take a chance with Vyvanse or not live. I go to the cardiologist several times a year, my heart rate is 74-84. And I will deal with problems as they come along, if they do. I am 71, and I am OK with this until something better comes along. If I was younger, I would have made a different choice.

[JustMentallyLazy]

Chance is that the meds arent affecting your BP. They dont HAVE TO affect it.

Things that do affect BP:

- Sugar, is bad in so many ways.

- Salt, you already satiate your daily needs through the food you need without adding salt.

- Lack of water (juice, soda, etc is not water...). You need atleast 1.5 litres of fluid through drinking each day. Coffee is acceptable too, since the dieuretic effect is diminished if you are a long term coffee drinker. But water is far superior to anything else...

- Red meat, poultry and fish are better. But the occational steak is not harmful. Dont grill your foods..... acrylamid...

- Lack of fiber in your food, eat fibrous greens. The help bowl movement and lowers BP.

- Lack of sleep... which also includes waking up once or more times at night. This is sooo important. Get a fixed cycle that you follow every day. And when you wake up, go stand in bright daylight for a few minutes to reset the circadian rythm.

- Sedentary lifestyle, biking to work is fine, but its not excercise. Standing up during work is a little better. But if you work computers and then come home and couch it, thats a sedantary lifestyle.

- Lack of excercise, walking is better than nothing, but if you want to see it affect your BP you need to do high intensity training.

- Stress / anxiety, if you have cormorbid anxiety, then you likely have high cortisol levels. Try to do grounding meditation, breathing mediatation. You can trick the para sympathetic nervoussystem to calm down.

If all those things are in order then you could simply have inherited high BP.

You had ultrasound of the heart when you got diagnosed right? I did, and found out I have an insufficience... leading to high BP. Meds didnt increase it further.

Im on 2x 30mg every day. Morning / noon

And sorry to overwhelm you. You dont have to "fix" all those things at once.

Pick the first 1 or 2 you find easy to deal with.... then work on those for a month. Praise yourself for succeeding, forgive yourself if it takes longer.

Personally, the four things that has the biggest impact on my BP is getting rid of sugar, salty snacks, working out in fitness and fixing my sleep cycle... but mindful of not stacking weights too fast during excercise.

Wish you a good journey!

[Hidden in reply to JustMentallyLazy]

Considering my diet is mostly sugar and salt snacks plus a lack of water and exercise and regular sleep and nutrition- those could be factors. I am trying to gain weight and i have to gain at least 10 lbs. No, I never got an ultrasound of the heart but I never had heart issues to ever have made me go to a cardiologist or anything before. I thought my anxiety was going through the roof and felt like I had too much caffeine so I got my heart rate checked and it was high. I stopped the meds and my heart rate is normal. Wondering about other medications- for adhd especially for recalling, tackling tasks, interrupting, not really listening, and forgetting things, zoning out, etc. Not sure not taking them is the way to go, but for right now can’t have a high heart rate.

[StanleyThyroid]

Also what do you define as high and what is your blood pressure? My resting HR was down to 40 and although with meds feels higher but it's only a few bpm more.

[Hidden in reply to StanleyThyroid]

Not sure about the BP. Mine is normal. My resting heart rate was up to 115 on the meds. off the meds it’s like 60-70 ish.

[motherofdragons62]

I am also on Vy 40mg along with Intuniv 4mg to reduce the negative effects of the V . Seems to be the right combo!

[Hidden in reply to motherofdragons62]

What does Intuniv do?

[Ampersand1]

My BP has dropped since starting Vyvanse and I think it's cause the stress from thinking I lacked the willpower to push through was finally substituted out with knowledge that I have a neurodivergent brain. However, check your caffeine intake, I had to seriously cut back even when I started low doses. I now have one 8 oz cup each morning of regular coffee and that's it for me.

[Hidden in reply to Ampersand1]

Thanks. I only drink a decaf coffee- 10 oz in morning and on none work days I drink a second decaf 10 oz in afternoon. Not sure exactly how much caffeine are in them. My BP is normal.

[LisethHIS]

Hello SunlightNStars,

Thank you for contacting CHADD's National Resource Center on ADHD. When it comes to medication side effects, we would recommend that you consult with your doctor. Some medication can increase your heart rate and would have to consult with a cardiologist to determine if you are able to take the medication. Here's a link that can be helpful. chadd.org/attention-article...

If you have further questions, please let us know. We are here to help!

Liseth

Health Information Specialist

CHADD’s National Resource Center on ADHD

chadd.org

[Gaiyuri]

Hi Sunlight and all -

I see there's a lot of responses here, and just wanted to chime in with a few thoughts below.

About me:

Fisrstly, I've been using Vyvanse for about 7/8 years and it made a tremendous difference. I started off with 30 mg and have only recently in the past year gone down to half (I gotta split the 30 mg pill and talk half, 15 mg, which I mix in a small glass of water).

Vyvanse didn't give me the jolts of Adderall which I had tried the XR version about 15 years ago. What I did notice still is that caffeine is more effective.

As of today, I can't have more than a half a cup of cafe or my heart rate (and anxiety) go up.

So in short, I would be careful and minimize caffeine in take.

In addition, when I eat food it seems to balance out the drug better than simply drinking the water and go!

Lastly, I would also say, reduce reduce reduce. There's a lot of drug in those capsules, and my experience is that I am better off with less than the 30 mg. This can be the result of a lot of CBT strategies that I've put into place over the years to help me cope, but overall, the reduction has helped me a lot.

Also on the weekends, I would take a day or two off when I didn't need to be hyper-focused at work in the office.

hope this helps! let me know if questions or what you thinking to better address dosing.

- G

PS: when I first was prescribed and every six months, my psychiatrist had me do this specialized ADD test, which was a 20-min computer test of listening and viewing the number "1" on the computer screen. It gives a score to see what type of ADD you have, as well as to help regulate the drug amt. required by the patient. (wish I could remember the test, but very helpful if you can get access to do it!)