Vyvanse is lisdexamphetamine which is just a prodrug for dexamphetamine. That's why it comes in capsules instead of waxy or coated time release tablets even though it's a time release medication. The time release is not in the pill, but rather in the actual drug itself. Vyvanse is a prodrug so the actual drug inside the caps is not active at all, it needs to be metabolised into dexamphetamine to become active. That's also why snorting Vyvanse doesn't work. The metabolism only happens orally. So snorting it just means you snort inactive powder (although you get a little in the drip, but still, it won't kick in quicker and you're basically just wasting drugs).
This is why it's become more widely prescribed, because it is harder to abuse compared to IR amphetamine which is easy to just crush and put up your nose. You'd need a lab and chemistry knowledge to bypass the time release of Vyvanse as you'd need to turn it into dexamphetamine outside the body by removing the lysine molecule.
Anyway point is the feeling of the two is basically the same once they peak. The Vyvanse only works once it metabolises into dexamphetamine, so all the active effects are from dexamphetamine that's just being metabolised slowly in your body as lysine molecule added to it is removed.
The main differences come from the obvious lack of time release in regular dexamphetamine. So it kicks in faster and has a shorter duration.
Personally I have been prescribed both and found both to be effective for ADHD and to be clean stims. However the nature of Vyvanse's reliance on metabolism means that some days it's stronger and long lasting, other days it's weak and lasts only a few hours, and you have to wait two hours for it to kick in to find out if it was gonna work properly that day.
This eventually got on my nerves so I asked my doc for regular dexamphetamine instead. It feels the same as Vyvanse did when it actually worked properly, and has much more consistent effects since I'm not relying on a prodrug metabolising into the active drug. It does vary in effects by day, I think all amphetamines do, but by a much smaller margin, and in any case if my normal dose is weak that day I find it out within 30-40 mins not 2 hours and I can redose it without the duration being so long I can't sleep that night.
Oh and to actually answer the OP... clonazepam is known to cause compulsive redosing and blackouts in some people, since you're obviously one of them why not speak to your doc about moving to a different benzo?
As for the discussion about benzos leaving you feel sober if you have anxiety... nah, this is bollocks imo. It's like when you hear people say if ADHD meds make you focus it means you have ADHD... and I have heard this even from psychiatrists... it's bullshit, stims make anyone focus.
Likewise a benzo is still a benzo if you have anxiety, a lot of this is dose dependent but you would still blackout from eating too many pills of clonazepam if you have anxiety for example, and you also will have delusions of sobriety even if you have anxiety too. If anything I think benzos are more euphoric if you have anxiety because the sudden anxiety relief when benzos kick in during a moment of bad anxiety, especially a panic attack, is a high in itself. Whereas someone without anxiety takes benzos and just feels sleepy and forgetful. They also need to take high doses to get any effect that can be considered recreational. But if you got anxiety, a therapeutic dose that works to relieve your anxiety still gets you that lovely feeling of relief.
Well, me personally I do NOT get euphoria from it.
The only times I ever had anything I could even try to call euphoria have yes, been those times I was REALLY freaking out and it helped, but really i still would not call it euphoria, but just the relief of symptoms, and really just the mental equivalent of the relief you get from headache medicine when your headache is gone.
I mean, we can agree to disagree on the definition of sobriety and whether or not one is sober on Klonopin.
I will admit, technically speaking, I guess one would say if you are on any mind altering substance at all that you are not technically sober, at least if that is your hard line definition, that I wouldn't be sober on Klonopin, which would basically mean I have literally not been sober for the past 15 years with the exception of a 9 month period when I was off of them hahaha.
I will say, that 9 months was very odd, and it feels very weird to not be on a drug you have LITERALLY been on EVERY SECOND for more than as decade before.
So regarding whether or not I felt "more sober" off of it, I would say, that I was pretty upset that my anxiety came back in those 9 months so that I couldn't stay off of it, because other wise I felt SO much better not being on it.
My mind was clearer, I was not tired all the time like I am now (I really want to stop Klonopin IF I could to be honest...but I need it right now), I felt honestly like my vision was clearer and my mind was clearer overall, and yet, my perception at the time and even looking back on it is that I felt MORE altered NOT being on Klonopin than being on it because it felt so different from how I usually feel.
I'd say it's kind of like how I am mildly nearsighted, but I didn't realize I was for years, and then when I got glasses and everything was so clear it felt like I was seeing things in an "altered way" just because they were clear when they usually weren't, but actually the way I was normally seeing shit without my glasses on was the "less real" perception of things, but it felt more real than with the glasses on cause that's how things normally looked.
So yes, I will admit, with that stark difference, I guess you could say I was experiencing "sobriety" for the first time in years when not on it.
So, when I say I feel "sober" on Klonopin, let me clarify that I would just have to say it is a subjective feeling for me, and that I personally associate "not being sober" with a feeling of being high on something, and Klonopin doesn't get me high, and I am LITERALLY on it ALL the time every day, because it lasts 12 hours and the half life is like 3 days and I take it every day, so it is always in my system, so it gets to just be "the new normal".
It's hard cause it's like, I am actually one of those people who gets strong recreational effects from coffee, but would you say that when you have drank coffee you are "not sober?"
Cause honestly, I feel more sober on KLonopin than on coffee as the latter gives me a buzz and Klonopin doesn't.
I personally would say I am NOT sober when I've had coffee.
Or like, what about sleeping pills, like Melatonin??
I take Melatonin every night, and not only does it make me tired, but I notice that when it kicks in I feel much more relaxed and not anxious, so I personally would say I am not sober on Melatonin.
So yes, if we consider being on caffeine or melatonin "not sober", then I guess I'd agree I am not sober on KLonopin.
It's just that it does not give me ANY euphoria AT ALL, less of a buzz than coffee, and I can do anything on it without feeling impaired, and I am literally always on it, so I feel sober when I am on it.
I am certainly more sober on Klonopin than I am when I am on Adderall, or Kratom, or Phenibut, or after drinking.
So.....I guess if we want to be SUPER technical about it, I can't deny I am not 100% sober when I am on KLonopin (which is ALWAYS LOL).......but at the same time I do not feel "altered" and I am not high in the way I would be if I smoked weed, or took Kratom or even Adderall.
It's just that I know some people get TRUE euphoria from benzos, especially Xanax, and I've heard how people who are somehow able to get high off KLonopin speak about it, and that's not how it makes me feel.
One guy before said that when he takes Klonopin he "doesn't give a shit about much" and his "inhibitions are lowered."
I totally don't get that way, don't have the subjective feeling of my inhibitions actually being lowered, just that I don't have the specific symptoms of anxiety I'd otherwise have if not on it, and I get no kind of buzzing sensation in any part of my head or extremities like I might get if high on any other kind of drugs.
So.....Klonopin does not get me high, and since I associate the word the phrase "sobriety" with "not feeling high", then I feel sober on Klonopin, but I guess that was the point one guy was making earlier, that benzos make you feel sober when you aren't.
It's just that then that particular guy went on to describe how low his inhibitions were on it, and how he didn't give a shit about stuff and felt euphoric, and I get no feeling like that whatsoever.
So I guess it's all about one's own interpretation of "sobriety".
Also, as far as blacking out is concerned, I am sure it would be "possible" for me to black out on my Klonopin if I downed the whole bottle, but with the fact that I take it every day and have been on it for years, I would REALLY have to take a shitload for that to happen if I was not using any other drug or drinking.
The one time I did blackout from Klonopin was a night I drank a real lot while on it, and while I have been used to drinking on Klonopin for years and never blacked out except for this one time, this was right after the one--9 month period where I had not been on Klonopin, and I just started taking it again a couple days prior, and didn't realize I had lost my tolerance.
So wheras I would normally be able to get drunk on my usual 1.5mgs and not blackout, I was much more sensitive to the Klonopin, and went and pounded beers and shots without realizing how much more it would effect me, and I blacked out BAD.
I learned my lesson: if you have ever been off of a drug you take a lot and go back to it you will lose your tolerance, so be VERY careful with what you do when you go back to that drug, because the same dose will not effect you the same way as before.
