(Long but worth reading or you're starting or contemplating Vyvanse.)
Because 99% of this board's members are non-judgmental and care for each other’s well being, I want take the time to submit a long-term user’s contribution about
Vyvanse. My purpose is to compare the way Vivanse has worked out for us after several months of regular use. (I have not take Adderall so cannot compare.)
Having taken V. every day since last September (6 months), I can tell you my reactions.
I am a middle-aged guy with genuine PB2. I am good at my job but have trouble dealing with co-workers, especially people who "manage" me. I don’t get physical but can be verbally aggressive, and also, in different scenarios, am prone to serious depression.
For several years I've worked with a pscyh my age. We have a mutually trusting relationship and are experimenting with different med combos to level out my mood. Because of my depressions he considers me a serious case and will prescribe pretty much what I want. (I am straight with him about how the meds are affecting me, and he's cool with my getting high once in a while as a side effect.)
Oh yeah, one more thing, when I was young I did EVERY drug, legal or not, mostly for the experience. I've done hard stuff but never got strung out. I do have an addictive personality though -- alcohol brings it out -- so I can't use it. But though I no longer desire to get zonked on meds, I don't mind a pleasant buzz now and then. So I know where pretty much everybody’s head is at here. We enjoy recreation but don’t want to hurt anyone.
In case this is of help to anybody, here are my findings after 6 months . . .
- I was laid off my job and getting pretty anxious so my doc first tried me on the usual downers. I hate being dopy during the day so he put my on a regimen of an upper in the morning (Ritalin-SR 2OMG 2/day) ) and downers at night: Xanax 5MG (generic is Alprazolam).
- I've done uppers before and know they affect people differently. For me, Ritalin sucks. It makes me jumpy and irritable and the crash is awful. How anybody could give this to a kid is beyond my comprehension. Xanax, on the other hand, is top-notch benzo -- but it's still a benzo so have problems of their own. As in, you build up tolerance and you get super-hooked on them.
- Because I hated Ritalin my doc switched me to Vyvanse, first 30MG/day taken upon awakening. When this did not suffice (you start to come down after about 5 hours), I went to 60MG/day and disovered V's magic method of keeping you in a beautiful productive mellow groove all day long: DELAY THE SECOND 30MG TAB TWO HOURS AFTER TAKING THE FIRST ONE!
- Six months of usage have convinced me that V is a moderately addictive drug. It is a great antidpressant. Plus, it totally kills your appetite and you can lose all the weight you want to. The nightly come-down is surprisingly gentle but it gets worse as tolerance builds (see below).
- Due to emerging Vyvanse tolerance my doc let me have three 30MG/day but I saved the third one for fast, 100-mile bicycle rides. (Don't worry, I have a heart rate monitor.) I'd taken up to five 30MG Vs in one day with no problem.
- My doc upped my benzos to three 30MG Temazepam three times a day, PLUS two or three Zanax 5MG for calm me down before bedtime. Life was good.
- After three months on a steady-state of the above usage, I developed a Vyvanse tolerance to the point where it was of very little benefit anymore. (This is pretty impressive length for time for an upper to bring on a tolerance.)
Tolerance symptoms: I started sleeping in till 8:00. Upon awaking, I'd feel exhausted and groggy. (Through I almost always slept well on the Temazepam.) I'd pop at V as soon as I woke up, then drink some strong coffee. In a half-hour I'd be on top of the world -- but only for a little while. By 10:00 a.m. I'd feel "crashier" than ever before. I had to eat breakfast or I'd feel like my stomach was eating me from the inside out. Even after the second V, a couple of hours later, I was ravenously hungry. (I used to go all day without eating on two Vs and never feel hungry.)
- I could still work pretty hard and steady but my mood was robotic; there were no more good vibes. I was not nasty or negative-manic in any other way, but I was not happy, either.
- Generously, my doc allowed me to replace V for one month with Desoxyn 5MG x 5/day. (No, I'm not going to give you his name.) The idea was to break the tolerance by taking a D only when I felt I really needed to. Being short acting, it wouldn't be in my system all day.
- Of course I ended up alternating the Desoxyn with leftover Vyvanse when I was really down. The combo didn't work very well – that’s how burned out I was. I was awake, busy, and stable, but not feeling good. Eventually, after a couple of weeks, I started feeling exhausted all the time. sometimes I’d sleep 24 hours straight.
- Thus was born my Vyvanse/Benzo habit. So with about 10 days till next seeing my doc, I have through it through and come up with a mission statement: Reduce the uppers and downers to a reasonable level over time. (For me a good balance would be two Vyvanse 30MG every two or three days, and one or two Xanax at bedtime.)
- I started tapering last week but got interrupted by an intense cycling ride across Death Valley. (No shit.) This required a lot of V and D! But I learned in my couple of days of tapering that the Vyvanse is not so bad to withdraw from (gradually of course), and the Xanax works together with the V to help reduce the necessary quantity of both of them to get through the day -- and night.) It's nice to have some Desoxyn on hand for those days you're really wasted but don't want to the long-term effect of a Vyvanse. The idea, of course, is to build up a tolerance.
- Things are a bit out of hand right now but I’ve got it together and am confident with my doc's assistance I'll reach my goal. At that point I hope the V still helps me through my day, and that I can sleep well. I know I'll not get that nice little buzz again, but I can live without it if I can find the balance that enables these drugs to do what they were intended to do.
Overall, for people like me, I'd recommend the Vyvanse/Xanax combination, starting at a low dosage and keeping them as low as you can. Don't take Vyvanse every day. Try the best you can to avoid Vyvanse tolerance, and let it do its good stuff for you. (Xanax tolerance is inevitable but also can be beat if you have to.)
Good luck and be well.