My relationship with Vyvanse; Seeking help.

[Selfless]

I have been prescribed Vyvanse for about three months now. I'm experienced enough now to know that the recreational aspect is not worth the negative after effects. Now I'm simply trying to use it as best as possible for it's intended use.

I recently didn't take it for a few weeks because I did not like the way it would make me so focused that I almost lose part of my personality.. for example having dinner with my family, instead of conversing I'm usually thinking about what needs to be done, lacking empathy and conversation. I'd convinced myself although the positive aspects of Vyvanse are extremely helpful, it was not worth me not being my normal self.

I'm prescribed 50mg. It'll take .5-1 hours to kick in... then I receive 3 hours of optimal effect, then another hour or two of lessened effect. Come around the 6-7 hour mark and I'm extremely irritable and some form of apathetic. When I was on 30mg I informed my psychiatrist about my crashes and short lasting effects, he simply said to bump up the dose, so I now am given 50mg. Sure it lasted a little longer, but it just made the negatives more exaggerated.

Now that finals are nearing and I'm a little behind on work I decided to start taking it again. I told myself I'd use it once or twice a week. Yesterday I took ~30mg and then the other 20mg three or four hours later to prolong it's effectiveness. Then today I could hardly get out of bed. I slept 9 hours and still did not want to get out of bed. Why is this? I did not ingest a huge dose.. I took 25mg today just to be able to function and not feel depressed.


So to get to the point; TLDR

I've come to the conclusion less is more, is it a bad idea to dose lightly twice instead of once a day to extend it's effectiveness and put off the crash? Or should the right dose not even induce a crash? The thing that turns me off about dosing lightly twice a day is that it stays in your system for 12 hours.. I already have enough trouble getting to sleep.

What supplements would help me? Especially the next day, which makes me feel like I lack serotonin or something.

Is there anyway to not be irritable? Starting a benzo addiction doesn't sound like the best method. I have tried light doses of Xanax though (1mg), and it does work with curing sleep AND irritability. But curing a poison with a poison does not seem all too effective.

May Vyvanse simply not be for me? It is extremely effective for me, but doesn't last long, and then makes me irritable. Do other forms such as Dexedrine or Adderall have less of these side effects? I like the idea of the drug being out of your system in 3 hours instead of it lingering for 12.




And if you're wondering why I come to you guys instead of my Psychiatrist.. well he hasn't been reliable so far. You guys are more down to earth and IME more knowledgeable.

 

[olab7]

With your example, do you feel that way during the peak or the comedown? If its during the comedown that's normal if its during the peak then amphetamines arn't for you. When I went from abusing my vyvanse/adderall to using it to help my ADD like intended, I felt it only helped me focus a little and then still always had a mini crash. The feeling you feel the next day is from lack of dopamine. L-dopa and L-tyrosine are suppose to help with that but I've never tried. The best I could do was bananas and if I needed it, a benzo like xanax. If you're getting comedown symptoms that means you're taking too much. Taking more in one day will never lessen the crash but ,like you said, put it off for a little longer.

Unfortunatly all amphetamines (Dexedrine, Adderall, Vyvanse)need to keep having the dose raised because tolerance for them goes up quickly. Vyvanse, in my opinion should not be taken twice a day. Yeah, the good effects of it do not last as long as doctors tell you. But the bad effects sure last a long time and even longer if you take more. Vvyanse it the lonest lasting of the perscribed stims as far as I know,but redosing IME, is ineffective.

If you switch to adderall IR (instant release) or dexedrine IR they of course last shorter and redosing is more effective Adderall has more side effects than vyvanse, dexedrine should have the same.

I've always just thought that the side effects would go away with time but I didn't give it enough time to find out. Hope this helps

 

[GABAking]

With Vyvanse, I suggest dosing once as early in the morning as possible (to make sleeping easier). When I don't wanna take benzos or smoke weed, I always make sure I drink a lot of water and force myself to eat something while on the pill. I also eat when the pill starts to wear off. That really helps with the comedown, IMO.
All stimulants (adderall, ritalin, etc) are gonna have that up-down-crash cycle, unfortunately.

 

[Podraig]

I think the crash is worse for some people with Vyvanse, probably due to the hit on your liver. I had a quicker come down with adderall.

 

[Skill]

My suggestion, simply put, tell your doctor you are having negative effects on sleeping and eating patterns and ask to be switched to an add med with a shorter span. If your doctor is smart and/or sympathetic you can try for adderall IR or dexamp, but if he's a hardass and assumes you want to abuse then settle for adderall xr, at least you can bypass the time-release mechanism. I had very similar issues until I switched to adderall IRs, I can take them orally, sublingually, etc. so they only last as long as their needed. You probably don't have ADHD and don't need to be speeded out on a pill that lasts 12 hours. If you can't or won't then the next best thing would be to get prescribed a benzo to counteract some of the more negative effects. It's usually a matter of finding the right drug or drugs in the right dose to achieve your desired therapeutic effects with minimal unwanted or side effects.