Recently prescribed vyvanse, looking for some info from bluelighters

[xbearsx32]

Hello, (this is my first post aside from my introduction so if I break any rules I am truly sorry and will learn from my mistakes)

My name is Kevin but my friends either call me Roy or Flub, feel free to ask why. I was prescribed vyvanse earlier this week and am looking for some info. I have abused stimulants extensively in the past, starting in college when I would do 40 mg of vyvanse in an attempt to get schoolwork done, but would invariably listen to new music, write raps, and go for endless cigarette breaks outside the dorms (I'm sure many of you can sympathize with the intense craving for cigarettes when on amphetamine stimulants). I absolutely loved these "vyve nights" as we would call them because I had so many deep and intelligent conversations with my best friend, who we'll call Cliff, cause why not. It felt like my mind morphed from a cluttered desk full of random papers to a carefully organized system of filing cabinets, and the right words seemed to be right at my finger tips. Thus began my love affair with vyvanse and adderall. I wholly credit turning to vyvanse (50 mg capsules, I would either take one or two at a time) with pulling me out of the deep depression I fell into after I got suspended from college. The stimulation and mental clarity gave me the confidence and motivation to hang out with my friends for the first time in months. Using vyvanse as sort of a crutch, I pulled myself out of this depression. After this my memory is a little hazy, but somehow I got a connect for adderall 10 mg ir pills. He would text me "7 for 20" and his deals seemed really good to me at the time so I would always take him up on it. This was a very low point in my life because I was virtually addicted to amphetamines, and began stealing from my mom and sister to pay for my habit. The adderall use then triggered a manic episode which resulted in multiple hospitalizations, thus cutting off my use of adderall. Fast forward to the past few months, I've been seeing a very good psychiatrist to manage my bipolar disorder. Earlier this week after talking about it our previous session, he made the decision to prescribe vyvanse 40 mg. The reason I went through my history of amphetamine use is to show I've taken them before and consider myself pretty knowledgeable on the subject. However I've never had a legitimate prescription and that's why I'm turning to you bluelighters. Yesterday was my first day taking it, and even though 40 mg is less than my desired dose, I had a huge change in mindset. I know if i take the vyvanse as prescribed it would help me with all the things its meant for, focus, motivation, organization etc. What I'm unsure about is if I take it as prescribed every day, will I still feel that slight euphoria that comes from a 40 mg dose with no tolerance, and will I still feel that underlying feeling of stimulation that pushes me to get things done. If that stimulation and euphoria, which I acknowledge is slight and nothing compared to say 80 mg of instant release adderall, would be present everyday, I would be ecstatic to take the vyvanse as prescribed. If I would become completely tolerant to it and would just have a new normal and not feel like im under the influence of anything, I'd be more inclined to take say 3 days off, take advantage of having an appetite and catch up on sleep and then the 4th day take 120 mg and feel really nice. Anyone that has been prescribed vyvanse I'm reaching out for your help and anecdotal evidence. As someone who both could benefit from the therapeutic effects of vyvanse, but also truly loves stimulant highs, what is the best way to go about this? Any response would be very greatly appreciated, any questions you want to ask I'll be happy to answer. Looking for help as soon as possible so please respond!

Thank you so much for reading
Kev

 

[Obyron]

Welcome to BL, Kev! Your post is fine; the only thing I'd say is indulge in a little more formatting next time, because a lot of people on the internet in general won't read a wall of text.

The most important thing I'd say is that it sounds like you've found a good psychiatrist. It's awesome to have someone that you can be honest with about your history, and yet they base their treatment around your problems and not whatever their stereotype is. I have crippling anxiety about doctors not believing me. I've never had a truly horrible experience with one, and I've never had a doc that I felt just completely ignored me and that I couldn't get through to (I've had bad experiences, but never bad enough to justify my level of distaste). I think it's a control thing, where I know that they have the power of the prescription pad and I don't, and I have no control, and my only hope in the situation of getting what I need is in their hands and in how well I communicate and how well they listen to me. It makes every visit to the doctor feel like I'm playing in the Super Bowl.

So my point is just that it sounds like you have a doctor who really listens and cares, and that's awesome. A lot of people would envy you, including me. I'm happy with the guy I'm seeing, but I've made some admissions that took a lot of work on me to open up about, but I've also held some things back out of fear.

So to your question, you will always become tolerant of stimulants. The euphoria goes away (surprisingly quickly, at least for me), but that awesome hyperorganized filing cabinet brain feeling you mentioned sticks around a while longer until your body truly acclimates to the dosage. It almost stops feeling special though, like, "Yeah, should I feel any other way?" and then you have a day where you don't take it for whatever reason and you realize that you really do need it.

Concerta just wasn't working for me, so my doc switched me to Vyvanse. He said he typically starts new patients at 30mg and that they prescribe up to 70mg, and so he wrote me 30mg daily for 3 weeks, and then he's bumping it to 50. It's not unusual to have to boost your dose until you hit the sweet spot. So you would reach a "new normal" feeling, but the normal is pretty good.

You just have to weigh what's important to you-- fix the symptoms that are fucking you up, or get spun every now and then. No one can make that decision for you, but there's probably a balance.

 

[xbearsx32]

Thank you so much for your response Obyron, its so great to get some feedback so quickly, your response was really helpful.

And also thanks for the tip, I'll try to keep my posts shorter or maybe add a TLDR at the bottom.

I guess I didn't really need to include all that background info, I just wanted to express that I knew a good amount about stimulants, just not about actually being prescribed one. I'm in a tough situation because logically it should be really simple, take it as prescribed and let it do its job and I'll probably see a huge benefit, but the addictive personality in me is so excited to have a drug I've loved for years actually prescribed to me and wants to get high. Do you know if there would be any health problems, mentally or physically, with taking 80 mg every other day? If I did that would I still get any amount of euphoria?

You're definitely right, I have to figure it out for myself and I will over time. Just thought it would be good to get some advice from people prescribed vyvanse. I'm happy you understood what I was talking about with that filing cabinet analogy, its hard to explain the feeling without using metaphors but its not a high, its not euphoria, its just my mind is more organized and the right things to say just seem to keep popping up in my head. If that feeling sticks around, like you said, I think that would be enough incentive to take it as prescribed, so thanks for explaining that to me.

And your 100% right, having a good doctor is extremely crucial. I know I'm lucky to have mine. I think psychiatrists really value honesty, and in my opinion if they're a good doctor and you tell them something helped you in the past (benzos for anxiety, amphs for focus) regardless of whether you did them illegally or not, they should at least think about prescribing the medicine that helped you. So, in short, good luck with your doctor, try to not worry as much as you can, if he/she is a truly good doctor you'll get the meds that will help you the most. Are you on that 30 mg starting dose of vyvanse right now? How's that going for you?

Alright I'll cut this post off before I make it too long for you to read. Thanks again main, I appreciate the response alot.

Kev

 

[Crashing]

You're on the right track with spacing out the dosages. Every other day will still lead to diminished effects though. I would use it once every 3-4 days and know that you can sustain that way for a longer time, but you'll still gain a tolerance slowly.

Taking it daily as prescribed will result in a few days of focus then you'll take it to feel normal, and for someone with a known addictive personality you may end up wanting to take more and more doing it this way, and although in many cases I'd stick to the Doctors orders, this isn't one of them.

 

[xbearsx32]

Thanks for the reply man. I'm not gonna take the 40 mg today, and I'm planning on taking 80 mg tomorrow, as early as I can in the day so I can still get some sleep tomorrow night. Taking every 3-4 days is a good idea, after tomorrow I'll probably try that. It just sucks that I have to give up positive daily effects for the high that I'm trying to reach. Tough decision. I'll post on here tomorrow about the effects of the 80 mg.

 

[xbearsx32]

Just a quick question - would taking a double dose of prozac potentiate the vyvanse in any way? I know the vyve releases dopamine but im pretty sure I've read that it releases serotonin as well. Thanks guys

 

[xbearsx32]

Alright I've got a little update. Popped my 80 mg of vyvansw (2 40s) at about 1 pm. I'm feeling absolutely great, strong euphoria, nice focus and feeling really social.

I just acquired one 10 mg adderall ir and one 30 mg adderall xr. So my total amphetamine dose today will be 80 + 10 + 30 = 120 mg. Should be a great day, and I'm prepared for the long night. I probably won't take my vyvanse tomorrow so I can take a nap during the day. I'm really starting to think 80 mg every 2 days might be the best option for me, and I can buy adderall to supplement. Or if I'm really sleep deprived I could take 2 days off and take 120 mg the third day.

Sidenote I'm going to take an extra 40 mg of prozac to amplify the adderall.

Would love to hear your guys' feedback on my dosing today. Thanks