Eppitt0me
Greenlighter
A little bit of background information about me. I've been seen a therapist and psychiatrist now for about 3-4 months for several different issues, but in the last month our appointments have focused on my distractions and struggles with college. Growing up I've always had many difficulties focusing in school where my mind would wander and I couldn't stay focused on homework or during my classes, but having stricter parents they were able provide an extremely strong external structure for me to do well in school. Now that I've left home and gone off to college for several years my grades have severely taken a toll (from A's and B's) to failing or barely passing many of my classes because I haven't been able properly study. My psychiatrist just recently diagnosed me with ADD, and I was given a prescription for Vyvanse which I was very excited about because I really needed to find something to give me the extra push.
I've now been on Vyvanse 20mg for a couple of weeks now and I have a couple problems with it. I've been finding that only taking one pill does almost nothing for me, and I don't feel any effects of it. I've started taking a higher dosage of it now by splitting a pill and taking 1.5 pills or simply just taking two pills. When I do this it makes a difference, but a couple of things happen. First, I have very inconsistent releases of the two pills where I might feel really strong effects for about an hour, then it stops for an hour and then comes back. This continues for about 6-8 hours. Secondly, I know Vyvanse is an extended release pill that is supposed to take effect over 10-12 hours, but with my bodies metabolism I'm not getting the full normal duration of the pill. I normally feel it kick in about an hour after taking it and last between 5-7 hours, maybe longer depending on how much I've eaten during the day. I would just take two of them, but any time I do this I just have trouble sleeping and it keeps me up later during the night. Thirdly, when taking any high dosages of it I feel like my heart is beating really hard, and my heart rate goes up slightly. This is supposed to be well-noted side affect of most stimulant medications, but with Vyvanse it just makes me feel really off compared Adderall I've taken. Lastly, my Vyvanse prescriptions are still quite costly even after my insurance kicks in, and will have to spend a large amount in the future to keep getting prescription refilled.
Now Vyvanse is the first prescription of any stimulant medication I've taken, but in the past I have taken Adderall IR and Concerta that I received from friends. My experiences with Concerta were really negative, and it seemed that I wasn't as productive as I was on either Vyvanse or Adderall and I would become quite on edge and irritate quickly. I found when taking the 10mg Adderall IR's they really worked wonders though, and I was able to get a lot accomplished for 3-4 hours and then I could take another one to give me another 3-4 hours of productivity. I felt like IR's were really consistent stimulants and I wouldn't get the waves of the stimulation like with my Vyvanse. When taking the Adderall I could feel my heart rate elevated, but the pounding in my chest was never as intense as it feels with the Vyvanse. Also I know there are the generic forms of Adderall which are significantly less expensive than the Vyvanse I'm taking.
Now this is where my dilemma comes in. When talking with my Psychiatrist I told him I hadn't ever taken any sort of stimulant medication before which technically isn't true. I didn't want to seem over "eager" to try and get any form of medication. Since I'm in a college town where Adderall and most other stimulant medications are regularly abused I know it is a little more difficult to get a hold of. I believe that was one of the main reasons why it wasn't prescribed, and the other being that Vyvanse is a drug which only works when taken orally which makes it harder to abuse compared to Adderall which can be snorted, injected, or taken orally.
I would really like to switch off Vyvanse at some point in the near future, and be given an Adderall XR and IR prescription this way I can use the XR's to get me through most of the day, and use the IR's in the evening or for shorter periods of time. Please let me know if you have either been in a similar sort of situation, or what I should do to try and switch medications.
I've now been on Vyvanse 20mg for a couple of weeks now and I have a couple problems with it. I've been finding that only taking one pill does almost nothing for me, and I don't feel any effects of it. I've started taking a higher dosage of it now by splitting a pill and taking 1.5 pills or simply just taking two pills. When I do this it makes a difference, but a couple of things happen. First, I have very inconsistent releases of the two pills where I might feel really strong effects for about an hour, then it stops for an hour and then comes back. This continues for about 6-8 hours. Secondly, I know Vyvanse is an extended release pill that is supposed to take effect over 10-12 hours, but with my bodies metabolism I'm not getting the full normal duration of the pill. I normally feel it kick in about an hour after taking it and last between 5-7 hours, maybe longer depending on how much I've eaten during the day. I would just take two of them, but any time I do this I just have trouble sleeping and it keeps me up later during the night. Thirdly, when taking any high dosages of it I feel like my heart is beating really hard, and my heart rate goes up slightly. This is supposed to be well-noted side affect of most stimulant medications, but with Vyvanse it just makes me feel really off compared Adderall I've taken. Lastly, my Vyvanse prescriptions are still quite costly even after my insurance kicks in, and will have to spend a large amount in the future to keep getting prescription refilled.
Now Vyvanse is the first prescription of any stimulant medication I've taken, but in the past I have taken Adderall IR and Concerta that I received from friends. My experiences with Concerta were really negative, and it seemed that I wasn't as productive as I was on either Vyvanse or Adderall and I would become quite on edge and irritate quickly. I found when taking the 10mg Adderall IR's they really worked wonders though, and I was able to get a lot accomplished for 3-4 hours and then I could take another one to give me another 3-4 hours of productivity. I felt like IR's were really consistent stimulants and I wouldn't get the waves of the stimulation like with my Vyvanse. When taking the Adderall I could feel my heart rate elevated, but the pounding in my chest was never as intense as it feels with the Vyvanse. Also I know there are the generic forms of Adderall which are significantly less expensive than the Vyvanse I'm taking.
Now this is where my dilemma comes in. When talking with my Psychiatrist I told him I hadn't ever taken any sort of stimulant medication before which technically isn't true. I didn't want to seem over "eager" to try and get any form of medication. Since I'm in a college town where Adderall and most other stimulant medications are regularly abused I know it is a little more difficult to get a hold of. I believe that was one of the main reasons why it wasn't prescribed, and the other being that Vyvanse is a drug which only works when taken orally which makes it harder to abuse compared to Adderall which can be snorted, injected, or taken orally.
I would really like to switch off Vyvanse at some point in the near future, and be given an Adderall XR and IR prescription this way I can use the XR's to get me through most of the day, and use the IR's in the evening or for shorter periods of time. Please let me know if you have either been in a similar sort of situation, or what I should do to try and switch medications.