Hello!
I was on Strattera for about 2 months, and while it helped immensely with my focus/concentration, the side effects were horrible (felt paradoxically fatigued and stimulated, constantly sweaty, nausea/heartburn), so my GP referred me to a pdoc, after telling me to discontinue Strattera (There was a 3-4 week wait between me stopping Strattera and seeing the pdoc, which was pretty crappy and I noticed a definite rebound during that time :( ) My appointment was on the 3rd of December, and after about an hour of us discussing the problems I've been having, he decided to try me on 50mg of Vyvanse.

Yesterday was my first day on a stimulant medication; I took the 50mg of Vyvanse at about 10am, and by about 11:30, I began to notice its effects. I started to get quite an energy boost as well as a mood lightening effect, and for the first time in a while had a completely clear head and was able to focus/organize myself very well. I even was able to find my keys and wallet without any problem, unlike normally where it's a 10-15 minute treasure hunt.
I had a few side effects, a headache that would come and go, as well as a bit of tightness in my neck muscles and jaw, and the appetite suppression effects. I had to force myself to eat a couple of powerbars because I was starting to feel a bit odd, helped immensely.

I went into work at about 3pm (I am a retail clerk at an organic grocery store, working in the health and body care dept), and proceeded to put up and remove around 200 sales tags, helping customers as they entered the department. It was awesome, although my co-workers and managers asked me what was up with me today; They said I was really quiet and looked a bit angry, which was quite the opposite of how I was feeling :)

Anyways, I was working until about 8-8:30, and noticed that at about 5:30-6, the effects began to wear off and I started to feel a bit irritable and nauseous, and quite a bit scatterbrained (Moreso than normally, actually). My pdoc told me that this was a pretty long acting medication, and that it should last about 12 hours. By the time I left, I felt completely drained and kinda nervous/irritable still. Didn't have any trouble eating or sleeping last night, which I was happy with, but the duration was not as I had expected.

Today I took it at 6:45, passed back out until about 7:30, when I got up and got ready for class (Last day of the semester... :( Won't be able to really tell the effectiveness of Vyvanse for the purpose that I really need it, focusing/concentrating in school/homework), and it kicked in pretty much when I was driving to school, and during class I was amazed at my ability to recall all of my Spanish tenses, answer questions well and quickly, and I felt much more concentration ability that I ever have in class.

I'll try to report back later how the rest of the day goes, as I have a couple more classes and a few errands to run. Anybody else have a drop off effect like that on 50mg, and if so, what did you do/what would you suggest?

Thanks!
Aratsu

I had terrible drop off problems with Vyvanse. I was extremely irritable and sad when it wore off. I ended up switching back to Adderall and don't have that problem anymore. Good luck and keep posting how it is going!

Glad to hear that you're having a positive response to Vyvanse. I have found that the drug consistently wears off for me after 8 or so hours. If you can, wait at least a week so that your body has some time to iron out all of the bumps. Also, eating well (protein) and drinking enough water throughout the day can have a positive effect on duration. If not, titrating to the next dosage is often the solution.

Thanks for the input guys; 2:30 now and I'm feeling a little less effect already, but still pretty focused, although I'm beginning to get one of those lovely headaches. I tried to eat some more about half an hour ago (A salad), but couldn't get down more than 3 bites. I'm thinking of going over to the organic grocery and checking out the different protein shakes and stuff, liquid sounds like it would be much easier to stomach at the moment.
I've been drinking electrolyte drinks (Powerade and Vitamin Water) like a fiend today, and have had to pee quite a few times in the past few hours (Which is odd, normally don't do it /this/ many times in an 8 hour period. My mouth has just been so dry today that I just have to keep drinking liquids.

I'm going to wait it out for about a week and see how everything is. My pdoc gave me a script for 30 pills and didn't say anything about any dosage adjustments, he just said try this for a month and come back to see me on the 2nd. Should I call him and ask him about his thoughts on possibly adjusting the dosage after I settle in with this medication for a little while, because I really can't be crashing at 8:00, especially when I'm typically the person that closes the store at night. I'm just not sure the protocol on this, especially since this is the first time that I have seen this doctor, and the first time I have ever dealt with a mental health professional.

I found that making sure I consistently eat on it helped immensely to lengthen the effect.

I'd definitely go back before the month is up. You'll know how you're going to respond within 2 weeks or so. Keep trying to eat foods high in protein during the day to see if that helps. You'll know when you can't take the early drop off anymore.

P.S. The headaches go away for many. (unless you're having them because you're not eating/drinking enough, but you're already addressing this)http://addforums.com/forums/images/smilies/smile.gif

Yeah, I will probably check in with him next week before I go off on vacation just to let him know how I'm doing, and tell him my concerns/ask him for his suggestions. I did what I mentioned, and went and got a container of Tropical Fruit flavoured Spirulina Shake (BTW, this tastes excellent and goes down really easily). Helped immensely with my headache and seemed to lessen the dropoff, which didn't bother me as much last night, not much irritation and I slept fine, albeit a bit later than usual (1:30am).

This morning I woke up with a major appetite so I decided to make myself a 3 egg omelette with veggies, a banana, and a protein shake. I normally am not one to eat a big breakfast, but I feel much better after doing so. Took my meds about 15min before eating, so as not to delay onset. We'll see how the day goes today. I have to close this evening, so I'm going to try to keep munching a little bit throughout the day.

Eating at minimum three meals a day and drinking fluids constantly has made it work best for me. If I don't eat I get shakey.

I have never experienced the irritability/moodiness or drop-off at all. I honestly havent noticed much difference between 30mg and 70mg, so when it's approved to go higher I'd like to.

I have to wonder what people expect out of this medicine. I thought it was to level me out, not fill me full of energy and guide me to do things. Racing brain, motor mouth, inability to finish tasks, and my tic (shaking my leg(s)) have all reduced to next to nothing. Granted, a dissapointing or exciting event can over power all of that for a bit, but not that long.

Yeah, Ate much more yesterday than I did in the first two days, and noticed much less shakiness and less weirdness as it began to drop off.
Heh, I noticed that like for the first time in my life, I am not bouncing my leg up and down when I'm seated. Hehehe. That drives everyone around me nuts :D

Haven't talked with my doctor yet, but I decided to try an experiment today, to see if a slightly increased dosage might prevent an early dropoff. I emptied somewhere between a quarter to a half of the powder from one of the capsules, and put it in a cup of water and drank it with my 50mg dose this morning at 8:45am (So I'm guessing somewhere between 60 and 75mg). Haven't notice a huge increase in mental effects, about the same as it has been for the last 3 days on 50mg, however it is now about 7 hours since I took it and am seeing none of the signs that I have noticed when it begins to wear off (yet). No headaches, anything.

Appetite has been pretty healthy today too, wasn't as much of a chore to eat lunch today as it has been in the past few days. I believe I'm thinking too much about it when I'm eating; If I sort of distract myself with something, I noticed that it is easier to get the food down.

If the duration is acceptable (Lasting until at least 8 or 9), I am going to continue with my normal dosage until I can talk to my doctor about possibly making an adjustment, which I will probably do sometime mid-week next week.

Yeah, I noticed much better coverage in taking the slightly higher dosage. It slowly started to taper off around about 8, by about 10:30, noticed the rebound setting in, but between the decrease in effect and me actually noticing rebound, Still had decent positive effects. Took my normal 50mg dose today, got a short shift so no need for complete coverage until 10 today. However, I am going to speak with my doctor next week about a possible dosage increase when necessary.

Since he never mentioned anything to me about adjusting my dosage myself, what do you think his feeling would be if I told him that I did the little capsule-splitting experiment yesterday? At the end of my appointment with him, he made it extremely clear about his feelings towards prescribing stimulants to people my age/college students, and, since he really doesn't know a whole lot about me, I don't want him to think anything negative about me. Especially since I did that without asking him before doing so.
Maybe I'm just being a little paranoid. Hehe.
Thoughts?

My psychiatrist didn't express any dislike when I told him about my meds not working and sometimes I would one and take a little extra, but he did up my dosage completely. 70mg...so far so good....I go back on monday for my monthly "So...are we good yet?"

Yeah, I'm probably just being a little paranoid. Really don't know the whole protocol on dealing with a psychiatrist, as this is my first, so I should probably follow my instinct and talk to him about it, doubt it will hurt at all.

I would just be honest with your psychiatrist about everything (een that you might feel a little insecure about "the protocol"). Taking an extra half capsule or whatever as you described is not abuse by any means. Many experienced psychiatrists will encourage some patients to experiment with the dosage of this kind of medicine (within limits of course) to help find the right dose. Good luck.

This is my first time with a psychiatrist too, but he just makes me feel so comfortable I don't really worry about it. He'll tell me if it's something he thinks is dangerous for me to be doing on my own. Yeah, I'm probably just being a little paranoid. Really don't know the whole protocol on dealing with a psychiatrist, as this is my first, so I should probably follow my instinct and talk to him about it, doubt it will hurt at all.

*nods* Just something new, that I've never done/experienced before (This type of meds, with their weird social stigmas, as well as dealing with mental health professionals). Glad I have a place like this to ask questions to people in similar boats as I, as I sometimes have a hard time trusting my instincts hahaha. Advice from others definitely helps out!

I'm on this stuff. Today is the 3rd day, 50 mg in the morning. It didn't hit as hard or as long as the first 2 days which sucks. Deffinately able to focus better than when I don't use it if I have to focus on anything but when I don't need to focus or anything important it sucks to have that very slightly bummed and/or anxious feeling (as compared to the mood lightening effect I tend to get that "aww man it's over" feeling when it wears off).
I just wish the effects were more consistent but then again I'm just starting out like you. I'm glad people talked about eating regularly while on it to prolong the effect I think I'll try that tomarow.

The appetite suppression is actually a good thing for me since normaly I have a monsterous appetite and usually get an McChicken Sandwich with my supersized #3...now because I know I have to eat and anything sounds just as un-appetizing as anything else I'm able to eat uber healthy.

Hehe, I have never been in that boat. I have an extremely high metabolism and am very slim (5'11", 140-145lb), so I really can't afford to lose any weight or else I will start to look like a crackhead or something.

Yeah, Yesterday, with that higher dosage, I got pretty much all day coverage, no loss of sleep or anything, however today, with the normal 50mg (Took it at about 11:15am, woke up a bit late), I noticed the dropoff starting at about 7, so about an 8 hour coverage today. Was really productive when I got into work, but my manager asked me what was wrong at about 8pm. Luckily she is ADHD herself and is extremely understanding, so she didn't give me any troubles, just gave me some simple tasks to finish before I left. She recommended a couple of natural brain-health supplements that we carry in our store that she claims has helped her fight the comedown off of her medication (She's on Adderall XR tid and IR when needed, so I'd imagine her comedowns are probably a bit more drastic than mine, but haven't noticed, even on a really late night at work.) I would share them on here, but I left the piece of paper that I wrote that info down on at the info desk at work :/ Love that rebound hahaha.

Good luck alpha, Glad to hear your focus is being helped as well, been a godsend in the past few days for me.

Aratsu,
If the medicine is covering your symptoms for 8 hours, this may indicate that a higher dose is necessary. Also, while metabolism plays a role, 50mg is a relatively low dose for an adult based on mg/kg.
An alternative to increasing the Vyvanse would be to add an immediate release adderall, 5mg or even 10mg, taken as needed when the Vyvanse stops working and you have a particularly long day. This has worked for some people I know. So, these are a few things you might discuss with your Dr.

I found that 100mg is what works for me (6'3" 235lbs) but if I notice a drop off I have some caffeine and that lasts me until late. Adding more mess scares the crap out of me. Everyone is siddseent. I also take less if I don't have as much going on. Then during the week I get full benefit. Be careful about events that set you off. I found of I have a lot of stress it sends me into hyper hyper mode. Not good at all.

Hrm, Might have to try that. I've been trying to steer clear of caffinated anything lately, had a scare where I had to go into the ER about a month and a half ago (Bad combo of cough/cold medicines, bladder didn't want to work right, had to get drained. Horrible experience). I thought about it the next day and decided that I would take a break from caffinated beverages, as I was drinking about a 12pk of Coke a day and a pot of coffee a day :( That can't be good for my body hahaha. But one or two every once in a while shouldn't hurt that bad, just don't want to get back on that track. Been drinking nothing but electrolyte drinks and a ton of water since, and feel much better doing so.

Yeah, I noticed the stress thing as well. I was running a bit late to work and started zooming around everywhere trying to get ready in time, drove way too fast to work hahaha. Had to calm myself down in the parking lot before I went into work cos I was bouncing around like crazy :/ Still late for work though :/

Also, I went into the store today and grabbed that piece of paper, and to my surprise, my manager had a tester bottle of that product I mentioned waiting for me, we had an employee sample case come in from that company this morning with a bunch of stuff in it (God I love the freebies I get selling vitamins/suppliments ;) ). It is called "4 Way Brain Support System' by Pure Essence Labs. It's a complex of Spirulina, L-Tyrosine, Phosphatidylserine, Phosphatidylcholine, Cat Grass Juice, Gingko, Ashwagandha, and a bunch of other stuff. Says take 1 in the AM, 1 after lunch, and 2 "whenever enhanced mental acuity is desired". Gonna try it a bit later when I'm studying for my exams that are tomorrow, see if I see anything different. My manager is impressed by it, so might as well give it a shot.

lol yeah...one every once in a while is okay. I can agree with chinesebob, if I happen to notice it's fading away and I've still got an hour or so left at work I'll just go get myself a coke or something with caffine in it to last me until I get home...then I end up being good for several hours.Hrm, Might have to try that. I've been trying to steer clear of caffinated anything lately, had a scare where I had to go into the ER about a month and a half ago (Bad combo of cough/cold medicines, bladder didn't want to work right, had to get drained. Horrible experience). I thought about it the next day and decided that I would take a break from caffinated beverages, as I was drinking about a 12pk of Coke a day and a pot of coffee a day :( That can't be good for my body hahaha. But one or two every once in a while shouldn't hurt that bad, just don't want to get back on that track. Been drinking nothing but electrolyte drinks and a ton of water since, and feel much better doing so.

Woo boy, Yeah, I don't think I should be hitting the caffeinated beverages much anymore, drank a Pepsi about an hour and a half ago and now my heartbeat is a bit fast and I have a stomach ache :/

not to laugh, but it reminds me of my first day on Vyvanse.
Having never been on a stimulant in my life...I decided to take it like everything else...with caffine. lol...I can relate, and yes it does take some getting used to. For me, that's how I know my medicine didn't "reallllly" wear off - the caffine hits harder than normal. I haven't even bothered with caffine today...just took a second pill.
Woo boy, Yeah, I don't think I should be hitting the caffeinated beverages much anymore, drank a Pepsi about an hour and a half ago and now my heartbeat is a bit fast and I have a stomach ache :/

Don't forget to eat! Especially with vyvanse. It slows the metabolism down so it lasts longer. I do a berry smoothy with alive multivitamin powder every day, my omega 3's, and a hashbrpwn or toast every morning(well weekday mornings at least). Makes a big difference in sustaining the effect and balancing the moods.

Yeah, Alive makes a great multivitamin powder. I'm taking Irwin Naturals' Mens Liquid Cap Multi 3x, Astaxanthin, Digest Gold Enzyme complex, Fizzy CalMag drink, this new 4 Way Brain supplement, and an Udo's Choice 3-6-9 Flax Oil softgel (I've been taking this supplement mix, minus the Brain complex for about 3 months, has made mornings much better for me). That plus a couple of protein shakes and a biscuit w/jam and cheese == Happy Aratsu.

Mmm... Today is final exam day! Wish me luck all, gonna need it! Hahaha.

Aratsu,

Do you find the diet and vitamins help smooth out the drug or just help enhance the concentration aspects?

Well, I really don't have a reference point for saying whether the vitamins smooth the effects of the Vyvanse or not, since I have taken them the entire time I have been taking it, however I'd imagine that taking them is complementary to the effects that the medication is having on me.

I have noticed that my energy level while taking this "vitamin cocktail" is much better than it was when I was just taking a simple drugstore Multivitamin, although I can't say too much about it helping my concentration. That's always been a mess.

On a lovely note, this morning when I took my Vyvanse, I knocked my bottle off of my desk and am now unable to find three of my pills :( . I think they rolled into the crack where the floor moulding should be (We removed the carpets to reveal hardwood floors in our house, and never put floor moulding back on). Should my pdoc ask to count how many pills I have in my prescription when I ask him about adjusting my dosage (Again, probably paranoia), do you think this might give him some sort of cause for concern that I might be abusing it or something?
I'm going to try to dig around and see if they maybe just rolled under the bed/into my closet, but I'm pretty positive they are in the wall-abyss. :(

Called my doctor's office yesterday and left a message with one of his assistants, briefly describing what I've posted here (about the dropoff, etc.)
She told me that he is going out of town on vacation on Thursday and probably wouldn't be able to see me, but that he'd give me a call if possible and discuss his thoughts with me.
Just got off the phone with him, and our conversation was very brief. Basically he told me what you guys said, it was a rebound effect, which is normal and happens to almost everybody... He suggested eating something when I start to feel the effects drop off, which I've found in the past couple of days has helped a little bit. He told me that he'd discuss a possible dosage adjustment or change of medication when he sees me at the beginning of next month, and until then, that I'll just have to deal with it for now...

That's alright, I guess when I have to close nights at work, I'll take it like 4-5 hours beforehand, should start to wear off during the last hour of work. Won't help my productivity during the early day, but with it being the holidays, and school just letting out, I think I can deal with that until I see him next month. Just hope taking it later in the day doesn't keep me up too late; I like my sleep ;)

Just got back from my appointment and my doc was pleased to hear that the Vyvanse is working well. Told him some of my concerns with it not lasting throughout the day, but he said that he wanted me to stay at this dose (50mg) until next month, and /then/ he might up the dose or switch me to some methylphenidate medication (I'm guessing Concerta, since it's the only comparable long-lasting MPH out right now).

Really short session with him today, like 25 minutes. Saw 2 other people go into his office while I was waiting for my appt. (Was there 35 minutes early!!!!!!) Guess it's new years med refill time or something. *chuckle*

Anyways, evenings haven't been as bad lately, on days that I work late, I've been taking it a bit later in the afternoon and it isn't really affecting my sleep that much at all, thankfully. School's starting up, so I'm cutting back on work hours a bit (less closing hours, more afternoon-early evening shifts), so I won't need as long coverage hopefully.

Oh, and I shopped around with pharmacies, this month's script was only $89 at Rite Aid versus $109 at Publix. Very nice indeed.

Anyways, here goes a new year and month #2 on Vyvanse!!
Happy New Years All!!!!