Hello people ,

I'm new to dexedrine, .. In the past I've always taken concerta and was up to 54mg twice daily + ritalin ir 20mg X 2 daily =total =144mg. So, now I'm on dexedrine and so far it's really starting to make me feel quite alert in a much different way. Actually I'm currently on a dexedrine + vyvanse combination . So far I've noticed that the crash is really harsh when it wears down, is this pretty standard for dexedrine? I really would like to avoid the crash ( usually around 6pm).

I'm new here too-- trying to figure out the world of ADHD to better help my 16 yr old son. He's currently being treated in-patient at a behavioral health facility... he was diagnosed w/ADD (non-hyper) in 5th grade. We tried 4 different add meds (concerta, ritalin, adderal xr, then focalin) from 6th grade to 9th grade before we finally pulled him off all add meds because either had the worst side effects (really bad rebound episodes, major weight-loss, speech problems) or the meds (focalin) had no effect at all. I'm trying so hard to help him out-- my heart really breaks for him. The doc just started him on Vyvanse (lowest dose) to see how that goes-- I'm curious-- did anyone on this forum experience rebound effects on other meds and then try out Vyvanse? If so, what was your experience? I'm hoping that they get this right while he's staying there, so he can get home, get back to school, and start living his life again. Any input anyone has that's experienced this would be so awesome and totally appreciated. Thx.:)

oh - now you mention it .. it did in the beginning with me as well (like three months ago). But it seems less of a crash now.

Anything you've found that helps w/the crash? Also- do you find yourself "starving" around 10 or 11 pm-- my son was like that on all the previous ones he took.

I have never been on dexedrine but I have been on adderall, concerta, and focalin. Focalin definetly had the most noticeable 'crash'. I was looking for a fight when that stuff wore off. Adderall does have a crash as well, though it tends to be more of a depressive crash and not an agitating one. My agitation is up while its in effect though. Didnt notice much from concerta but I guess because its XR its harder to recognize a crash.

I used to get like that at the end of the night when I first started taking it, it eventually started to fade away now it just happens once in a while, I did notice for me that caffeine or a candy bar would normally tone me down.

Yes well , I'm very inattetive + hyper active, so my motivation tends to suck off medication , it's a nice combination of scattered focus + non motivation. I'm not certain about dexedrine, I mean I feel like I can focus relatively clear , but there is seemingly little or sporadic drive to get things accomplished. Maybe I should just give this med some more time ?

Not eating enough is very common and low blood sugar is often confused with rebound. My hands start to get red if I dont eat enough.

Vyvansee has few rebound effects in my experience. I do get sleepy as it wears off. Taking sublingual B vitimins seems to help prevent that.

I prefer IR medication because I can eat as one dose wears off and the next kicks in.

BobC

I'm a bit of an exercise nut, recently I believe that my job , "long hours" has been leading me to not eat as much as I normally would . I've been eating higher calorie foods after workouts and mixing small amounts of sugar ( like bannanas , and candy ) inbetween the day .....

Actually , I'm feeling much better , kind of odd how we can get so wrapped up in things and forget about essential elements such as basic calorie diets in relation to how much rigourous exercise that we are getting. I know that I personally tear the gym alive after work , and don't think I've been replenishing as I should be ,

I have no idea about what you are taking about regarding post-dex crashes.

Must be the Vyanase that is making you crash!!!!

Dexedrine has _the gentlest letdown_ of all the stims I've tried.

Why are you on combos (vyanase + Dexedrine) when starting Dexedrine anew??

Try taking it alone... before getting into Polypharmacy (many simultaneous drugs).

PS the higher you go up, the harder the fall. Try fewer meds or less MGs of meds, and you won't CRASH.

[I took 15-20 mgs/day of IR or 10-20 mgs of the SR, and never 'crashed hard.']

Polypharmacy? That sounds negative, maybe I wasn't clear enough, so let me break it down. My doctor said to try ir dexedrine over the weekend and then to use the ir dexedrine ( 10mg) as a supplement in the mornings prior to the vyvanse kick in...... I appreciate the tip , but first off from what I hear all meds affect us all differently , and I can be honest and say for me , uh yeah I had a crash that was large while using the dexedrine the first day . Thanks

dexedrine and vyvanse contain the same active ingredient dextro-amphetamine. just different delivery methods. So combining the two is not true polypharmacy.

Vyvanse builds d-amp levels thru the day + starts much slower then IR dexedrine. So I've seen a few posts about kicking off a vavanse dose with some dexedrine to get drug levels into a working range quickly.

I've even seen a post by someone waking up 2 hours earily to take vyvanse + going back to sleep. So that they would be functional when it was time to wake up.

BobC

bob -c

Thanks for the input. Whats your personal take on which adhd med out there is best for inattentive adhd ? Do you feel like dexedrine has pretty solid results when compared to all the others?

Unfortunatly ADHD is a very broad diagnosis and there is no best med. You really need to try a few + see what works best.

From what I've learned docs should start with amphetamine which works for ~70% of people. If that fails try mephendaliate which works for ~45% of people. If they both fail then it gets more exotic. Combinations of drugs which effect dopamine and NE. Like wellbutrin, mao-b, tricyclics etc.

Dexedrine gives me the ability to focus with minor side effects. Adderall let me focus + also helped with executive function, but I had a lot of adrenal side effects from it. My doc seems to think that since I can identify executive problems that its a matter of organization or learning to get me past that. However I'm very tempted to go back to adderall or try another med. My productvity was higher on adderall. I would just find myself 1/2 way thru doing somthing instead of trying to motivate myself to go do it.

Executive function + motivation are very complex systems and its not clear to me why a bit more adrenal stimulation effected me that way.

BobC

BOB C

Interesting and informative reply.... I understand exactly what your talking about. The dexedrine seems to give me the ability to concentrate but I really have to pump myself up to transition my thoughts and do the necessary tasks that life entails, and when I've taken adderall I just seem to be caught doing these tasks actively instead of being stuck trying to motivate myself to do them. Personally , for me when I take methlyphenidate I seem to focus a bit better but I can get a bit too sedated and waste my time stuck on one task and hyperfocus a bit too much.... I've been told that these are mainly issues that are dose related and when a therapeutic dose is met that these issues simply vanish. Actually, much is true when I was in college, but of course then my sleep patterns were different and so was my interest level-

I like this thread alot! I was doing well on Vyvnase on a couple of things. I felt like going to work. I felt like talking to people, and I felt like doing stuff too. I was however showing a tendency to hyperfocus way more then normal, and would crash hard at about 2PM, or about 6 -7hours after taking it. I asked for a Dexedrine Kicker but my Pdoc wanted to try me on Adderall first. It has been so/so. Not very motivating for me, although it still takes away my anxiety like Vyvanse did, which is quite nice. My executive functioning does not seem too good on Adderall though. Was in a higher level meeting the other day and was finding I was having a very hard time following along and taking in the information. It was just not entering my brain at all! Isn't it fun trying to figure out your meds! I tell you what though, if the only benefit I get is little to no anxiety, after really suffering pretty bad, I'll take it!

I haven't found the meds help with executive function per se, I think that's part of the permanent "disorder" of our poor brains. However, I have found that being able to think clearer is an advantage to planning out one's actions.

I too have no noticable problem with crashing as long as I eat a little bit regularly throught the day. The only days I have problems are the ones where I look back and realize it was a really bad day nutritionally.

I've never tried Vyvanse but from what I've read, it seems to have more of a crash than regular Dex.
I take Dex IR because I like to be able to control my doseage more and the length of time I'm medicated each day. Extended release stims make me uncomfortable and don't fit into my lifestyle.

Concerta and Adderall made me crash hard. The lack of this problem is one of my favorite things about Dex.

I agree with your statement regarding the time released formulations..... I never had a problem once with my adhd symptom control until I started on all the time released versions... Basically for a dose to be beneficial we had to jack up the milligram amounts on the long release versions and next thing you know I had sleep issues.....