i'm in college and have been on various stimulant since i was a kid. i started taking 30mg of vyvanse at the beginning of last school year. my doctor and i agreed that i would only take it on an as-needed basis for days with classes and such. i found that initially i had an almost uncontrolled sense of motivation and enthusiasm, but after an hour or so i'd suddenly experience unexpected lows that made me feel extremely anxious, uneasy paranoid and depressed. my stomach would drop at the littlest thing and suddenly i'd start to panic. the lows would only last a few minutes generally, but still leave me uneasy, and started to become more persistent. in general it increased my anxiety a lot, and i eventually ended up going on prozac after finally having my first panic attack somewhere in november.

after that i stopped taking vyvanse for a while and taking prozac, and my anxiety started to go away. this was over winter break so i didn't have any school to worry about.

once school started, though, i needed to start taking my vyvanse again and it did the same thing, though i felt more stable being on the prozac. i still went from feeling incredibly motivated and with it to suddenly panicked and anxious. after the school year ended i brought this up to my psychiatrist and he suggested i move up to 50mg and see how that worked out for me.

well i just started the 50mg this morning after having an epiphany this morning about how much my add has gotten in my way this summer, and how i could probably use it for everyday life instead of just school. so i took it around 9am and things are exactly the same. initial motivation suddenly cut short by feelings of general panic and paranoia usually lasting a few minutes. a few very uncomfortable minutes.

so i'm wondering a few things:
-have others experienced this?
-do you find that vyvanse causes or is a catalyst for anxiety, panic or paranoia?
-is it possible that because i never took it on a regular basis that the side affects are persistent?
-any tips on combatting lows?

as annoying as this is, the benefits of vyvanse are too great for me to just drop it. it's helped me out with motivation more so than anything else i've ever been on, so i'd just like to figure out a way to sort this out. so far i've found it mildly affective to assure myself that it's simply the medicine and that there is nothing to be panicked over.

i read on here about consuming more protein and so forth, which i am going to try. because i'm a vegetarian i could probably use some more of it, if it supposedly helps.

i'm going to see my doctor on friday so i'll definitely be discussing this with him, but i wanted to know if any of you had any input since, yaknow, you've all got firsthand experience.

thanks

I did speak to my doc about in the afternoon I had sort of anxious feelings that made me really "cranky" or unhinged feeling. She prescribed me both xanax and welbutrin. If I feel extreme panic or worry I take the xanax, which is usually at night before I go to bed. I don't always take it but some nights I have a hard time sleeping because of the anxiety and it helps me calm down and I start sleeping better. I just started the wellbutrin so Im not 100% sure how that is working, but it does seem to work well in the daytime with the vyvanse Im taking. Maybe there is a better combo for you. I do suggest doing a powerbar or even a slimfast shake in the AM when you are taking it because those have protein w/o eating meat.

Did you have a med that worked better b4 without the anxiety?? I've never had anxiety with the vyvanse, but different people have diff reactions to drugs due to their body chemisty makeup.

Anxiety and paranoia are two different things.

e.g. paranoia = delusions (people are talking about you, out to get you), thought insertion, ideas of reference, etc.

I would not use the term "paranoia" to your doctor unless you really mean it.

Hi, I'm a 44 year old mom of 3, I'm on vyvanse 60mg and have done very well on it. My 9 yr old son also has ADHD and we've had a time with him finding the right medication. He metabolizes all the ritalin based drugs way to fast and they quickly lose their effectiveness. He currently takes vyvanse 30mg, but when he first started on it, it was WAY to strong for him. He had a lot of anxiety, fears, and paranoia, he was jumpy and worried about everything. Just not himself, it was very hard to watch, total change of personality. We had to dilute his dose in water and give him 2/3 of it. That was when we started seeing positive results. Now they make the doses in smaller mg., which is a plus, when we started him on it the lowest dose was 30mg and it really was too strong for him. With the side effects you are having, you may want to try another medication, or possibly lower your dose. They do warn to stop taking it if you have anxiety or abnormal thoughts or behaviors.

As far as the protein goes, we definitely have seen an improvement when he eats protein along with taking his medication and avoids citrus (fruit and juices) in the mornings. Don't know why, exactly, but it has helped. Almost seems like the medication gets into your bloodstream too fast when you have a lot of vitamin c along with it....
Good luck, I hope you can find the right medication, or combo for yourself!