9 months off Vyvanse. Seeking advice on where to go from here.

[af3712]

My name is Andy, I'm 25, and a new member of the forum.
I have ADD and had been taking Vyvanse 6-7 days a week for 9 years straight until I weened myself off gradually, ending use this past March. I started my prescription at 40mg, working up to 70mg, which I spent most of my time taking.

The reason I weened myself off is that I could feel how reliant my body had become to the drug and I didn't want to live the rest of my life at the mercy of a prescription.

It has taken a while to feel any kind of normal after being off vyvanse for 9 months. I wanted to give it time and allow my body to fully recover but I still spend every day feeling constantly tired, scatter-brained and unmotivated. Writing this post is even taking way longer than it should. I exercise most days of the week and live an active lifestyle but it doesn't help me keep a clear and focus mind. I have even improved my diet with less sugar and more fruits and vegetables. I am not really sure what to do at this point. Are there alternatives that could help energize me and increase my focus, or is medication my only route with this issue?

Any advice would help!

[Drogheda98]

my advice is keep taking your meds, or if they where not working for you talk to you doctor about new meds, cause sometimes it takes time to find the correct medication.

the root of ADHD is something that can be grasped, wither or not us people born with adhd, no matter how much we realive our symptoms, will have to keep taking meds, who knows. however I can tell you this, our meds help us find composure and feel, and those feelings are one of the many many things that count in day to day life.

however, don't give into to stigmata, if there is something those of us who where born with adhd desperately need, it's belief in ourselves, and reading things like "people with adhd just take drugs" doesn't help that belief at all. so it's kind of on our shoulders to forgive and find people and environments we can trust, from personal experience, that trust is sometimes not reciprocated.

welcome aboard the adhd boat Af, drinks are served in the dining car, Kumbaya sung on the roof.

[PoppnNSailinMan]

Welcome to the Forums, Andy

I understand your desire not to be reliant on a medication or anything else for that matter. That's something that almost everyone would want. But unfortunately, because of the cards we were delt in life, some of us will need to rely on medications or some other kind of help to live a better life.

If someone is born with bad eyesight, they're most likely going to have to rely on eyeglasses or contact lenses to see better for the rest of their life. And, interestingly enough, one of the top ADHD experts, Edward Hallowell, often compares stimulant medications to a pair of eyeglasses. Whereas eyeglasses help to focus the eyes of someone who is nearsighted, stimulant medications help to focus the mind of someone who has ADHD. I guess that someone who needs eyeglasses could stop wearing them because they don't want to be reliant on them, but it doesn't seem like a very practical solution. Who would want to spend their life being unable to see clearly when they could fix it by putting on a pair of eyeglasses? To give another example,if someone has Type I diabetes, they're going to be reliant on insulin for the rest of their lives. Not taking insulin is not an option for them.

It's certainly possible, of course, for someone with ADHD to develope coping mechanisms and habits that will make things easier for them and they might be able to struggle through life without medication. Countless people with ADHD who have never been diagnosed do exactly that. Or someone with ADHD might end up with a job that is perfect for them and which they find so interesting that they don't need medication to stay engaged in that part of their life. But since there appears to be something in our brains that doesn't work quite right much of the time, there should be no shame for those of us with ADHD in using a medication that makes our brains work better.

I wasn't diagnosed with ADHD until I was 51 and spent most of my life until then struggling to get by. After first trying methylphenidate which didn't work very well for me, my doctor put me on Vyvanse three and a half years ago and what an amazing difference that has made in my life. I wish that I had been on an effective medication for my ADHD thirty or forty years ago. My life would have been so much better if I had.

[acdc01]

Hi Andy,

Welcome to the forum. I find for me that good sleep habits and exercise make more of a difference then anything else nonmeds related.

Routines seem to hide my symptoms better too.

Hope you find a system that works for you.

[sarahsweets]

I think due to the medications we take being controlled we sometimes are harder on ourselves about what it means to be dependent. Many times dependence is also linked with addiction which is not the same. I have bipolar and I am 100% dependent on my bipolar meds. I have come to realize that I dont care if I need medication to live a healthy life. I am much worse off without it.

[191663]

my teenage son was on vyvanse for 4 years. Got him off of it through the use of neurofeedback. You can reference neurofeedback broadly for spectrum issues here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcuoiyS8m9M&t=310s

and here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zyt0LCwbYI

[Turbobull]

I wish I had an answer for you. If you can handle yourself off of it. Look into Keto diet, cut alcohol, cut caffeine, practice Nofap, read, limit your time on electronic devices. Leto is a huge step forward if you mix it with supplements. Focusfactor, multivitamin, fish oil, mct oil, and b12. Do all this starting with cutting out sugar and carbs you’ll see a difference in a week and a half.

[nebosite]

I know how you feel. I don't like feeling like I need a medication to be normal.

My personal opinion is that the dosages for Vyvanse are too high. I take straight Adderall so that I can control the dose. Starting with 10mg in the morning following by one, or more rarely two, 5mg boosters through the day. I was worried that I would build a tolerance, but I've been at the same dose for over 10 years now.

My son started taking Vyvanse and it drove him crazy. Later he took smaller doses of Adderall and those worked for him two.

(My son and I are both about 200 lbs, FYI)

Other tricks for getting started that I use in addition to medication:
* focusmate (virtual coworking)
* BeatSaber in the morning (after taking Adderall)

-e

ADHD Mojo