Vyvanse v. Adderall?

[amiegrace]

I know everyone has different effects from medicines, but I'm hoping someone can give me some insight!

I've been on Ritalin SR, Ritalin IR and Concerta. Ritalin works fairly well for me for motivation, but less so for focus and organization. Dr. put me on Adderall, 20 mg. twice per day. I don't really "feel" it working, but apparently it helps with focus and the noise in my head because I turn around and instead of there being a tornado of mess around me, there's relative order. However, with Adderall, I don't really get any oomph of motivation. Plus, the 20 mg. twice a day is supposed to last me from 5 a. m. to 8 p. m. (second dose at 2 pm). It doesn't work that way at all -- Five hours max and it's worn off. I don't have any side effects from Adderall besides getting sleepy if I take them too close together (sooner than 5 hours apart).

Mr dr. said if the Adderall "doesn't work," he's going to put me on Vyvanse. My quandary is, Adderall works pretty well, and I don't know what a normal person's brain feels like, so I'm not sure if it should be working better. I don't want to risk not getting the Adderall and then the Vyvanse not working (I am a middle school teacher, work at least 50 hr. per week, have three kids, one of which is 3 months old, a house to run -- a lot even for a "normal" person). I can't really risk not having meds that work. Do I stick with Adderall, or try Vyvanse? Not looking for medical advice, just anyone with experience.

Thanks in advance!!

[amiegrace]

Update -- dr. did put me on Vyvanse because after a couple weeks, 40 mg. of Adderall XR was like taking a sugar pill. Still would like to hear from anyone with similar experiences!

[Targaryen]

I have only tried Concerta, Vyvanse, and Ritalin IR never Adderal. I currently take 72mg of Concerta with a Ritalin Ir booster. Vyvanse was nice when it worked but was a bit inconsistent for me.

Vyvanse did seem to give me a bit more energy until it quit working which could have been a titration issue (first month I was on 40mg then second month I went to 50mg) and I was very latarhgic. I also was still having trouble concentrating and decided to go back to Concerta. I like the focus Concerta gives me over Vyvanse but maybe 50mg wasn't the right dose for me.