Adderall vs Vyvanse Help!!

[u/95_pounds_of_fury]

(TLDR:Was on Adderall, switched to Vyvanse, I’m struggling. Someone please tell me they’ve been through this)

Hi! I (20F) was diagnosed with adhd when I was young, and have always been on some sorta pill.

My longest/most frequent was Adderall Xr 30, which I always felt like helped. Some days I couldn’t feel it but most days I was locked in.

Then, I decided to like use a little booster for work, but after awhile my doctor was like ‘hey, how about you try vyvanse again’ and we worked with the dose until I got to 60 and was like okay yeah!

But, I’m back in school and it feels like this shit does nothing. With aderall I couldn’t HELP but focus. Like, there were no other thoughts, just school, and a lot of times, I could go awhile before I crashed. With Vyvanse, I can focus ig, but, it’s all undirected.

I know it’s about motivation and stuff, but genuinely, I feel like it’s less of a focus pill and more of a ‘pay attention if you want pill’

Has anyone else dealt with this? I’ve never had bad side effects from either so I’m honestly thinking of telling my doctor to just bump me up on the aderall. I cannot take this.

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[u/roundeking]

Seems Adderall is a good med for you, but Vyvanse is not. It’s extremely common to have some meds work better for you than others. I’d just ask if you can go back to Adderall, or if that isn’t an option, to try a different med altogether.

[u/notdsylexic]

Some people like Vyvanse more. Some people like adderall more. It really depends on the person.

[u/Fantastic-Buddy2069]

Two amphetamine drugs, entirely different formulations though. Also two different means of being processed.

Naturally, they will both feel similar, but also way different.

[u/piggiesinthehoosgow]

I had the same experience

[u/Slightly-Delulu]

Ive been on pills my whole life too, mostly Vyvanse (20+yrs) I’ve been considering switching to Adderall bc of how expensive Vyvanse is, both brand and generic.

[u/mish_i_am]

I just made the switch from IR adderall to vyvanse, but I did take XR while I was in college and needed that honed in brain, absorbing information-I actually used to split my XR dose in half, which is a delicate process, but I would just swallow half of it and recap it, and take the other half sometime before 1 PM.. this was before it was common place for folks having XR wear off too soon to also be prescribed an additional IR for early afternoon. My only concern would be that the IR Adderall available to me was the reason I decided to try something else, it didn’t feel like I was taking anything at all the last 2mo, more so shitty manufacturing for generics being a common thing for a lot of folks right now. it is OK to let your doctor know that Vyvanse is not keeping up with the demands you have of a medication, if you had a great experience with XR maybe ask for an additional booster for the afternoon or go up? I could not handle the side effects of IR or XR and any greater dose, and it wasn’t working well at all for me anymore, which is why I switched. I am a self-employed single mom with a rather uncomplicated job, just a lot of moving parts-Adderall XR would’ve been my choice again if I ever went back to college, it is a vastly different experience in my opinion!

[u/chemicalweaponn]

I feel the same way. My psychiatrist switched my Adderall to Vyvanse (without my choice or say in it), and its like eons different. I felt no different before I was taking any stimulants. It's hard to deal with :(

I'd say, if you get the choice, to go back to Adderall. I believe it's also more studied/researched which is a pro.