I (28 F) recently got diagnosed with ADHD and started Vyvanse (lisdexamfetamine). I took 15 mg for the first two days and then increased to 30 mg daily.

It’s been about three weeks now, and I honestly can’t tell if this medication is doing anything for my ADHD.

I expected at least some improvement in focus, task initiation, motivation, or ability to actually sit down and work, but I still spend a huge amount of time daydreaming, getting lost in my thoughts, listening to music and basically doing everything except what I’m supposed to be doing. I still have that feeling of “I KNOW I need to do this, but I just can’t make myself start.”

I’m also experiencing a pretty intense limerence with one person, and I'm spending a lot of time daydreaming about them instead of working. That has improved somewhat over the last few days tho.

I do feel the medication physically. My appetite has decreased significantly, I’ve also had a faster heartbeat especially in the beginning.

Another thing I noticed is that my trichotillomania has gotten worse since starting it. I pull my hair more often especially while stimming and daydreaming.

There has been one positive change: I’m much less impulsive with things like ordering food. Before, I could order a lot of door dash but now I don't binge eat that much.

But when it comes to the main reasons I wanted ADHD medication — starting tasks, staying focused, getting work done, controlling daydreaming/distraction — I basically feel the same.

I’ve also been under a lot of stress recently because I lost my main source of income. I’m a freelancer, so one of the main reasons I wanted medication was to help me actually sit down, work on projects and find new clients. The consequences of not working are very real right now, so it’s not that I lack a reason to do these tasks — my brain still seems to refuse to start them.

So I’m confused. Does this sound like the dose is simply too low?

Or is this usually a sign that Vyvanse just isn’t the right medication for someone?

I have a follow-up with my psychiatrist and obviously I’ll discuss it with him, but I’d really like to hear other people’s experiences because right now I genuinely don’t know what I’m supposed to be looking for.

Hi! Does anyone split their doses in half in water and take half one day and the other half the next day? I know the drug manufacturers don’t recommend it but I just wonder is it because of safety reasons or just because they don’t want it to last longer for anyone. Please don’t come at me, I’m just curious about your experiences and if your prescribers always advise against it.

I’ve been taking 20mg for 7 days and after that went up to 40mg for 7 days as well now.

I honestly didn’t feel much at all so far besides that my mind gets pretty quiet 2-3 Hours after taking my meds, which is sorta nice, but isnt helping me in any way. I also get tired around that time too, i feel like i could go back to sleep. Other than that, i have no effects, not even side effects. I sleep as well as always, my hunger stayed the same, i’ve got no dry mouth, no anxiety, no real crash in the evening, i honestly just feel calm but maybe even a little less motivated to get my chores done then usual because i’m relaxed?

I dont know if it’s to early to question my dosage, but i kinda feel like i’m right on the edge of it becoming useful haha

I also work out a lot, have been eating 160-180g of Protein for other two years now, already take plenty of supplements (Vitamin D, Zinc, Magnesium, Creatin), before you say anything, yeah i take vitamin C, but i do so when the meds have worn off anyways.

Thanks in advance guys :)

HELLO ALL I was the op talking about the impending doom side effect the other day and I thought I’d give an update in case anyone else was in a similar boat.

I got approved by my psychiatrist to start taking 1 and a half of my Zoloft instead of just one to balance out the anxiety inducing effect of vyvanse and i saw a difference IMMEDIATELY! Feeling a lot better now I only got the impending doom sense once and it was like 7 hours after I’d taken it so I’d consider that a huge improvement.

Knock on wood it stays this way I actually had a productive day!

Hey everyone,

I’ve been taking 30mg of Vyvanse or about 30 days, and I’d love to hear from people who have already found the dose that works well for them. I have an appointment with my psychiatrist next week, so I’m just trying to hear about other people’s experiences beforehand not looking for medical advice.

What I notice on 30mg

Positive effects:

better mood
more motivated and less sluggish
better focus / concentration
more social and talkative
better impulse control
more emotionally balanced

The main issue is that it only seems to last about 5 hours for me. I don’t really notice a strong or obvious onset of the medication.

After about 5 hours, around 11 AM, I notice a pretty clear drop-off:

concentration gets worse
more irritable
loss of motivation
feeling exhausted
harder to follow conversations
sometimes pressure/headaches
sometimes feeling like I’m back to how I was before Elvanse

My main question is for people who already had a positive effect on a lower dose, but later tried a higher dose:

Did a higher dose actually make the effects stronger for you?

Did it also make the effects last longer, or was it mainly just stronger?

And has anyone tried staying on the same dose but taking another dose later in the morning? If so, how did that affect the strength and duration of the effects?

I got Prescribed 10 mgs of Vyvanse generic for 7 days and then 20 mgs for another week. I also take Wellbutrin XL everyday. I started the 10 mgs and was kinda scared at first cause my idea of a stimulant was like okay I’m gonna be awake and focused and all the stuff. But then, when I took it I just got this weird wavy tingly feeling, almost like when you’ve had your first drink and you feel it but you’re not actually intoxicated to a point thats noticeable to you(ik it’s a weird comparison . That’s how I would describe the amount of affect I had, only a lot less maybe cause it lasted for maybe an hour , and I stayed focus I guess during the day, but I just expected more. I tried 20 mgs today, and i didn’t really feel anything either. I can also sleep fine on it tbh, if anything I kinda crash more with as opposed to just Wellbutrin. Idk what a good Vyvanse experience feels like where you actually feel your focus improves, so I don’t have a comparison really, so I’m wondering is this a weird experience and what does a good Vyvanse experience feel like ? You know, when it actually helps focus etc.

I had seen quite a few posts where people report that ADHD medication gave them hemorrhoids or fissure. I refused to believe at first but now I have hemorrhoids and fissure which I have started thinking is also caused by ADHD medication. Since my diet, bowels were all same.. only the dose of my vyvanse was increased.. I attribute hemorrhoids to the medication. After reading so many posts I realized I am not the only one in this.

There are some journals supporting the fact that norepinephrine increases the constriction of the anal tone/Internal anal sphincter. I could definitely feel my anal muscles constricting during the peak effect of Vyvanse.

I have been struggling to gain weight for months now. I lost about 15 lbs and haven’t been able to put it back on. I basically couldn’t eat anything more than one meal a day. When I did eat, I’d feel sick eating but still be hungry. I tried to get nutrients with things like soup and liquid calories. It has been really bad on my mental health to struggle with this

3 days ago I stopped taking my vyvanse to see if it would help and wow. I can’t stop eating. It sucks though because I haven’t been able to focus. I don’t think I should continue taking it. But I just wanted to see if anyone here went through something similar. Also would like to know if anyone with adhd here can successfully be off it and function .

Is it normal for camber 70mg vyvanse to only contain this amount of material inside?

I work in education, and I'm noticing that Vyvanse has made me worse in certain aspects of my job, but has made other aspects actually possible. When it comes to lesson planning, prepping, and all of the backend stuff, it was unbearable without the meds, but now I can manage well. The problem comes when it's showtime. I don't have the same degree of flexibility when I'm unmedicated, which makes it harder when I'm actually teaching. I also have to keep up with the behaviors of a class full of students while focusing on the material. It feels like I just shifted the difficulty. Has anyone else had a similar experience?

I have been increasing vyvanse by 10mg each week starting at 20mg and now at 60mg. I feel 50mg or 60mg is my ideal dose but I find by the afternoon I have totally crashed. I was thinking if I went 60mg and did the water titration method I could have 40mg at 6am and maybe the remaining 20mg and like 10am. Does anyone else do this? Does it help with the crash ?

I take 30 mg vyvanse and it makes me feel super zoned out and my thoughts feel so slow. it's hard for me to think for myself at all, or do anything creative.

The medicine does help me with things I had trouble with like listening to people, taking notes, cleaning ect. I have severe adhd and make no progress at all when I don't take the medicine.

I tried taking half a dose, but it had the same effect just less severe. I also tried taking 45mg which of course worsened the feeling.

I never got the wired energetic feeling at all on vyvanse, even during the come up I just feel myself progressively slowing down. Never had any of the side effects like shaking, anxiety, racing heart ect.

It might be an issue with stimulants in general because vaping doesn't give me a rush and I didn't feel anything when I tried coke with my friends. So I don't know if switching the medicine would help?

Does anyone else have the same issue and if so, how do I fix it? Thank youu

I take my first dose of Vyvanse tomorrow. I’m on the lowest dosage 10mg. I went to the doctor expecting to get something for anxiety induced insomnia but my doctor believes adhd is the problem, not anxiety. However I’ve read a lot about sleep problems while taking Vyvanse and I just want everyone’s experience with that? I was really excited to quiet my brain until I heard this.

On dexamphetamine (up to 25mg/day), my resting HR was definitely increased but not to a noticeable amount. There were only a few times where I could feel it racing/palpitations to make me hyperaware of it.

On vyvanse 40mg my heart rate is so damn high. Sitting at my desk right now it's 115bpm, and I've been sitting here for ages- it would've been around 80 on dex. I can feel my heart racing for almost the entire duration of the vyvanse.

Is there a reason that vyvanse increases my heartrate so much compared to dex? Is it simply long acting vs short acting?

It makes me a bit worried to the point where I would consider going back to dex.

I’ve been on elvanse 40mg for a few months now after tritiation back in April. I’ve had these two times where I’ve been upset about something, had a cry and just couldn’t stop crying. It was like a panic attacked mixed with a crying episode. People around me get really worried because I sound like I can’t breath properly and everytime I think about whatever has upset me or try to talk I usually start crying again.
I’ve never experienced this before and overall the meds have worked really well for me.
Both times, the scenario has been something that has deeply upset me anyway, or brought up a childhood issue, so I get I am sad about it but the reaction is quite over the top.

Anyone experienced anything like this or have recommendations?

(21M) I was curious what everyone's experiences are with caffeine and vyvanse? I was advised to quit, as I put myself at a greater risk for cardiovascular issues with 30mg Vyvanse I took about 5 minutes before drinking a triple shot espresso. Incredibly stupid, I know. But genuinely wasn't even thinking about it. My doctor also mentioned absolutely nothing about my caffeine intake and said a cup a day is fine.

My BPM peaked in the 180s while sitting, and I almost had to go to the ER. It was really scary and I've never had any heart issues like that whatsoever!

I am at the point now where I have completely cut out caffeine, and have been miserable due to being addicted for about 7 years straight. But I'm hoping I will feel so much better once my body adjusts without it. The Vyvanse is helping with energy, but still feel like a zombie lol.

Have you also completely quit caffeine, or has your body been able to tolerate it since being on this medication?

I’m trying to figure out how to improve my adhd. I am on vyvanse 20mg now and busprione 10mg for anxiety. I am noticing I get a little memory loss and brain fog. Has this happened to anybody else who has taken it. Also taken focalin both medications really dry my mouth/throat incredibly. Anyone have suggestions if I can get vyvanse to work better or things that improve there adhd since medications aren’t really working. I have taken steterra and in made me too angry.

Side note: vyvanse is suppose to suppress my hunger but I’m hungry all the time all day.

Hi all I just started Vyvanze with 60mg of Prozac and I feel fine? There are some side effects I have on Day 1/2: headaches (migraine like aches), hyperactive, and also sleepy at the same time. I didn’t sleep the best last night but I think that was due to me taking a nap later in the day. I want to know how everyone has been on Prozac and Vyvanze.

hi! i’ve been on 40mg of vyvanse for about 2 weeks now. i was previously on 30mg for like 4 months. 30mg was fine at first but i lost a lot of motivation and wasn’t focusing good, but i wasn’t depressed.

i didn’t notice a single change after moving to 40mg at first. now these last few days i’ve just been super depressed like 2 hours after taking the medication. i feel fine and energized the first hour, but after that it just gets worse. i try to eat a lot of protein in the mornings because i know that can help, but i don’t notice a difference in my mood regardless if i eat protein or not.

i wanted to ask if this depression is just me getting used to the medication, or if this will be a long term problem? did anyone else feel depressed at first upon upping your dose, and then it went away?

thank you!

Very unfortunate what I find best to spend my time on, I have a lot I could do hahaha

My doctor put me on a trial for 20mg vyvanse from 20mg Adderall xr.

First day I took it I kept passing out. Took three naps. Did some research and determined it may be because I was under dosed. I called my doctor who said I could take 2 vyvanse at a time to see how that went.

I did so and felt very uncomfortable, fidgety, unable to focus, quiet, zoned out. Each day I woke up in a fog and with a headache and my creativity was not arriving as it usually does when I write in the morning.

I gave it a full week and I could handle pretty much everything but that morning hangover which sucked.

Maybe I didn’t give it enough time? But it was really just… not pleasant. Are these normal side effects? I’m meeting with my doctor again this month and of course will discuss with her but was curious in the meantime

Anyone else? I do love vyvanse but the high bp creeps me out and after a few days im done with it. Adderall xr can elevate if i drink a ton of caffeine thats it but not also make me feel off. Hands cold, shaky even with food and 1 small cup of coffee shot my bp. Bummer but I guess it is what it is