Vyvanse: No Addiction with ADD/ADHD Medication

So…what happens if they ingest a handful of Vyvanse rather than one? If vyvanse only becomes active in the gut….what keeps a handful at once from being abused?

I see Vyvanse is designed for 6-12 year olds. What happens to the child that starts taking this drug at 11, has great success and then tuns 12? Will my son’s doctor still be able to prescribe this for him?

The main problem I experienced taking both Adderall and Adderall XR was the rapid development of tolerance, so I would have to take higher and higher dosages to be able to focus. If you already have a high tolerance to amphetamine, will you have the same problem with Vyvanse?

My son is having the same problem as Duke in developing a tolerance for Adderall and XR. Is there any hope for people with this tolerance?

hi. my name is samantha. im 20 years old and i just started taking VYVANSE about two months ago.
as a child i struggled with concentrating, hyperactivity, inconsistancy with academics and other activities and irratibility.
as time went on, i developed depression, anxiety, social anxiety, a sex drive like none other and i turned into a hypocondriac, not to mention my manic anger spouts and insane temper.
i never did drugs or cut myself, but i just was wearing myself out mentally.
it wasnt until i almost lost my job this year, that i was willing to try vyvanse or any med for that matter.

i am VERY against meds. BUT I LOOOOOOOOOOVE VYVANSE.

i find that while on vyvanse I STILL HAVE MY PERSONALITY! only, its a bit more controlled. i can still laugh and cry, but i dont cry nearly as much as i used to.

on vyvanse i can still feel different emotions, but im not as bothered by them. i dont feel like a robot, like i did on all the other add/adhd/anxiety/depression meds.

i can focus and stay on task, but still relax and have fun.

IT TAKES ABOUT A WEEK TO GET USED TO. within the first week, i ate about three cups of crasins, a banana, two bowls of cereal, water and half of a hershey bar. i lost about 10 pounds (most of which i think was water weight) but since ive gotten used to it, ive gained about five back. i slept a total of 3 hours every night. and had a little stomache ache and tiny headaches here and there.

but now that im on it, i love it. i really love it.

I HAVENT FELT THIS GOOD IN YEARS! and i havent had so much focus, clarity, relaxation and smiles in years either.

but most of all, i havent had this much success professionally, socially and personally in years.

if your considering taking it….it is most definatley worth a shot

love
samantha

Having taken Vyvanse for almost 6 months, I feel like the medication is not as effective as it was on its own.

Now, that doesn’t mean that the medication isn’t doing it’s job. What it feels like is that my body has become use to that level of dopamine, making that my norm. If I miss a pill, I can barely wake up. But, if I take it early, go work out, eat healthy and on a good schedule, and have a decent sleeping schedule, the effects are 10x better than they where without it.

Is anyone else experiencing anything similiar? Is there a higher dosage than 70mg now that it is available for adults?

Traditional Family,

What are you doing here?

This board is for discussion of the effectiveness of a drug used to help people with ADD/ADHD, not the morality of treating ADD sufferers with drugs. These people’s lives are GREATLY enhanced by the advances of modern pharmaceuticals, and many cannot function as a normal adult without them. They suffer from a legitimate neurological condition. These people are not homeless drug addicts. They are for the most part normal, intelligent, productive adults with real responsibilities.

Take your judgemental nonsense somewhere else.

If 75% isn’t enough for you, take away the medicine and let them find it on the street. Then what you call “too high” will be wishful thinking. According to that statistic, there will be 4 TIMES as many youth with ADD abusing street drugs and alcohol.

===================================

Now, relative to the original post,

I’m on 10mg Adderall XR every day, but like Duke am having issues with tolerance. Instead of increasing my dose, I take “drug holidays” to clear my system so the drug will continue to be effective. My only problem with this is the crash I experience on the days I don’t take it.

I see nobody has really given a straight answer to Duke’s question. From what I’ve read about vyvanse, I think I may be interested in switching- but don’t see any point if it will only lead to ever-increasing doses.

Does anybody know?

Is Vyvance compatible with citalopram? My sister currently uses ritalin with citalopram, and has seen no problems. But she, like others here, is beginning to develop a tolerance to ritalin and is interested in trying Vyvance.

Thanks for the answer, I’ll pass that on to her … and of course, your advice about talking with her doctor.

Having taken this drug, I can assure you that it is perfectly abusable via oral ingestion.

Is it possible to develop a tolerance to Vyvanse? I’m currently on 70mgs daily and feel just as ADD as before I started taking it. (I’ve been on it for 3 months, before that Ritalin, which I hated, and Dexadrine, which was okay, but hard to remember to take pills.) It’s to the point where my husband asks if I’ve taken my pills at all. (I have.) Thanks

Hi Kayla,
Thank you for sharing.
When I refer to the fact that Vyvanse has no addiction – I am referring to the fact that people can’t get ‘high’ from it.
People don’t develop tolerance (i.e. needing more and more of it to get the same effect) and dependence (i.e. if they stop it, they go into withdrawals).
It sounds like you are getting a good benefit from the medicine, and as such you feel good about taking it. That is how a medicine should work!
For example – an asthmatic who can’t breath without her puffer would love her puffer!
Thanks for sharing and I hope things keep going great for you.
Best,
Dr. Kenny

Mike,
Thanks for your comment and perspective.
FYI – I’m not ‘pitching’ this product.
I don’t work for Shire Pharmaceuticals.
I am a doctor reporting on the research.
My understanding is that even when a higher than medical dose is taken, that because it is a pro-drug which needs to be metabolized to work, that higher than medical doses do not produce a high (or certainly not the same high that a short acting stimulant can cause or long acting stimulant could potentially cause).
As a Canadian doctor – I don’t have any first hand experience with it – because it hasn’t made it north of the border yet.
Best,
Dr. Kenny

Im a 19 year old college student. I was diagnosed with a severe case of adhd at 18. I have taken adderal, concerta, and Vyvanse.

Vyvanse worked best for me, but after roughly 8 months of use. It has lost its effectiveness. Unfortunantly, like many of you, if I don’t take it I feel tired, and just can’t get things completed.

I would like some advice on how to remedy this problem. Im open to taking another type of medicine. If any one else has experinced this problem and has taken another medicine that works better let me know.

Thanks

Hello,
I am a senior in high school, i have add, and i have taken almost every type of add medication. I certainly dissagree with the alleged statment of “you cant get high off vyvanse”. I can tell you from fact and personal experience, that you can absolutly get high from lisdexamphetamine. Even from your prescribed dose.

I started my prescription with Adderall short release two 20 mg’s, one in the morning and the other in the late afternoon. It worked great at first but then after 3 months I had horrible side effects. I quit taking it altogether for a year and then went back and was put on Vyvanse. Vyvanse is by far a better product that allows one with ADD/ADHD to ease themselves and establish a calm non-rushed effect. It’s as if you have all the time in the world to get what is needed done. This is my first month on Vyvanse 50mg and will continue this dosage until a develop a tolerance. I can eat on this drug and not feel digusted indulging into foods. Also, there isn’t a “crash” feeling like I used to have with Adderall, no depression, no anxiety attacks, maybe a headace or two or a stomach upset but everything else is fine. No more mouth ulcers, with Adderall I would have 5-10 ulcers at a time, with VERY bad cotton mouth and clinching of the teeth. This drug is by far the best of the two. Very happy with this prescription. It is helping me improve areas of my life I thought were imaginable.

Hello all. I recently found out that my son is taking Vyvanse. He is 8 years old and lives with his mother. I am concerned. She says that it is not addictive, and that it is safe.
I have had a bad taste left in my mouth in regards to ADD/ADHD medication. My brother, who is now 30, was put on Ritilin when he was about 12. It helped him at first, but after a couple of years, it failed to continue to do it’s job. The exact culprit, I cannot be sure of; but now, my brother is next to useless. He has absolutely no motivation to do anything other than sit around at our mother’s house and listen to a CD walkman. He does not work, because he cannot adjust like a normal person in a public setting, and he is too lazy to do any manual labor.
I love my brother, but something f&ck$d him up proper. This is a child that was reading the newspaper at the age of 4; who had more energy than could be bridled when he started taking Ritilin; and now he is a mere shell of what he once was; what he could, and should have been.
Einstein said that everything is relative. If that is true, then pleasure is related to pain, victory to battle, success to perseverance. I am not trying to get philosophic, but rather to make a segway in to my next point.
I, myself was diagnosed with ADHD, at the age of 13 or 14, when I was getting into all sorts of serious trouble. I was detained for a period of time, during which I was more or less forced to take Dexedrine. This drug had some positive effects. It certainly made it easier for me to focus on things for longer periods of time. However, me being the diligent observer that I am, I noticed something about the way that I felt while taking the drug every day.
Normally, I am the type of person who is sensitive; one who feels things deeply. When these deep feelings arise within me, I often get goosebumps. I noticed after a short time on the drug, that situations, scenes from movies, or certain songs that normally excited my sensitive side, and produced the goosebumps, no longer had nearly as powerful of an emotionally stimulating effect on me. I creditted this to the drug, and strait way refused to take it any more. The rest of this story could take a while to tell, and really has no bearing on my point here, so I will move on. I am now 28 years old. I have not taken any medication for quite some time now. I am 2 weeks away from graduating form college with a degree in Computer Programming, with honors. Forgive me if I offend anyone, but I feel that people must work ‘through’ their problems.
The active drug in Dexedrine is Dextroamphetamine. The active ingredient in Vyvanse is lisdexamfetamine dimesylate. I understand that Vyvanse is supposed to be ’safer’ than the medications that contain the unadulterated dextroamphetamine. I also understand that drug companies are in the market to make money. The way that they do so is by developing ’sound’ solutions to naturally or unnaturally occurring problems within the body or the psyche of humans or animals. I also understand that the term ‘practicing medicine’ means just that. No doctor ‘knows’ everything about anything. They are sometimes wrong. All of them are only ‘practicing’. I do not say this to offend or downgrade doctors. With this point in mind, it is quite possible that my diagnosis was incorrect. Either way, my son looks and acts almost exaclty the same way that I did when I was his age.
Now that I have been made aware of the fact that my son is taking medication for ADHD, a disturbing unease has slipped in. Although his mother, who I trust a great deal has our son’s best interest in mind, has told me that the drug is harmless; she says that one cannot get addicted, that there are no withdrawal symptoms, that the drug is only in the body for a short period, and therefore the body does not develop a tolerance, and that what happened to my brother would not happen to my son; none of these ‘facts’ can still my forebodings.
My concern is not that the drug won’t work. I know that it will! So far, since Bo has been taking it, he has been at the top of his class! HIs behavior has drastically improved and he is able to focus. My concern is the long-term effects of the medication. Since Vyvanse is a relatively new drug, there is no one who can comfort me on that front.
If you cannot tell by now, I am very concerned, and partly needed to vent; even if only to a keyboard plugged into a blog. I will be looking into finding some resources, maybe a support group to share my feelings with. If anyone knows of any of these types of resources, please let me know. Thank you all. Take care.

Hey I disagree I myself have snorted 3, 30mg Vyvanse and definitely produced a euphoric effect.

every since i got to college – i have been experimenting with adderall xr and vyvanse – and i think this website is full of crap for saying that it could never be addictive – i am no doctor, but i do believe in mental addictions and if its in ur head then you believe that u absolutely need it – i believe i was mentally addicted to weed for 2 years but 4 months ago i got clean – now i see that i dont need it in my life – i am guilty though of experimenting with other drugs throughout highschool and college(opium, weed laced with pcp, hydrocodone, oxycotin, and add/adhd meds) i think it is interesting and fun and helps me out with school work a lot – i do not think children shoudl be taking these medications though – i have had some side effects, some bad to worse to probably serious, i believe i have these side effects though becuase i abuse these add/adhd pills to keep me up at night – i also use them sorta as in anti-depressant(i believe i feel more happy during the day) – they improve my school work habits termendously – and i owe passing my finals to adderall xr – i love the feeling adderall gives me when i know that i can concentrate and comprehend what i am reading – its a hard skill to master for some – i have not, not abused these add/adhd meds though, so i do not know if i would get the same side effects while taking a normal dosage, i go to the extreme and snort to many, and that is when side effects happen, actually most side effects hapen to me while im coming down from the trip/speed/high. since im an immature college student, i like and will continue to use/abuse these meds to make me feel better – theyre cheap, but the cost adds up soon enough – a reason i should tell myself to slow down – today was the first day i noticed my nose to bleed a little bit when i blew it – that scared me – it wasnt intense, but just enough for a lil scare – but truthfully, i do not want to take a pill orally becuz im afraid i wont get the same affect as snorting, then i will have wasted a pill, also this website is full of crap by saying that u cant get high while snorting – thats total bullshit – i snorted 180mgs throughout a 22 hour span and i was feeling absolutly amazing – of course, doctors and others dont wont ppl to snort and its understandable, but i dont snort everyday, and i normally give my nose a break – if i was to get prescribed to adderall xr or vyvanse i would not snort them, maybe once a week, but i know the harshness snorting puts on your nose, im tryin to cut back, but its hard, maybe i am ‘mentally addicated’ to always having to snort pills haha – back to the addiction topic, shoplifting/workingout/chewinggum/anything can turn into a mental addication, and i am one who believes that any single person could get addicted that anything – alright, so in conclusion to this confusing paragraph, i believe adderall xr is a good drug and vyvanse is also is lesser dosages for me, and also no child should be prescribed to vyvanse before more medical testing is done – its only common sense that you dont feed your beloved one a ‘mystery’ pill – as for me, an 18 years young college female, i am legally an adult with the right to try harmful drugs if i wish, but no kid should be put through that, its just my dumb choice. thanks for the space to type my side of this story.

still the same student as the last two posts – and i am in a ‘coming down’ period right now and i feel distant, like im depressed, i notice that i hear a lot more things, except this time they arent fake sounds, theyre real, but i hear better, but when i kinda stare at something, it moves, like there is wind in my room(which i know for a fact there is no wind) and my body temp goes from hot to cold and a matter of 15 mins. and i dont kno what to do with myself, should i just keep turning up and down the heater? haha – my roommate is not here, and i am not friends with any of the preppy girls on my floor, so im asking you website to answer me haha has anyone seen the movie “requiem for a dream”? well i kinda feel like the old crazy red-haired lady, but when she is paraniod, not when she is ver very active – - does adderall and vyvanse and other meds like this cause some people to grind there teeth? wow whenever i am on medication i can never stop rambling/typing/talking/and having fun on the computer, but its different while im reading, i can just sit there and just read and connect – these pills kind of confuse me sometimes – like during the day(especially when its sunny out of course) these pills make me happy and out there and more social, but then night comes around and i just make myself comfortable in a chair with my laptop and cell phone(and like 4 bottles of water for cotton mouth) and i just sit and relax and barely talk, its like im sorta a new person, who is still nice and considerate, but a new person who doesnt want to talk and be active and sometimes i just want to chill with close friends who are also tripping, but theres times when i perfer to be by myself. is anything of what i said in this post and the last 2, normal?

I take Vyvanse. The 50mg pills actually. I am in college and doing quite well because of this medication. Before a big test, it helps me study and focus no doubt… but i do think it can get you in an altered state of mind. Sometimes, I forget to eat because I am concentrating so hard on what needs to be done. It is like I go into a state of mind that is like a trance. Like right now, I am writing a paper for my Psych. class about ADHD medication; I obviously know a lot about this subject because I have been subscribed to 50mg pills, and sometimes I feel like they are not enough. Back to what I was thinking origionally, I have taken 2 before (totaling 100mg) which is sometimes a very good feeling. Other times, I feel like I am completly depressed and have the world out to get me because I have so much to do… When I get everything done though, it is the best feeling in the world because I am still in my trance feeling stage. I love this medicine most of the time, I would not go back to not being medicated though…

[This comment was edited to take out derogatory content]. Vyvanse is dexedrine with the enzyme “lyzine” attached to it, which is then digested through the liver and small intestine. To put it simply, they took a 70 year old drug, attached an enzyme to it, and called it a completely new drug. I’ve been taking vyvanse for about a year and a half now; I started with 30’s, and as of 3 or 4 months, am now on 70. Point is, yeah there’s a tolerance, but it all depends on the user; it’s pretty much subjective. And yes, vyvanse DOES have withdrawal. Except, one again, the extent of such withdrawals is subjective. I personally, feel extremely lethargic, and drained; but this is only when I abruptly stop taking it. If you want to get off the medication, and are feeling the same effects, you have to slowly wing yourself off of it, and not just go cold turkey. I.E. if you take it everyday, don’t take it on the weekends, then after about a month or so, take it only 3 days a week, and so on, and so fourth. As far as tolerance goes, I completely lost all effect to 50 mg after abusing the drug, and taking 100 mg’s – 150 mg’s everyday, staying up for days at a time(Funnily enough, during that month of abuse, I would stay up for 2-3 days just reading, non-stop, only stoping for bathroom breaks, cigarette runs, and food. So “abuse” wouldn’t be how I handled the drug, I simply took it to expand my mind)After these several weeks, I developed a rapid tolerance, then stopped usage for about 2 months. At that point, my tolerance subsided, and although I still did not feel the effect of 50 mg’s; I went on 70’s and it felt, to me, like it did when I first started taking vyvanse; exuberant felicity, virtue, morality, and productive achievement. The point in this example, is that although there is a tolerance, after a certain time of abstinence from the drug, any form of tolerance is completely devoid and absent. My testimony is most likely, without a doubt, the most valid out of this entire article because I am one of the first people to use the drug since even before it was approved for the national and international market; the fact that I’ve been taking this drug longer than anyone, give testimony the utmost factual reference and utter validity. This is merely an objective stance on the drug, I hope I was of some help

I think claiming vyvanse to have ZERO abuse potential,
like this blog does, is going a bit over the top. My own
Pdoc, whom I have had a long relationship with, herself
said it was the LEAST abusable one on the market,not completely
immune like this blog insists. She actually gave statistics
on how many people don’t abuse it, VS how many WHO DO.
We discussed this at length because of my history of substance
abuse..ADD treatment has been on the back burner for quite
some time, but we needed to reach a place where we both
felt reasonably secure that I wouldnt break the rules. Vyvanse
is turning out to be good, and it’s going to work because of it’s
low, but not immunity to, abuse. Check roger above, he got it all figured out. The vyvanse comes in slow, so he takes a high dose to overcome that. He peaks all the way at over 100mg, then, his tolerance reaches equilibrium with the prodrug effect, and he can’t get high anymore..so, he takes a vacation to get his tolerance
back down, then, takes high doses to get off again. Vyvanse is better, because to keep getting off he has to take long breaks, with adderall or ritalin he wouldnt need to take days off and could speed junkie all the way to psychosis if he chose. Seriously, us addicts can always figure out a way. But vyvanse works for me, because of the honesty and serenity of recovery, coupled with the soothing peace of no longer being driven to distract myself because of ADD, is all I honestly need to be happy.
Because of the nature of Vyvanse, high risk ppl like myself
can get add treatment that would be too risky with the
classic amphetamines. But Zero risk of abuse? No way.

I have very bad anxiety with any adderall. I can take vyvanse with no problem!! Its very weird!!! If I take even a half a tablet at 10mg of adderall IR….I go into a bad panic attack!!! Anyone know why???

I’ve been on vyvance for a little over a year now and it has worked wonders for me I started on 50mg and took it pretty much every single day and it quit working for me so the doc up my dose to 70mg and I skip the med 2day a week and it has worked well for me but the days I take off from the meds I don’t plan anything but too lay up and watch tv because I can’t hardly function but when I go back taking them they work great..

hello everybody. I’m not add/adhd but i have experimented, or abused whichever way you want to look at it, with dextroamphetamines on and off for the past couple years. I think it’s downright pathetic that they would say vyvance has no potential for addiction, i mean come on it’s an amphetamine, its one chemical structure away from meth! Although amphetamines do not produce physical dependence they are very psychologically addictive. I have tried them all from ritalin, to dexedrine, to vyvance, to adderall which is hands down in my opinion the strongest of them all. It is true that vyvance is the tamest of them all but it is still very easily abused and produces a pretty good speedy high in my opinion. My cousin who is a Dr told me that 30mg of vyvance is equivalent to 10mg of adderall ER, 50mg of vyvance is equivalent to 20mg of adderall ER, 70mg of vyvance is equivalent to 30mg of adderall ER and so on. So yes its true its not as potent in its ability to cause a high as ritalin or adderall but you can still become psychologically dependant on the medication and although abruptly stopping the medication will not cause physical withdrawals it will still be hell on your mind and soul. Amphetamine is not a drug to be taken lightly, no matter if its made in a labratory by certified chemists or a nasty meth lab by some junkie cook. A word of advice to the people out there like me who just use these drugs recreationally, please at least keep your usage under once a week and you wont have to worry about your tolerance going up. And to the several people that posted earlier about having to snort a couple lines every couple hours to stay high, just swallow the pills and i promise the high will last alot longer and you wont be disappointed. Trust me on this one, my brother’s adhd and has had many different meds over the years and ive tried them all and I’ve always enjoyed the high a million times more by just eating them instead of snorting them. I hope you all stay safe and live fufilling lives. peace and love.
ps. stay away from needles.

im 15, took 140mg of vyvanse which im prescribed to. but ususally 30. i felt like going overboard because ive done that once before? i was alright in the end. but i did have some severe symptoms. i weigh 115lbs. and now i feel better than i did when i did more before. before it was 120mg. how does that make sense? also. my friend, shes 17, not prescribed to any meds. doesnt have adhd/add. took 50mg of mine to see what its like. she should be ok right? i think shes just freaking a little bit

Richard,
This sounds complicated…
THe short answer is: yes – Vyvanse may be helpful. When doctors are concerned about abuse of stimulant medicines – generally the newer medicines are less abusable (i.e. Concerta and Adderall XR). Vyvanse is the newest and due to its unique nature, it has even less potential for abuse.
To the extent that stimulants may help you – Vyvanse may be a good option.
If you feel that dopamine based medicines are helpful – you may want to consider the antidepressant: Wellbutrin. Something to talk to your doctor about.
I’m surprised that as a veteran you don’t get insurance for your medicine… That’s really surprising. As a side note – we don’t have Vyvanse in Canada yet…
Best,
Dr. Kenny

I can tell you first hand that it has potential for abuse. However, it is much easier to resist than other meds.
I’m in recovery from a drug and alcohol addiction. I have a history of meth and cocaine (and everything else) use. Upon my ADD diagnosis, my doctor prescribed me Adderall. I told him how nervous I was to take any stimulant for fear that I’d relapse. At that time I had nearly 3 years of sobriety BTW. Anyhow, He assured me that it would just balance me out and I’d be fine.
I’ll interject now that this is the same doctor that told me to stop my 4 year 40mg/day Paxil prescription cold turkey, when I told him I wanted off. Thank god I had done my homework and knew more than him on the weaning plan of this drug. Six months and I’m still at ten mg BTW.
Anyhow, I took one pill of the Adderall and in an hour my appetite was gone, my spirits were sky high, and I knew that I loved this stuff. I knew this was bad. By the next day I had bypassed all sleep and snorted the entire bottle and was ready to go score some real stuff. The cravings I got from Adderall weere tremendous. Needless to say I had a moment of clarity and called the doctor to cancel my prescription and went to bed. I woke up happy to not be a junkee again.
I then requested to see a psychaitrist who could understand my meds better and she prescribed vyvanse as the last attempt at a stimulant remedy. I read up on the pro drug claims and felt much better, but still concerned. I have always been a snorter or a smoker, rarely popping pills alone, so I didn’t see myself falling into that routine. Dont get me wrong, as an addict I can get “hooked” on cheeseburgers at 3:05 pm everyday if I let myself develop a routine. For this reason, pro drug or not, the potential was still there, as was my addict thinking, so I was weary.
So I took one. The climb was much slower and not as intense. It reminded me of the difference between smoking pot and eating a pot brownie. Both get you high, but its different. Eating pot has gotten me super high, and for a long time, but I never liked it as much as the immediate high of smoking. Anyhow, even digesting the prescribed amount I could still feel it in me. I liked it alot even with the bruxism and the dry mouth, but somehow I wasn’t craving to take a handful more. I also didn’t crash off of this like I did with other illicit narcotics or the Adderall. All of this made it seem doable to me. I did realize that it triggered my addict thinking because I was so excited that my appetite was gone again and I had lots of energy and motivation. Neither of those are the resons I was prescribed this though, so I knew that was the addict in me. To this day, even though it helps my concentration tremendously, I still appreciate those “side effects” more than the intended use at times.
So it’s been about three months and I have had a few nights where I know I’m abusing it for studying, or cleaning, or whatever. Those are all relapses in my book. However, I dont obsess about it like other substances. I dont get the cravings for coke like with the adderall. I dont get the immediate high like snorting drugs. I’m pretty sure that I could take as much of this as possible and keep getting higher, but I haven’t. I do notice a tolerance even after one day of a large dose. A few days off of it seems to help, but the original feelings from one dose haven’t been back. Chances are like most things you get off on, they wont either. As I notice my tolerance increase I notice my appetite returning too. I’ve lost fourty pounds in these three months and I’m not too thrilled about going back to constant hunger again. I’m 230 now, so I have quite a way to go before this pseudo-anorexia is a concern for me. During the times that I dont take it, I do notice extreme hunger that continues even when I’m stuffed. I also am a lot more tired than I remember being before I started these pills. No suprise on either front.
So, for an addict, I personally dont think that any stimulant, or anything that feels good, is a good idea. I now say that ” I haven’t had a drink in three years” in my AA meetings, because there have been some times when I know I’m not sober. I’m not proud of that and I keep a close eye on it out of fear alone. That fact aside, if you want to treat your ADD, and it will, I’d go for this one as it’s abuse potential is certainly lower than the alternatives. Like everything, it is abusable, but not via the method most of us would prefer it to be, so it’s less of a concern.

Hello everyone,

I must simply disagree with the psychiatrist’s statement that Vyvanse “cannot be abused.” I’ve tried Adderall and didn’t like the “comedown” I experienced everyday at the same time, so I tried Vyvanse. I feel just as “high” on Vyvanse as I did on Adderall! The only think limiting my “abuse” of the medicine is that if I take too high of a dosage (above 50mg), my Tourette’s tics get almost unbearable. But I’ve got to say, I can tell that I’m becoming dependent on Vyvanse–however slow-acting it is, Vyvanse still contains amphetamine, which drastically increases dopamine.

I might not be getting as “high” as someone who snorts Adderall, but there is certainly a very welcome rush!!

As a disclaimer, though, I’d say I probably react differently than most people to drugs, even something as simple as caffeine (which also gets me somewhat “high”), most likely because I lie somewhere along the bipolar spectrum.

I just wanted to clear that up, though: Vyvanse is definitely abusable! Why else would it be a FDA Schedule 1 drug, along with Adderall?!

(Actually, addressed directly to the doctor: do you think Strattera would be a better alternative if I’m having abuse problems with Vyvanse?)

Hi Caleb,
This may be the right prescription for you – but you really need to talk to your doctor and make sure to get your own prescription. It’s possible that vyvanse at a lower dose may help you – but it may not be right for you.
See your doctor and describe what you’ve written here and hopefully he/she can help you.
Best,
Dr. Kenny

i been taking vyvanse for about 2 n a half months. the first half of the month was great. and b4 u know it from taking it everyday i dont notice any difference in my add or wut not. im just less angry lol and a bit more chill, yeah focus is better but not as good as it was the first month or so. when i dont take it omg do i sleep. all day long on a saturday ill b passed out. but yeah the med helped me alot tho i have improved alot. i finally feel a lot smarter and school stuff is alot better than it ever has been. but i feel like i need a higher dose since i almost feel like im bak to normal. like idk. i liked when i first started taking it, i became more social, unlike some ppl i hear are very calm from it . like im awake and calm and hyper at the same time and it clears my anger problems away and makes me so much happier and stress free. besides the add/adhd Im also diagnosed OCD n bi polar. its helped out my ocd about 75% somehow i have noticed a awesome change in it. but im still bi polar but its controlled alot due to my increase in happiness i suppose. like when i dont take it, omg. its like a war starts in my head and i get filled up with so many negative thoughts, im kinda lazy and bored, thats usually wen i would want to keep to myself and not see ppl. and also i dont dream when i take it. but when i dont take it i have extreamly crazy detailed dreams. most the time those dreams r bad cause my angry side goes crazy.im guessing from taking the med its also calmed my stress lvl down so much that from the massive build up i go a lil out of my mind. but thats very rare, as soon as the med hits i wont even think that way and be happy again which i love the most. Well back to the forums subject now. i guess that its not addictive i suppose,i DO NOT abuse it nor try to. but i really do rely on this drug, trust me i hate saying it. like i said if i dont take it, it wont b a good day for me. but i feel like i have improved alot and thats all that matters. its either im gonna die from un motivation and stress or taking the pill and being happy and motivated and ready. so yeah i choose the med. but o well if u disagree, u really just dont understand. but yeah vyvanse is cool. would b better to have 2 doses a day like adderall since like an hour after i feel the med i start feeling tired and less concentrated. i want to keep the concentration. o well im very tired i kinda just saw this and its late so my med basically wore off as i wrote this. so its all probly messy. o well. vyvanse is good tho i reccommend it.

This is bull. Stop trying to hype vyvanse to something its not…

shire changes the “ph” to “f” in amphetamine to draw attention from its association with speed…yet it does the same thing. you can obviously tell people are writing thier responses WHILE on vyvanse. These people ARE high. Take vyvanse and EVERYTHING SEEMS LIKE THE BEST THING EVER!!!! LYKE OMG!!! I LOVE WRITING 900 WORD REVIEWS ABOUT HOW GREAT VYVANSE MAKES ME FEEL!!! (potential for abuse? gets you high?

you can be physically and psychologically addicted to ANY FORM OF SPEED! amphetamine=speed. vyvanse=amphetamine.

i smoke weed EVERY DAY. i’m fine.

i take vyvanse for a month straight and i feel like a drug addict. hmmmmmmm……?

I was diagnosed with or labeled with a learning disabilty in the 70’s. After years of frustration I finally went to the Dr. and talked about ADD. What do you know, I’m a poster child for ADD. I just started Vyanase 30 MG. It has truly changed my life. I can focus! I don’t BLOW UP! I actually sit down and help my kids with their home work. I guess there is abuse potential, but the positives out weigh the risks. After being told I’m lazy etc., etc. and and not being able to control my impulsive behavoir for years I feel great. I don’t know if it is the Vyanase or the fact that I realize that I’m not alone and so different after all. All I know is my marriage,Job, and relationship with kids are getting better. If that is a BAD thing I guess I’m all for it.

Hey, guys. I started my first dose of Vyvance this morning at 50mg. Wow, what a difference. I literaly havn’t felt like that in quite sometime. I’m in college so it really helped in class. But, and here is my problem, MY BLOOD PRESSURE WAS SCARY HIGH. I’m only 26 and my pressure was at like 160/117! I don’t smoke, drink and am reletively healthy. Has anyone ever had this problem and what did you (or your doctor) do about it? My doctor is out of town for two more days and I can’t get any solid answers from anyone. Will this high pressure subside or what? Thanks.

Hi Nancy,

Thanks for responding.

As for caffiene, no, normally I stay away from caffienated beverages. I did, however, consume maybe a few cups of coffee within a three day period a week prior to Vyvance and I consumed one soda each of those same days. Ironically, that is out of the ordinary for me because caffiene in general over stimulates me and can cause anxiety.

As for checking my blood pressure, I had been feeling jittery (over stimulated) all morning after taking Vyvance so I walked to the counter of an in store pharmacy and began sharing my symtoms with the pharmacist. They knew what Vyvance was, confirmed my symtoms, then suggested that I use the blood pressure/pulse rate machine they had available there (the chair one sits in with the electric arm cuff). After it had finished, the results read 169/117 with a pulse rate of 109.

I told the pharmacist my results and they comfirmed it to be pretty high (of course). They then suggested that I walk around the store a bit (I needed a few things anyways) and come back and try it again. Well, the second time (and I didn’t right this one down like the first) was lower on the systolic side but the diastolic had gone up just a little. The next day I stopped taking the medicine and that night, I was shopping with my wife and came across another blood pressure/heart rate monitor outside another in store pharmacy. This time it read at 152/99, a little lower than the day before but still high. I’ve always felt a little “high strung” and can get myself quite anxious at times, but I have had my pressure checked before and have never had these high of results.

As a result, I have decided to change my diet (except for a calzon last night – dang it), and have purchased many fruits, vegetables, and water. I did buy some V8 vegetable drinks but after I read the sodium rate on the label, I put the down.

Nancy, I want to do all I can to keep this pressure low. I’m only 26 and have three children and can’t afford any serious issues. If there is anything else you can suggest for me to do, please let me know.

Thanks again,

Rob E.

Hi Rob,
Have you had high blood presuure in the past? Without you consuming caffiene on a daily basis, that kind of rules out that idea. But you mentioned that you seem to be on the high-strung spectrum of how you are, versus being calm and laid back. Do you tend to rush around, trying to get a lot done or rush out the door heading to an appointment or store, etc? Just curious. Generally I am a person that is always running late and when I would go to the doctor, I was rushing to get there and then when they checked my BP it was extremely high and they kinda freaked and kept checking it every 10 mins or so. I have always been like this – running late – but it wasnt until I was on the Vyvanse (since Dec. 2007) that I would have high BP readings ON occassion when going to the doctor, not always.

Do you know if before taking vyvanse you had pretty normal BP readings? I believe in the literature for the vyvanse it mentions it can raise your BP, but I would have to read it again – its been awhile since I read it. Of course with any med anymore, there is just a ton of stuff to be aware of of what the drug can do to you and our doctors DO NOT tell us all of the side effects. It sucks – in order to get help with like depression or anxiety or manic episodes, or even attention probs, we have to put up with the possibility of diarrhea, or constipation, or stroke or possibility of death! Whoa! Scary!
Well, good luck Rob! I’m not sure I have anything else to suggest for you. But if you go off of vyvanse, I would periodically check your BP several times a week, when your in stores and stuff, to ensure that your BP always reads normal after no longer being on vyvanse. Good luck! Tell us how it goes!
Take care,
Nancy

My son (adopted grandson) is 17 and a senior in high school. He has been on ADD/ADHD medication since 4th grade and is currently taking Vyvance. What is the end-game, meaning how and when does he get off medication, or is this a life-time regimen? He had expressed interest in joining the military and was told he has to be off drugs for a year in order to be inducted into the Army, and even longer for the Marines. Should he experiment by taking drug holidays? Are there other resources to seek out?

About abuse potential and Vyvanse.

So many of you do not understand the purpose of medications like Vyvanse. Its supposed to help you help yourself! It won’t fix you and it won’t prevent abuse. YOU have to fix yourselves and YOU have to not abuse it. Do not criticize something just because you are too irresponsible to use it correctly.

Vyvanse is not worth the trial! I was hooked on Adderall and then switched to Vyvanse (hoping it would ‘help me come off pills all together’). It did not! Now, I’m hooked on Vyvanse, been through a treatment program because of it, my wife divorced me, lost my job, etc… The problem is this – IT LEAVE YOU WITH NO MOTIVATION TO DO ANYTHING IN LIFE after you quit taking it!

My 18 year old son who is dyslexic was put on Vyvance.

Once on Vyvance, he couldn’t eat and lost 35 lbs. He was up all night, was getting irritable. If he missed a dose he was either a zombie or angry and downright scary. I told his doctor, who can’t actually talk to me. So he went to see her. She UPPED his dose. So we took him to another doctor for a second opinion. The second doctor, told us the first doctor was known around town for prescribing “legal” drugs for drug addicts. Great.

Now we are working with him to get him off not only the pills, but to eat well by eliminating sugar, high fructose corn syrup, and gluten from his diet. It is amazing what food changes will do.

These are amphetamines. Remember when they told women in the 60s and 70s there was no problem and amphetamines would help them lose weight? Right. And then they ended up addicted to both the amphetamines and downers like Xanax to get to sleep.

Do you know that kids get up to $60 a pill on the street for these?

They don’t get that kind of money because the drugs are harmless or produce no highs.

PARENTS, PLEASE READ – VYVANSE CREATES ADDICTIVE TENDENCIES IN CHILDREN

I feel like I need to address the whole idea of Vyvanse being “non-addictive” just because it can’t be snorted, injected, smoked, or heavily abused (more than 100 mg won’t get you much more than 70 mg). Addiction is a misleading term that also involves dependancy on the drug; you can take the prescribed dose and still be completely dependent on the drug to the point where you WILL go through withdrawal when you stop. You can be psychologically dependent too; little kids that grow up on amphetamines are especially susceptible to this.

I started on Ritilan at 16, and continued taking it until age 20. During that time on Ritilan, the medicine gradually made me so full of anxiety that I used other drugs to counteract that. I couldn’t stop taking the Ritilan because I was addicted to it, so I wound up just using other things with it, like weed and painkillers.

Long story short, I am 24 now, and clean of everything for 3 years. I feel absolutely fine, and am successful in what I do now. Needless to say; about 3 months ago, I was prescribed Vyvanse by my doctor, as my ADHD has been a little bit worse recently (probably due to less exercise in the winter). She knows I had very bad problems with addiction in the past, but it is (as you can see) marketed as “non-addictive.”

Needless to say, about 2 hours after taking my first pill, I knew I had been lied to. I got that same old good feeling I got from Ritilan, just 5 times as good as I remembered it, at least. So, for that month, I continued to take it. I never upped my dose; it was the side effects that got me. After a couple weeks, the drug started to hook me, and also made me crave a downer for the inevitable crash that left me feeling like an utter piece of sh_t for 6 hours. I started to drink after 3 year of sobriety, and after a month of all that, was able to stop myself before I got too out of hand; thank God.

This drug may not be “addictive,” but even somebody with a hint of anxiety of an addictive personality is going to go through some downs that are going to make them want to start drinking, smoking weed, taking xanax, vicodin, oxycontin, and then who knows what else? It’s a very slippery, and sometimes inevitably slippery slope… Especially when they are hooking them so young now-a-days.

ADHD can be a bit_h, but please beware of Vyvanse. I know there aren’t many options with ADHD; I know that; but, if nothing else works that isn’t a stimulant, I would try one of the new methylphenidate formulations like Concerta before I would do Vyvanse again. I personally actually wouldn’t ever do any stimulant again though.

For kids that are under age 16, I would really not recommend numbing their creativity with controlled-substance amphetamines like Vyvanse and Adderall, or with cocaine-like analogs like Methylphenidate. It isn’t worth it. Some kids might need it in high-school, but you are IRRESPONSIBLE and STUPID as a parent if you start your kid on AMPHETAMINES WITH A FANCY NAME at ages where they don’t even know what they want to be when they grow up yet. You are killing them. You are killing who they are inside by doing that. ADHD is not a disorder, and there are many books out now that depict how detrimental it is for a kid (or adult) with ADHD to be treated like they need to be fed pills to be normal, when in reality, they have a gift that can really be harnessed if taught how to use.

Check out some of the literature out there and try it out before pumping your kid full of speed, alright? I’m not saying that some kids don’t need meds, but all I’m saying is that you might want to actually examine what it is that you are doing to them. Actually, EVEN BETTER, before anyone puts their LITTLE KID on AMPHETAMINES, why don’t you just take a good 50 mg does yourself? That should give you a pretty good idea of what they’re going to be experiencing.

My daughter is 10 yrs old takes 20mg a day and is a zombie. She has EVERY side effect this drugs has. And if you think other drugs are being abused,this one is the abuser to our minor children!! please stop this anti drug

iv been taking vyvanse 30mg for two months now . im 27 this is the first time i have ever takin add med. it has changed my life for the better. i noticed that i am calm i can focus well i dont get all the energy high everyone is talking about. i feel on task and i dont blurt out and say everything im thinking i listen when people talk.. i love it works well. and i dont think people can get high from it. well at least dont make me feel high. more calm then anything. i wish i would have had this med to help me in school when i was younger. i would have made better grades.

Hi ‘Mike’,
Yes, Vyvanse will work if you snort it – but not any differently than if you swallow it. Because it doesn’t get active until an enzyme in the body converts it to active medicine. This is different than the other ADHD medications which are active much more quickly if they are snorted – and thus are more addictive and abusable.
Dr. Kenny

Hey Jessica had a post recently that seemed to mirror my hopes. Perhaps I will request Vyvnase!
Thanks for the posts all of you in this collective group. We all want the same thing and hearing other people’s experiences sure helps.

Just want to say I’ve never ever had a problem stopping any of the ADD meds I was on. Gotta disagree with the people who say they are addictive.
Cata