Vyvanse: No Addiction with ADD/ADHD Medication
Although many people worry about ADD/ADHD medication leading to addiction in children and teens who take it – there is solid research now that shows that when children and teens take ADD/ADHD medication as prescribed, there is a significant reduction in the long term risk of drug and alcohol problems (it is reduced by almost 75%).
However, there are still people who abuse ADD/ADHD medications. In the Toronto area, regular ritalin pills (i.e. 10 mg tablets) can be bought on the street for approximately $5. Why? Because people will crush them and snort them to get high.
The newer and long acting ADD/ADHD medications – including Concerta, Adderall XR, Biphentin, Metadate CD, Ritalin LA, Focalin XR – are much harder to abuse because of their long acting nature. However, in theory, a creative drug abuser could figure out a way to extract the active ingredient and get high, by snorting it or injecting it.
What’s the difference with Vyvanse?
Because Vyvanse is a ‘pro-drug’, it cannot be abused.
A pro-drug means that the active medicine is bound to a protein, so it doesn’t work as an amphetamine when it is first taken. It only starts to work after it is swallowed and goes through the liver (the first step a medicine takes when leaving the stomach). When it goes through the liver, the liver cuts off the protein, and then it becomes an active medicine.
If Vyvanse is taken any other way – snorted, injected, or any other way in an attempt to get high, it will just be inert – i.e. it won’t work at all.
The only way Vyvanse is active – is if it is swallowed and then passes through the liver.
Vyvanse is the first stimulant medicine made available with zero potential for abuse.
When it comes to the other medications with low abuse potential – these include the long acting stimulants – including: Concerta, Adderall XR, Biphentin, Metadate CD, Ritalin LA, Focalin XR, etc.
When it comes to the only other medication with zero potential for abuse, that is the non-stimulant for ADD/ADHD, Strattera. This is also a good option, however if someone needs a stimulant medicine with no potential for abuse, Vyvanse is the medication to choose.
Technorati Tags: Vyvanse, ADHD, ADD, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Addiction, Strattera, Adderall XR, ADHD Medication, ADD Medication
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Written by Dr. Kenny Handelman - The ADHD Doctor
To find get a FREE special report on ADD/ADHD Medication, visit: Medication Mastery
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July 10th, 2007 at 7:12 pm
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?
July 15th, 2007 at 7:15 pm
The liver can convert only so much Vyvanse to amphetamine at once.
No matter how much Vyvanse you take, the peak level of amphetamine available in the body will be limited by the speed of metabolization.
Unless you have some kind of a super-human liver, your liver won’t be able to convert Vyvanse to amphetamine fast enough to get you high.
July 19th, 2007 at 5:39 pm
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?
July 21st, 2007 at 8:04 pm
Hi Reta,
If your child is taking Vyvanse, and it is working well, your doctor can still prescribe Vyvanse even if your child is older than 12 years old.
What it means when they say that vyvanse is approved for 6-12 year olds, means that it has had enough research in this age range to prove that it is safe.
However, I can tell you that even though it is only approved for 6-12 year olds, Vyvanse will be used by many people much older than 12 years old.
In fact, likely the biggest age for the use of vyvanse will be in late teens and adults - because of the risk of abuse of medicines by teens and adults.
When a medicine is prescribed out of its officially approved age range, that is called ‘off label’. This occurs every day in the practice of medicine.
All the best,
Dr. Kenny
August 21st, 2007 at 1:22 pm
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?
September 7th, 2007 at 1:45 pm
Hi,
I have a daughter who is fourteen, and she has been on numerous medications, which in turn is a catch 22. The reason is that just about everything she tries makes her feel sick. My daughter has not been on anything for a year because of this until recently because she was really having a hard time focusing in school. I just recently took her to the doctor to try Vyvance she has been on it a week and of course it is makeing her feel sick? Do you have and recommendations? I dont understand why she feels sick on everything she tries? The sad thing is she’s really upset because she recognizes that something has got to help her stay focused without makeing her feel sick. I do make sure she eats well in the morning so she does not take Vyvance on an emty stomache her doctor did however put her on 50mg. I dont know if the dosage could be to high she weighs about 95 pounds, she is short for her age as well.
Thanks
Brenda
September 7th, 2007 at 2:09 pm
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?
October 6th, 2007 at 4:34 am
I’m a 30 year old male. I was diagnosed with ADD as a child. I have only started taking medication for it within the last year. I started with Adderall, which I didnt really care for, but tolerated. I have been taking Vyvance for the last 6 weeks. Works great for me. I dont feel the same side effects I felt with the Adderall. No hot flashes, agitation, or shortness of breath. I’m able to concentrate at work without the feeling that I’m “on something”.
March 6th, 2008 at 12:14 am
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
May 28th, 2008 at 6:42 pm
To those (Jan and Brenda) whose children can’t eat on Vyvanse:
My daughter had this problem with Ritalin, Concerta, and Vyvanse. The solution has been Daytrana, a stimulant patch. It is still an appetite suppressant, so I push calorie-dense foods, but it by-passes the stomach so that my daughter no longer has stomach cramps or pain. It has been a blessing; good luck with your children.
June 17th, 2008 at 11:47 am
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?
July 5th, 2008 at 1:48 am
It is not my intention to offend others with this post, however, after many years of work with the homeless population, in alcohol and other drug treatment systems and raising highly traumatised foster children, I must greatly disagree with the, often casual, use of any mind altering substance.
While working in drug treatment, one of the things that offended me the most was when behavioral health forced me to take my clients to their clinics.
It appeared to me that these agencies were granted more government funding based on the amount of drugs they prescribed to my clients.
Our staff worked hard to help our clients learn to deal with life, to get to the very heart of why they had become drug addicts in the first place.
Often spending countless hours to allow them a safe place to express their feelings, just to have behavioral health pump them full of psychotropic medications causing the client learning curve to drop, their emotional response to go back into hibernation.
Any practitioner who does not first prescribe a check for heavy medal in the organs and tooth fillings, then diet, then if unsuccessful mental therapy and healing time for their despondent client, I have no respect for, at all.
“reduced by almost 75%” gerrrrrr, still to high!
These are our children they are playing God with people!
July 8th, 2008 at 6:01 pm
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.
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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?
July 10th, 2008 at 11:38 am
Hello Josh, I do appreciate your understanding, again it was not my intention to do harm, or offend, but rather, was to make note that there must be better ways to treat this, and the many other health concerns facing our society today.
Before beginning a regiment of synthetic drugs, I would first hope those who suffer would examine the various possibilities of environment; such as mercury based tooth fillings, additives in food, such as aspertain, MSGs, the many pollutants in the air (even micro waves from cell phone towers) and the fluoride in our water, even the uncertainly of a fear based world.
Please except my apologies for the offence, as again, was not my intention.
However, if all voices, ideals and possibilities are not allowed to be heard, we become a dictatorship.
July 13th, 2008 at 2:56 pm
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.
July 14th, 2008 at 7:58 pm
Hi Sherri,
Yes, Vyvanse is compatible with citalopram. There are no drug interactions that I’m aware of.
Of course, have your sister talk to her doctor about this.
Dr. Kenny
July 17th, 2008 at 3:56 am
Thanks for the answer, I’ll pass that on to her … and of course, your advice about talking with her doctor.
July 20th, 2008 at 7:03 pm
No matter how much Vyvanse you take, the peak level of amphetamine available in the body will be limited by the speed of metabolization.
August 3rd, 2008 at 12:28 am
Having taken this drug, I can assure you that it is perfectly abusable via oral ingestion.
August 13th, 2008 at 6:39 pm
Vyvanse: No Addiction with ADD/ADHD Medication | ADD ADHD Blog.com…
The newer and long acting ADD/ADHD medications – including Concerta, Adderall XR, Biphentin, Metadate CD, Ritalin LA, Focalin XR – are much ……
September 8th, 2008 at 5:34 pm
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
September 20th, 2008 at 3:18 am
I’m 17 and I’ve been on vyvanse about 7 months. I started with 30 mg daily and
I’m now on 80 mg daily. I’ve found the drug to be very addictive..And easily abused. When I don’t take it for one day I feel slow and drowsy all day. I love vyvanse, it’s done greaaat things for me. My grades & daily routines have improved tremendously!
September 22nd, 2008 at 12:34 am
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
September 24th, 2008 at 4:24 am
You can’t get “high” from it? I haven’t abused ADD medication, but I have been looking for a prescription and asked friends with ADD or who had abused medication which pill is most effective. I heard methylphenidate would be best for me (I don’t know how true that is), but I certainly have heard of vyvanse being taken to get high.
I’ve been researching all of this ADD medicine pretty extensively, and you CAN get high from lisdexamfetamine (vyvanse.) I have a friend who has used quite a few ADD medications, and to the best of my knowledge, all of them besides strattera can easily be used to get high.
Vyvanse seems to be a pro-drug in the sense that it takes longer to onset, tolerance supposedly doesn’t build, it can’t be snorted effectively, and the peak is more mild than that of dextroamphetamine. However, it’s still a stimulant and amphetamine that can be used to get high, you just need well above a medical dose. (Unlike Adderall which I’ve heard can be effective for a high in large medical doses.)
It’s good that this seems to be effective for actually treating ADD and has LESS potential to be abused, but don’t over-pitch your product. And again, this certainly is more of a pro-drug than adderall of standard dextroamphetamine. I’ll ask my doctor about it.
-Mike
September 24th, 2008 at 9:34 am
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
September 27th, 2008 at 10:19 pm
Dr. Kenny:
I am taking Vyvanse and would like to add some comments. People can get high on Vyvanse, especially if they have no tolerance for ADD stimulant medications. In fact, studies showed that at doses between 110 and 130 mg. daily, test subjects showed a high “likeability” for the drug. I can assure you the ceiling on the medication is not 70 mg.
Also, in reference to off-label prescribing, some doctors in the U.S. are already prescribing up to 225 mg. per day of Vyvanse. Many patients, especially those who are converting to Vyvanse from another medication, find the 70 mg. daily dose to be innefective. By law, doctors are able to prescribe higher doses than approved by the FDA when treating adults with ADD. This is because most of these medications, including Vyvanse, were tested on children in the 6 to 12 age range. There is quite a difference between a 90-pound child and a 210-pound man. And Shire is unlikely to do further costly testing if doctors are already making decisions on higher (off-label) dosing and finding it to be effective.
Also, Vyvanse can and is being abused. I won’t go into detail here for obvious reasons, but those with chemistry knowledge have found a way to alter the medication before digestion. There will always be people out there who seem to take it as a personal challenge to “break the codes.” Still, it is more abuse-proof than other stimulant medications and also has the benefit of providing a consistent daily dose without the ups and downs attributed to some of the other medications.
I want to thank you for creating this site. It shows your care and concern for people afflicted with this disorder. And once the medication becomes available in Canada, you’ll be able to provide even better information because of your own experience using it in treatment.
October 7th, 2008 at 8:39 pm
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
October 8th, 2008 at 1:18 am
no potential for abuse? if someone were to take like, three or four, wouldnt they still be abusing it and wouldnt it still be getiing them high?
October 23rd, 2008 at 11:09 am
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.
October 24th, 2008 at 12:13 am
I was just recently diagnosed with adult adhd after years and years(since a child) of the same problems over and over again. My doctor started me on Vyvanse 30 mg three days ago. I haven’t had a problem sleeping at night, though a couple hours after taking it I do feel pretty anxious and like i have had too much coffee but that goes away by noon or so and then I just feel very focused, on task, and really content for the rest of the day. My interactions with my family are better and I even have less irritation and anxiety than before I took it, which is funny seeing that it is a stimulant. there is no crash, except for a normal tired at the end of the day feeling. Also I don’t eat breakfast. Maybe this is part of the anxious feeling in the morning problem. Does any one know about eating with it in the morning vs not?
November 5th, 2008 at 9:18 pm
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.