Vyvanse twice a day for adult | ADHD Information
I am a 36 year old male and was prescribed Vyvanse about a month ago. First time taking these types of drugs. I was taking 30mg in the morning but noticed after a couple of weeks that, despite the claims of its long-lasting effect, for me it seemed to lose its force in the early afternoon. I know that for others its lasting longer, for some perhaps even too long. I am now taking 30mg in the morning and 30mg about 1:00 in the afternoon. I've been doing this for about a week. Sleep is ok, but it could be better, so we'll have to see if it improves. Otherwise, I think I'm just experiencing the normal side effects: dry mouth, a slightly faster heart beat, etc. So far the drug has been quite good for concentration, energy, getting things accomplished, and so on. Anyway, thought I'd share the experience in case anyone's is similar and would like to know they're not alone.
I do have a question though, if anyone knows the answer. Is it ok to reduce the contents in the capsule and then take it? Of course, I'll ask my doctor this at our next session, but that isn't until a few weeks. The reason I ask is that I think maybe just 15mg twice a day would be good for me. I know, I may just have to switch over to Adderall and hope the effects are similar, since that medicine has more variations in dosage.
Best,
Patrick
I would not do that. Generally the you must take all of the extended release meds. Some of them can be opened and sprinkled, but you still have to take all of it.Thanks for the reply. Hopefully 30mg twice a day will be fine. Today seemed a little better than yesterday, actually.
[quote]I do have a question though, if anyone knows the answer. Is it ok
to reduce the contents in the capsule and then take it? Of course, I'll ask
my doctor this at our next session, but that isn't until a few weeks. The
reason I ask is that I think maybe just 15mg twice a day would be good
for me. I know, I may just have to switch over to Adderall and hope the
effects are similar, since that medicine has more variations in dosage. [/
quote]
Besides Adderall, you might want to look into dexedrine/dexostat. It's
the same amphetamine as Vyvanse but it's not long acting. You might be
able to take your Vyvanse in the morning then suppliment that with the
dexedrine which only lasts a few hours.
if you dissolve it in water it's supposed to "lessen" the effects. That might
be an optioin or worth looking at.
The Adderall XR only lasted about 4-5 hours for me and the rebound was
not fun. It's also generally more "jittery" than the Vyvanse and Dexedrine
meds.yes, you can dissolve vyvanse in water. . adhdgirl, I'm not crazy about taking the Vistaril daily. It's very sedating and just knocks me out, even with the Vyanse, if I take it after noon. Also some dizziness and mild confusion. That said, I like having some on hand, because it is indeed relaxing. You seemed interested, so I thought I'd post. Actually, read a funny comment on the internet by some fellow that was taking the Vistaril for panic attacks. Said he'd have a panic attack in public, then take his medicine, then be so knocked out he had a hard time getting home. So, he said, with a definite since of the irony, he was starting to have anxiety about his medication for anxiety.
Vyvanse twice a day is working well. I'm taking the doses closer together now, like at 8 and 11:30, and finding this better than my older schedule of 8 and 2. Not sure why. Probablygoing to ask my doc. if I can take a low dose of Paxil, a medicine I have a lot of experience with, to help with some of the mild anxiety and tension, which I mostly experience later in the day when the Vyvanse is wearing off.
Patrickmc- thanks for the update!
I have been experimenting with my Vyvanse the last few days. The doctor had said it was ok to take two of the 30mg pills if I wanted. I started spacing them out, taking one in the morning, and another 2-3 hours later. That reduced the anxiety and lengthed the duration. I have been moving the doses closer together and I get a better effect on the higher dose, but I still have a little increased anxiety, (though not as bad as the first week) and it wears off earlier. I'm going to talk to my doctor and see because the higher dose seems more effective, but I probably will need something in the early afternoon too. Maybe take 60mg in the morning and then try another 30mg around 12 or 1pm. I have my appt with my doc tomorrow and will see what options he proposes.
~ADHDgirl
http://ijustlearnedihaveadhdnowwhat.blogspot.com/
I think you should definitely ask your doctor before splitting the capsule in half. I too have noticed that the effects wear off earlier than stated. On the 30mg, I start to feel the drug wear off anywhere between 3pm and 6pm. I take it between 8:30am and 9am, I feel it take effect about 10am. I took 60mg one day and it lasted until about 7pm.
The "up to 12" hour effects I think are almost entirely from testing 6-12 year olds and I think adults are going to see different results because our metabolism is different. I have only been taking the pill for a week, but it hasn't lasted more than 8-9 hours from when I feel it start working. It does wear off slowly though, I don't feel a sudden crash but a gradual wearing off.
I haven't taken any other ADHD meds yet, I was only diagnosed a week ago and I guess this is the new drug to treat ADHD with so my doctor was eager to start me on it.
~ADHDgirl
http://ijustlearnedihaveadhdnowwhat.blogspot.com/
I'm seeing my doctor in the morning. Been taking 50mg in the a.m., but it just doesn't last long enough. Tried 70mg for a few days and felt overmedicated: very sleepy and zero stamina, not to mention anxious. I think I'll bring up parshmar's idea above about taking Vyvanse in the morning and a shorter acting stimulant in the afternoon. That sounds reasonable. I'll just have to see what the doctor says. He's a smart fellow and highly respected, so hopefully we'll get some things worked out tomorrow. I do like the medication for the most part, but am getting a little impatient with the lengthy process of fine tuning. A common complaint, no doubt.
Just an update for anyone interested. Saw my doctor yesterday and he put me back on Vyvanse 30mg twice a day. Mentioned possibly using a shorter lasting stimulant in the afternoon after taking Vyvanse in the morning, but he liked using the Vyvanse twice a day better. For the mild edginess I sometimes feel, he prescribed Vistaril 25mg 3x a day as needed. We'll see how this works. Should be better for me than 50mg once a day, and definitely better than 70mg once a day.
I would be interested in hearing how that works out - Both taking the Vyvanse twice a day and how the Vistaril works on the edginess. I will be seeing my own doctor to adjust my dose in about a week and can have something to suggest.
~ADHDgirl
http://ijustlearnedihaveadhdnowwhat.blogspot.com/
Hi I have a question and am new to this site. I was taking adderall xr
30mg in the am and 10mg at lunchtime, however my insurance got
canceled due to an increase in my income. I found out about the
vyvanse patient assistant program and applied. My dr comleted the
forms and wrote me a script for vyvanse 70 mg once a day. He stated
that vyvanse cannot be taken twice a day? Is this true? And also
should I be taking a 50 mg vyvanse in the am and a 30 mg at lunch?
dose anyone have any opinions or similar stories to share, any info
would be helpful. Thanks alotPhillie11040625.7434143519Hey I'm new here but I've been reading a lot of stuff on Vyvanse since
starting it last week. The only other thing I took before was Adderall XR. I
started it 4 years ago at 15mg, then I was doing 15mg twice a day, then
30mg once a day which made me too jittery, so I settled out doing 25mg
once a day over the past 4 years but the last year I didn't really take
anything.
Now my p-doc prescribed me Vyvanse 20mg b/c I don't have insurance
anymore and I can get on the patient assistance program (vyvanse.com
has more info.) and get it for free for the year. Well I was nervous to take
it b/c I have anxiety problems and a little hypochondria to boot. So the
first few days were up and down, I would get anxious just from simply
take a pill, and it was hard to decipher the side effect of anxiety from my
own anxiety in my mind.
Anyway, I've been doing ok now that it's been a week but I'm having
trouble after 4 hours I get SO SLEEPY, and at 5 hours I'm 100% exhausted.
I can't think, do anything, and I'm so tired I want to cry. It's horrible. I
called my Dr yesterday and she upped my dosage to 50mg, saying that it
would last longer. The only problem is I can't fill the rx until I get my
patient assistance card next week b/c it's so expensive, and I already
shelled out the cash for the 20mg which was 5. So today I decided to
take the 20 mg at 8am and then when I started feeling the crash at 1pm
(5 hours) I just took another one. I'm hoping this extends it through the
day b/c I can't have this happening at work. I took today off so I could try
this.
I think it's working a little, I'm still tired but it seems to have me more
alert and less cranky even in the 1st hour. I'm aware it takes over an hour
to really kick in, so in the future maybe taking it at noon would be best,
so I don't experience the crash at all at 1pm.
I'm going to get the 50mg filled as soon as I can and try that once in the
morning and see if there is the same crash...
but my question is: with the higher dosage are there more side effects?
Does anyone feel like higher dosage is too strong at it's peak?
That's why I took adderall twice a day, b/c I didn't want a really strong
peak that gave me anxiety but I needed the consistency of it all day long.
If my p-doc and I can't figure something out I'm going to have to switch
back to adderall xr and pay for it. I never had a problem on that med, it
worked perfect from the first time I took it. That's why I'm so frustrated
with Vyvanse and figuring out it's dosage, etc...