Taking a day off from vyvanse to reset?

Support
#1

Hi! I’m new here so I hope this is the right category.

I’m just looking to see if anyone has had a similar experience to me with vyvanse or a more long term insight with these side effects.

I started on 30mg of vyvanse in March which I take daily and found beneficial, in June my psychiatrist moved me up to 40mg to see if that was more beneficial but I found myself feeling very numb, experiencing brain fog, feeling very negative and depressed and not feeling the same motivation I’d been getting previously.

I moved back down to 30mg because I found those side effects distressing and then focused on my routine and self care to try to feel more connected to myself again. This change in dosage helped but I still felt disconnected to my usual thoughts and feelings about things and this was really increasing my anxiety. I couldn’t tell if I just felt different in general or if the medication was influencing my mindset.

I kept trying to work through my anxiety but I couldn’t really determine what was causing it other than the feeling of disconnection. I ended up deciding to take a weekend off after a week of feeling really awful. I felt fine on the saturday without taking vyvanse but then really scattered and anxious on sunday. I decided by lunch to take the vyvanse and see and it felt like when I was originally taking the medication and I felt like myself and connected to my thoughts and feelings again as well as better focus and motivation.

It’s been two weeks since this break and I’m still feeling good and having benefits from the medication. I’m not on any other medications and after this feeling of reset I do feel like I could increase my dosage to be a little more focused.

It seems like after the first month or two of being on vyvanse I started to feel that sense of disconnection that continued to build so upping my dosage at that time was overwhelming.
Has anyone else experienced a similar thing? I’m tracking my mood daily to monitor when I start to feel those side affects show up again.

1 Like
#2

Hi needs, welcome!

Yes, I have experienced the same. And actually I am off again since 5 days and I don#t really think I miss it that much right now. I have to make sure to drink loads of Water and get minerals, because my circulation dropped as soon as I stopped taking it.

Do you have a pulse watch or something? I was in hospital for other reasons and I realized that my anxiety was directly connected to a change in heart rate under vyvanse. Since I am in regeneration mode right now I thought I can rather live with ADHD symptoms than with anxiety caused by a speedy heart with palpitations.

I don’t want to scare you, but I think it is worth checking. I do it with an :apple:watch and I could watch the direct connection and how it builds up.

What you can also do is to try to dissolve your vyvanse in water, Stir well and drink exactly half of it. And the rest the next day. The white line at the glas will be just the “starch” the active substance completely dissolves in the liquid. You don#t need to scrape it from the glas. I learned that from my psychiatrist. So it is not all or nothing when you take a break.

2 Likes
#3

eeds not needs and not Leeds. autocorrected.

2 Likes
#4

Hey :blush: Thanks for your reply! I’ve been monitoring those things with my gp and they’ve been all good, seems to be more of a psychological effect for me.

2 Likes
#5

I don’t take Vyvanse but I do take Trazadone right before bed and it took me months before I realized how much it takes the edge off of my anxiety. I cried because it had made such an impact on my sleeping and t helped with my anxiety. If you have a lot of anxiety I recommend taking something or trying something at least.

2 Likes
#6

@eeds my doctor first put me on Adderall XR (a different stimulant related to Vyvanse).

I also experienced brain fog, but for me it was my natural state before taking any ADHD meds. The Adderall only relieved half the brain fog, while somewhat treating my ADHD traits (all the Inattentive traits, plus problems with working memory, and the brain fog I mentioned).

Increasing my Adderall dosage did nothing more to help me, and brought on the concerning side effect of tachycardia (elevated heart rate).

I asked my doctor to try me on a non-stimulant, Strattera (atomoxetine). For me, it was twice as effective for all my Inattentive ADHD traits as Adderall XR was. It even relieved all of the brain fog.

It’s not for everyone. Some people have to try several different ADHD meds, or even combination with other medications that treat anxiety, depression, or other comorbidities with the ADHD.

It can take time to realize the full effects of a medication change, including dosage changes. And when it comes to stimulant meds, some people take regular breaks (which some refer to as a medication holiday). With my meds, I can’t take a break, but I wouldn’t want to anyway.

Keep up with the monitoring. Psychological factors could very much be part of it… that comes with being human, and can be more profound when you’re a human who has ADHD! But also, the way your body and brain respond to the meds might change over time.

1 Like
#7

Okay so I did end up taking a week off of my ADHD medication but that was due to contracting COVID from my summer time job for a week. Did I feel any different now but I notice that without taking it for me at least it would take me longer to complete a task I intended on doing for example I wanted to shower but it took me forever just to get my butt moving into the shower. However after I recovered from COVID I went straight back on my medication and it made it easier for me at least to finish task that I want to finish. Have I changed my dosage no however if you are considering upping your dosage another option is to ask and see if you could take a booster to your vyvanse so for me I have a booster dose that I should be taking only when I feel like it but only within a specific amount of time as to not be up all night. The booster makes it so that when you come off of your original dose its not as harsh of a change it makes it easier to transition from being on your medication to being off it but that’s just my two cents.