Okay, I just want to start off by saying that there's going to be some matters in here in which I "completely" understand that they've been over before. Each case is unique and I hope that anybody who posts here understands that. Anyways, I've now been taking Vyvanse for, I would say about 3 weeks. I'll list below what I was already on before taking Vyvanse:
Zoloft 1xDay - 25mg
Subutex 1xDay - 4mg
Okay now, I have a family of three including a 4 year old son whom I love dearly. I'm going to college and work full time out of my house. I have many, many obligations and it's becomes really hard to cope with all of them when you've been suffering from ADHD/ADD since you were a child. I'm sure that there are a lot of you out that that can relate.
Now I'm not a fan of taking any medication to treat ADD. The side-effects at times aren't worth it and in other times it just doesn't work all together. I'm at a point in my life where I "NEED" something. I've tried everything from meditation, exercise, herbal therapy and I'm currently seeing a therapist for 'Cognitive Behavioral Therapy'. I'm not 'primarily' seeing this therapist for ADD related issues even though she knows about them, but for anxiety. I have always had a very high level of anxiety if you can't tell already. ;-)
Anyways, I began treatment with a therapist roughly a month ago and we really haven't started getting into anything yet. That sort of stuff takes awhile anyways so I'm not expecting any miracles. Now around the same time I was prescribed Vyvanse. Now I didn't start it right away because of a mix-up with my insurance. Instead I started taking Adderall which was also prescribed by my Psychiatrist. This was to hold me over tell I could start treatment on Vyvanse. I've taken Adderall before with limited success. It worked for about 2 days like it did when I tried it around 19, I'm 30 now.
Now, a few weeks ago I started taking Vyvanse and completely discontinued my Adderall. In fact I waited a whole 24 hours until my last Adderall pill to take Vyvanse just to make sure I was safe. When I began Vyvanse treatment it really worked. It kept me focused I was pretty much where I wanted to be. I had some tension and anxiety but I could cope with it. Vyvanse was giving me the clarity that I was looking for with some side-effects that I could manage, at the time. Also I was placed on a starter dose of:
Vyvanse 1xDay - 30mg
Now we're in week 3 of my Vyvanse treatment and I'm experiencing some 'extreme' levels of anxiety. Basically I'm experiencing full blown 'panic attacks' almost everyday. I feel like I'm dying, going crazy, like my heart's going to explode, blah, blah, blah. It's miserable! So before somebody goes on and on about the high-risk of anxiety/panic episodes on these drugs, I know. I'm fully aware of this so there's no need to repeat it. I'm really trying to manage my anxiety but it seems impossible to find a doctor understanding enough to prescribe me something for my anxiety that doesn't leave me retarded, like trying to put me on Lithium, Depakote or Zyprexa, which all I have tried. I've tried everything to try and 'tame' my anxiety that I experience on Vyvanse. This includes the usual arsenal, mediation, breathing exercises, Kava-Kava, Valerian root and drinking fluids with an acid PH level to try and lower the blood levels of Vyvanse. Non-works. But I'll tell you what sort of works. After I've done all of that, and after I'm about to just lay down and try and try ride it out I take a small swig of 'Pepto-Bismul' and for some reason it seems to neutralize the Vyvanse. The side-effects go away but so does the psychological stimulating feelings of Vyvanse. It's as if it snuffs it out almost completely. I don't know if it's a drug interaction that nobody knows about or if it thins my blood out so that I don't notice any of the effects of Vyvanse, I don't know. Either way it's the only thing that seems to do 'anything' which is really weird.
Okay so now after I've tortured you through all of my rambling (god save whom ever managed to read all of this) here are my questions.
1. Why would Vyvanse work so much better than Adderall for a longer period of time? I understand how each is broken up and there different delivery methods but I feel like I'm missing something. [Adderall works 2 days with little psychological effects, Vyvanse work 'really well' psychologically but only seems to last a week at full strength.]
2. Why in gods name might 'Pepto-Bismul' assist in dampening the effects of Vyvanse? Is there anything behind this chemically or biologically?
3. Valium (forgot to mention) was the 'only' thing that ever worked on my anxiety. I'm sorry to say that when it did work I was on a very high does 3xDay 30mg but that's what worked at the time, for over 3 years. Why is it so hard to find a doctor that would even prescribe me Valium at all, even when I'm not asking for 30mg 3xDay? Because 'trust me' I understand how that looks. They always want to put me on some sort of anti-psychotic that leaves me practically retarded.
4. I know that there's a lower does of Vyvanse, 20mg. Would this be worth trying? Has anybody switched to this because of similar effects? Would anybody recommend any other type of ADD/ADHD medication? Already tried Strattera 'non-stimulant' medication. Didn't work even after 6 months of use. Honestly I'm convinced that medication is a placebo.
P.S.: I want to thank everybody and anybody in advance for first taking the time to read all of this and to post any comments and/or suggestions that they might have. "PLEASE" be respectful and don't say anything stupid like "you're killing yourself with this medication" or "think about your family and the harm that you're doing to yourself". I respect that some people might be opposed to this type of treatment and that's fine but when you cram s#*t like that down somebodies throat you're acting like a d#*k and it's not only inappropriate and rude but very disrespectful.
Thanks again!