Gave up on my old doc who gave me 4 different non-stims and now I have a specialist who almost immediately said, "Stimulants are a first-line treatment for adults with ADHD" and I could've cried lmao
Before, my thoughts were like 80s stock market guys all yelling at me to get my attention but now it's like they walked into the deli and took a ticket. Or better yet, they checked in online lmao
I almost feel like I could take a nap if I wanted, just because my brain is at peace. People just be feeling like this??
I know there's like a honeymoon period, but I'm just chilling for real. I don't work today, but I already knocked out some chores and made an appointment I've been putting off.
I'm mostly just geeking out, but if y'all got tips or things to know, then leave a comment 🤠
So consuming things that acidify your urine will accelerate how your body metabolises amphetamines like Vyvanse however because Vyvanse is lisdexamphetamine the real limiting factor is in your body metabolising the lisdex to dexamphetamine.
Afaik it's not something that has been really examined in any scientific studies but my assumption is that things like Vitamin C are going to reduce the overall effect of Vyvanse but you shouldn't expect to see a big crash unless you consume a large amount of Vitamin C heavy foods (or similar) towards the tail-end of your expected period for Vyvanse effectiveness.
If you find that the Vyvanse feels like it just isn't doing the same on a daily basis throughout the day then that's an indication that you might need to bump the dose up a bit.
If you are so inclined, fiddle around with your diet a bit and see if that makes any changes.
Fun fact: the Vyvanse directions instruct people to pour the contents of the capsule into orange juice specifically if you cannot swallow the capsule whole.
What I've been experiencing is definitely reduced overall effectiveness, it takes longer before I start to notice any effects and the effects wear off sooner (compared to 3-4 years ago).
I've already incrementally increased my dose to 80mg/day (50mg in the morning and 30mg in the afternoon), because I found a second dose later in the day makes the effects last longer. This week I'll try going back to just 50mg in the morning (which was what I was taking about 2 years ago) and cutting out the orange juice to see if it makes any difference.
This tracks with what I'd expect to see with needing a higher dose, for whatever reason.
If we look at the curve in the graph, paying attention to the time axis, I've put two bars across the curve with the teal being the previous threshold where your stimulant level is high enough to really feel the effects. The orange bar represents the current threshold to feel the effects now, due to whatever changes you are experiencing elsewhere in your life (hormonal changes, psychological stuff like depression or insomnia, increased demands on you in your life such as study, family life, or demands from work):
This is just an approximation so don't take it as anything more than a visual representation of what I'm trying to communicate.
If you have fluctuating demands or fluctuating circumstances, this is where Vyvanse works well with some instant release amphetamine stimulant. I'd be cautious about taking a second dose of Vyvanse too late in the day because it might increase the chances of insomnia and the delay of sleep onset, which can aggravate ADHD symptoms, and you might find yourself chasing your tail by increasing your dose but having its effects extending too late into night which in turn delays sleep onset which in turn makes you feel like the meds are not effective enough so you start bumping up the dose and thus aggravating the sleep issues.
By the looks of it, taking Vyvanse with orange juice doesn't really have much effect so you can give it a try but I wouldn't anticipate any noticeable change:
Consuming things that acidify your urine such as vitamin C later in the day might have an impact however.