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 🤠
it was mentioned but it's worth emphasizing drink water and make sure you're not grinding the shit out of your teeth while you're at it
I can't say for sure that I grind mine with my prescription but if I'm hyperfocusing on it I definitely get a bit of lockjaw
The jaw clenching is real
Yeah keep an eye on these things and keep a running list so you can check in with your doc and get dosage adjustments if needed!
Glad it's off to a great start @ghosts@hexbear.net
make sure you're not grinding the shit out of your teeth
How!? I've been on Vyvanse for a little over a month now and it's been a problem lol.
not a lot of great options that i've discovered aside from keeping it in mind and checking yourself for it ever so often
if you find it's happening while you're asleep too one of those cheap night guards can help ofc but otherwise you just gotta kinda monitor it i'm afraid
not a lot of great options that i've discovered aside from keeping it in mind and checking yourself for it ever so often
I was afraid of that. I definitely catch myself doing it here and there, but I think I'm more just constantly aware of the innate desire to clench and grind. This awareness can be distracting.
if you find it's happening while you're asleep too one of those cheap night guards can help
Good call! Is there a way to know if I'm doing it in my sleep? Unfortunately, the antidepressant that I was on previously caused some TMJ issues. It seems to be getting better, but it makes it difficul to know what effect the Vyvanse is having.
unfortunately i think the constant awareness is part and parcel. all i can really offer is validation for your feelings; it is seriously hella distracting and i personally find it tends to induce anxiety as well if i spend too much effort fighting it. i've adopted a sort of "corner of the eye" approach where i try to (as i said) keep it in mind but not at the forefront (with mixed success)
and sadly i think you're stuck monitoring symptoms for nighttime clenching. when i was still able to medicate my adhd i found i'd almost always wake up with a terrific tension headache alongside the jaw soreness you'd expect and that was my barometer
i wish i had more to offer, but good luck!
all i can really offer is validation for your feelings
Thank you. It's very reassuring knowing that I'm not alone.
No headaches or jaw soreness in the morning so far. I'll keep monitoring. Thank you again for the advice. ❤️
Yes, and the volume on the music will be lower as well ❤️
wait really? because there is music playing in my head 24/7 and thats not normal?
I mean, it's normal if you have ADHD 😂
And yes, really and truly - the shouting stops, the music is just somewhere in the background, it really is a night and day difference.
i have just been diagnosed with adhd so i genuinely didnt know this isnt something everyone deals with
My entire day is a running philosophical argument about the variety of horror I've witnessed, concerns about my job, and thoughts about my entire life and decisions I've made starting from the moment I gained consciousness up until now, and whether they amount to being a good person. You mean...I could stop arguing about philosophy and politics with myself about myself? Or just chill without thinking about a million little productivity things I have to do? Bruh...
Lmao imagine having a train of thought, then talking to another person about something unrelated, then returning to that same train of thought. Before I started meds I thought this was literally impossible for anyone
points at the graph showing the number of left handed people increasing as related social stigma subsided over time
Be prepared to feel frustrated and down. A lot of us will quickly pick up on our maladaptive habits that we've relied on to just get by - internalized shame and judgement can quickly follow. Dismiss these thoughts outright, non of this is your fault and you're not stupid or a bad person. We work with what we have, and when we can do better, we do so. Move forward with your new abilities and build new more helpful habits.
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
Need to find one of these "specialists"
The non-stim options just make my insomnia and anxiety worse lmao
Glad you're feeling calm
idk if you've seen it, but this absolute banger comment about what to expect from medication by the incomparable @ReadFanon@hexbear.net might be helpful to you - there's a lot of stuff in there I wish I had known sooner!
The ability to focus..... I got wrapped up in writing a dnd campaign that should have been a one shot.... 4 hours later and no food and it turned into a 5 session campaign.....
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??
actual lol because that's my like number 1 symptom of actually taking my ADHD medicine & used to piss my friends off in college because I'd occasionally give a vyvanse or two away for studying purposes if they asked nicely; only for them to be astounded when I would be napping in my dorm at 3pm while they were amped from the lisdexamfetamine. Like others have said - be sure to eat/drink, even if you don't necessarily 'feel' hungry or thirsty.
Watch out for acids (like grapefruit juice, vitamin C etc) during like ~2 hours before and after you take your dosage, as acids can decrease the halflife. Supposedly alkalis like baking soda do the opposite and increase the half-life, but
I love when amphetamine abusers realize that these medications actually help people with adhd and that they respond differently to it because of that.
TIL that the reason my vyvanse isn't lasting as long as it used to may be related to me drinking half a bottle of orange juice at breakfast.
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):
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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:
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Consuming things that acidify your urine such as vitamin C later in the day might have an impact however.
I think it’s more about the enzymes eh? Grapefruit interferes with tons of drugs and as I understand it makes them have a longer half life but slower rate of metabolization
Not 100% sure as I am not a pharmacist/doctor, but I've always been told by my doctor that any acids that may affect the ph of the stomach/intestines can have an effect on the uptake of vyvanse/adderall/etc.
It's actually to do with the acidity of your urine and how your body eliminates amphetamines. It's really quite complicated.
It's really quite complicated.
vyvanse is stored in the balls and when I drink a delicious glass of orange juice, my acidic pee breaks its containment in my balls and flushes out the vyvanse quicker - got it
I've been in a place for years in between "I almost certainly need treatment for my adhd" and "What if it doesn't work and it breaks my heart" but also "what if it DOES work and I collapse in grief at how long I let this go on and who I could have been if I had just started it sooner" but ALSO "what if the person I become on meds isn't me?"
It'd be nice to hear if anyone's been there and done that
Don't chase the high, it'll never feel as good as the first time. Keep a nice steady dose and watch for the quiet focus not the buzzy motivation. Take drug holidays.
I'm so close to getting meds for the first time I'm excited. I've missed two appointments in the lead up, though, so hopefully this time it works out lol
I almost feel like I could take a nap if I wanted
You may possibly not be able to do this for hours following your dosage.
I don't have Adderall but I love stimulants and usually I take a nap right after my dosage. I wake up rested and with a clear head.
When I had an extended release dextroamphetamine salt prescription, no matter how hard I tried, I could not manage to nap any less than 10 hours after taking it, even if I was sleep deprived.
That's weird. I have taken the street variety before a nap and it does not affect me. Perhaps it makes dreams easier to remember but I'm not sure.
It's not that it makes me sleepy it induces a sort of wakefulness so that is I'm tired I can chose not to sleep. But it does not impair my ability to sleep.
The only thing that I remember having that effect is when I first tried LSD. They told me to dissolve the microdot in cold water and that it would be enough for several people. But after drinking a third of it, I got impatient so I drank all of it. At first I was having a blast. But after a few hours I wanted to sleep but couldn't. And I got an awfully migraine.
didn't realize thoughts had an off button
I almost feel like I could take a nap if I wanted
Wait, WTH?
Let me guess, you are also going to say that you can somehow freely choose what to think about now, aren't you?
you're welcome! hope things stay well :3
