Adderall vs Vyvanse review and experience

Adderall is 75% Dextroamphetamine and the other 25% is l amphetamine. The d is more active on the brain. The l works more on the central nervous system and causes some of that tweaking and twitchiness.
Adderall comes only in extended release or xr in Canada but in the states it comes also in instant release.

I tried the Adderall but honestly it felt like I was on crystal meth I was agitated I couldn't sleep for like six days and there was no point trying to focus because my mind was just going everywhere and Ritalin felt like cheap cocaine and wore off so quickly but this new one is amazing. Vyvan is a pro drug and it is not active per say it has less abuse potential so you can't snort it or inject it. You have to swallow a capsule and then it gets absorbed into the intestine and then the red blood cells convert it into dextroamphetamine so basically it's to deter snorting or shooting the pill up

It also seems to extend the Dextroamphetamine length of duration. I believe there is a lysine molecule attached to the actual dextroamphetamine molecule and that is what is responsible for the main difference but it is much calmer and in my opinion more effective than even Dexedrine.

Vyvanse does make you feel weird at first. I used to feel supercharged upon first taking it and could NOT slow down! That only lasted about two weeks or so, and now I feel fine. I don't take any breaks, though. I take it on weekends amd even when I dont need to focus. The side effects are a nightmare when I suddenly stop taking. Agressiveness (down right mean and rude, so not my normal self!), crying spells that feel like real depression, and constant sleepiness are not fun at all! I've learned to recognize those side effects and will hole away in my room so as not to offend or hurt anyone's feelings until I can either take my meds again or it passes.

I couldn't hack vyvance. It made me feel completely stoned and caused me to rage when I was on it. My wife said I was a completely different person. Keep in mind that these drugs affect everyone differently. I also have OCD, which is my primary diagnosis and it is an anxiety based disorder, so the vyvance made that 10x worse. Tried concerta, and its side effects were a lot more mild... But still affected my anxiety.... Only Strattera helped..... I feel like I'm starting to ramble so I'll just cut this sort.

I didn't do to well on vyvanse. But am doing ok on Adderall...for now. I've run the gambit on all the options and have found that even when I find one that worked, I still have to compromise the side effects with the end results. Some side effects don't show up until prolonged use of some of these treatments. It goes to show that we are all unique and we all act and react to things in our own unique way.

I used to grind my teeth something terrible many years ago, before a was dx'd with N. I also had a bad case of tongue pressing (against the roof of my mouth). It was so bad that my jaw got out of whack. I went to see, believe it or not, a dental physical therapist who gave me some exercises to do which I faithfully did, and not only did my TMJ get better but the grinding and tongue pressing went away too.

I was immune to it in a year. The problem though with it is that it made me not care that I wasn't doing anything with my life. Kind of like equalibrium the movie. This has not been the case for others. I like adderal far better. And am currently taking a combo of Provigil and Adderal IR, XR.

I was doing great on vyvanse for 2 yrs before my n/c was confirmed. One day I got significantly worse & started having mult hh which was what prompted my dr to do my 1st overnight & MSLT. That's was when the n/c was confirmed and I was switched to Ritalin. That didn't help much so we tried vyvanse again and although I stay awake the hh worsened once again. Now I take Adderall and it does an ok job.

Ritalin didn't work the greatest for me. I sort of hit a plateau on it after awhile so I did some research early last year and asked my doctor for Vyvanse. I've been on it for over a year and haven't had to adjust my dose yet and it works pretty well for me. I just started Xyrem to help with my sleep so I think once things get regulated I will feel better than I have in awhile...at least that's my hope! I've never tried Adderal.

Vyvanse was probably the worst one I tried. I had a racing heart, jittery feeling, severe agitation, etc. Adderall was just a little better but I wasn't able to stay on it for long. Same with Ritalin. I don't have too many side effects with ritalin but I notice that after a while the agitation does start to creep up, the alertness effect seems to wane, and then it's usually time to switch things up to another medication.

My best quality of life has been with Nuvigil, which is not in the same category of Rx, but I still need to use a stimulant in the afternoon as well. It really is trial and error and each person will have some different experiences. The best thing is to find a doctor who will work with you as you figure it out.

Can't take Ritalin or Adderall, Provigil works for me. I can't state this enough, like my doctor has said, each individual is different, and have different hormones, what works for someone else is no guarantee that it will wotk for another. My doctor doesn't bullshit me. He says, "we are gonna just have to see if this helps," as he says, its trial and error and very hard for the doctors as well cause all they can do is find the right dosage and drug to alleviate symptoms, and if one drug alleviated all of them and they were sure, it would be easier, but it isn't. .

He also jokes to me and says you women and your hormones, they change up so quickly, as what worked at one time will change, especially with women, as we have more hormonal changes which sends different messages to our brains than men.

I've tried both and id take Adderall over Vyvanse any day. Adderall helps me focus and I don't crash...I come down from Adderall very slow. Vyvanse I didn't even take a month. I may as well have not taken anything. Ritalin I took when first dx with Narcolepsy and Cataplexcy and it helped me stay awake but the come downs at night where horrid...finally one day I looked in the mirror and didn't know who that person was. That was the very last day i took ritalin. Along with my ridalin messing with me bad I was quick to snap and for the first time ever I spanked one of my daughters and she was tramitized cuz id NEVER layed a hand on my girls...that's when I knew I was out of control...I apologized to my daughter and begged her to forgive me and she did...but I couldn't forgive myself so I needed help and I was lucky enough to have met a woman that helped me see I wasn't the only one who was dealing with being a walking zombie and falling down so I packed my bag and went to NY. There is where I learned what Cataplexcy looked like and what my girls saw everytime I had Cataplexcy. Was pretty sure if I hadn't figured it out on my trip when I got back from a 3 week journey that my marriage was over cuz when I was leaving to board the plane there was no I LOVE YOU Mom OR HURRY HOME Honey...MY 2 GIRLS and HUSBAND OF OVER 10 YEARS STOOD SMILING AND WAVING AS MY FLIGHT TOOK OFF. I will go UNMEDICATED and limit myself before I EVER put another ritalin in my body! But EVERYONE IS DIFFERENT. ..what works well for me may not work for you. Trial and error...remember your doc probably only has read a very few things about narcolepsy. ..YOU KNOW YOUR BODY BEST!

I agree that everyone reacts differently to different medications, but it is nice to hear other peoples stories. It gives me an idea of things to watch for. It's been a struggle for a long time. I was first dx about 7 years ago, but never really knew what it meant or how to treat it.
The doctor that ordered the sleep and nap studies left the clinic shortly after my testing was done. Long complicated story...Basically the clinic made the doctor leave due to political issues within the clinic and not all of my test results were properly put in my file (a fact I didn't know until years later). I only met with the doctor once after testing which is when she informed me of my dx and set up another appt to get a treatment plan started.
When I got to the next appt I was informed that the doctor was no longer at the clinic. Nobody referred me to a different doctor or gave me any information as far as what to do. I went back to my general physician who put me on adderall. Through the years after I moved a few times and would have to find a new doctor. I jumped from doctor to doctor because some would just give me meds without really knowing what the heck they were doing and some would treat me horribly saying I was lying and just trying to get pills. All this time I'm telling doctors to look into my files, see my dx and help me... or send me to someone who could. All that time however I didn't know my test results weren't properly documented. I even had copies of the test result...I couldn't really understand any of it because it was a lot of graphs and words I had no understanding of. I would bring these papers to doctors and either they would say they don't specialize in that field so they don't know how to interpret them or once I was even accused of basically making them myself and trying to pass them off as real test results. I would sign release forms every time I would see a new doctor and not once did one of them say anything about my records seeming unusual due to the fact that there was some information supporting what I was saying but most of it was missing. I finally sort of gave up. I found a doctor that would prescribe me adderall with no problems, so I just stuck with that. At least it helped me get through for the most part. It had many ups and downs as far as side effects, but I didn't really have any other options.
My dose kept having to be raised and not knowing enough about my dx I started getting very depressed and was just ready to give up. I tried going to college and had to drop out. I couldn't seem to hold a job for very long. Being a single parent and not being able to deal with my health issues I finally moved back closer to my parents. I once again had to find a new doctor. This time however... things went a bit differently. He told me I needed to see a specialist and that he would make sure I got answers no matter how long it took or how many specialists I had to see. I was so relieved to finally have found a doctor that was going to help me.

there wasn't anything supporting the dx. After a couple of appts...Different questionnaires, one test where I wore a watch looking thing that could monitor when I was sleeping and awake, talking with the doctor and answering questions I could tell this was going nowhere. Apparently because like many adults I like to visit with friends and have a couple beers from time to time I am a "party person". In an appt with him I ended up breaking down in tears in front of my daughter because he told me there was nothing wrong with me. If I wouldn't stay up all night "partying" I would be more awake during the day. This accusation of being a "party person" came from me answering truthfully that yes I do go to the bar to drink with friends once or twice a month...if that even. I told him it's generally for a special occasion...birthday, live band I like, etc.... He told me that based on the results of the watch looking thing I wore for two weeks I don't go to sleep until late many nights. Well yeah, I lay in bed unable to actually sleep. His response was...." You say you have narcolepsy and are so tired that you can't help but sleep much of the day. If that was the case you wouldn't have such a problem sleeping at night." At the time it didn't make sense to me either, so I had no explanation for it. Throughout the appt he told me at least 3 times he would not prescribe me stimulant drugs. (Forgot to mention... just before I was referred to this doctor I stopped taking adderall...my own choice...the primary doctor I had started seeing...the one who referred me to this specialist...supported my decision because it was really starting to have bad effects on my heart. He did however put me on a low dose of concerta...he didn't want me to be completely un medicated while waiting to get in to see the specialist. One evening my parents ended up having to take me to urgent care. My resting heart rate was in the 170's for a couple hours. After that I went un medicated until getting to see the specialist.) I was furious that he would accuse me of just wanting stimulants considering I was the one who took myself off of them. He didn't believe for a second that what I was saying was true. The end result of that appt was he was going to have me do the overnight sleep testing and next day nap testing done over again. (Well according to him it would be the first time I had this testing done because he didn't believe I had it done before.) He told me that if/when the results came back that I didn't have narcolepsy he wanted me to seek counseling. The day came to go over my test results...Guess what?!?! "You without a doubt have narcolepsy." I could tell it was not easy for him to say it. He still couldn't seem to get himself to treat me much better though. He wanted to start me off on Provigil. He said I had to come in each month to pick up my prescriptions from his office instead of him just sending it straight to the pharmacy and the reason for this was because I had to agree to random drug testing or he would not write my prescriptions. He also told me there was not another specialist who would be able to treat me and have the authority to prescribe the types of medications I needed for at least a hundred miles from where I live. I once again felt so lost and hopeless. I didn't have a problem with being tested for drugs because I have nothing to hide....It was more the fact that the only person who could help me clearly didn't like or respect me. The next time I saw my primary physician I asked him about other specialists....I figured it couldn't hurt to ask. He told me there was other doctors I could see and the look of shock on my face made him ask me what was wrong. I explained in general what had been going on and he was appalled. He contacted a neurologist in the area and they got me an appt very quickly because he had explained the situation. One of the first things she said to me was how sorry she was to hear what I had gone through with the previous doctor. I also found out during that appt the truth about my medical records. She knew the doctor that I had originally been seen by and told me that "off the record" the doctor was a good doctor and due to hospital politics was made to leave without finishing documenting in patients files and there was paperwork that who knows what happened to it. Most likely I am not the only person that was affected by this. I have been seeing this neurologist and her nurse practitioner for a little while now. We have come to find that I am sensitive to new medications and need to start on very low doses. It's nice to finally have a doctor that knows what she is doing and really cares. I did actually try Xyrem and it was the worst thing I have ever done. It had horrible effects on me. Not saying it's bad for everyone, but it clearly wasn't right for me. Lol. Wow! I meant to make that a "long story short" type of post , however it clearly didn't end up that way. Haha.

IV been wondering about asking my Doc for this.. The adderall just isn't really cutting it anymore without taking freq mult days off drugs but then I can't do jack except take it to work and then sleep on my days off.. I needed too high of a Ritalin dose for it work (60mg to wake me for all of 4-5 hrs).. And IV been on 60-75+mg adderall a day to get thru a 12 hr shift

I also don't feel much effect from the extended release. I was taking non xr two 20mg twice daily and it works well for the most part but sometimes i would also need to supplement with modafinal.My new doctor is concerned because my heart rate is quite high, even prior to my narcolepsy diagnosis. So now we are trying one Modafinal and one 20mg adderall xr twice daily - 8AM and then again 3PM. So far this is not proving to be effective. We are working on trying to get me to sleep through the night so that I might need less meds during the day. I have been sleeping better but yet I am still always so tired. I'm willing to tweak the meds as he and I are still new to each other, and also because he is among the best doctors who treat narcolepsy.

I took Vyvanse. It was awful!! Gave me migraines and an awful taste in my mouth, always had dry throat. I take 120mg Adderall daily and 3 out of 7 days a week, am struggling with fatigue and the will to do anything. At times, its so tiring to hold my own body in a sitting position. I take drug holidays and switch from Adderall XR to straight Adderall every 6 mths. I have a high tolerance to meds, so possibly my body has become immune to them. There are times, I feel like I've been shot up with anesthesia and fight to stay awake. I am currently looking into the having a spinal tap, as I believe my body is making its own type of valium. If you do a google search on Anna Sumner/ Emory University Sleep Center, you should find a video of her struggles with fatigue and wanting to sleep. (if you don't, will share it). I want to rule out having N and possibly other issues

There's no generic for Vyvanse, so if your insurance doesn't typically cover non-generics well it might end up costing a pretty penny. Luckily I have a primary that covers generics better and a secondary thats just the opposite, but if I remember correctly it cost around $150 with my primary and like $35 on my secondary. The true cost Im not sure of though  :/  Vyvanse itself is essentially a substance related to dextroamphetamine/amphetamines made through manipulating one amphetamine family molecule or another
into a substance that alters the metabolizing mechanism to have an extra step or two before allowing it to become an amphetamine molecule able to cross the blood-brain barrier and release dopamine in the neuron synapse and block it's reuptake so that more dopamine is available for the signal of that neuron to be received. I had headaches and lockjaw with it and it seemed to work a shorter and shorter amount of time the longer I took it, but others have great success with it as there's not so much a "rush and crash" and can last 10-14 hours. Conversely on the polar opposite of my problem, others have issues with it being too extended.