Help. Vyvanse Was A Dream Come True For Me For A Year, But It's Not Working Any More.
(Newest replies first)

I was a scatter-brained mom of two young children, couldn't concentrate, organize, plan, or function at all beyond bare minimal survival.

Within a day of starting Vyvanse under my doctor's supervision, I became a whole new person. I was functional again! I could finally sit down and play a board game with my daughter. I was happy, energetic, organized, I could accomplish several major tasks each day rather than only one a day or none at all which had been the case before. I rekindled my love for exercising. Over the course of two years since I began taking Vyvanse, I've transformed from a braindead, overweight stay-at-home mom to a healthy, happy 3.5 GPA college student and a thin, muscular yoga instructor.

But the second year has been rougher because the medication's effects have lessened, my tolererance has increased, my doctor had to keep increasing the dose, then I lived well for several months without it, but now I'm back to my sluggish, scatter-brained, sweet-baked-goods-craving self. I literally cannot drag myself out of bed unless there is a MAJOR driving force for me to do so.

I asked my doctor to put me on the lowest dose of Vyvanse possible (20 mg) for me to take only when absolutely necessary, because if I take any dose daily then I become tolerant and it no longer works.

It's 11:40am on a Saturday, a beautiful autumn Saturday for hiking in the woods with friends, but I cannot get out of bed. Maybe if I had friends to hike with, I would have a reason to get out of bed.

In the middle of Vyvanse making the best year of my life, I divorced my mean husband because Vyvanse put me on top of the world and I felt I could achieve anything I dreamed of. But Vyvanse isn't working any more and now I'm back in the dregs again. Alone this time.

Help.

REPLY

REPORT

I had the same experience. I believe it was 2008 when I started. It was a miracle. I stopped taking it for a while because I couldn't afford it. Then when I started taking it again, it's like it didn't have any affect on me at all. Other medications just made me feel weird. Extremely disappointing. It has proven to me that my issues are chemical. The only time I ever felt normal, is the first two years of taking Vyvanse.

REPLY

Was this helpful? 0

Does anyone want a science lesson here? Your brain and body get addicted to everything if you have the same routine going for you for years and years. Medicine and food. Your body adapts. Either you can keep increasing doses until you will eventually hit a max and have a big meltdown when you’re stuck at the top with no where to go. Or you can wean off almost everything now. It’s going to absolutely suck either way. But the only way to fix this and have your happiness back is to dedicate yourself to yourself. Supplement the medicine with all the healthy stuff you hear people eating and make sure to exercise a lot. It’s the only way, you just have to stay busy, eat clean and workout a lot. I was on so many medications before. I was on Concerta for 8yrs then Amphetamine Salts XR for a year which I felt my body love, the dependency I saw my body get in 3 month to it was not good, so I quit. Then was on vyvanse for a year slowly making my way to 60mg. I was also on fluoxetine the entire time, after seeing my anxiety increase with the increasing of vyvanse I had a realization that maybe I would never find the right dose or medication and freaked out. And it was within that panic attack that I realized, medicine is still artificial and no matter what my body will always need more. So It was truly the most difficult 2 months of my life getting off it but I quit cold turkey don’t do that. Again I repeat it’s really hard, depressing, you gain weight, sleep all the time, hate life, cry a lot but natural instincts will take over you will learn with food, exploration, supplements and naturally occurring vitamins, and what exercise comes natural. You will get back on a regular track again. I am on 30mg of vyvanse and I feel like it hasn’t worked for the past year like it did before. But it doesn’t matter because everything else I have done for myself has made me feel just as good as I used to before. Just workout, eat clean eat leafy greens, eat more protein, keep busy, and do things for you that make you happy. You will In a year eventually gain back all the energy and confidence the medicine made you feel. You have to be positive and persevere.

REPLY

Was this helpful? 2

I have had the same issues. When this happens I switch from vyvanse to adderall and when my brain gets used to that I switch back to Vyvanse. I am on 70mg of Vyvanse right now and will switch to adderall XR for awhile with a 10mg of rapid release Adderall at noon. I don't know why my body gets used to both these medications. I just know what my options are. Talk to your doctor and tell him/her exactly what's going on.

REPLY

Was this helpful? 1

Maybe this is not your brain tolerating the drug but rather the pharmaceutical company comprising the medication in the drugs..I find it strange the same thing happened to hundreds of people on adderall (look up threads on adderall) and still not getting problem fixed other than one company no longer making adderall. If I had to speculate, I'd guess the active medication in the vyvance has been altered yet pharmas will deny it.. Many people filed complaints with FDA over adderall, just something you may want to put some thought into!

REPLY

Was this helpful? 0

Re: Mallory (# 6)

I find your post disturbing as Vyvance is for ADHD, not depression. I am on Zoloft and Wellbutrin for depression . The Wellbutrin really made a difference.

REPLY

Was this helpful? 0

30 mg is a fairly low dose Mallory, I had to rapidly go up to 50mg to get a dosage that worked on a longer term. Your brain adjust fast to the intake of dopamine when you start, the objective is to "overwhelm" it, but it takes time and successively higher dose till it can't adjust down, which often takes around a year. The funny thing is how retarded my (ours?) brain is; I finally give it enough dopamine to be functional for the first time in my life, and it just jumps on the opportunity to be a lazy ass and desensitize to its effect. My luck is that I don't have anxiety issues, and vyvanse ain't giving me any real side effects (at least not yet). My problem is that when tolerance build up, it can take up to 2 month before I can see my doc and try to counteract it. And usually I realize it when it's already at the early stage of the downward spiral of complete dysfunction. Because of my travelling, I'm in a particularly rough patch right now: when I'll finally see my doc in two weeks, it will have been three months since my old symptoms started resurfacing, and taking an inefficient dose of vyvanse is worse than not having any. Because I am overstimulating my brain compared to normal, it adjust by reducing sensitization to dopamine, which make my baseline production less efficient. Three months ago i noticed the meds were less efficient. Two month ago I realized they barely where effective, basically just keeping me at my normal level most of the duration.

The last month, tolerance have build up so much that I'm my old self while on it, and the dopamine deficit is even greater the rest of the day (which is most of it now). Had I knew that I would go that deep, I would have stopped taking three weeks ago, when I had a week long vacation when I could have went through the withdrawal (that comes every morning now till the pill kick in). Now I'm at work and going through the week long re-balancing to natural level is out of the question, as I need to feed myself and pay the rent. The next two weeks will be really hard, and I basically compensate drinking energy drinks (which I feel my heart don't appreciate, but it wouldn't appreciate an empty belly if I lost another job by reverting back to my old self). Anyway all that wall of text to tell you all to hang in there, you should get to a dose that will be strong enough for you brain not to adjust too (unless the sides effects gets you, but one can work on anxiety more than on ADHD I feel). Trust the chemistry, and yes that period of time between tolerance developing and adjusting medication sucks, but at least it's better than the abyssal despair I went through before being diagnosed and experiencing that something actually works, even if not perfect.

REPLY

Was this helpful? 2

Is there anyone who can respond to this thread with an answer to the repeated question? Is it possible to experience that, "Dreamlike" state after building a tolerance to Vyvanse? It sounds like this is a reoccuring situation and no one has the answer that we are all desperately searching for?!

My story is the exact same. I have been prescribed to Vyvanse for two months now. Initially, my doctor told me to take 20mg a day. I could not believe how amazing I felt after started the medication! Becoming an entirely new person does not even scratch the surface. Life became interesting, beautiful, exciting - worth living and loving.. After about one month of taking 20 mg, Vyvanse just stopped working? I went right back to the depressed, unmotivated, not wanting to do anything or see anyone self that I always was. Considering it was time to call in a new prescription, I told my doctor that the effects of Vyvanse wore off by the early afternoon and asked it I could increase the dosage. My doctor increased my prescription to 30mg a day. That did the trick!! I was so unbelievably happy! I thought that I had found the miracle dosage because I was back to feeling like I could conquer my dreams and achieve anything again! Unfortunately, after one month of taking 30mg, my nightmare returned, literally in a blink of an eye. I woke up one morning, took my daily dose of Vyvanse and nothing... Vyvanse had just stopped working AGAIN?? I gave it a few weeks so see if I could bounce back but still nothing. I was not receiving any benefit from Vyvanse. I began to panic. I went online to research whether other people have experienced the same situation and I came across this thread.. :-(

I am horrified to say that I am beginning to realize Vyvanse was just a tease. Vyvanse is not the answer to my problems and now I am left feeling more depressed and afraid than I was before I started taking it. If I keep increasing the dosage, my body will just counteract and build up a tolerance each time until I am prescribed to the highest dosage - but then what?

Is there anyway to prevent building a tolerance to Vyvanse??

REPLY

Was this helpful? 1

I desperately need to know how your doing now and if you take something different now. I experienced the same exact thing and I would like to think there's a solution out there

REPLY

Was this helpful? 2

Oh my gosh! I've read article after article. I've turned to forums, and I've talked to my doctor. I was beginning to think that I was the only person alive who had a "Dream to Disaster" experience with Vyvanse but you're story is just like mine.

For one year, with Vyvanse, I was the happiest I've ever been. I lost weight. I was energetic and focused at work. I was brimming with confidence. I started to notice a rapid decline in the length of effective time. My doctor upped my dose a little at a time, but after a miraculous year with my Vyvanse, suddenly there was a crash.

I've gained all my weight back, which is a bummer, but what's worse is that I have no energy or motivation. With or without my medication...it doesn't seem to matter. All I want to do is sleep. I'm 35 years old and I want that happiness back.

I hope there's a solution out there for us!

REPLY

Was this helpful? 6

I don't know the answer but your story sounds just like mine. I felt so confident, made friends, kept friends, had energy to do things and do them well, felt I could leave my husband and be fine but now I can tell vyvanse isn't working for me like it had. I was loving life and now I'm back where I was, tired, making excuses not to do things with friends and family, not getting things done.... I just wanted you to know I'm feeling some of the same things you are.

REPLY

Was this helpful? 2

Thank you for pointing out depression. Yes I have some depression issues, and I've tried antidepressants but they make me feel numb rather than normal or happy, and antidepressants also take away my libido, and life without a libido is not living. The doctor who prescribed my Vyvanse is a clinical psychiatrist. He recommended an antidepressant for me but I wouldn't take it. I have ADHD symptoms and the Vyvanse treated that very well. I've read that stimulants aren't recommended for people with depression. Although the initial benefits are extraordinary, the benefits subside. I've read all this but it's so harf to accept. Vyvanse is the only thing that has made me feel normal, capable, and completely functional as an adult. How can I have that back again?

REPLY

Was this helpful? 3

It really sounds like you may also be suffering from some depression and it makes sense that the Vyvanse would help, because it is basically an upper.

Learn more Vyvanse details here.

What type of doctor are you seeing for this, just a general practitioner?

It might be better for you to work with a specialist.

REPLY

Was this helpful? 4

hi all i need help my mother is 50 years old now she is facing heavy blood flow for more than 3 weeks now she have becom...

2 REPLIES

My pharmacy changed from dispensing me blue oxybutinin that has worked well for me for years, to white oxybutinin. The b...

4 REPLIES

I had a car accident back in 1993 and I have 5 pinched nerves really really bad I've been taking percocets since 199...

4 REPLIES

i was taking codiovan and results were abt satisfying .lately i had to change and i took manyper and coaprovel .very goo...

1 REPLY

I was diabetic patient for the last fifteen years and was prescribed insulin (Novomix 30) 12 u morning and 18 u before d...

Hello, fellow Chronic Pain Patients / Sufferers. I suffer from SPINAL STENOSIS, L1-L2, L2-L3 FACET JOINT ARTHRITIS, SCIA...

2 REPLIES

Hi, Im a 23yr old female, have been taking Seroquel for about 2 months now. I had anxiety, racing thoughts, overthink, a...

21 REPLIES

Hi all! I'm new here, but not new to constipation... However, I only got my first *prescription* medication to treat...

59 REPLIES

"I've been using 8mg of Subutex for about a year now and it no longer gives me any type of relief. Would increas...

5 REPLIES

Am 38 years old and having a problem with my periods , I need to use contraceptive for me to have periods, when I don...

1 REPLY