Vyvanse Possible Treament For Depression (Page 2) (Top voted first)

I don't have a question but do have a few thoughts about Vyvanse. I noticed that in the official Vyvanse drug info that Vyvanse was being considered in the treatment of Major Depression Disorder. I have struggled with Bipolar ll for many years with Seasonal Pattern, ie I have extreme depression in the winter and hypomania in the summer. My depressions generally havetreatment resistant and I have been hospitalized several times. A couple of times only ECTs could break my depressions. There have been times when depression threatened my life because it was so unbearable. A couple times ECT's was the only effective treatment.
Last winter (2010-2011), I didn't bother with seeking hospitalization but strongly felt that I could not deal with another bout of such debilitating depression. My doctor, who has always been a front runner in keeping up on the latest treatment news, put me on Vyvanse for possible ADHD early Spring 2011. It does helped me with ADHD symptoms and I stayed on it.
Although I would agree that there are issues of side effects and the crashes, I believe that Vyvanse kept my usual swing into seasonal depression at a tolerable level. When I look at the big picture, I'm sure my family would rather put up with some irritability than the lose of my life. Vyvanse kept me from living my life in bed and agonizing. I even have been able to work part-time in my profession of licensed professional counselor.
My experience will not be everyone's and a few more winters need to pass to know for sure if Vyvanse is truly a viable treatment tool for depression (winter was more mild) but I'm just glad this winter is over. I'm in the process of decreasing the the dosage that I take, knowing I will need less for Spring/ Summer.

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REPORT

You may be starting at too high of a dose. Try taking earlier and or talk with Dr. re lowering dose. I was surprised that I didn't need as much as I thought I would. Usually, takes time to get dose/timing right; keep a diary.

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I recently asked my doctor for a vyvanse prescription. She instead is considering some other one called vybyrd. I am currently decreasing my 175 mg dose of effexer, (actually the generic version venaflaxine).

She wasn't familiar with vyvanse,

I have dealt with bipolar, but mostly in the major depressive episode for years. Like several of the above posters, I am tired of always being tired all the time. I want my energy and motivation back. But I don't want the depression that seems to stay at bay with the medicine to come back, or always being on the edge of falling apart in tears.

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Hello I was recently put on vyvanse and have developed severe depression from it and from things I have found on the internet I am not the only one. So I am not sure as to how effective this medication really is at treating it if it has cases of causing it. Although it may just be a different reaction per person. Everyones brain is independant and cannot expect the same results as others. I also experience some slight agitation, as well as a crash within 6 hours of taking it where all I want to do is sleep. Just some points to consider.

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That too bad. Even if a Dr. doesn't think a drug will help. Good Dr.'s know what drugs are out there especially ones that have out for years. Unless it is a GP not a Psychiatrist

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People are ignorant,I suffered all my life,took every antidepressant out there nothing touched it I stayed by myself 95% of the time,no one would give me a chance.so I fell 10 feet off deck,broke back,lets go back to 6 I was diagnosed ADHD,behavioral problems,treatment resistant depression,PTSD,social phobia .also opiate addiction. But bow life is normal,I have friends,family accepts me.i date pretty hot women.si it turns out because if ADHD u kept taking opiates even after pain was gone because it also helped mental pain.now I am well,I see counseling 2 times a month,also celebrate recovery.so I don't want to hear the b.s. Because I'm opiate addict that I can't get treatment for my learning psychiatric issues,but listen carefully that is underlying condition.aenyway I bet this might open peoples eyes,hopefully we will stop labeling people before we get to know the whole truth.please I would like questions statements,argument.differences of opinion .so please deserve feeling till the end.hell they are trying to get Mary Jane legalized which from experience is the gateway drug.so any opinions hit me up. James

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Hello,I'm in same situation.i have ADHD since age 6,and depression ,no antidepressant has ever worked for me,but when vyvanse came out I was taking adderall for both ADHD and treatment resistant depression.now I'm on 50mg vyvanse works excellent,klonopin was on 1mg 3 times a day,but I'm actually wanting to get off it.now I'm on .05 mg 2 a day,also 50mg Zoloft,it's only antidepressant that worked not much but a little.im also an x opiate addict 11 years I broke my back.my doctor said I liked the opiates said it was very common for someone with ADHD and treatment resistant depression to get addicted because it produces endorphins,witch is your pleasure center.i also want to mention that suboxone is being studied for treatment resistant depression,my psychiatrist said all the opiate abuse has made me where my natural endorphins don't produce enough so both vyvanse and suboxone produce it.anyway I just wanted to share,my family likes me better like this,and like you I usually have a certain time where depression is worse but last few years I have been ok,I mean like you irritability sometimes but they and I can handle it.good luck

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Hi my name is Brian. I just recently been diagnosed with depression. Recently I've been put on a medication called Fetzima 40mg which is an SNRI. I'm not to thrilled about what i have read as far as the side effects and the strong possibility of serotonin syndrome. since i have been taking this medication i have been experiencing headaches everday since and little to no relief to my depression. I've always had a difficult time with attention span and concentration. I feel like a test dummy with the new drug Fetzima. how should i go about in reference to vyvance with my doctor?

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Hi Brian. Sorry to hear that you are struggling still with your depression despite trying the newer med Fetzima. Two weeks may not be long enough to get a good feel as to whether it will be effective or not. I am interested in what the literature is on Fetzima and will check it out. In the meanwhile, I wanted to get back to you to acknowledge your post. I think the best way perhaps to approach your doctor about using Vyvanse is to gather up and print out for him/her some of the available information online about the use of vyvanse for depression and ADHD. You need to do the homework to back up your rationale for using vyvanse. It would seem that if the doctor was willing to put you on Fetzima, they would be open minded about Vyvanse. Remember though, it may or may not help with your symptoms and like all medications, it takes time to work out the kinks in terms of side effects, dosage, and timing according to your own unique biology. The first time I tried it, I wasn't sure I was going to get the kinks out. It was only after much research on my own, that I was able to figure out what was most effective for me which included discovering I had to have a small dose of Wellbutrin. I have a fine tuned medications regiment I follow. I hope this info helps and feel free to respond for more info as you go through the process with your doctor.

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Were you coming off of another drug while starting vyvanse?

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I've suffered with major depression for years, even a suicide attempt. I also have ADD. Prozac helped eventually stopped working and in the meantime I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia. Some days I barely had the energy to stand up long enough to shower. After some trial and error, I'm now on 60mg Cymbalta and 60 my Vyvanse and for the first time in years I feel like myself.

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I to have been on adderall for years. I'd like to try vyvance because adderall makes me feel a little to good at times ,triggering my addictive personality. I've heard vyvance doe sent, and doesn't give you that "roller coaster feeling" is that true? Thanks

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I am 18 years old and I had been depressed for as long as I could remember. Many suicide attempts, and extremely bad thoughts about killing myself every SINGLE day for years.. I started Vyvanse and Wellbutrin June 2015 and it's life changing. I immediately felt better and had no suicidal thoughts (took it everyday). It's seriously mind blowing to me to this day that I haven't thought about killing myself or dying in over 6 months (except maybe a few times but quickly recovered from the thoughts). I'm almost positive it's the mix of the two that work good. I took Wellbutrin by itself at first and made a slight difference but discontinued. I started taking it again WITH the Vyvanse and that's when I noticed a huge difference. I stopped taking both for a month (vyvanse tolerance) then took them both today and I feel so much better. This past month I've been extremely emotional, irritable, and tired. Today I feel like myself. :-)

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So like the rest of the people here I to have really benifitted from taking vyvanse to treat my treatment resistant bipolar depression. I have noticed that I build a tolerance to its antidepressant effects within about a month of taking consistently. However I solved this problem by taking a low dose of memantine along with my vyvanse and it makes it so that the vyvanse gives me a nice motivational slightly euphoric buzz every time I take it. It has also allowed me to lower my dose from 60mg to 30mg which is cheaper and in all honesty probably healthier. The memantine also acts a good antidepressant on its own and I feel like it also makes it easier to be present and in the moment on days when I don't take vyvanse. It also makes it so I don't get any withdrawal symptoms when I don't take vyvanse which is nice cause it makes me feel like vyvanse doesn't "own" me like I did before. Anyways so for the long post but I just wanted to really emphasize how big of an impact this combo has made in my life.

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This is good news for me.Im 58 and have a simular story.I just filled prescription for Vyvanse today and couldn't wait to take it.Felt great all day able to be motivated and not overwhelmed and depressed as usual.Maybe I can get my life back now .So glad when things work out for others like yourself.Also I live in Portland too so I know what you mean about the rainy days.

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How are you doing? I am a binge eater also and I am wanting to get a prescription to help me worth this issue. I have been trying to do my research about this pill. Please give me an update

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Hi, your story sounds so similar to mine that I had to reply. I hope you are well as your comment was posted in 2012. Anyway, I have bipolar ll as well and my depressions are debilitating as well. Never tried ECT but I was a candidate for TMS (transcranial magnetic stimulation) a few months ago. They never called me back and I was too depressed to contact them for a follow up. However, I wrote a really transparent letter to my wonderful psychiatrist explaining my agony of living constantly depressed. I had had enough. I was at my breaking point. She looked at my past mental health records and saw that along with my other diagnosis, adhd was one that she never treated me for. Well, she prescribed me Vyvanse 10 mg. That medicine lifted the dark and foggy clouds of depression and I was feeling like i on my way to something better! But then the night time came, when it wore off. I was back in the black whole, depressed, sad, suicidal. I reported my symptoms and the lack thereof when I was on Vyvanse. She thought it was great. But she told me that Vyvanse is not for Depression. It's for adhd. I argued with her because every morning that I took it I was so productive that I didn't recognize myself! Any way, I think they should reconsider stimulants as medicine that works wonders for Depression. But not everyone will have the same outcome. So it's ok. Just wanted to share my little story

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Have you tried taking your dose of vyvanse before going to bed at night?

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I've had severe seasonal affective disorder for about 20 years (since I was a teenager- complete with soul-crushing sense of derealization and a lot of suicidal ideation -only reason I didn't do it was that I was a single mom, and couldn't do that to my son). Then, about 3 years ago, I was actually diagnosed with ADHD. I've been taking only Vyvanse 50mg once a day since then. The first winter, I did still get depressed, but then I did not get the mild euphoria/hypomania I usually experience in spring and summer (I was a little saddened by this actually lol). However, the past two winters I have not had any depression! For the first time since I was 15. Maybe the occasional mild blues, but that is it :). I don't know why else this would change, except because of the Vyvanse.

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I've started low dose Vyvanse and noticed antidepressant effects- far better than the many SSRIs I've been prescribed over the years...my question is- will the antidepressant effects continue long term? Or will they wear off in time? Has anyone taken this medicine for years and does it continue to work for depression (not just the ADD "focus" effects)?

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Re: need a depression med that works (# 41)

In my experience of taking Vyvanse @70mg the "feelgood factor" lasts a maximum of four hours and then I start to feel it slowly ebb away to the point where I don't even know I've taken it.
Also I only take it five days a week as this seems to keep me from building up a tolerance to it and I feel it's effects more after I have gone a day without taking it.

In short, Vyvanse is good while it lasts but in my case that isn't very long.

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