Hallucinations From Vyvanse

my son was on vyvanse for a year his doc raised his dose he started hearing voices and we lowered the dose. he was off the med for the summer and back on it again when school started , He started having more auditory halucinations on it again so we stopped again . But the voices did not go away now this time . vyvanse did in fact cause this . anyone else have that problem. I have heard others havingng some auditory hallucinations from it but did not hear about how long it lasts . he has been off vyvanse now for a year and still gets them a few times a week and has to go on risperidol but he feels like a zombie and his ADD is beyond bad now and I swear he was never ADD when the doctor put him on it .he was depressed over a friends death and couldnt focus in school . I told the doctor this but she said it would help his focus and now my son is ruined for life. will the voices ever go away and will he ever be able to focus again , he feels like his memory is so bad now and has a hard time even more so concentrating on anything . i wish i knew about this nasty drug before hand and of course the doctor swore up and down that it was safe and no side effects

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REPORT

The doctor told you that it had no side effects?

For future reference, EVERY medication carries the risk of causing side effects, even over the counter products.

Didn't you get an information sheet on it from the pharmacy? Those always list some of the possible side effects.

And, as to the auditory hallucinations, if they are still continuing a year after he stopped the medication, then they most likely weren't solely due to his taking it.

It's likely that there is something else going on.

Have you taken him to a specialist, such as a psychiatrist?


Learn more Vyvanse details here.

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Slick can definitely relate but used adderral almost the entire time. They are the same except the one your son was taking was time-released. Slick heard the voices for two years and it was the worst you can imagine. It is called amphetamine - induced psychosis and sometimes lingers a long time after quitting. Slick truly feel for you and your son and get him all the help you can cause Slick is full grown but still suffers cause of it. Hope you got answers you were searching for.

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These posts make me so sad. Listen, I don't expect you to listen to me but please oh please hear me out. I landed here because I have a boy on my baseball team. His mother told me he had ODD. I didn't know what it was but it is Oppositional Defiance Disorder. I was appalled to find out about this diagnosis. I was reading on WebMd and it called this a "mental disorder." This is speaking CURSES over these children!!!!!!! I appeal to you with all of my heart for you to pursue the word of God on these issues and the Word of God tells us how to deal with our defiant children and our children that the world has labeled with ADHD and all the rest of this nonsense. He tells us to love our children by spanking them when they are defiant. He tells us to love them by giving them the word of God and teaching them the GOOD ways that a child should behave towards his/her parents. But you have to do this consistently and NOT out of anger and abuse. I am making a plea to you guys to get a hold of this before it's too late. These drugs are killing our children and turning them into ZOMBIES. Please hear my heart.

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Good Lord. I will not speak in third person or from the pulpit but as an experienced psychiatric nurse. Unfortunately, its sounds as if he may be having some true psychiatric issues. In that, "Slick" may be correct. Late teens, early 20s are the prime age for schizophrenia to start. It can strike anyone but can be genetic or brought on by street drugs or psychotropic medications so he should be seen by a psychiatrist as soon as possible.

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my son has been on vyvanse since January 2013 he was alright on it then we decided to up the dosage about 4 weeks ago know he's constantly complaining of his eye's are out of socket, bones are broken, fingers are dislocated, the list goes on and on. He has never done or said anything like this before. In my opinion I think it's this medicine causing these hallucinations.

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so he was on it for a year and he started hearing voices and you let him start taking it again? whats the matter with you...

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Dear ty post,
My son, (17 yrs.) had a similar experience with Vyvance. He was on it for 2 years at 30mg, yet when his dose was increased to 50mg he started showing worse side effects, like insomnia, weight loss, irritability and then the voices. He is now off vyvance for 7 months and diagnosed with extreme anxiety with possible schizoaffective disorder. We have no family history of any mental disorders. He is on xyprexa, 5 mg (anti psychotic) and doing well. I think what caused the melt down for my son was increased stress(school related) on an increased dose of vyvance. We have since discovered my son is very sensitive to medicine and shows symptoms on the lowest of doses on different medications we have tried. The voices have gone away and I would like to get him on medicine to treat his anxiety. He is seeing a psychologist once a week for talk therapy. To conclude, yes I believe the vyvance caused or contributed to my son's psychosis (auditory hallucinations.) I'm not totally against using medicine, but I prefer to use it as last resort and hopefully for just a short time until we discover and practice better coping skills. Yes, my son has some attention issues. He also is very bright (142 IQ) and a classic underachiever. However, general anxiety can cause similar symptoms as ADD, like inattentiveness and difficulty in memory and focus, but the treatment of stimulant meds for a kid with anxiety put him over the edge. We are just now coming out of the dark hole we have been dealing with for 6 long months. Such as being out of school for 5 months his Jr. year with no home schooling, trying a dozen different meds, countless Dr. visits( 4 different Doctors to keep him from being hospitalized) along with school meetings, testing and finally an IEP to help him finish his Sr. year and hopefully graduate. I'll just say one last thought, my first concern is for my son's mental, spiritual and physical health and well being and secondly for his education. Keep that perspective. There have been a few medical and educational professional that have been complete road blocks to the process, yet there have been competent and helpful Dr.s and school personnel along the way also. You are your child's only parents and need to calmly and clearly advocate for your child in both the medical and educational environment. I have a strong faith and reliance on God that has carried me through this whole ordeal a love for my son and hope for his future. Good luck and God bless, HLC

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My son also has had the same symptoms (hearing voices) while on Vyvanse. We actually had to have him hospitalized because the voices started telling him to harm himself. Thankfully the doctor at the hospital realized it was the Vyvanse and changed his medication. He does suffer from depression and had difficulty in school (hence the Vyvanse), but the side effects of this medication are just not worth the benefit it may or may not have. Since stopping the Vyvanse (about 2-3 months) he has not heard any voices. We also turned to the Bible for strength and prayer has also helped him termendously.

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How is your son doing. My son is ten and has ADD. The doctor increased his dose and he is having the same symptons. We are taking him off this medication. He was never like this until this medication.

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I have taken Vyvanse for about 2 years. When I went off the medication, the withdrawal symptoms were terrible- from migraines where my eyes also felt like they were hanging out of sockets, to grinding pain in my joints and severe muscle aches. Not sure if the proper way to go off Vyvanse is done via lowered dose, but I do NOT recommend cold turkey without doctor's assistance. Its a painful ordeal.

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It seems more like Schizoaffective Disorder then Schizophrenia.

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My son was on Adderall XR and started having auditory hallucinations. They were horrible and were present every day all day. We took him off the medication and put him on Latuda for a few months. I am happy to say the voices are gone. He is 16. The voices were horrible. Now he is off everything and is a joy! He is so happy. No voices. It took him months to get back to normal. It does take time for the brain to get rid of the effects of these medications.

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My 21 yr old son has the same problem. Took vyvanse for only several months and its been almost a year and the voices are relentless.. Feel so bad for him...He won't take any medications at all now because of this.. Please pray for him and all the other children that are effected by this and similar problems

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My 13 year old daughter started hearing voices about a year ago but never said anything. She was on 50 mg of vyvnase (80 lb girl). It had been increased because she wasn't getting her homework done before the medicine wore off. This summer they got worse and she told me about them. She has had three incidents of hearing voices since June 1, 2014 - September 15, 2014. She was diagnosed with schizophrenia. After visiting our psychiatrist I decided to see a naturopath who did a mineral hair analysis. She was low on several key minerals. She had no measurable reading of lithium and very low levels of potassium both of which will cause hallucinations. She has been taking 2.5 mg lithium orotate and 150 mg of potassium Glycinate and 150 mg of Potassium iodide for the last three weeks. (since November 1). Things are so much better. We also had to see a new psychiatrist because the plan changed. We met the new psychiatrist today and she felt that my daughter didn't need any other meds for schizophrenia. We are just going to watch and see what happens. She feels that this dose of Vyvanse may have caused the hallucinations. However she wanted her to take Concerta for her ADHD and we will start that in the morning. I hope she is right because it has been a nightmare for both of us. I will sleep well tonight!

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you can not blame vyvanse 100%. it could have been the drug to awaken a deeper issue. people can be suffering from mental illness almost their whole life but usually it takes some form of episode to seek help. There are no blood diagnostics for mental illness unfortunately. We have to put our fate in the doctors. yes there are rouge doctors handing out anything you ask for, there are doctors schooled in different times/hasnt got up to date on things/you also do not know what your son told the doctor. the doctor probably asked him if he was depressed,and he said NO. Knowing most people, especially young males do not want to admit being depressed because of social stigma. he could have told the doctor symptoms that co-exist with ADD. someone very depressed a lot of times loses thought, concentration, etc. also has he been checked for bi-polar? the stimulant could have sent him into a deep manic state. a lot of people with bipolar do not understand mania as a bad thing, when they get way too excited, it could be anything. mania is sometimes viewed in a positive way by the person. Some great ideas and inventions have come from people in a manic state. its a serious problem but becomes a major problem when the manic state effects other people like hurting others etc. so i wouldn't go bad mouthing vyvanse off the top. i am not a doctor and i assume you are not,but I hate and disagree when a parent says my son has never had adhd etc… iv had it as a kid but add and mental health was not really brought up. i just assumed i was just not smart. i wanted to do good and wanted to read but something just wasn't registering. the only negative i get from vyvanse is when I'm putting in hard work today i sometimes think if i was treated in school and was able to work hard in school, that the hard work today would be easier!!

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On the contrary you CAN blame Vyvanse. It is lisdexamfetamine sulphate, a derivative of the far most commonly seen drug of this class, dexamfetamine sulphate. That is also the drug which makes up 75% of the active ingredients of the US-licenced only drug Adderall.
The PIL is quite clear that this is a relatively common side effect; the corresponding leaflets for the more commonly seen amfetamines also list hallucination but as a 'rare' side effect. These are not arbitrary terms - they refer to the amount of persons using the drug in question who have reported a particular effect experienced whilst taking a drug, the precise definition of 'common', 'less common', 'rare' and 'very rare' may be found in the Formularies of most countries of which I know, the most comprehensive of which are the UK BNF, US PDR, IP, and probably the best reference, Martindale's.
Methylphenidate, for example, lists auditory hallucination as 'very rare' and dexamfetamine 'rare'.
So in fact Vyvanse has a far greater propensity to cause these things than any other drug used for ADHD (it is only licenced in the US).

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I said you can not put full blame on the Vyvanse. If they are hearing voices it most likely due to other mental issues that has been awaken by the stimulant.

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my daughter is on vyvanse and started hearing voices just this last week and we took her totally off it but the voices are gone now....they should not be putting kids on this stuff..

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I had a very similar experience after taking vyvanse. I am raising my 13 year old niece whose mother was on meth and alcohol throughout her pregnancy which can cause schizophrenia. We saw a psychiatrist and after researching the meds, I decided to see what a naturopath said. We have been very happy. The naturopath prescribed B12 on the first visit and a mineral hair analysis test which showed she was very low in potassium - lack of which can cause hallucinations. The hair analysis also showed a 0 level of lithium. Your body does need some lithium. She began taking potassium and lithium supplements - not the lithium carbonate that the psychiatrist prescribe but a safer lithium called lithium orotate. We had to start out at a very low dose because it made her so sleepy but gradually built up to the level the doctor thought was correct. We will probably get another hair analysis within the next three months to see what level she is at. She rarely has any hallucinations now. She is now functioning very well in school again. She is a happy normal child again.

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My sons voices just seemed to get worse and worse until his new Dr. put him on Abilify. My son refused to take his meds but the way the Dr. explained it to him is what made the difference. First he asked him if he knew what a diabetic was..he said yes. then he explained that diabetics need to take medication to keep their sugar in check and my son had to do the same for the chemical imbalance in his brain and that no one acknowledges that someones the brain can get sick. The Abilify is a shot once a month which is much easier and worked astonishingly well. Within 2 weeks he has not heard a peep. It is his 4th month now and still 0 problems. I hope and pray that your child will get better asap. Good luck to you and your family. I know what you are going thru and my heart goes out to you.

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Hi, just a warning that Concerta can have the same effects as Vyvanse.

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Go back over the older posts and you will find others. My daughter was actually diagnosed as schizophrenic with it but after a year they changed the diagnosis back to normal. She doesn't have the auditory hallucinations any more and it has been more than 2 years since she stopped the Vyance. However she could not function in school so we are at home and attending a virtual school online which she has been very successful at. It is about the same amount of time for my involvement as compared to supervising HW. The lessons are planned by the school and there is teacher interaction and daily assignments/quick checks and periodic quizzes, discussions, unit tests, science experiments, and essays. You would not be teaching but supervising work. She is a high schooler and likes it very much. She can do some lessons in the morning, take a break, and complete her lessons in the afternoon. She can even do them at 2 am but I try to keep her on a regular schedule. If she is sick on a Wednesday/Thursday, she can work on the week end to catch up and not miss anything. There are weekly live lessons on key concepts that are recorded. Scheduling dental and medical check ups is so much easier because we can do it when other kids are in school. We also get to travel more because school comes with us on the computer.

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How is your son now? I’m curious because I know someone who is addicted to Vyvanse.

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Re: bkcasino (# 18)

Yes! I had a similar experience. I tried vayanese and I had good results the first time because I was cleaning and it was making me focus... I liked it so much I tried it again... now this time was when I started to hallucinate from it. I never experienced this my whole life before. It was the worst experience of my life.. I know it had to come from that because I didn’t get the same effects as the first time... it didn’t make me feel right.. I had a really bad trip from it this time.... I was not myself for almost two weeks.. I had crazy dreams and so much anxiety. I started to hallucinate. I would go to bed at night and have these dreams and would wake up believe that the dreams were true. I embarrassed myself by calling my boss and would talk to her as if she knew she was in my dream... but in reality she didn’t even know what I was talking about.... I was convinced my dream was true.... the next day I came home after a night out and I feel like I was drugged or seeing things. I was in my house alone and I was hallucinating. I was convinced I saw three people trying to break in my house. They were dressed in camouflage. I freaked out and didn’t know what to do because they were blocking every window for me to escape. I broke through my aircondioner and grabbed a knife and ran down my block pleading for help..... cops came and they assumed I was crazy or something so they took me to psyc ward. I am a completely normal person. I was bugging out because I took the vayanse and it caused me hallucinate. I ended up in a psyc ward because it caused me to hallucinate and i bugged out became so paranoid..:: I don’t understand why.... because I have tried it once before and I never got the same reaction... it was the scariest moment of my life. And I believe it was from the vayanese because I would have never acted that out of control. I was not myself. I never act like that and it was the scariest moment of my life. I never want to go back there again. I know something took over me and maybe I was drugged or something. But I would have never acted that way and I believe it was from the vayanese . I have never hallucinated like that before in my life to the point where I was convinced people where trying to break into my house and I kicked out my air conditioner , ran down the block with a Swiss Army knife screaming for help...:: I believe I was drugged or the vayanese had a bad side effect but I seriously learned my lesson. Scariest time of my life

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This happened to me. They took me off Vyvanse in 2012 and I have heard voices non stop for the last 5 years. Unfortunately, no other medication corrected this and I currently take nothing. They tried everything. I have been able to successfully recover some sense of normalcy but it is not easy.

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I have posted before about Vyvanse and my daughter's hallucinations (auditory and visual). However she has not taken that med or any other med for ADHD for over two years. She still has hallucinations about once a month but she says they do not bother her. In fact she hasn't mentioned it so I just asked for an update. She is almost 16 years now. School has been hard but doing the online school has been the best option for us. It has some draw backs but the advantages are so great. No meds. Ability to take breaks when needed, Learning at her own pace. The ability to repeat lessons when needed. It does take more time on my part and fortunately I am able to work from home. Basically there are no sick days. If she is sick she just works a day on the week end. If she is sick for a few days, she just works until she is caught up. This year she is a HS freshman so she was able to take a dual enrollment class at the local community college. She finished the class with an A and gained a lot of self confidence by completing it successfully. She starts another class next week that will end in July and then another that ends in August. Next semester she will take Spanish 1 and 2. We figure that when she graduates form HS she will have about half the credits she needs for an AA degree. Her experience was so bad from the Vyvanse that she ended up repeating 8th grade. Mostly she missed a lot of school because we had a lot of doctor appointments trying to figure out the hallucination stuff and the stress that it caused. But now we have seen success again. Hope this helps. He is not ruined there is hope.

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Vyvanse does cause permanent schizophrenia. I was prescribed when I was 27 and prior I had no medical issues. I took the medication for 5 months, initially at 70mg, then 140mg 3 months in. After the 5th month my life was ruined and now I am permanently sensitive to stimulants, where as before I was perfectly fine.

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My daughter continues to do well without any ADHD medication (previously on Vyvance until hallucinations but that cleared up immediately after stopping Vyvance). She is in high school now and we tried an online school after she suggested it. We tried the last half of 8th grade to make sure it would work for her so that it wouldn't mess up her high school career if it did not work out. It worked out great as far as academics go. When she attended a brick and mortar school, she attended a certain schedule, came home, took a break and started on HW. Now she can do her Algebra class on line when she wants (7 am or 7 pm it is her choice) and if she is not sure of something she can repeat that part of the lesson. Then she does her HW right after the class. I check it against the answer key and she redoes what is missed. If it is a lesson she is struggling with, she does half her homework before I check it and then continues. There is an assessment after each lesson - a quiz, a short quiz called a quick check, or an online discussion, and a unit test after each unit. My daughter usually spends 1 1/2 -2 hours on each Algebra lesson and homework session. However, she is good in science and those lessons take her about 30 minutes per lesson except for the labs and lab reports which take much longer. If she gets behind or is sick she can makeup the lessons. If she is sick on Tuesday and doesn't do any math that day, she will do Tuesday's lesson on Wednesday and be one day behind until she catches up on the week end. I have a PhD in elementary education so I feel that I am a good judge of quality education. Some online schools are horrible but others are just as good as brick and mortar schools and for my daughter they are better. She can also work ahead in subjects that she finds easy. For instance she has completed all the health and nutrition lessons for this semester (she is 50% through the semester) and will take the final exam this week or next. Some things like writing essays take her a long time. She writes several rough drafts before she has a polished essay. The school budgets two days for the essay, but it sometimes takes her 6-7 days. She can't do the next lesson until the essay is complete. She takes her time to get it right, but then she can double up on her English lessons because most of them take her 30-40 minutes. For her it works out incredibly well. Generally she does math in the morning, relaxes, and after lunch does 3-4 more lessons if they don't involve essays or labs. This semester she is taking an online college class in Adobe Photoshop and will get dual credit for it. This seems to be working well and she has already signed up for another one when this one ends in April. It takes a little nagging for her to get back to lessons after a break but a lot less that when she was in middle school and exhausted by the end of the school day and still has to do HW in the evening. A big plus is that she gets a good amount of sleep every night and so do I.

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Hi Ken! I just wanted to let you know that I understood and agree with the ñpoint you were making. We as God' 's people, His creations, have turned away from Him and most nowadays, many people dont believe in God. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this issue even when its not a popular stance nowadays.

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My daughter has been off meds now for over a year. Her doc has removed the schizo diagnosis. She still has ADD but we found a great solution. We changed schools. She now attends an online school and can do her lessons when she is well rested instead of her 8-3 schedule of the past. For instance she can do a lesson in math then do her math homework and take a 15-20 minute break. Do a lesson in earth science and do her HW for that class and take a 30-45 minute break where she usually draws on her computer. Then she will do her digital photography class and its homework. Eat lunch and do another digital photography class online. Attend a live lesson online for Algebra. Next she can do an English class and its homework. Then another break for drawing on her computer which is her favorite activity. Then she will do an art class online. Get a snack. Attend an online live lesson in science. Go on the treadmill for awhile. Read. Have dinner. Do her health and nutrition class. Then she is done for the day. If she is not feeling well enough to do her classes she can skip a day and make it up on the weekend or do some of her classes and work a half day on the weekend. If we decide to go skiing this winter for two days, it is easier to go on the weekdays skiing and do her studies on the weekend. We have to go to Washington, D.C. for a wedding this fall so she will work ahead a couple of weekends before we go so that we can stay there a few extra days and see the sites and of course we will take her computer with us so that she can attend school in D. C. if there is a rainy or snowy day. She also has the right to do three earth science lessons in one day instead of her Eng or math lessons. Then on another day do three Eng lessons. Right now she is three lessons behind in algebra but two lessons ahead in health and nutrition, four lessons ahead in digital photography, and two lessons ahead in art. Online school is working out great for my daughter. I am a retired school principal and was worried that the curriculum would be watered down but it is not. My daughter is getting a great education and doesn't need meds. The school provides some meet ups at museums and other typical field trip places but it is not enough for the social needs of a high schooler. She goes to trampoline classes and we play chess at the library. There is no competition with other students. She has no idea what anyone else's grades are. She can schedule an online meet up or phone call with a teacher for tutoring during their office hours. Twice a month her homeroom teacher calls and they chat about her overall progress. Changing the environment helps ADD kids and we did it in a big way by changing schools.

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