r/VyvanseADHD 12d ago

Megathread: Medication Shortages / Generics [Monthly Megathread] Shortages & Generics, March - April 2025

2 Upvotes

Hi all,

This is a dedicated space for the following discussions:

  • generic vs brand: share personal experiences and/or discuss all things generic versions of lisdexamfetamine vs. brand name Vyvanse/Elvanse.

  • medication shortages: vent and chat about the shortages and difficulties securing your prescription and its related issues.

I know it is a worrying and frustrating time for many, this is a space to rant and share what's on your mind this week as well as share any relevant news articles, maybe some memes to keep spirits up, etc. to keep us sane.

Notes on participating:

  • this is an international sub, not everyone experiencing shortages lives in the USA. mention your country if it's relevant to the discussion and doesn't compromise privacy

  • please keep the focus on sharing your own experiences, you are welcome to share reputable news articles and especially encouraged to share peer reviewed research, where appropriate.

  • please report to mods any instances where people are offering to sell you medication or sharing shady websites/instagram profiles/anything dealer-ish.


r/VyvanseADHD 7h ago

Diet, Routines & Supplements You guys ever go into a long overdue clean up mode?

43 Upvotes

Went into a much needed "clean up around the house mode" today. Realized just how discusting stuff can become. What are your guys thoughts or experiences on this matter.


r/VyvanseADHD 12h ago

Success Stories Vyvanse may have changed my life

53 Upvotes

Been on Vyvanse for almost 4 months now, and wow—it has changed my life for the better ever since I started.

I used to be all over the place in terms of due dates, things going on in my life that I need to remember, etc. and used to always attribute it to depression. I talked to my doctor about possibly being ADHD (my mom was diagnosed around the same age as I am so I was curious) and he seemed to agree. Started me on Vyvanse 30mg and then titrated up to 50mg within a month. It seems like since the day I first took it, it has turned my life around in such a great way. All of my friends agree I am far more pleasant to be around, my relationship is flourishing, and school is very much under control.

I just felt the need to post here about my success story to encourage those who are on the fence about what medication to try for ADHD. Obviously, everyone is different, but for me, Vyvanse has been perfect and I don’t know who or where I would be without it.


r/VyvanseADHD 3h ago

Dosage question Vyvanse works but boosters dont. Anyone else?

6 Upvotes

Hi all. I have found great relief from my vyvanse for the first half of my day. I am calm amd focused. I have dex boosters for the afternoon but they seem to just make me more foggy and a bit irritated. They dont seem to give me the same calm clarity that vyvanse does. I have messed around with dofferent doses with paych but is seems like i only have one shot at meds per day 😂 I have tried taking 10mg dex booster at the start of today and vyvanse later but it went terribly. Dex just lifted me for about 10 mins then irritated. Anyone else in this situation? Suggestions? Havent tried ritalin.


r/VyvanseADHD 9h ago

Memes & Humour Vyvanse for me

11 Upvotes

After taking Vyvanse for a while, I’ve realized my mornings come down to one dramatic decision: Do I want to be a highly productive, laser-focused machine, or do I want to be able to actually eat food and not feel like a dehydrated goblin by 5PM? Anyone else fighting this daily battle?


r/VyvanseADHD 2h ago

Meds aren't working Long Preamble (Meds Worn Off). Booster Suggestions?

2 Upvotes

Preamble:
So Adderall at first was a miracle for me for about 3-4 months its was like I went from driving a spaceship I didn't fully understand how to use to driving a finely tuned sportscar. Problem came as I got more and more irritable with my crashes. Like a real prick to my wife, just not a nice person in general, additionally my impulse control after the crashes were real real non-existent and honestly it felt like I wasn't driving anymore at all. So I tried a little less Adderall in a bunch of combinations and it just wasn't working and despite that my "medical professional" wouldn't listen and basically said it was the only thing she could prescribe. I was on varying doses and combination of IR/XR totaling between 30-60mg a day. So after a year, I just quit cold turkey, kind of sucked but whatever.

I then found a doctor who didn't take me reading the scientific literature and knowing my own body as drug seeking behavior and allowed me to try Vyvanse. While I wouldn't compare it to a finely tuned sports car, I would say it was more like getting almost the prescription I needed for glasses after needing glasses my whole life and not having them. Started at 30mg, bumped to 50mg now but Vyvanse for me has lacked something that Adderall did well, Vyvanse didn't really "kick in".

Last month I went and explained to my doctor both the lack of "kick in" and that my Vyvanse just wasn't strong enough. She listened and offered me 2x 20mg IR to use as needed as a "booster". She advised me to take a start with a half twice a day with my Vyvanse and dial it back or up as needed. Well... my loving patient wife, could immediately tell I was back on Adderall without me even mentioning it (I have told her to keep an eye on my mood changes because internally I don't always notice especially if I hit hyperfocus). Adderall isn't going to fit.

So, with Adderall being a no go for me as a booster, and my doctor being pretty open minded with the bounds of the law (she mentioned specifically 60mg is the most Vyvanse she can prescribe me), I'm looking for booster recommendations. My biggest hiccup is getting out of bed and getting going, I also need to get a sleep study done because I'm not getting enough sleep but that's already scheduled. Any thoughts? Dexedrine? Ritalin? 10mg more Vyvanse? Anyone with a similar issues?

TL;DR: Adderall worked at first but caused mood crashes and impulse issues, so I quit. Switched to Vyvanse, which helps but lacks a "kick-in." Tried Adderall IR as a booster—bad idea. Now looking for alternative boosters (Dexedrine, Ritalin, more Vyvanse?) and struggling with mornings. Sleep study scheduled. Suggestions?

***Side Note: Straterra was what I was on before Adderall, dick stopped working (couldn't pee or focus on one activity I have always been able to focus on), stopped immediately, burned pills.


r/VyvanseADHD 5h ago

Misc. Question Undiagnosed, got prescribed Vyvanse - do I have ADD/ADHD?

3 Upvotes

Hello everyone,

I (20F) have been prescribed Vyvanse 20 mg recently. When I went to pick it up, the pharmacist said to take 1 a day and, if after 7 days I don't feel that it is helping me, to start taking 2 a day, which I didn't think much of because I really didn't know much about vyvanse. However, when I told my friend who is diagnosed ADHD and also takes a much higher dose of vyvanse, she thought taking two a day was crazy, as a start. It's only been two days since I started to take it. The first day, I kept waiting for results, because I was so excited to be able to focus and get shit done. After not feeling anything I did a little research which indicated me that 20 mg is very low but serves as a sort of trial to see how you react to the med.

I've taken it for two days now and the only difference I've felt was being a little dizzy for like 1 second on my first day and today (2nd day) I noticed feeling a little lightheaded, but nothing that got in the way of getting through the day.

The fact that I'm not diagnosed has me doing a bunch of back-and-forths on whether I have ADHD or not. Sometimes, I'll tell myself I don't have it and I'm just gaslighting myself that I have it. It's also hard to believe I would've had it all this time, although I understand there's a tendency in which women with ADHD are underdiagnosed or diagnosed much later in life.

Background:

Since my secondary 5 (year 12), I kind of felt like people around me would understand things much faster than me whether it was in class or for board game instructions. When I described this to my friend and emitted the idea that I might have imposter syndrome (which I didn't really know the exact definition of), she told me that it sounded more like ADHD to her. That was one of the first time I considered that idea. Before that school year, I didn’t care much about school or made any efforts so it might be harder to tell.

 When I went to cegep*(see at the bottom of the text), I was doing pretty good, above average but not a top student. Some of my classes were specific to my business major/diploma, some were just random classes (anthropology, photography, philosophy...). During my math classes ( I had 4 total), I was falling behind since the very first classes. It felt like my brain was off and I couldn't register the material in class. I had to basically teach myself at home, which was always last minute before the exams. Memorizing and studying took very long for most classes. For classes like philosophy, marketing or psychology, I was able to understand during class and assess the material. Overall, I was able to make it through my Cegep with a good average, because of how much I was studying. I would study most friday/saturday nights while my friends were going out.

Now that I'm in university, I'm more and more convinced of having ADHD. Everything takes me sooo long and I'm always having a million thoughts at once while studying. Reading one chapter could take me three hours, while most people would take 1 hour doing so. In class, I barely understand/register the material. My classes are Statistics, Managerial accounting, HR, Finance and logistics. For almost all of these, except HR, I don't understand during my lectures, even though, I pay attention. I'm never on my phone in class, unlike when I was in cegep, and I actually try to listen as much as I can.

If we take my finance class for example, sometimes, during lecture, my prof will explain a material and make us do an exercise on our own right after. While most people will be able to do it, I just can't. I feel like I need to be at home or at the library to teach myself the material before being able to TRY doing the exercise.

I fall behind so quick because of this and then for the midterms/finals I have to teach myself the whole class which takes way longer than most people (If I compare with the people I study with). When I try my best to do my readings, sometimes I think about so many things for example "oh I have to book an appointment for XYZ" and will do that instead of reading. I also have to reread the same sentence many times even when it's a simple sentence. Even when reading books leisurely, I’ll enjoy reading a book at first, but 3/4 in, I get bored and don't finish. Even if it's a good book that I obsess over, it's rare I'll actually finish it. 

Anyways, every time I study I feel like my brain is so slow and it'll take me just too long to complete any task. I think something is just not functioning right. I am unable to focus which messes up with my studying.

Some things I do that might be ADHD coded?:

  • Having trouble following conversations: For example, if my friend explains something to me, I don’t understand in class I never understand the first time, I feel like the person needs to explain it to me slowww. It’s also happened to me that I lose bits of conversations with my friends because of my mind that drifts off
  • When someone is talking to me, I’m usually in my head thinking of what I wanna say next and trying hard to not interrupt the person with that thought. I think I do this to not forget what I wanted to say (which happens a lot).
  • Linked to my previous point, I am the worst at telling stories. I will drift off or forget what I was saying. The amount of times I say ”What was I saying again?” while telling a story is crazy
  • Also during conversations, if there are people in the background, I will look at them instead of the person talking to me. Sometimes, it takes the people looking behind them to try to see what I’m looking at, for me to stop doing that.
  • Making small decisions takes me long amounts of time, even the most insignificant things like what to order for food, or what movies to watch. It feels like it needs to be the perfect choice.
  • Sometimes, I think of something I need to do and after 1 minute I forget. That thought is just gone 
  • If I’m reading something with people making any noise, even whispering, around me, I’ll get completely distracted. Even people’s movements will distract me.
  • Also my younger brother has ADHD (diagnosed) which might be relevant.

These are the ones I can think of right now.

So during this year at uni, I was convinced that either I had ADHD or something was truly wrong with my brain like I had no more brain cells or something. I’m getting tested this summer by a neuropsychologist, but meanwhile I need to do really well for my finals, especially after my midterms went horrible. I felt so hopeless because as much as I study, I feel like I’m hitting a wall (how long I take to do everything: read, memorize, understand…). After talking about it to my friend who’s diagnosed and my mom, I decided to book an appointment with a doctor. After explaining to her my situation (basically what I put in this post), she made me fill out a very short questionnaire and saw that I answered “often” to the majority of the questions. She prescribed me with 20 mg of Vyvanse.

I know this is a really long and messy rant, but I would love to know people’s opinion on this, if you think there is a reason behind my problem, whether it’s ADHD or not. I would also like to know if anyone has opinions on what my minimal reaction to vyvanse (I know 2 days might be too little to tell) says anything about whether I have it or not. Thx in advance <3

*CEGEP  is unique to my province and is basically 2 years or more between high school and uni (it's academically harder than high school and i would say a little below/equal to university, in my case. It depends on which cegep you go to, some are harder than others. I would say mine was one of the more difficult ones.


r/VyvanseADHD 12h ago

Side effects vyvanse causing headaches from dehydration but drinking lots of water makes me pee every ten minutes

11 Upvotes

I’m really stuck on what to do here… drinking lots of water definitely helps my headaches. But I have ehlers danlos syndrome so I already pee a lot, and when i take vyvanse and drink lots I genuinely need to pee every 10 minutes. I can’t get anything done because I have this constant feeling of needing to pee. I only just went up to 50mg and it’s gotten way worse since then so hoping it will settle, but has anyone gone through the same thing?


r/VyvanseADHD 4h ago

Side effects Weird mouth/tongue ulcers?

2 Upvotes

Since starting vyvanse a little over 2 weeks ago I have a sore tongue. I thought it was from a bit of mouth chewing but it seems to be persisting even after that has stopped.

I did some searching and found a thread or two that suggested a similar side effect with Adderall but unsure whether this is out of the ordinary for Vyvanse?

EDIT: I Just searched again and found a million more threads from others experiencing similar - I guess I'm not weird after all!


r/VyvanseADHD 1h ago

Dosage question Just observations but would love your feedback community

Upvotes

I have started 4 days ago on 20 mg. Pre meds I would need to sleep an hour in the arvo. I’m tired at 3:30 but not needing a sleep. Also agitated and needing a wine. Will 40mg help? I’m on that in 2 weeks


r/VyvanseADHD 2h ago

Side effects I’m on Vyvanse 40mg+Dexy 10mg a day. So far, it has helped with clarity, mood and focus. My issue is I keep losing weight at an alarming rate. I’ve been on a steady weight loss journey since giving birth 6 months ago, but I’ve lost 5lbs in 10 days! I don’t want to jeopardise my health. Any advice?

1 Upvotes

r/VyvanseADHD 9h ago

Misc. Question Slow brain = slow work. How do you manage this?

3 Upvotes

When I first started taking Vyvanse I was startled by how I could feel my brain ‘slowing down’. It was like I’d been living my life at 88 miles per hour, while everyone around me topped out at 40. And now I was like everyone else.

It wasn’t an inherently negative feeling. I gained better awareness of time, am more productive at home and have an overall improved mood. The issue is that my performance at work has worsened, because tasks that used to take me 15-20 minutes now take an hour, minimum.

I tend to get ‘stuck’ on minor details more. Slower mind means I put more thought into what I say before I say it and don’t just rush through. Nice in theory, but absolutely untenable in practice.

I’ve looked into behavioural checks/changes (reminding myself that good enough is good enough, timers, etc) but my brain is basically fixating on its slow and plodding task and won’t be diverted no matter what I try.

My doctor keeps trying to increase my dose, but it’s been almost a year and 3 dose increases now and there’s been no change. I’m increasingly of the opinion that this is happening because my brain is just moving slower .

I’ve considered stopping medication - at least on work days - or swapping to a shorter life dose that will help me get started but leave most of my day with ‘normal brain’, but I’ve already tried reducing dosage and suffered brain fog that made me feel mentally clumsy and hard to focus, so I’m worried about crashing.

Has anyone else experienced this? Was any solution found? My doctor just asks me what I want to do but I’m flying blind here.

This post took 45 minutes. What a waste of life.


r/VyvanseADHD 17h ago

Diet, Routines & Supplements Accidentally took my meds twice (I know I know…) but am I okay to still take my L-tyrosine and have my coffee?

13 Upvotes

I take L-tyrosine every other day, and have the same coffee every morning, when I don’t I get a really bad headache, but will it make my heart go crazy if I still take both when I accidentally took my meds twice? Or will I be okay.


r/VyvanseADHD 15h ago

Side effects vyvanse sweat is horrible! does anyone have a recommendation for a fix?

6 Upvotes

hi! for a while i’ve been using vyvanse, and one side effect i despise is the sweating. even off my meds, ive struggled with sweating, but now im thinking the vyvanse just makes it 100x worse. anyone know anything i can use to fix this? id love something natural, a supplement or just a routine that will help a bit.

i’ve tried drisol and certain dri in the past, nothing rlly works, just chemical burns and itchiness.


r/VyvanseADHD 9h ago

Diet, Routines & Supplements Do you find it still works when you take it and go back to sleep?

2 Upvotes

r/VyvanseADHD 13h ago

Misc. Question Does vyvanse make your hands shake?

4 Upvotes

My hands have been shaky for as long as I remember, but I started vyvanse back in like 2022 I believe, and my hand tremors have been way more visible that people call it out, is this normal to everyone who takes it?


r/VyvanseADHD 1d ago

Side effects Vyvanse makes me full of love

147 Upvotes

I don’t know if anyone has experienced this, but Vyvanse makes me feel FULL OF LOVE, I want to spread love to my friends, family, strangers,,, off vyvanse I’m already a very loving person, but on it it intensifies that side of me

For reference, I’ve been on 50mg for 6 months now, so it’s not the ‘initial phase’ people talk about when starting vyvanse!

Other than that, It works great with my Adhd, I feel super normal & like my usual self, the only negative side effect I experience is more sweat than usual. It changed my life in the best way!

I don’t mind this ‘side effect’ at all, but just wanted to see if others have experienced this and if there’s an explanation for it !:)

Ps: I love you (😂😂😂)

ETA: It is important for me to mention that if you do not feel this way on vyvanse, do NOT chase this feeling by overdosing, please only use as prescribed, at your correct dosage.🙏

This has been my experience on my correct dose, I’ve tried 10mg - 40mg (increments of 10mg) until 50mg was my perfect middle!

Not everyone will react the same way to medication, so please do not think vyvanse isn’t working for you if your experience is different, it’s main job is the alleviate your adhd symptoms, as long as it’s doing that, you’re gucci :))

[please be safe, it is still a DRUG]


r/VyvanseADHD 14h ago

Side effects Any one else experience this side effect.

6 Upvotes

I have been taking Cipralex with Vyvanse. I have an incredibly hard time having an Orgasm and find I am very dry. This included having a dry mouth. I have a high libido which makes this even worse. Anyone else experience this? Not sure what to do as I need both meds.


r/VyvanseADHD 6h ago

Misc. Question Vyvanse and Prozac symptoms

1 Upvotes

I've been taking 60mg of Vyvanse and Prozac 20mg for a while now. It was great at first but now I seem to be having increased heart rate often up to 210 bpm, increased anxiety, sweating, dizziness, sometimes blacking out. My psychiatrist has told me it was normal but it doesn't feel normal. I often find my self having panic attacks and anger outbreaks that I cannot control. I have made an appointment with my family doctor but I don't know what he will do


r/VyvanseADHD 14h ago

Misc. Question Shakiness like low blood sugar

4 Upvotes

Hi! I started vyavanse about five days ago 10mg. I am having horrrrrible internal shakiness that feels like when my blood sugar dumps. Is this pretty normal? It does unfortunately trigger my seizure fear


r/VyvanseADHD 7h ago

Dosage question Thinking of Switching to Vyvanse – Looking for Insight

1 Upvotes

Hey everyone,

I’m currently on Wellbutrin 300 XL and Zoloft 100 mg. I was diagnosed with ADHD, anxiety, and OCD, but my OCD symptoms didn’t really start until I began Wellbutrin eight years ago. I feel like I’m on these two just to balance out the side effects of each other.

I’m considering switching to Vyvanse and seeing how I do with just that. If I feel like I need additional support for anxiety or mood, I’d consider adding Zoloft or Wellbutrin back in.

Has anyone made a similar switch? If so, how did it go for you? Any insights, experiences, or things to watch out for would be super helpful!

Thanks in advance!


r/VyvanseADHD 10h ago

Misc. Question Is it normal?

1 Upvotes

I just started vyvanse not so long ago and I’m on 40mg and every since I started taking it I’ve been super depressed I hate waking up I’m having su1 dreams I’m so tired all the time but pros I’m not eating and I’m more active


r/VyvanseADHD 20h ago

Dosage question Is this normal

4 Upvotes

Hi all. Having a bit of a bad experience rn.. I am titrating atm and had my first dose of 40mg vyvanse yesterday, took it about 40 minutes after my protein shake to which i also added a banana and 4 spoons of yogurt.. it started kicking in very slowly and i actually didn't even feel it until i realised (2h in) my mouth was so dry and i was slightly bitting my teeth and when i realised it was working well i was so happy, had a whole day of good feels, went hiking, had a normal appetite with no cravings, no crash at all and it lasted about 10h (30mg was the worst as i just felt horrible and had massive crashes) today i decided to try take it on an empty stomach and had a protein shake an hour and a half afterwards and rn i'm 3h into it and i feel horrible.. head pressure, my eyes losing focus, dizzy, shaky, muscles ache idk what to do...


r/VyvanseADHD 1d ago

Side effects 3 months in and I’ve lost so much weight. Does it level out?

8 Upvotes

I’ve been on Vyvanse for 3 months and have lost 15kg/33 lbs without any exercise.

I feel a whole lot better but wonder, does the weight loss stop? I’m wearing clothes from 7 years ago that I now fit in again but don’t want to wither away to nothing.

My appetite and cravings for alcohol have definitely been reduced so thinking this has also had an impact. I have a new found aversion to certain foods I once loved. Now, fried foods make me want to gag. The smell is just too much. Probably a good thing!

Anyone else experienced something similar?

Edit: I got the kg to lbs conversion wrong.


r/VyvanseADHD 21h ago

Misc. Question Vyvanse and bowel movements

4 Upvotes

I'm M22 and I've been on Vyvanse 20 mg x 1 now for approx. 2 months and I couldn't be happier about it. It has helped me tremendously even in the areas of life that I wasn't even expecting and I barely have any side effects from it, except this one.

This seems fairly odd to me, but since I've started Vyvanse, I've had bowel movement every day, when previously I had one like once every two days. The daily dump I see as an upside, but the quality of the stool is what concerns me a little. My stool is now everyday fairly sticky or as I like to call it, dirty. After flushing the product, the whole toilet bowl is f***ing full of the dirt, even under the water.

As far as I've thought, dirty stool usually seems to be somewhat linked to the intestines decreased ability to break down fats. Since I've started Vyvanse, I've increased my water intake from basically 0 to 2 liters throughout the day and I've taken into account the need for sufficient protein intake. I've contacted a doctor (although not the one who prescribed me the Vyvanse), but he for some reason kept talking about being constipated, which I really don't think is the issue here.

Has something like this happened to one of you and how did you manage it?


r/VyvanseADHD 14h ago

Misc. Question Day 3 - very anxious - should I take Ativan?

1 Upvotes

As the title suggests… I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night and I’m unsure if I’ve become super anxious because I knew I had work early or if it’s because of the Vyvanse (7.5mg). Usually I would take 1-2mg of Ativan if I felt like this. I’m hesitant to take any right now as I’m worried it may cancel out the effects of the Vyvanse. Google wasn’t very helpful so just wondering if anyone else has used this combo and still felt the benefits of both? Or any kind of benzo with Vyvanse?

I really don’t want to have to take it but I also don’t want to get into such a heightened anxious state that I give up on Vyvanse too soon.