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Vyvanse Side Effects in Plain English

Written by ADDer 53 Comments

As you know, I started taking Vyvanse a few days ago instead of my usual Adderall (generic) prescription for ADD/ADHD. I am already hitting some of the Vyvanse side effects.

The generic name of Vyvanse is lisdexamfetamine, but the company still has a few years left on its patent, so there is no Vyvanse generic yet. The most common dosages are Vyvanse 30 mg, and Vyvanse 40 mg, but there are 70 mg capsules for those who are prescribed more. Obviously, you can also take two pills to achieve higher-doses of Vyvanse.

Curiously, Vyvanse is also used to treat Binge Eating Disorder, or BED. This is a side-effect of Vyvanse where it reduces your appetite. The theory is that if you are not hungry, then you won’t binge eat. I suppose that depends a lot on what triggers your binge eating… whether it is just hunger, or another stimulus like stress.

Vyvanse Side Effects In Male Adults

As an adult male with ADD, I like to know exactly what I am putting in my body. I don’t just take the recommendation of a doctor or therapist who may, or may not, have the same beliefs and concerns as I do regarding things like medication and their effects on my body.  Therefore, I have been reading up on Vyvanse, including all of the government sanctioned warnings, and the company’s legal disclaimers and comments. Buried in all of this legalize is a list of vyvanse side effects.

add medication adhd

Fortunately, complex analysis and reading detailed technical documents is what I do for a living, so I am able to wade through this mumbo-jumbo. 

Unfortunately, not everyone is able or willing to do this.  To help out parents of kids with ADHD, and adults who have ADHD themselves, I have put together a non-scientific, non-technical jargon filled, summary of what the various parts of medical information sheets and side effect warnings typically mean. Note that in the official materials there are no separate notices for the vyvanse side effects in females versus the vyvanse side effects in males. There are some different vyvanse side effect in child though, mostly the warnings that it may increase suicide in kids under 18-years old.

One piece of good news is that you don’t have to take Vyvanse with food, so you can just pop it in your mouth when you first wake up.

You can also check out my review of how Vyvanse works for adult ADD here.

Understanding Prescription Information and Medical Jargon

See your Medication Guide or talk to your doctor or pharmacist about any warnings or drug interaction precautions.

Vyvanse Side Effects in Females

As is often the case with ADHD medication, there are no studies that separately account for how Vyvanse side effects in women will differ from those in men, other than referencing some women only issues regarding reproductive biology.

Vyvanse Side Effect Summary – Understandable Version

The information presented here is NOT medical advice.

This summary is intended to be used in conjunction with a doctor’s advice.  Discuss all information with your doctor prior to making any changes in your medications or care.

Vyvanse is derived from some of the same components as Adderall. Just like Adderall, Vyvanse is a nervous system stimulant. As such, many of the Vyvanse side effects are similar to those of Adderall.

The most common side effects of Vyvanse are dry mouth, trouble sleeping, decreased appetite and nausea.

For some people Vyvanse causes weight loss, although like Adderall weight loss, Vyvanse weight loss isn’t really caused by the drug; it is caused by the decreased appetite side effect.

Vyvanse can make it so you don’t feel hungry, and therefore do not eat as often, or as much as you would normally. 

Not eating so much is what makes you lose weight, not taking Vyvanse.  In other words, if you eat just as much as you normally would while taking Vyvanse, you will not lose weight. Vyvanse does not speed up your metabolism.

The other common side effects listed on the medical information sheet are dizziness, diarrhea, irritability,  and upper belly pain.  These side effects are probably actually telling you something else, rather than being straight side effects.

Belly pain is probably a symptom that your stomach doesn’t handle medication well.  Chances are you are also one of the unlucky people whose stomach is upset by aspirin or Tylenol.  If that is the case, your only choice is to put up with it, or try something else.

Having to poop more often, or urgently, comes from stimulating the muscles that control your bowels.

For many people, the upset stomach comes from too much acid.  You can try taking your medication with more water than usual, or perhaps with some milk, or with food, unless your doctor or pharmacist says otherwise.

Do not take your ADD-ADHD meds with orange juice.  Orange juice speeds up the absorption of some medications including Vyvanse and Adderall making their distribution into your system uneven. You don’t want a sudden rush of Vyvanse pumped into yoru system.

Maybe You Don’t Have ADD ADHD

As always, consult with your doctor or other practitioner before making any decisions.

If your Vyvanse (or Adderall, or Ritalin) prescription makes you dizzy, lightheaded, buzzy, jumpy, agitated, or skittish, then perhaps your dosage is too high.  Talk with your doctor, psychiatrist, or therapist about trying a lower dose.

If you are already taking a very lose dose, or even the minimum possible dose, there is another possibility you should consider. Maybe you don’t have ADD after all. Here is how to tell if you don’t have ADD ADHD.

Filed Under: ADD Medication Tagged With: ADD, ADD/ADHD, ADHD, Medication, Prescription Drugs, Side Effects, Vyvanse

ADD ADHD What I Do Meme

Written by ADDer 1 Comment

For those of you who spend a lot of time on the internet (and let’s face it, a lot of us with ADD do), you may have seen something called the “What I Do” meme. It’s basically an image, usually two rows of three columns with pictures depicting things like, “What my mom thinks I do,” and “What society thinks I do,” finally ending with “What I really do.”

Here is an example of one I found for writers:

What I Do Writer Meme

As you can see, the whole thing is a joke that pokes fun at both the perceptions of someone as well as actually poking fun at the person the meme is about. There are thousands of these things out there about just about any topic or profession you can think of. Ironically, a significant number of them show Moms thinking that the  person in question hangs out getting drunk. I’m not sure what that says about many professions and hobbies, or what it says about mothers, but that is not our topic for the day.

Someone sent me a What I Do – ADD / ADHD one of these. Now, before anyone goes crazy about how attention deficit disorder and/or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is no laughing matter, let me remind you that

a) I have ADD

b) laughter is the best medicine

c) it’s a JOKE!

So without further ado, the What I Do ADD Joke Meme:

What I Do ADD ADHD Meme

By the way, I think this could be funny without using the cliche of getting lost in the middle of doing something. ADD isn’t really always like that, of course. Still there is some comedy gold in ADD and ADHD if you are willing to remember that your life is not only as full and rich as everyone else’s, it can also be just as funny as well 🙂

That being said, when I get some free time, I think I’ll punch out a few of these that are maybe just as funny, while being a bit more clever.

Related articles
  • Do I “Wiki-Meet” Diagnostic Criteria for ADHD? (psychologytoday.com)

Filed Under: ADHD News Tagged With: ADD, ADD/ADHD, ADHD, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Using 15 Minutes Better

Written by ADDer Leave a Comment

You would think that someone with ADD would love working in 15 minute increments. After all, even an adult with ADHD can handle focusing on a task for just 15 minutes, right?

Wasting 15 Minutes at a Time

For people with ADD, however, deliberately getting started on a task during a small amount of usable time is trickier than it sounds. The hardest part is knowing that it is so easy to just do a few things, anythings, during that 15 minutes because you aren’t really procrastinating or wasting much time. After all, 15 minutes isn’t that much time. As someone with ADD, the possibilities are endless.

You could make that phone call you have been putting off all morning.

time management 15 minutes

Or, you could play a quick game of Candy Crush Soda and make that call after lunch. After all (here comes the ADD brain), what if that call accidentally goes long? What if he asks you to call back in 20 minutes when you’ll be busy doing something else. What if you get distracted (Hey, it happens, right?)?

Plus, there is the rest of your to-do list, which, let’s face it, is starting to look a little bit messy. Maybe now is a good time to rewrite the list.

You get the point. With ADD, it’s very likely we’ll just fitter away the time. We won’t even feel bad about it. I mean, it’s not like you can really do much anyway. You have a meeting in just 7 minutes now.

Pre-Planning the 15 Minute Gap

Recently, I’ve discovered a way to combine my ADD and procrastination habits to my benefit for just this sort of scenario.

Let’s say it is 9:30 am, and I have a meeting at 11:00. There is plenty of time to do some work, and I’m ready. But, there is this phone call that I have to make, but I’m not looking forward to. Instead, my mind is thinking of all the many other things I could, should, would be doing. I’ve learned long ago that fighting against the ADD brain is a fool’s errand. It’s much better to observe, recognize, and plan around your strengths.

In this case, I commit to myself that I will make the call later.

Of course, this is also a fool’s mission. Making a call “later” is a recipe for making the call never.

Instead, I commit to making the call during the next 15 minute gap.

In this way, I both procrastinate, which makes my brain happy. (It doesn’t consider this procrastination. This is doing what I want to do, which I should be able to do, right?) But, I also create an actual place to do the task.

Now, all I have to do is recognize that there is such a gap. This is the tricky part, because my ADHD brain racing ahead during the day will frequently not consciously notice that I’m sitting in a 15 minute gap. Instead, it will recognize the completion of a task, get happy, look for what’s next, and maybe play a little Paper.io.

So, I also have to anticipate the gaps. By pre-thinking about when those might occur — right before that meeting, right before lunch, right after I publish this blog post — I have a better chance of recognizing when those gaps come.

Using 15 Minutes for People with ADD

How to get more productivity with ADD while using 15 minute gaps.

  1. Identify tasks that will fit in 15 minute (or smaller) gaps.
  2. Commit to doing those tasks during the gaps.
  3. Prioritize if there are multiple tasks. Otherwise, you’ll waste time deciding which ones to do.
  4. Mentally go over your upcoming day and identify where small time gaps may occur in your plan.
  5. DO THE TASK in the gap. Don’t lie to yourself. There is nothing worse than lying to yourself. If you committed, do it. It’s only one task.
  6.  If you have more time in the gap, use it for yourself. You’ve moved forward. There’s no reason to try and waste your willpower. Instead…
  7. Identify the next potential gap and the task you will do during it.
  8. Profit

 

Filed Under: ADHD-ADD Tips Tagged With: ADD, ADD Organization Tips, ADD Tips, ADD Tricks, ADD/ADHD, ADHD, ADHD Tips, attention deficit disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, procrastination, Time Management

How To Find Real Research About ADD and ADHD

Written by ADDer Leave a Comment

Have you ever wondered how to do your own ADD research and find good, reliable resources for ADHD research?

It’s actually easier than you think.

Real ADD Research Studies

A lot of ADD news, or new ADHD research studies come with a lot of hype when reported on by the media. That’s because it takes a flashy headline to get people to click, and flashy, doesn’t always mean accurate. Take the recent study promoted under headlines about people with ADD having smaller brains. That study, kind of, sort of, almost said that, but not really.

To sort through a lot of the fake ADD research and fake ADHD treatments, it helps to go right to the source. Unfortunately, much scientific research is hidden behind paywalls, or only accessible in dense, hard to find, medical and research journals.

That being said, all government funded scientific research (almost all of it, when it comes to ADHD and ADD) is cataloged, with a summary, on various government websites. Most often, you’ll find new ADD research and science on the National Institute of Health (NIH) website, the CDC website, or on the Medline Plus website. Any of these resources catalogs the real research, right from the source.




Unfortunately, the search function on these websites often leaves a lot to be desired. But, Google indexes all of these websites and does a nice job cataloging them. The key is to restrict your research to these sites in order to get a list of “good” ADHD research results.

The SITE Operator

You can go through the steps to setup your own custom Google search, but there is an easier way.

On the regular Google search website, you can add site: to any search to restrict the search to the specified website. For example, if you just wanted to search for ADHD tips on this website, you could do something like this:

adhd tips site:addessories.com

The site:addessories.com part tells Google to only return results from that specific website. So, if you wanted to only see results from the NIH website, you can just type site:nih.gov after your search terms.

add adhd search research data news

Search All Government Websites Together

Unfortunately, not all ADHD data is cross-posted to all of the websites. If you want to know about St John’s Wort for ADD and ADHD, you’ll want to search Medline and NIH. Luckily, it doesn’t take any extra searches to search all of the relevant websites.

Since the .gov domain is actually restricted to government entities, you can get by with using the site operator with “gov” instead of being more specific. (Similarly, you can search only .edu websites by searching for edu with the site operator.)

adhd st johns wort site:gov

Searching like this gives you a normal Google search of terms, but eliminates all the phony ADHD treatment websites, and ADD con-artists, leaving just official government funded research.

You can take it one step further by using the Tools menu on the Google search page to bring up the time parameters and then choose something like “Past year” to only get the most recent ADD news and research.

Managing Your ADHD / ADD

Managing your ADD / ADHD is tricky enough without having to sift through old, disproven, or plain fake ADD news, research and information. So, use the gov searches to get the original documents, even if it is just a summary. That way you know if you are dealing with legitimate data, or just someone who wants to sell you a bunch of ADHD pills that may or may not help treat your ADD.

 

Filed Under: ADHD Research Studies Tagged With: ADD, add articles, ADD News, add research, ADD/ADHD, ADHD, ADHD Media, adhd research, adhd treatments, attention deficit disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, Drugs, Medication

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