Vyvance, new thread | ADHD Information
SPAMULA, Vyvnase is one the few meds we have not tried. I seem to have heard more good than bad about it though. It is certainly worth a try.
Please keep us posted, my fingers are crossed for you 
!!
My 10 year old son has been on (since DX at age 5) Adderall, Adderall XR, Provigil and remeron(for sleep). Right now we are using vyvanse. He has been on it for about 1.5 months. His dosage is 30mg, the lowest. He is tall but very thin. Only 58lbs. He no longer needs the remeron for sleep.
So far its working great. He takes it very early in the morning and it lasts till about 7 or 8 pm. He is doing very well in school. His grades were always good, but his focus was not. He needed ALOT of redirection and did very little independent work. Teacher and his paraprofessional all say he is working much more independently and is focus is much better. He is in afterschoolcare till 6 pm and has been doing all his homework, versus doing maybe one assignment before vyvanse. He sleeps fine and has some miminal rebound when it wears off. Of course , if we keep things calm and quiet and dont encounter any triggers at that time, rebound is not too bad. That is all the good things.
Some cons. His appetite is good in the morning, very bad in afternoon and comes back slowly at night. Appetite is best after 8 pm. So we try to make sure his food are high calorie when is appetite is in force.
In the beginning he was a little out of it. Lasted about 3 days. I didnt like it, seemed like he lost his personality but it did go away.
I notice he can be a bit more mouthy and irriatable at times, mostly when he is not getting what he wants or during the time it is wearing off. I can usually get him out of it. I know what works to make him *come back*. Sometimes something as simple as just making him laugh.
I know from experience that all of the stims have some side effects so if you choose to use them, you must take the good with the bad. I always look for the good to outweight the bad. In this case, it does.
I do know you can drink it , so that will be helpful to you! Not sure about what you can mix it with. I do know it doesnt *taste* like anything so it wont color the flavor of whatever its mixed in.
Good luck and keep us posted...Another thing my sons phychiatrist told us, was to give it 2 full weeks. Some side effects, stomach aches, rebound,appetite loss and sleeplessness recede.
I have an 8 year old that has been on Vyvance for 2 months. We tried him on just about everything. So far it has been ok. I mean I guess none of these meds are going to work miracles, but from what I see its going good. From all my research on all these meds Vyvance seems to be the top one right now.
Well I actually am taking another approach on this whole ADHD thing, that I have commented to other people. I began to investagate what triggers all this behavior and so forth. If you google ADHD you will so many things come up, and I started to get interested. Then I met a parent from my son's school in a simular position as me. She cured her son from even taking meds with changing his diet to nothing but Organic, and fresh. Basically whatever God provided, and nothing man altered. I found it amazing because for months I had been reading about food, and juice, and fast food etc. After meeting her I knew what I needed to do. I found my local farmers market, and went crazy with new foods. It was hard for my son cause not only him, but I love eating out. But I sat with him one day and explained why I was making the change and what this will do for him, and his brother (who does not have ADHD) My son got really excited to learn that this was maybe going to help him do better in school, and actually gain friends. Since then, there have been NO battles!!
Maybe you should also look into a new diet, I am sure you will see changes in all aspects of his life. It takes more work, but I think its worth it.
Good Luck!!
Well we went to the psych yesterday and he first reccommended Daytrana but My son is allergic to adhesive, then he said his favorite was Vyvance. My son is the one who has been refusing meds for months due to his Personality change. Well he changed his mind and said if he can drink it he would try it.
1st why didn't I have this appt at the start of spring break not the end? dumb Mom.
2nd I know very little about this med even though I have read the other thread here I do not feel informed enough.
3rd if anyone has any positive stories to share I would love to hear them.
We stopped FocalinXR because of the personality loss and I am not looking for the same thing. I have read that alot of people do not experience this with Vyvance. I cannot find their web page from Shire. Just looking for more info. and what about mixing it in chocolate milk? it says water the doc said whatever but I just want to be sure. And what about anxiety he has that bad although he is on Zoloft and it is helping. I told the doc I was looking for long acting 10-11 hours and less rebound and better eating(ha ha) This was his suggestion. So if anyone else would like to share I would appreciate it.
spamula39450.2639467593No real personal experience with it, but here is the link.
my 6yo dd has been on vyvanse sice 11/11/07. she was recently increased to 50 mg. she actually would do better with a 40 mg, so i dump a little out, it's not exact but right now it works for us. we have had some pretty good experiences with it. her behavior is school is better, she is focusing better and it seems to last about 9-10 hours. which does get us thru homework. the first two weeks were rough and my husband did want to give it up (sleep and eating), but after that it was. i would say her personality is more calm now, she still has one, but she is not jumping off the couch, so to speak. she is also on zoloft for anxiety, which for my daughter is a balance with any stim.
i agree with jacks, weigh the good against the bad.
hOW SOON DOES IT TAKE AFFECT???? IF I GIVE IT TO HIM IN THE AM WHEN HE GETS UP HE USUALLY WON'T EAT FOR 1/2 AN HOUR. WILL HIS APPETITE BE GONE BY THEN? i DON'T WANT COVERAGE UNTIL 7PM, 6 AT THE LATEST. i REALLY ONLY WANT 10 HOURS SO WE'LL SEE HOW LONG IT LASTS IF HE EVEN ACTUALLY TAKES IT LOL! AND AM I JUST PROLONGING THE INEVITABLE BY PUORING OUT JUST A LITTLE OF THE POWDER FOR THE 1ST WEEK?or will it make him have less symptoms?I AM NERVOUS ABOUT THIS ONE.I DO NOT KNOW WHY IT HAS A GREAT REPUTATION FROM WHAT I HAVE HEARD BUT I AM STILL WORRIED.for my daughter the first two weeks were rough. she had a hard time sleeping and she had a hard time eating. i started on a weekend and i also dumped a little out. the frist couple of days i gave it to her around 4 am!!!! on the first sat and sun it really didn't matter that much if lasted till 3:30. when school started on her first monday with it i gave it to her at 5 am. and as the side effects went away i gradually moved it to 6:30. my daughter now eats like a champ better then she has with any medication. and she is a bean of a girl that is growing better on this med then any other. (she is 6.5 and already wearing a size 7 for length, she still needs a belt because she has no middle.)
also, after the first two weeks, she has never needed melatonin to fall asleep. that is also a big improvement. although she is not asleep till about 9:45 or 10, she wakes up easily and because the meds have already kicked in the mornings are a breeze.
because vyvanse can go into a liquid, i have read that you could (for example) mix it w/ 3 oz of water and give him 2 oz, therefore getting 20 mg of vyvanse. therefore being more accurate. we recently bumped her up to 50 mg after about 5 weeks at the thirty. i am also dumping out some, (i think she really needs 40 mg) it is not an exact science but my daughter will under no circumstances drink any medication. (the polar opposite of your son.)
she was on focalin xr before but it was only lasting about 5-6 hours and the end of her school day was a wreck, she seems to metabolize every stim faster. initally i would say that the vyvanse lasted at least 12 hours now it is more like 9-10. which is perfect for us.
here is shires website for vyvanse, i hope that was the one you were looking for.
i hope it works well for you, i love it more then i can express, and although i don't think that anything will be perfect this to me is close enough.
i have my fingers crossed that he just needs his annoids out. how nice that would be.
when i was looking up the side effects of vyvanse 2% of those that use it report Somnolence. I had no idea what that word means but Webster says Somnolence (or "drowsiness") is a state of near-sleep, a strong desire for sleep, or sleeping for unusually long periods.
We have been on vyvanse for 2 weeks and so far so good. I did talk to the doc today because he (7-year-old ADD/ADHD) has been very tired. He said the stimulant shouldn't make him tired and asked if he snores.
My son and my husband can go head to head on the snoring. The doc wants him to see an ear, nose, thoat doc in the spring. The conerta was giving him that boost of energy and perhaps masking the real problem. I'm trying not to get my hopes up, but what if my little boy just has sleep apnea and needs his annoids removed?
He is so sweet and his behavior didn't become a problem until I went back to work and he couldn't sleep on his on schedule. The diagnosis of ADHD was made partly because his older brother is, no doubt about it.
I'm trying not get my hopes up that a quick routine operation will take the meds away, but it's hard.
That being said vyvanse doesn't have the side effects that concerta has so I am very happy with it. Big brother will try this weekend.
If the Vyvance does not work for us Daytrana is our last shot at stims I think. I am hoping the Vyvance will work for us as my son has skin issues and Daytrana will probably irritate it too much. That's how we made our decision. I am still interested in any stories out there so bring em on!My son has been on Vyvanse since November (started at 30 mg, then bumped to 50 mg in December), and we just switched him to Daytrana today. Vyvanse worked great on his symptoms, he wasn't a zombie and still had personality. BUT, the rebound was really becoming a problem. My son was an angry, crying maniac after about 5 PM (he takes his pill at 6 AM dissolved in 8 oz of Kool-aid). And very grumpy and growly in the AM too before the med kicked in (takes about 30 minutes). It would last for him until about 4 PM after we started the 50 mg, and like others have said, after a couple weeks he had no problems getting to sleep. But since the rebound was out of control and he had lost 4 pounds in two months (he's 6.5 and weighs 40 lbs), the doc agreed to try the Daytrana at my request. I will also add that my son said the meds were not noticeable when dissolved in 8 oz, but when I would dissolve it in 4 oz (8 oz made him burp...lol), he would cringe and make horrible faces. But every child is different, and our doctor said that she has the least complaints out of her patients on Vyvanse, but not everyone is "compatible" with it. I hope you have good luck on it![QUOTE=spamula]I AM STILL LOOKING FOR VYVANCE MED INFO BUT THERE SEEMS TO BE SO LITTLE OUT THERE ON IT. ANYTHING YOU GUYS HELP![/QUOTE]
don't forget when you are searching it is vyvanSe ---- and S not a C. good luck.
spamula, what kind of info are you looking for?
drugs.com and rxlist.com are good sites for side effects and drug info.
I AM STILL LOOKING FOR VYVANCE MED INFO BUT THERE SEEMS TO BE SO LITTLE OUT THERE ON IT. ANYTHING YOU GUYS HELP!Thank you. I'm just tired of picking him up from school and hearing about the bad days. I'm drained. I typed his age wrong before, he is 7, but in 1st grade. Today the sent him to kindergarden class because he so disruptive. The said he hit and spit at another child.
But I'm so tired of punishing him. It doesn't work.
So it's been 2.5 weeks on vyvanse 30mg and he had a bad day at school, hitting other kids. I punished him to his room and he broke the blinds on his door in an I'm hungry rage. I fixed him a second plate of dinner and he is not eating it. He really wanted a snack but I didn't want to give into the temper tantrum.
What am I suppose to do? It's only been one bad day since x-mas break. His teacher told me it's three good days then a bad one. I don't know what to do anymore.
I can't punish him because he doesn't really care about anything, really. I took away his toys and he plays with his sheets.
I wonder if this is all the ADHD or just bad parenting on my part. 
6yr old on vyvanse
It is not bad parenting at all.....
You will have good days and bad days because only 6...The key is you are looking for any improvement...I too got the I don't care attitude....The older becomes their should be an improvement in behavior...it takes time to learn control.
In first and second grade....I had to keep an journal with the teachers to find
out if she had a good day or not...they would tell each day what happen in school
etc....then she either got praise or not.....LOL But this was something I developed with the teachers......The wonder of smiley faces...
Now in third the good days out weigh the bad.....Its a work in progress....
Just keep firm in your decisions and stick to them.....if they think they got
the upper hand...it causes a lot more grief.
I agree. Miranda234, your situation almost sounds exactly like some of my days. My 6 year old son has the same issues at school and home. Sometimes I too wonder if he even has ADHD, and if I screwed up somewhere. Because he has always minded his father, but as soon as Dad leaves, it's like he turns into a completely different child that wants nothing more than to make my life a living heck! Hang in there & keep notes and make sure you keep the doc informed of everything, because my doc says it may take some time to find the right meds and the right dosage for the best possible symptom control.i agree with these ladies. IT IS NOT BAD PARENTING! You are doing a wondeful job. He is only 6! My son, who is 10 now had many bad days at that age ..alot of tantrums and meltdowns. As he got older and things started making more sense, it got better. I firmly believe with all meds, you have to find the one where the good outweighs the bad. I was hoping in the beginning to find that magic one but sadly its not there. I still feel disappointed when a med that worked great for so long, starts to not work so well. Now I just take one day at a time and am thankful for the days that are GOOD. Ryan has MANY more good days, than bad but he still has a bad day now and then..as we all do!
Keep doing what your doing, stick to your guns, routine and lots of love. Things will get better!!
I call hitting ,kicking etc...stages....there always seems to be a new one...I went thru them all......I would keep
reminding him its not acceptable behavior.... Has he been dx with OCD?????
Is he doing any behavior treament???? If not I would check to see if available in your area....
Yes, he does behavior modification once every 2 weeks. And you know what is funny: They did a session on not hitting to solve your problems and the next day is when the hitting started again.
I wonder if he thought, oh I forgot about hitting.
The behavior mod has been good for my older son, but I can't say it has helped Will. The counselor admits that it is hard to get through to him because he is so carefree, but vowes to keep trying. We'll see.