My son is on 20 mg Vyvanse and at first I thought it worked great and now I don't really care for it. It takes about an hour for it to kick in and he definitely needs to take it after he eats breakfast, otherwise he will get a stomachache. Our mornings are pretty chaotic, school seems to be okay (I'll hear more tomorrow at my IEP meeting) and most afternoons are horrible. This is my son's fourth medication and I am not very pleased with any of them. He has never tried Adderall so I can't help you there.
This summer I am definitely changing his diet (probably try Feingold) and see if that helps. There has got to be something else besides all of these medications.
Kathy
Everyone is different of course, but in my case if all are taken on an empty stomach, I feel the Vyvanse "kicking in" in about the same amount of time as either Adderall XR or regular Adderall. I expected that Vyvanse would take longer due its needing to be broken down in the liver, but on an empty stomach I sensed its effect starting in about 20 minutes. The med literature probably shows the blood plasma levels for these long-acting drugs several hours after being admistered, which I don't doubt. It's just that, for me at least, I begin benefiting from the medicine as soon it starts working, well before it reaches its peak in my system.
Ok I was just reading about Vyvanse and read it wont kick in until digested. I am looking for something that will kick in faster than and hour and a half so would Adderall be a better choice?