Vyvanse disaster! Input please! | ADHD Information

My dd did not have a good reaction to Vyvanse at all.   Her doctor then prescribed Concerta and we had great results.   Every child reacts differently to each medication.I know with the Focalin xr it specifically states that the contents of the capsule should not be divided because the granules are not all equal in their capacity to release throughout the day. So, if you only take part, there might be an unequal distribution of the type of granules you are consuming. I wasn't sure if this was the same situation with Vyvanse, so I looked up some info on it and, sure enough, it gives the same instructions as the focalin xr...do not split the contents! This seems to be true for most of the extended release medications. Don't know if this is an "overprecaution" but I just thought I would pass it along.

Hey mommabear sorry to hear this. I have found, like Kathleen said, that my ds is getting over the inital side effects of the Focalin also. He even is eating lunch at school now. I still don't think it is lasting long enough, but that's a different thing. I agree w/you to let it get out of his system for now and perhaps try the XR later.

 

Thanks all! So after a lot of discussion, my husband and I decided to split
the pill- not the way i thought we'd go, but it may have been worth it.
Our doc did say it would be ok, and we really were curious to see if it
could work as he suggested. It's actually a powder, and not beads, so
perhaps that's why its "ok", though i know the website says not to
either....ANYWAY,

he had a GREAT day! Granted he still had a little of the hyper edge, but I
actually don't mind that because that's so much his personality. He was
still active, and not zombied, but he was listening,focussed, connected
and talking- which he's been struggling with even on the short acting. He
seemed to be a bit withdrawn and anti social often on his prior med. he
also ate today! It's very possible he's just having a good day, I'm aware
that could be the case, but we're going to do the split thing over the
weekend, and see if it's a fluke. If it's still positive, we'll send him to
school on Monday with this method, and that will be the real test. His
teachers have been beyond happy with the results from the Focalin, and
because his school performance is the priority, we'll see what happens
and go from there. If it's a bust, we'll go back to short acting Focalin until
we can try the XR over the next weekend so we can watch him. After
seeing what he went through yesterday, I almost tossed the Vyvanse
pills., BUT I referred to a book I have that's been really helpful, and it
described his behavior as an indication that the dose was too high. We
reminded ourselves that we had the doc's permission, and we just held
our breath and gave it a shot. I'm really happy with what I saw today, but
again I'm prepared for a potentially different outcome tomorrow....we're
taking it day by day. Will keep those interested posted!That's such great news! Isn't it wonderful when you get the first good day on medication... it really gives you hope for the future! I sure know what you mean about you liking him still being a little "hyper", we feel the same way. The last thing we want to do is distort our son's unique personality and being hyper (I like to call it enthusiastic!) is part of that personality...same as your little guy. Hopefully this lowered dose is your answer but, if not, you will get it right with something else I am sure. Keep us posted!So I had posted recently asking about Vyvanse as my 5 yr old was just
prescribed it. We started today on the lowest dose of 20 mg and he went
into a total depression an hour after. It's 4 pm now and still in the same
state. Sad, not interacting, very tired, not himself at all. Everyone has
discussed this drug being smooth,which is why the doc prescribed it as well,
but it really knocked the wind out of him! Can amphetamines in general
cause this "blue" or sadness reaction? He's only ever had Focalin, which is
methyl based, and he never got quite this bad. Ugh. so bummed. there is no
lower dose of this stuff so not sure what the next best thing is to do.....go
back to the shortacting Focalin which was causing some issues with peak
and wear off, or go to Focalin xr...thoughts?So sorry to hear about this bad reaction. Wonder what your doc will suggest? My only thought is that if your son tolerated the focalin with minimal side effects, that if he stays on it the side effects may very well lessen in time. That's what happened with our son. He has been on 10 mg of the focalin xr for about 7 weeks now (he doesn't take it on weekends though) and the "flatness" or "disconnect" is almost completely gone. We noticed that when he  has the outside stimulation like he gets in school, the medicine works great and the zoning out only happened when he was home where the activity level was very low and his senses were not being challenged. So, on weekends we skip it and this seems to be working out perfectly for him. His appetite is practically back to normal and he usually has no rebound effect... both which were problems for the first few weeks on the medicine. Good luck, and let us know what your doctor suggests.thanks. doctor never got back to me, which kind of pisses me off.
anyway....

My husband and decided to give him nothing tomorrow. He was literally
wiped out the entire day, and we just want his body and mind to equalize,
you know? We recalled that the doc said to open the capsule and take
some powder out if it seemed too much for him, which it obviously was.
I'm leery of using this method.. i mean if they don't make a pill that he
can tolerate, I don't exactly feel comfortable trying to create my own
version! We're going to sit with it for a day, and perhaps we'll see what he
looks like on the XR, we do have a prescription for that we can fill. I think
your right about the diff between home and school, school doesn't see
too much of what we've seen at home, and much of the issue seems to be
coming from the short acting part- the up and down of that pill. On a
small positive note, I did notice that on the Vyvanse his pupils weren't
dialted and he wasn't touching his face like he does on the Focalin. He
definitely didn't have that hyper rebound which happens when the Focalin
one wears off. Do you think it's crazy to try giving him half the powder in
the Vyvanse capsule to see what happens? Ugh....such stress!
"...Do you think it's crazy to try giving him half the powder in
the Vyvanse capsule to see what happens? ..."

Not at all!  I do it all the time w/Adderall XR and I did it w/Vyvanse too!