It freaked me out how much of a difference Adderall made when I started taking it. My productivity and general feeling of self worth have definitely improved since I started taking it seven or eight years ago. I also worry about the long-term effects, but probably not as much as my concern for how I would function if it were ever taken off of the market.
It's a hell of a drug. The long term effects are why I discontinued, but it made the decade at Amazon not just bearable, but fun. That and half the other SDEs there were taking it too.
Cognitive decline is the main one that concerned me. You don't run an organ hot for years without doing some damage, and anyone who says otherwise is selling a dream.
If you dose stimulants properly, and you actually have ADD, you're not running anything hot. Stimulants should be used to bring a low resting dopamine rate to normal and healthy levels.
Hijacking the conversation to learn from your experience.
What would you tell to someone like me, who started taking 30mg Vyvanse for ADHD just a month ago?
I'm skipping weekends to delay organism adaptation and put less strain on the body. The drug doesn't let you feel that strain but I'm sure it's there since it works like a processor overclock. Before I functioned at 60% and now I function at 120% for most of the day.
30mg seems high to me for an initial dose. "Dosing things right" for stimulant therapy for ADHD is something like "little enough that you don't feel much of an effect subjectively, but not so little that it fails to help control symptoms".
Like, I got started out at 10mg Adderall XR, and even that has a little bit more oomph than I think is ideal. I might be more sensitive to stimulants than you, but even then you want to take as little as is necessary to control your symptoms.
I'd suggest talking to your psychiatrist about lowering your dosage. If you're taking three 10mg pills, try taking just one of them. If you're taking just one 30mg pill, then complain about side effects (feeling wired, upset stomach) and ask for a lower dose.
Unfortunately 30mg is the lowest dosage available in my country. It's available in 30mg, 50mg and 70mg here. Despite both both being amphetamine based stimulants, one could say 30mg of Vyvanse is equivalent to 20mg of Aderall but the formulas differ and it depends on the organism. Vyvanse is also more gentle and of a more gradual release than Adderall.
My question was more about tips and hints on long term usage of these stimulants.
Don't be afraid to take less than you're prescribed. I'm unfamiliar with Vyvanse, but with other stimulants you can cut the pill down to take less. You can talk with your doctor about this, in the US at least they can prescribe fractional pill doses. You really want to titrate down to the lowest possible dose that gives you a therapeutic effect. Also ask about drug holidays.
