If you have ADHD, prescription stimulants can make you more alert, increase your attention, help you focus, and give you more energy.
Stimulants are an effective way of managing ADHD symptoms, such as short attention span, impulsive behavior, and hyperactivity. These drugs improve ADHD symptoms in about 70% of adults and 70–80% of children. They tend to reduce interruptive behavior, fidgeting, and other hyperactive symptoms.
Some studies have found that caffeine can boost concentration for people with ADHD. Since it's a stimulant drug, it mimics some of the effects of stronger stimulants used to treat ADHD, such as amphetamine medications.
Vyvanse is a stimulant medication, meaning that it speeds up brain activity. Vyvanse can improve attention and focus in individuals with ADHD, but it can also produce euphoria, increase energy, and suppress appetite. Many people abuse Vyvanse for recreational, academic, or weight loss reasons.
All medications have potential side effects, and stimulants like Vyvanse, Concerta, and Adderall may cause some difficulty sleeping, decreased appetite, and headache, among other side effects.
There are two classes of medication for ADHD that treat symptoms: stimulants and non-stimulants. The stimulant medications are effective as soon as they cross the blood-brain barrier, which takes 45 to 60 minutes.
How can I tell if Adderall is working? It's unlikely Adderall will make every symptom of ADHD go away, but you'll know it's working when some symptoms improve like the ability to stay focused on a task and complete it. Adderall may be working if a person with ADHD says they are doing better at work or school.
Vyvanse and Substance Abuse
Stimulants like Vyvanse have a high potential for abuse and addiction, especially among people who do not have ADHD. It is a “Schedule II Stimulant,” a designation that the Drug Enforcement Agency uses for drugs with a high potential for abuse.
Vyvanse and Adderall are used by many people to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Both are stimulants called amphetamines. They work by raising levels of chemicals in your brain called dopamine and norepinephrine that help you focus, control your impulses, and pay attention at school or work.
Studies. One small placebo-controlled, double-blinded ME/CFS study found that Vyvanse, a next-generation amphetamine, not only improved cognition but fatigue and pain, as well.
Stimulants, including caffeine, raise the amount of specific chemicals that your brain uses to send signals. One of these is dopamine. It's linked to pleasure, attention, and movement. When you have ADHD, doctors often prescribe stimulants to help you feel more calm and focused.
Consuming large amounts of caffeine can cause jitteriness or a feeling of nervousness, headaches, and upset stomach, and make it hard to sleep. Doing so in addition to taking your ADHD medication can result in dangerously acute jitteriness or out-of-control impulsivity.
Caffeine also constricts blood vessels in the brain in a similar way that ADHD medications do. It's thought that decreased blood flow can help calm down overactive regions of the brain. For the same reason, caffeine is also found in some headache medications.
Your body's chemistry. As many as 1 in 10 people don't get results from either of the two main types of stimulants prescribed for ADHD because they don't work with their body chemistry. Though experts aren't sure why, sometimes medicines can stop working even though they did in the past.
Stimulant medications including amphetamines (e.g., Adderall) and methylphenidate (e.g., Ritalin and Concerta) are often prescribed to treat children, adolescents, or adults diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Stimulant drugs do improve the ability (even without ADHD) to focus and pay attention. One function, which is reliably improved by stimulant medications, is sustained attention, or vigilance.
By taking more than the recommended dose, users can experience a range of serious, negative impacts on their health in the long run. For example, misuse of central nervous system stimulants such as Vyvanse can hasten the development of tolerance, physiological dependence, and addiction.
Do you have to take Vyvanse every day? As part of the treatment plan for both ADHD and BED, Vyvanse should be taken every day. Stimulant medications like Vyvanse typically have a rapid onset of action and begin working in the brain quickly. Lisdexamfetamine is a prodrug of dextroamphetamine.
Vyvanse is a prescription medicine used for the treatment of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in patients 6 years and above, and for the treatment of moderate to severe binge eating disorder (B.E.D.) in adults.
While taking stimulants would cause most of us to become hyperactive, they have the opposite effect on those with ADHD. While stimulants can cause children with this disorder to have difficulty sleeping and can cause them to feel uncomfortable, it actually quiets their hyperactivity and improves their attention.
Who should not take Vyvanse? You should not take Vyvanse if you: Are taking or have taken within the past 14 days an anti-depression medicine called a monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI) Are sensitive to, allergic to, or had a reaction to other stimulant medicines.
When the dosage is too high, stimulants can cause children or even adults to seem “spacey” or “zombie-like,” or to be uncharacteristically tearful or irritable (a condition known as emotional lability). In general, the best way to rein in these side effects is simply to lower the dosage.
Children on stimulant medicines can also develop side effects that could look like changes in personality. They may behave more excitedly or become more withdrawn. They may act more inflexible or develop obsessive-compulsive behaviors.
ADHD medication rebound, sometimes called the “rebound effect,” is a flare of ADHD symptoms at the time a stimulant medication wears off. It is the brain's reaction to the ADHD stimulant medication leaving the body, and it can result in an intense reaction or behavior change for roughly 60 minutes at the end of a dose.
As long as the dosage is correct, the medication should not affect your personality or sense of humor. What it will do is curb your hyperactivity, inattention, and impulsivity. An excessively high dose could temporarily “flatten” your personality, causing you to seem unusually quiet or withdrawn.