Anyone know anything about an ADHD drug called Vyvanse?

reply to post by HomerinNC


If you have netflix or another means, watch the documentary " war on kids" they show you how ADHD is nothing more then behavior a teacher does not want to deal with. (kids moving in their chair or questioning a teacher)

From the very book that doctors use to research the definitions of things like ADAH it says that things like ADD and ADHD are nothing more then an excuse to medicate kids.

In fact it says other countries like the UK have banned its use on kids (think it was the UK) and 4 million American kids are on meds, it deals with other stuff as well, so (anyone who has kids) please watch it.

I don't have kids, but when I watched that doc I was pissed.

reply to post by Magnivea


Thank you, I hope you're right about the Vyvanse! But he's not a behavior problem, he just has a hard time focusing. That being said, he still gets mostly As and Bs in school, he just had. Hard time with those damn EOGs

reply to post by HomerinNC


If your kids is doing good in school and not acting out.no reason to be medicated,IMO.

My daughter took I think all the above.
But that was because of acting out and not staying focused and doing poorly in school.
That was 5 years ago,and now she is a freshman in high school this year med free.

I would get the doctors prognosis as to why your kids needs the meds and go from there.

reply to post by HomerinNC


I share your concern, Do something quick, mood swings are only the beginning, it gets worse. By the time he reaches 16 and is exposed to sigarettes, alcohol and drugs I bet he will want to try them out and will quickly realise that he can't put it down as easily. Take it from me I KNOW from experience, kids on ADHD drugs develop addictions much easier than their ''sober'' peers. Best of luck man, I seriously hope you 'save' your kid in time. My kids will NEVER be on chronic meds if I have a say. One more thing, if you as a parent feel uncomfortable with anything concerning your kids it is your instincts WARNING you.

reply to post by GunzCoty


I've got ADHD and have never been on meds. Those fools who say it doesn't exist need to broaden their views of whats possible in this world, your brain and thoughts are letting you down !!

I can see how meds would help to speed me up, but the whole side effects thing always puts me off.

I don't think I could ever support giving medication to kids for it though. I think they need support and understanding more, then let them choose when they are old enough and know themselves. That said, I can only speak for my own situation.

I think you're right to be angry OP.

I was in the boat saying that ADD/ADHD was an excuse for lacking parenting skills. UntilI I delt with it first hand. I tried everything with my son, nothing worked. He started becoming depressed and withdrew himself from friends and family. A friend who is a child psychologist explained it to me in a way that helped me understand. While the brain develops in an ADD individual, the short term memory stops growing too soon. Imagine their short term memory being the size of a teacup instead of a big soup bowl. Information keeps going into the teacup sized memory bank but flows over because it is not able to hold it all. So, the person can only remember a handfull of what they need to. Do they want to remember all the posters on the wall in the classroom, their friends phone # they just got, or that math lesson, nevermind english, history, and the bazillion other things they are told to remember. They CAN NOT do what is insisted of them no matter how hard they try and they get introuble for it by parents, teachers, etc. Talk about putting a lot of pressure on a kid whose life is already tough because they are getting hormones and dont understand their emotions. Middle school years were not glorious years they are full of drama due to puberty.

Long story short, we put my son on Vyvance at the age of 12. After a few days, he thanked me. I do not insist he takes it all the time. He does not have to take it on weekends, holidays, etc. He takes it when he needs to. It works. Does his emotions get overwhelming? Again, he is 13 now, in middle school.... of course they do. If it is too bad, then he is on too high of a dose. It doesnt take much, and it only lasts 6-8 hours. Timing is everything. He knows exactly when he needs to take it in the morning... 30min before school. Take it too late, and it can keep them awake. So forget about giving it to him at lunch if he forgets.

Get all the facts and talk to the kiddo before you take him off of it. Vyvance is one of the most mellow drugs for ADD, and it works well. The Dr. did say that if he was predisposed to anxiety issues this could make it worse which would call for the need of an antianxiety on top of it. He IS, but it was not an issue so he is only on Vyvance. We also insist he takes multivitimin for his age group and ensures in the morning. Making sure they have all their nutritional needs met makes a HUGE difference in how they act through out the day and Vyvance will make them NOT HAVE AN APPITITE. So make sure he gets his nutrition in the morning.

Good luck.

reply to post by mrsdudara


Guess I have to broaden my thoughts too. That explanation was great too, thanks for that Glad your son is doing ok.

OP, I'm in no way a legal expert. However, please record dates and incidents somewhere - a notebook or spreadsheet - as these "incidents" pop up. Should you visit with an attorney, this timeline will be critical to support your allegations because you won't have to remember exact dates, and you'll appear to be quite competent - something that can go miles in a court trial. You indicate that your ex is aware that you're against these drugs, and you're concerned that this is in retaliation for your beliefs. This is critical: if it can be proven that your ex medicated your child not in an effort to address a medical issue, but to instead retaliate against his father, the possibility that custody will be granted to you will be greatly bolstered, provided you can prove you're capable of providing financial and emotional support to your son.

Also, when visiting with your son, remove sugar from his diet, and add descriptions of his behavior to the documentation I discussed above. Find out what he ate prior to his arrival as well, and describe his behavior upon arrival. I don't dismiss nutrition one iota in this equation. I was fortunate enough to have a mom who refused to administer phenobarbitol to me at the age of two (back in the early 70's), and instead removed sugar from my diet to get the desired outcome.

The male brain finishes growing at 25 - the female, at 24. Don't let these drugs intervene with your son's growth process - from what you're reporting about him, he sounds like a normal healthy boy with a tendancy toward daydreaming. And when we get rid of all of the daydreamers...jeesh...I don't even want to consider that.

Having ADHD myself, as well as experience with Ritalin i can tell you:

- in the begining ritalin helped me to get out of depressions, get more focused in the job, and it was interesting to see how 'normal' people must feel.

-after some weeks it changed, i felt the ritalin kicking in, and i felt it leaving after a couple of hours, both paired with headaches. As well i felt like a mindless zombie, no more emotions (except for the high when taking ritalin, and the down when it left), no more compassion, no creativity.

So it can help, but as well it can be the opposite.

apart from medications there are some very important measures that can be taken (not all work with everybody, but worked with me, and are common sense:

- diet with nearly no sugar (no sodas, no energy drinks as well) use green tea for the little lows.
- keep regular schedules in the days, with enough relax times and sleep
- let you son do sports (whatever he likes) regularly, good is something with some thrills involved, does not have to be basejumping... I had good results with martial arts (judo, fencing or so)
- let him be creative, introduce him to painting, making music, reading, writing.
- be very patient with him, i know adhd kids can be a pain in the ass for parents sometimes . Take him serious, but let him play and give him love.
- i don't know your family situation, it seems the parents don t live together, this is something that can stress the sensitive adhd kid. So please show him that he gets love from both parents and keep him out of arguments between mom and dad (i am not saying that i assume you having arguments or any thing like it, just stating that adhd kids are very sensitive to difficult family situations)

Hope i could help.

The ADHD scam -- expose interview wtih Dr. Fred Baughman

My 12 year old daughter has taken vyvanse with success for over a year. We tried others but they weren't a good fit for her. She takes it on school days and sometimes on the weekends, but not in the summer. Her behavior and ability to listen, do schoolwork, etc is notably different (better) on the medication.
Her pediatrician says that vyvanse is "cleaner" than the other options. It's less addictive, with no chance of abuse. She hasn't lost weight on this one. She's at 40 mg, given in the morning and by dinner it's worn off. She gets the benefit during school hours.
I'm not crazy about this myself, but I want her to be able to do her best in school, and she really struggles there, so this is our best choice today.
This wasn't offered by the school. We pursued solutions when she began to struggle in school and eventually this was the diagnosis, along with a couple of learning disabilities.
I don't want this as a long-term solution. We hope she's able to go without medication when she gets older and more mature (socially and brain growth-wise).
I hope that helps and I hope that whatever the outcome, it's a positive one for your child.

Gary Boggs, a special agent for the federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), added, "We're seeing it all over the United States." DEA figures say 29 percent of teens say they have close friends who abuse drugs like Adderall and Ritalin. As if the practice itself wasn't serious enough, the medications themselves are. The DEA lists prescription stimulants like Adderall and Vyvanse (amphetamines) and Ritalin and Focalin (methylphenidates) as Class 2 controlled substances, which is the same as coc aine and morphine, because of high addiction rates for drugs with medical uses.

Students now snorting ADHD drugs before taking academic tests Tuesday, June 12, 2012

In schools all across the country, students bent on getting better scores on SAT exams and others are snorting ADHD amphetamines like Adderall before tests to help them focus, as well as during late-night study sessions and other times when they are preparing for a test. The drug does more than just help jolt them awake in the mornings as they got ready to take the make-or-break marathon college preparatory tests; it gives them a laser-like focusing ability that is just right for that kind of situation.

Originally posted by hqokc

I don't want this as a long-term solution. We hope she's able to go without medication when she gets older and more mature (socially and brain growth-wise).

That is the beauty of it. Vyvance is not supposed to be used as a long term solution. It is to help while you teach the child new ways of remembering. Setting up ways for him to remind himself and organize his life, you know, healthy habits.

Im working with my son to make it a habit to write things down and recognise that he can not remember things on his own. He is stubborn like me so its taking a lot of work. I have to say though, he is getting straight As this year. C's and D's the years before.

Don't listen to all the naysayers that only offer anecdotal evidence on whether or not you should take a medication a licensed MD thinks may help you. I have been taking Ritalin and Adderall legally since I was in elementary school and if you do not abuse it, you will be absolutely fine. Lately with these pill epidemics Dr.s are more reluctant than ever to give out controlled substances, so the fact he is offering it to you says quite a bit. No Adderall doesn't cause brain damage if you aren't taking it out of control. And never take the advice of hypocrites that condemn other substances yet are coffee or alcohol fiends themselves but don't think anything of it because its long been a staple of our society.
Personally, don't EVER go with new medications, the older the meds the less harmful they are as well as much more effective. BTW I'm 27 now and have no cognitive problems or disorders from my many years of use. My best advice is never ask a forum because most people have no idea what they are talking about when it comes to psychiatry. They just hear stupid reports in the media and parrot those claims without having any idea of whether its true. And don't bother trying to cite "studies" because as many studies as there are against stimulant medications, there are just as many studies that promote them and their efficacy. I personally feel like Adderall was a life saver for me because I was able to accomplish all the things I needed to that I know I wouldn't be able to without the help of the medication. So forget that other drug, stick with classic things that were out since the 60s because the newer medications, the more dangerous they are as well as less effective.

And to the ignorant people that claim that either ADD/ADHD does not exist is uneducation and ignorance at its greatest and secondly, people with these disabilities have brains that do not function the same way normal brains do. So while these medications may be stimulants, theres something called a the paradoxical effect. This means that instead of cracking you out they actually give people the ability to focus and become calm. I only read the OP and wrote my reply and I was immediately proven correct by all the nonsense people believe because it was "reported."
If you aren't familiar with physiological psychology or abnormal psychology, don't make ignorant claims these disorders do not exist and especially do not try to talk someone out of getting treatment, because you aren't even an MD nor do you have any knowledge about how these things work. Best of luck to you and feel free to PM me if you have any questions on Adderall or ADHD. I would be glad to help.

Oh and if you do end up getting Adderall, make sure you do not take Vitamin C with it as it can greatly reduce the absorption of the drug into the body as well as the half life.