ADHD Medication

[AutisticLegoLover]

Posting for traffic as the ND board is so quiet.
I’ll be starting Elvanse for ADHD this week and I’m posting in the hope of hearing other people’s experiences of it. I’m starting off on 30mg and wondering how I’ll feel, hoping for no worrying side effects, and hoping it will improve my quality of life. I have autism too so I’m not expecting great things but a head that’s less like a landmine would be great.

My prescription is via shared care with a Right To Choose company who did my assessments. I waited many years to be assessed after decades of struggling and failing at life and really hope that my executive functioning will improve. Any improvement will be good, I’m not expecting miracles.

My daughter, who is also AuDHD, has been on it for 5 years.

30mg is obviously the lowest dose so don’t be despondent if it doesn’t do much, it may just mean you need more.

DD has very poor interoception so we know more about how it works from her output (so to speak). I’d love to know about how it feels if you’re able to come back and update…

And you’re not failing at life. It’s just expecting things of you which are not realistic x

Ds18 takes it. He's been on it for about 5 months. Started off on the lowest dose, has gone up 2 strengths since. I can't remember the numbers and I'm not at home to check, sorry.

He says he doesn't feel any different. But I see changes in him. He's calmer, he's more present. He's thinking ahead a bit more and planning. He's getting out of bed and off to work on time. He's better at starting a task without having to be asked 20 times. He's better at remembering to go back and finish something off. He keeps track of time passing better. Time blindness was a real problem for him.

So the changes are subtle I'd say, but definitely there. He's still the same person, same personality. And he still feels like himself which is good.

It might take a few weeks and a bit of tweaking but I'd be hopeful op. Our experience has been a positive one so far.

I started Elvanse about a month ago, 30mg for a week then 50mg’s worth for a month. I’ve just had my first review and my dose has been increased to 70mg which I’ll start in about a week or so I think.

The first day I took it my ear ringing was gone. It popped into my head I needed to wash my hair and I just went and did it. I have the brain space to reflect on life, my head is calmer and clearer, I’m able to just do things I couldn’t before, and people have told me I’m a bit more focused. I’m also not late so much and have been able to remember to do things a bit. I can cope better and don’t get so awfully overwhelmed with the demands of life and noise from my kids and am generally calmer I think.

I skipped a day by accident and that day was awful in comparison because I felt like I was all over the place mentally compared to my new ‘normal’ on the meds so it definitely makes a difference for me!

Side effect wise I’ve had horrible dry mouth so now carry a water bottle around with me like a school child and drink 2-3 litres a day, and it has suppressed my appetite so I’ve currently lost about half a stone which is a bonus as I was 2-3 stone overweight. Oh, and I struggled with sleep to start with.

It’s been brilliant for me overall and life is just easier now.

Thank you for the replies, that’s helpful.

My DD finds it v effective for being more focused, she finds it much easier to sit down and get her uni work done - before she started medication she struggled immensely with being able to concentrate on revision / course work etc.

However, she is thirsty much of the time, loses her appetite and found it made her quite moody / disliking of people, so she is going to try a lower dose and see if that is a better balance.

She too is autistic.

I am hopefully picking it up today and will start Thursday as Ds has a day off school and I won’t need to rush anywhere. Being 49 and not sleeping amazingly as it is I hope it doesn’t affect my sleep too much. I’ll be taking it around 7am so it should be well out of my system by 9pm. I wonder if it will help my impulsive Lego buying?!

Been life changing for my 10 yr old,more focused, less impulsive and.d destructive. He has sen though so can't articulate his experience so would be very interested to hear about yours.

I was on 30mg a couple of years ago but it affected my sleep - I’m now trying again and take 20 mg or 10 (by tipping out half a capsule), my private psychiatrist said a number of her clients are only on 20mg. It’s only been a couple of months so I may need to change amounts but I’m retired so no demanding job to deal with. So it’s 20 if I have a lot of socialising as I’ve always suffered from social anxiety and 10 other days.

I’ve got it. Scared to take it 🤣

I’m still waiting to start titration, but I found loads of useful info on Reddit xx

Well, if anything I feel tired! Headache but that’s normal for me, it’s just worse than normal.

My AuDHD daughter tried it and it didn't suit at all. She started on 30mg and was titrated up. She had lots of side effects and it completely flattened her personality. She came off them and currently takes nothing.

Ok so now I’m a bit hyper but that might be the lack of lunch combined with my usual strong painkillers. I’ve eaten a babybel and 6 biscuits, spent an hour designing a card on Moonpig, bashed the hell out of my son’s drum kit and now feel like skipping to school. I won’t, it’s over a mile, but I’m feeling fine! I was feeling quite calm over lunch. I am prone to feeling hyper when excited about something. I’ll judge better tomorrow.

My son is on 20 mg of Elvanse, 30 mg is not the lowest. It has been transformative for him. He’s much calmer and less prone to explosive behaviour or indeed impulsive things. It has also stopped his compulsive eating and he has lost the excess weight. It is hard to tell if it has impacted sleep as that is something he’s struggled with since birth and he takes melatonin. I am just relieved that he is so much calmer now. We did try a few before this, all triggered migraine and this one hasn’t.

I’m on elvanse, started almost a year ago. I love it but don’t take it every day, maybe 3 days a week. And I get more dove in those 3 days than I did in a month previously. Its saved me.

Why don’t you take it every day?

I came back down gently after getting Ds from school after amusing the people sat in traffic as I enthusiastically mutely sang along to the music on my headphones. I do this anyway but today I was very animated. I could tell it had worn off by 4.30pm
as I made a cup of tea, took the milk out of the fridge then discovered it still sat there on the side waiting for milk half an hour later and I’d taken the wrong milk out. I abandoned the tea. I am still not hungry but am going to see what I can find to eat. More cheese I expect.
I think I’ve been started on 30mg so that there’s room to decrease if need be as well as increase.

Sorry to derail, but can anyone who has tried both methylphenidate (eg. Ritalin) and Lisdexamfetamine (eg Elvanse) tell me how they felt the effects differed?

For my son, the difference woth elvanse and methylphenidate is the release rate. Elvanse is slower to kick in bit lasts longer.

Sorry for typos! Stupid phone!!!

I had no idea the medication could transform your life so much, and sticks it in the eye of the why would you bother getting a diagnosis at your age crowd , and the everyone wants to be diagnosed with something .
It sounds like ADHD might be a real thing after all 🤔.

My OH is on Elvanse and has been for over a year. We forgot his tablet one day this week and he could tell because he felt so different and unwell. He keeps some spare in the van for days like this! However he said that as much as he can’t feel the difference day to day, this showed him how much it helps him.

He’s more organised, motivated and less depressed.

Really hope it works for you. I didn't feel different on it - went up to 70mg - and others didn't notice a difference. Re the question about methylphenidate: I was less productive and organised with this than without it, and more forgetful. I looked at the research at the time and there was a suggestion in one study that, if you have a reasonable memory anyway, methylphenidate can actually make your memory worse.

DD16 takes it says it really helps her focus and I definitely notice less fidgets. She only takes it on school days, she likes to feel “herself” at the weekends and holidays.