Elvanse - jittery & anxious at 30mg - will it only go south?

[Return2thebasic]

I've started Elvanse about 3 weeks ago - on 20mg. I felt mildly calmer and clearer with my thoughts and my emotions and was able to regulate better. Slightly more motivated to tackle tasks. But I wasn't sure if it was just psychological.

Upped to 30mg last Friday. Today it's the 5th day. Since the first day when the dose was increased, I felt uncontrollably irritable and restless, with also a tint of sadness.

But today, I think it's become obvious that the anxiety inside my chest is ballooning. It's like when you are in high anxiety, the heart sort of was up to your throat. It felt like all day. I couldn't rest, relax, eat, do anything but obsessed with an issue which has no immediate solution. It's almost unbearable.

It eased off toward evening time when the medicine wore off.

I read lots of reviews and it seems to be not uncommon. But I couldn't seem to find any experience where this side effect eases off if given more time. So I'm posting this to see if anyone could give some advice.

(I quit having tea or coffee in the day and don't take any other medication.)

My experience of this mediation is different. I didn’t feel buttery realky at all. Started in 20 like you first day felt odd but better and then it settled and felt great. Couldn’t function much better but after a week it started to level off so upped to 30. After two weeks I upped to 50 as I felt I was getting brain fog again. I’ve been in this for 4 months now and I feel great. It still works for me, don’t feel buttery or raised heart rate.

matbe this one isn’t for u?

x

After the honeymoon period Elvanse made me anxious and irritable. I now take Amotoxine and have no adverse side effects

@Grenola @h3ll0o , Thank you, both. I felt better after those first five days. I don't feel irritable anymore. I noticed it's getting easy to stay calm even when stressful things happen. I could filter out irrelevant noises out without being sucked into it emotionally.

DH also says I became a lot more aware of things/people around me - which I haven't noticed, because...well, if I never noticed, I wouldn't have known that I missed.

Second week on 30mg. Will see if go up or not.

Ah I was the same….. I realised how unpresent I had been, all of a sudden I was ‘in the room’.
it felt so clear and great but did bring sadness. Realising my struggles. I have had to have counselling alongside the meds to accept the whole adhd me xx

P.s u prob will need to go up. But that will be ok, it still worked for me but the brain fog and fatigue crept back in. 50 is the sweet spot, I have days off some weeks and I feel it so badly. BUT some of the good habits I’ve developed while in the meds stuck… like the chores and domestic stuff. X

@Grenola , I'm still getting use to the feeling. I guess my dosage is still low comparing where it needs to be. But the picture has been clearer and I'm trying to understand myself and my surroundings better.

Sometimes, I have strange feelings, like I was cruising outside of my life and just observing myself and this life. Maybe that's nothing to do with the medication, but a sort of awakening state due to the sudden change of views to what I've known all my life.

A hint of sadness still resurfaces sometimes. I'm wondering if that's what you described, "a sense of loss" for the past and for what it could have been otherwise...

The doctor said they would send another prescription for 28 days at the same dosage. I'm not in rush to upper it. But might try after this.

Hey OP @Return2thebasic
Did you stick with Elvanse?
I am on day 2, yesterday felt fabulous, this morning super motivated. Now appear to have an anxiety ball in my tummy. Can’t face going back to the anxious mess stage I’ve not long got out of (sertraline 50 for 9 months).
wondering if it will pass…

@TreeHuggerMum1 sorry, I only just remembered to reply.

No, I dropped Elvanse. That last episode of overwhelming side effects was too much to bear and I didn't stick to it. (But to be fair, I think that's the mishandling of the psychiatrist. He shouldn't have had raised the dosage with a leap. It was too high and too large and increase.) But the jittery feeling was real all along and it just took time for me to realise it.)

I'm now on Delmosart 54mg. It went really well with minimal side effects. But due to stock shortage, they put me on Concerta for a while. It really didn't work for me. I didn't realise it was the cause of my daily exhaustion from 8am till 8pm for weeks until I took a break in Easter holiday.

Anyway, the psychiatrist said maybe it's just me who can't tolerate certain ingredient of Concerta. I've been put back on Delmosart. But since then, I did start noticing the jittery feeling again and a low level of tightness in chest along with a low sense of short of breath. But the BP level and all are all normal, just slightly elevated pulses. I'm toying the idea of a lower dose which might help. However, because of the shortage going on, I wouldn't be able to get the next lower level. So I will just have to see if the side effects subside overtime.

Each person is different though. We all tolerate things at varied scales and have different biochemical make. You really have to try it out for yourself before you know. Some might find their body adjusts to adapt over time, whilst others won't...

Good luck for you to find the right med.