Why Lowering My Vyvanse Dose Helped More Than Increasing It

I hope this can help some people who had the same problem as me.

I often read that some people crash very early after taking Vyvanse. They lose the effect, get anxiety, start dissociating, or get stuck in their thoughts. I had the same problems.

It took me about six months to find the right dose. Of course you should always talk with your doctor but it seemed to me that many doctors prefer to just increase the dose. In the end I was only able to find the right dose by listening to my own experience.

1. I started with 30 mg. The first week was good, but after that I became very tired about 6 hours after taking it. I thought the dose was too low, so after talking with my doctor I increased it.
2. That made me feel good but my brain felt “slow”. I could not think quickly and mostly just wanted to relax and enjoy the good feeling.
3. So I went back to my original dose but I also drank a cup of coffee shortly before the crash. That helped me get through the day. At bedtime I was aleady very tired and could fall asleep easily but then I had a big problem: I would wake up during the night. I researched on Reddit and some people said it happens because the medication is out of your system at night, so your ADHD symptoms return and you get racing thoughts again. After some months I realized that many of these assumptions were wrong.

-> the 30 mg was actually too much for me. My drop in the morning was not because the medication was wearing off but because the dose was too high and I was crashing.

-> the coffee only pushed the crash later. The reason I could fall asleep easily was not because the medication was gone but because I was already crashing.

->Waking up at night was not because my ADHD symptoms returned but because after a crash the brain can become active again and release more norepinephrine if the medication is still in the system.

Now I take 20 mg and I feel better than ever. I feel more emotionally stable, it helps me get through the day and I can sleep well. The tricky thing about this medication is that it can make you think the dose is too low, when in reality it may already be too high.

So if someone reads this: sometimes it can make sense to lower the dose instead of increasing it. A lower dose can put less stress on the brain, which may help with focus and emotional regulation.

Side Note: If you exercise, take Vyvanse before the workout and then feel very exhausted afterward -> try taking Vyvanse after your workout. When I took Vyvanse before exercising, it felt like the workout canceled out the effect of the medication. Taking it after the workout worked much better for me.