I’ve struggled a lot with adhd and as a result of that I’ve had to take Vyvanse for 4 years now . I’ve also had OCD for most of my life. I’ve I never had a problem with taking the Vyvanse but now I’m starting to question whether or not it’s harmful or helpful. What are y’all’s thoughts on this?

No problem! And it is much better than it was, thanks for asking. :) It used to be very time consuming, like turning on/off light switches 30 times. But now I have narrowed my compulsions down to a few things; what I have found works best for me is if something happens that makes me feel "off" or gives me anxiety (for example if I want to keep turning a light switch on/off), I will go in a room alone and take a minute to myself to "reset" as I like to call it, and then I can carry on with my day. Of coarse, feeling the constant need to "reset" has become a compulsion of its on, but it takes up a lot less of my time and energy than it would if I were to stand there flipping a light switch for 10 minutes.

Hi Hank! Before I comment, keep in mind this is my own personal experience, so always consult your doctor and talk to him/her about whether a medication suits you individually. No medication, especially one like Vyvanse, is one size fits all. Anyways, I was diagnosed with ADD when I was younger, and started taking Vyvanse on/off in the 7th grade when my ADD started to affect my grades. I did not start taking it like it was prescribed (once a day EVERY day) until I was in 11th grade, because I have always been quite small and it made me lose weight. When I started taking it all of the time in the 11th grade, I started to lose weight, which was expected, but had other side effects too. I would have little "nervous ticks" like lip biting, because it made me so focused, and would end up chewing a hole in my lip. It made me so concentrated and such a perfectionist, that it would actually take me longer to take a test (which is the OPPOSITE of what it was supposed to do) because I would write down a word, then erase it multiple times until it "felt" just right. Flash forward to my Sophomore year of college, I had to withdraw from school and take a semester off to go to therapy because I am diagnosed with severe OCD. After examining myself and going to therapy and learning more, I discovered that Vyvanse is a medication known to trigger, bring to the surface, or heighten underlying conditions one may already have before taking it. So basically, OCD does run in my family, and I had always done small obsessive compulsive things when I was growing up like many people do (we all have our own little things), but it wasn't until I started taking Vyvanse that I started to completely drown in my disorder that is OCD. So I blame a lot of my OCD on Vyvanse; I don't blame Vyvanse for giving me OCD (as I said I am genetically predisposed to it), but I blame Vyvanse for worsening it and getting it to the severe point that it was at.

@Micaela That’s funny I’m about to withdraw for a semester as a sophomore for the same reason. Have you gotten off of it? If you did how long does it take and do you feel better for not taking it anymore?

@Micaela how is your ocd now?

I don’t know anything about medication, but I think you should consult your doctor about it. Keep taking it as directed and then bring it up with your doctor if you’re worried. Do you think this may be OCD, though?

Yes, I have been off of it for a while now. But because it made me lose weight so rapidly I never took an extremely high dosage, and I stopped taking it full time (started taking it only for big exam days) after my 12th grade year when I started college, but by then my OCD had already taken hold. I honestly can't remember my withdrawal symptoms if I had any. But you took it for longer than I did, and if you did it daily for that long then I would definitely assume you would experience some kind of withdrawal. Now, I have been on other medications like Zoloft (for the OCD not ADD) that I eventually came off of and had withdrawal symptoms from, and the best way I know how to not experience withdrawal symptoms is to slowly wean yourself off of it by little by little taking lower dosages. So, if I were you, I would tell my doctor that you wanted to slowly come off of it, and ask for a lower dosed prescription each month. I'm sorry I can't help much with that advice! But I wish you the best; enjoy your time off. Take time to relax and better yourself so you can come back stronger! :)

@micaela thank you so much. I appreciate it!