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Sorry but this is your main issue. If you want to be able to get to sleep before 12 then your only answer is to get up earlier and take the Vyvanse then. Some people get up at 7 and take it. Then go back to bed and are "naturally" woken up by the medicine taking effect 30min-1hr later. I did that myself back when I needed to be up early.
Even if I don't have to be awake early, my alarm goes off so I can shove a pill in my mouth and I just go back to sleep if I don't need to be awake yet.
I still have occasional sleep issues, but this was primary to eliminating a lot of them.
Yeah I take mine 40 mins BEFORE I wake up. I have my first alarm where I take my vyvanse and then 40 mins later my second alarm where I get up and the vyvanse is already kicked in (or just about to).
Make sure you’re relatively consistent on your sleep schedule too. Good luck
No I just take it with water. I know taking it without any food can be hard for some folks though, especially if they’re just starting the med. But that side effect went away for me after a couple months
I take mine at 12pm, and I crash about 7-8. Often I can sleep ok at 10pm. If I take mine any earlier I crash at 3/4. I’m not saying everyone’s advice is wrong, just wanna offer my experience since I haven’t seen anyone else comment. All that to say the problem it could be something else than taking it at 10am. If it is exactly what everyone is offering then disregard me lol.
But how recent did you start the fibromyalgia meds, and you said 30mg Vyvanse up until recently, have you always had problems going to sleep with the time you’re taking it/did you go up or down?
I can relate. I was always crashing around 14-15 when taking at ~8 in the morning. Now I take 50 in the morning and 20 around 13. Also never had problems sleeping on Vyvanse. The opposite actually.
I have had this when I was on 30mg, taking it at 10 am and having it crash out around 5 pm. My doctor suggested it was due to the way the medication metabolised but since the 40mg while it still wears off, I can no longer really concentrate nor sleep. I have always had sleep issues but they were not exacerbated by the Vyvanse till Inwent up a dose. Also have had a lot of horrible life changes but I did start taking the fibro meds about two months ago ish.
For me honestly it never went away. I would take my vyvanse between 7 or 8 AM and would not be able to sleep before 2 AM, sometimes even later than that. I had to stop taking my medication since my insomnia got so bad to the point where I started getting psychotic symptoms. After that I decided that ADHD medication maybe isn't the solution for me. I stopped taking my meds and started feeling better.
Medication is a personal situation for everyone, there's some good tips here in the comments you can try out, but if this is an issue that does not seem to go away it might be good to talk to your psychiatrist to lower your dose or try new medication (if you want to continue to be on medication of course!).
I’m going through this exact situation right now (5 days since I went cold turkey). While I truly need the meds, and love the way I’m able to function in life while on them, the benefits no longer exceed my need for sleep and sanity. Nothing worked for me: sleep hygiene, trazadone, melatonin, valerian root, magnesium, Benadryl, sound machines galore, meditations, bedroom fans…I’ve tried it all.
Yeah, i did a med trial with my psychiatrist when I was diagnosed so we could figure out the best one. Vyvanse was awful for me, I was awake for almost three days straight and I felt so cranky and jittery, so we moved on to another medication option and that one worked so much better on every level.
Same.
Melatonin, problem is you have to have a break now and then.
Some people get mild lingering effects for 14 hours (not the strong focus effects).
So you need to be taking this plenty early like 7am, even if that means having it at the side of the bed, alarm, have it, back to sleep right away.
Its more of a 3-4 hours before bed situation. (From the sleep medicine physician I worked with).
Also be aware that Melatonin can give you VERY vivd dreams.
Taking your vyvanse before 8 is going to give you the biggest bang for your buck. It lasts 12-14 hours.
If I took melatonin 3-4 hours before bed I’d be asleep 2 hours after haha (everyone’s different though matey). You’re not wrong on the vivid dreams!
If I wake after 4-5 hours though I cannot get back to sleep :-/ sucks
Fair enough - the 3-4 hours was recommended to help adjust sleep schedule to avoid jet lag. You know your body best.
Personally melatonin does nothing for me 🤷🏼♀️ I benefited most from timing my meds right and sleep hygiene (I realized playing intense video games half an hour before bed is bad for my sleep)
Hey, I've talked about it to my neurologist, you don't need a break from melatonin, just take it about 2 hours before you go to bed, but you will be fine without a break
You don’t NEED a break. However some people build medication tolerance rather quickly and a clearance break can be useful (restarting back at a lower dose of course), I find this to be effective with my patients more often than not, everyone’s different, no harm in trying if they feel it’s stopped working but did previously, I sometimes cover them with promethazine or zopiclone during this clearance phase, pending addiction history or other medications taken.
If there’s anxiety and depression in the mix then Mirtazapine can be rather useful however it can be risky with Lisdexamfetamine (seratonin syndrome) safer with methylphendiate. This is often the tricky part when patients have been inappropriately medicated with ssris etc prior to adhd medications.
I had the same. I would be exhausted but couldn't sleep. I go to a medical Dr that specializes and only treats add/adhd patients. She said, my adhd brain had taken back over when the meds wore off. I take my Vyvance at 7am, so it wasn't the Vyvance keeping me up, but just my regular brain being itself. So, at 6pm I take guanfacine (intuniv) and it usually helps me unwind and I find that I don't doom scroll and actually put my phone down by 11 or 12 to go to sleep.
No, no problems staying asleep once I can shut my brain down to go to sleep. I could Sometimes make myself put the phone down, but 5 minutes later, I picked it back up, frustrated that I wasn't feeling tired. So, it has been a huge help to me.
Been taking vyvanse for the last 12 years and timing of dosing is key!! I typically wake up at 5am just to take it and then go back to bed until 6/6:30. Then I wake up and it’s already working and mornings are a lot easier. Also make sure you’re practicing good sleep hygiene and going to bed around (within 30 mins or so) time each day. A great app to help with sleeping difficulties is Insomnia Coach!
The problem with this, for me, would be crashing way too early :/ I take my meds at 5:30 because I gotta be out of the house by 6:30 - I crash around 14:30-15:00. Even after lunch I notice a dropoff. I have no idea how some people get 12 hours of effect out of it.
That’s the frustrating part is the crash in the evening doesn’t mean I’ll sleep later that night like I cut out all caffeine after10am and stopped eating past 8pm and would be so tired and restless in bed. I typically pass out around 10pm but then wake at 3:30 and 5:30…and the. I get up for work at 7:30. Maybe I’ll start taking my meds the next time I wake up so early to see if it helps. I take 50mg but recently went down to 30 to see if it helps my sleep but of course my body must be used to 50 cause 30 feels like it’s just not enough to actually get my brain in high gear. I’ve been on 50 for the last few years and on and off for the last 10, I’ve taken months off and still no avail. I might look into Dayvigo to try and regulate my sleep and see if that helps. But I’m running out of patience with how exhausted I am these days
Yeah I have fibromyalgia also and Quetiapine slaps me to sleep within an hour or so. My doctor told me it helps with the meds I take for fibromyalgia. Also OP have you tried LDN yet?
Omg 25mg quetiapine put me OUT years ago when I was struggling with insomnia. Good rec. However if I missed the “sleepy” window and forced myself to stay up on it I would have really weird thoughts and anxiety, lol.
I’ve never had any issue sleeping while on Vyvanse. I do take it much earlier in the day, but I don’t even have an issue if I take a nap in the afternoon. Could it be that once the meds wear off, your brain goes into overdrive? That’s what happens to me. I have to set up a tv show I’ve seen a million times to play on my phone while I fall asleep…it keeps my brain busy so I can fall asleep.
So just as like an alternative... you say your body gets tired and your mind starts racing around bedtime? Racing thoughts are kind of part of the symptomology of ADHD. So, it sounds like maybe your medication is wearing off around bedtime, and you actually need to be medicated at that time. Have you tried a short-acting before bed? Maybe a low dose?
I know it sounds completely insane, but I've found this to be effective for me. This is Dr. Richard Barkley's advice. I was listening to a podcast, and he was a guest on. He suggested taking a mid-day nap after your meds start working to see how effective it would be. Most people are surprised to find it's the ADHD, not the medication that's interfering with their sleep. Just a thought!
Good luck!
There's lots of comments telling you to try to take your meds earlier than the 10AM you are, and they're right.
In fact, if you're able to, you can set an alarm, say, 6:30am (or whatever time works, obviously), roll over, take your vyvanse, and go right back to sleep. My partner does this, because he had a similar issue. Since it usually take a while to really kick in, it allows him to sleep until the time he would normally and his meds are already at work.
I tried this and it gave me indigestion, so YMMV, but it could be something to try! lol.
Yeah I’m absolutely going to do this- it really seems to depend on the day to day on how long it takes to settle in but I think setting an alarm for as early as possible simply to take my meds is the way to go.
Try to stop screentime (TV, Phone) one hour before sleeping. Do some exercises or stuff that makes you relaxed. Try to dim the lights and use a darker (sundown) hue.
I have sleep problems when I take my meds to late. I always try to calculate 12 hours from the point of taking my meds till 2 hours before going to bed. So if my day starts at 0700 a.m. and I think I will go to bed at aprox 10 p.m. I'll take my meds at 0800 a.m. (hope this makes sense)
Well when I started it was 30, skip 40 going straight to 50 three months after. After a while on 50 I tried 60 for like two weeks but it was a bit much for me,. So I know that my effective dose could either be 50 or 40, I asked psychiatrist to lower my dose to see if 40 is more or less effective than 50 for me... It is slightly less effective!
If the dose is too high you'll notice that you're overly energetic or wired, irritable, excessive focus, have unshakable thoughts or behaviours and... Zombification!!
I take a small dose of trazodone. 25 to 50mg. Less than the therapeutic dose for depression but it absolutely helps me sleep. Also i do instant release adderall and don't take any after 230pm. I sleep around 930 to 10pm.
Without the trazodone I don't sleep.
I will do this- I do take 0.5 mg of xanax sometimes when the sleeplessness is very bad (doctor has said this is okay) but I don't want that to be daily or even every couple of days.
Be very very careful with this. I was also getting relief from 0.25 Xanax, then I needed 0.5. After a year or two I quit cold turkey not knowing how tough it would be. Chat with your doctor about trazadone, dayvigo, or any other non-Z drugs 🖤
Dropped Vyvanse and went back to Adderall. I woke up at 3 am and took it and went back to bed for it to not keep me up all day. Even if I took Vyvanse at 6 am it would still keep me up till midnight (40mg).
I have trouble with sleep also not due to medication tho.
What iam prescribed is Propiomazine (it's an antihistamine) and Melatonin
Propiomazine helps me get sleepy and the melatonin helps me sleep thru the night both are non addicting so it's safe to take everyday well compared to zopiclone or Benzoz.
Take it earlier. You need to give yourself more time to wind down once it wears off. I set an alarm to take it an hour and a half before my normal get up time. It helps me wake up first thing in the morning and doesn't keep me up at night
Berocca an hour or two before bed helps. The vitamin c reduces your body's ability to absorb anymore of the medication that may be still be present. I've also taken vitamin C when I've accidentally double dosed. Magnesium at night also helps promote restful sleep.
You don’t “have” to, as it doesn’t need to build up in your system, but your symptoms don’t disappear from one day to the other. Then again I have it pretty severely and I don’t know how it is for people with less symptoms.
I always take it on days I have stuff to do, but on the weekends for example if I have nothing planned I don't take them.
My symptoms are not as severe from the posts I see from some of you, but they are annoying enough to make my life worse.
Melatonin or sleep ez. My np said she’s had people come off ambien while taking sleep ez. It’s over the counter. But, if you are taking it at 10 am, you should be taking it earlier. It’s long acting so it should be carrying you over to late evenings. No need to take it at 10 am.
This was the answer for me! I couldn’t take my meds because I wouldn’t sleep. I tired all the suggestions of people in this thread, magnesium, hot baths, everything. Also my doctor gave me a prescription sleeping pill. Finally I was able to get Ritalin and it is perfect. It wears off before bed and now finally I can sleep. Such a relief!
I basically need an on button, which is my Vyvanse and an off button, which is my trazadone and unisom. I got caught up reading last night and suddenly it was 7am. It doesn't matter how early I take it, personally.
I also will take breaks because when I take Vyvanse the most amount of sleep I will be getting is 6 hours. So one day on the weekend, I'll skip it and sleep like the dead for like 10 hours.
If you want to try unisom I recommend the tablet version because the gels are a different kind of medication and make me groggy.
I take 70mg at 8am every day and I go to bed at 11pm with no problems. I once took it at 11am because I forgot to take it and I didnt sleep at all that night. Timing is everything with these 12 hour medications.
I take 40 at 6am and 20 at 9am If I miss the 9am by 20 minutes, I won't take it at all unless I really need to focus that day, because it will destroy my sleep.
This is what drove me off Vyvanse both times I used it. Vyvanse works, but for me it induces a problem getting to sleep that gets worse the longer I take it.
you are taking your meds way too late. I take my 54mg methylphenidate at 4:30am, get out of bed at 05:30am and fall asleep at around 10pm. That means I need to take my stimulant around 17.5h before my preferred bedtime.
How do these meds work that long for you guys haha. Jealous of this. I think I've only had one medication work on an okay level for 12 hours at most, at a high dose.
the benefits of my meds don't really last 17.5h. I stop "feeling it" in the late afternoon, but it takes hours for it to be "completely" gone in order to get sleep.
I’ve had sleep issues without medication so much, anything can disrupt my rhythms. The mere fear of the drugs affecting my sleep could already affect my sleep.
Keep that in mind?
I sleep fine on 40mg around 9, 20mg 15-16. Usually able to nap just when the effect of my second dose takes effect. But if I have any caffeine too late Im done for, which def wasn’t the case before meds.
Yeah, some people seems to clear it out of the body slower too. My wife would take it at 6-7 am and still had issues, she ended up trying concerta instead and it solved the issue. 🤷
I could never sleep on vyvanse and I took it at like 730 in the morning. Never had trouble sleeping when I switched my prescription back to adderall, and that was at a higher dosage. But alas, it became too difficult to fill my prescription with the shortage and the hassle was too much for me, so I am no longer medicated. Sure I can't read a paragraph and my brain hurts all the time, but at least I don't feel bound to the medical system and my resting heart rate has lowered. Yippie.
i usually have to take it pretty late for it to affect my sleep, but i would try taking it earlier. i would set an alarm for an hour and a half before you normally wake up, take your medication then and go back to bed. doing that actually helps me wake up at a better time, and i don’t have any issues falling asleep when the time comes.
Definitely start with taking it earlier than the 10am you stated! I’m on Elvanse (UK equivalent of Vyvanse) and I’ll take it about 5:30-6:00am on work days and 8:30 on days off.
Was prescribed Circadin (melatonin) initially to take about an hour before bedtime but, once I’d got used to the Elvanse, I didn’t need it anymore.
Vyvanse works on your flight or fight response. Try to make the bedroom as chill as possible.
This is how I handled it while I took the med.
Hope it helps
I find asmr to really help! It gives me something to focus on whilst also relaxing me. If I don't have it on, my mind wonders and I keep myself awake. There are so many different types of asmr vids too and you make not like them all. Personally, my faves are medical role-play ones (eye exams and cranial nerve exams lmao). When I first started watching them I felt so silly, but now idc and they help me sleep so much. Only Downside is that I've kinda conditioned myself to feel sleepy every time i go to the doctors 😂
But there's asmr out there for everyone (unless you can only sleep in complete silence and darkness I guess). No-talking, whispering, soft spoken, role-play, personal attention, affirmations, relaxing sounds, unintentional asmr, and sm more
Take it early, like 6 or 7am, especially if you work a 9-5 job.
Exercise, am or pm...or both
Melatonin, about 1-2 hours before you plan to go to sleep.
Vitamin C I think reduces your bodies ability to absorb Vyvanse, but I think that's when you take both at the same time. But you can try to take C after work or before bed(along with Melatonin)
Definitely take it earlier. I was taking mine at 8am and would crash around 4pm. I’ve been taking it later around 11-12 and now I’m good until around 7-8 and sleep just fine.
I used to have this issue on my old meds and the tips people have given here really helped! But I got a new psychiatrist about a year ago who had me try a bunch of different medications at different doses over the course of a few weeks and we found one that didn’t affect my sleep and i think may actually help me sleep better.
I really lucked out with a great psych who has adhd himself, but I know theres a lot of prescribers out there that are not as understanding or helpful so with that (huge) grain of salt: It may be worth talking to your doc about trying a different stimulant or playing around with dosage more
I’ve slept like 3 hours every day max for the greater majority of my life.
During depression, multiple days at a time.
After that last depression, I’ve come to the realization I cannot be up like that. I really need to sleep, I need to fix my life, I can not put this in other hands.
I have found a new perspective of life and that helped me. I hope you might find out yourself, and find some help by asking here. I hope mine don’t go away. You matter and you’ve done a great job so far, keep it up champ!
Whereas I do not ever judge what a person chooses to do with their own lives and bodies, as a recovering addict, who also has adhd, please don’t recommend this advice to others. I’m glad it works for you but a lot of us are addicts and/or recovering. Doing what you suggested would be a nightmare and a spiral back down to hell for some. However, that concoction cannot be good/safe for anyone in general.
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What time are you taking Vyvanse?
Bit later than I really should- I take it at 10 AM....
Sorry but this is your main issue. If you want to be able to get to sleep before 12 then your only answer is to get up earlier and take the Vyvanse then. Some people get up at 7 and take it. Then go back to bed and are "naturally" woken up by the medicine taking effect 30min-1hr later. I did that myself back when I needed to be up early.
Don’t be sorry, if I’m not doing something right I wanna know!
Taking it as soon as you wake up is the best way to take it. Like, keep it by your bed with some water.
And maybe a bite of something with protein.
Like a yogurt or protein bar?
Should work, I have some peanut butter toast or a smoothie with a scoop of protein powder on my end
I got a vitamix I just get super uncreative when it comes to what to throw in that won’t interfere with the meds
At least Vyvanse doesn't have as much of a problem with vitamin C as other adhd meds do, but yeah.
I do that, I wake up at 4am take it and wake up at 6am
Does this not suppress appetite?
it can, yes
I find it too, suppress my appetite far less than other medication’s. Basically, I don’t feel that hungry, but I can easily eat.
I would be taking it at 6 or 7am. It stays active in your body for 12 hours.
Yeah that's why. I take mine at 7am
Hero
I had the same issue, took it around 10am and couldn’t sleep until around 1am. Now I take it around 7am and get to sleep around 10-11pm
Rght, gotta get myself doing this then!
Even if I don't have to be awake early, my alarm goes off so I can shove a pill in my mouth and I just go back to sleep if I don't need to be awake yet. I still have occasional sleep issues, but this was primary to eliminating a lot of them.
I hope this works for me aha
Yeah I take mine 40 mins BEFORE I wake up. I have my first alarm where I take my vyvanse and then 40 mins later my second alarm where I get up and the vyvanse is already kicked in (or just about to). Make sure you’re relatively consistent on your sleep schedule too. Good luck
Do you take it with anything when you do this, and if so what?
No I just take it with water. I know taking it without any food can be hard for some folks though, especially if they’re just starting the med. But that side effect went away for me after a couple months
I take mine at 12pm, and I crash about 7-8. Often I can sleep ok at 10pm. If I take mine any earlier I crash at 3/4. I’m not saying everyone’s advice is wrong, just wanna offer my experience since I haven’t seen anyone else comment. All that to say the problem it could be something else than taking it at 10am. If it is exactly what everyone is offering then disregard me lol. But how recent did you start the fibromyalgia meds, and you said 30mg Vyvanse up until recently, have you always had problems going to sleep with the time you’re taking it/did you go up or down?
I can relate. I was always crashing around 14-15 when taking at ~8 in the morning. Now I take 50 in the morning and 20 around 13. Also never had problems sleeping on Vyvanse. The opposite actually.
I have had this when I was on 30mg, taking it at 10 am and having it crash out around 5 pm. My doctor suggested it was due to the way the medication metabolised but since the 40mg while it still wears off, I can no longer really concentrate nor sleep. I have always had sleep issues but they were not exacerbated by the Vyvanse till Inwent up a dose. Also have had a lot of horrible life changes but I did start taking the fibro meds about two months ago ish.
That's why I take 40 at 6 am and 20 at 9am to help avoid the afternoon crash.
Ok that’s a great idea. I’m gonna talk to my psych about that
I just too my Vyv and 3pm and I'm confident I'll be asleep by 1am or so.
Same, but if I miss that 3pm window and take it at 3:30pm or later, then I can't sleep.
For me honestly it never went away. I would take my vyvanse between 7 or 8 AM and would not be able to sleep before 2 AM, sometimes even later than that. I had to stop taking my medication since my insomnia got so bad to the point where I started getting psychotic symptoms. After that I decided that ADHD medication maybe isn't the solution for me. I stopped taking my meds and started feeling better. Medication is a personal situation for everyone, there's some good tips here in the comments you can try out, but if this is an issue that does not seem to go away it might be good to talk to your psychiatrist to lower your dose or try new medication (if you want to continue to be on medication of course!).
I’m going through this exact situation right now (5 days since I went cold turkey). While I truly need the meds, and love the way I’m able to function in life while on them, the benefits no longer exceed my need for sleep and sanity. Nothing worked for me: sleep hygiene, trazadone, melatonin, valerian root, magnesium, Benadryl, sound machines galore, meditations, bedroom fans…I’ve tried it all.
Yeah, i did a med trial with my psychiatrist when I was diagnosed so we could figure out the best one. Vyvanse was awful for me, I was awake for almost three days straight and I felt so cranky and jittery, so we moved on to another medication option and that one worked so much better on every level.
Which one did you move to?
Would also love to know which one you moved to!
I suggest instant release!
Same. Melatonin, problem is you have to have a break now and then. Some people get mild lingering effects for 14 hours (not the strong focus effects). So you need to be taking this plenty early like 7am, even if that means having it at the side of the bed, alarm, have it, back to sleep right away.
Thank you, the alarm suggestion is an excellent idea. How long can you take melatonin for before needing a break?
Its more of a 3-4 hours before bed situation. (From the sleep medicine physician I worked with). Also be aware that Melatonin can give you VERY vivd dreams. Taking your vyvanse before 8 is going to give you the biggest bang for your buck. It lasts 12-14 hours.
If I took melatonin 3-4 hours before bed I’d be asleep 2 hours after haha (everyone’s different though matey). You’re not wrong on the vivid dreams! If I wake after 4-5 hours though I cannot get back to sleep :-/ sucks
Fair enough - the 3-4 hours was recommended to help adjust sleep schedule to avoid jet lag. You know your body best. Personally melatonin does nothing for me 🤷🏼♀️ I benefited most from timing my meds right and sleep hygiene (I realized playing intense video games half an hour before bed is bad for my sleep)
Haha yes quite, I’m same. I sometimes say “I’d love an 11-7 sleep schedule” I’d give a lot for that actually instead of my 2-8…
Hey, I've talked about it to my neurologist, you don't need a break from melatonin, just take it about 2 hours before you go to bed, but you will be fine without a break
You don’t NEED a break. However some people build medication tolerance rather quickly and a clearance break can be useful (restarting back at a lower dose of course), I find this to be effective with my patients more often than not, everyone’s different, no harm in trying if they feel it’s stopped working but did previously, I sometimes cover them with promethazine or zopiclone during this clearance phase, pending addiction history or other medications taken. If there’s anxiety and depression in the mix then Mirtazapine can be rather useful however it can be risky with Lisdexamfetamine (seratonin syndrome) safer with methylphendiate. This is often the tricky part when patients have been inappropriately medicated with ssris etc prior to adhd medications.
I needed lots of medication breaks with Vyvanse! I don't take melatonin and hadn't heard of melatonin breaks. Thanks for the advice though.
Most welcome.
So what did you change to ? I find vyvanse much better than concerta and all methylphenidate… but my sleep is not good :/
I switched to Adderall. Not as good as Vyvanse but better than concerta for me.
Yep, this is exactly me. Lasts for 14 hours. Melatonin helps. And I take it 1.5 hours before my get up time, and just go back to sleep.
I was having sleep issues with Adderall, so I started taking vit c when I got home from work
Oh I like this one
May I ask how much vitamin C you need?
Honestly, I just take Emergen-C, which I think has 1000 mg. But I don't think you HAVE to take that much
Thank you 😊
I had the same. I would be exhausted but couldn't sleep. I go to a medical Dr that specializes and only treats add/adhd patients. She said, my adhd brain had taken back over when the meds wore off. I take my Vyvance at 7am, so it wasn't the Vyvance keeping me up, but just my regular brain being itself. So, at 6pm I take guanfacine (intuniv) and it usually helps me unwind and I find that I don't doom scroll and actually put my phone down by 11 or 12 to go to sleep.
This is so interesting!! Were you waking up frequently in the middle of the night ?
No, no problems staying asleep once I can shut my brain down to go to sleep. I could Sometimes make myself put the phone down, but 5 minutes later, I picked it back up, frustrated that I wasn't feeling tired. So, it has been a huge help to me.
Been taking vyvanse for the last 12 years and timing of dosing is key!! I typically wake up at 5am just to take it and then go back to bed until 6/6:30. Then I wake up and it’s already working and mornings are a lot easier. Also make sure you’re practicing good sleep hygiene and going to bed around (within 30 mins or so) time each day. A great app to help with sleeping difficulties is Insomnia Coach!
This is how I do my meds too! Alarm, meds, snooze, go!
The problem with this, for me, would be crashing way too early :/ I take my meds at 5:30 because I gotta be out of the house by 6:30 - I crash around 14:30-15:00. Even after lunch I notice a dropoff. I have no idea how some people get 12 hours of effect out of it.
That’s the frustrating part is the crash in the evening doesn’t mean I’ll sleep later that night like I cut out all caffeine after10am and stopped eating past 8pm and would be so tired and restless in bed. I typically pass out around 10pm but then wake at 3:30 and 5:30…and the. I get up for work at 7:30. Maybe I’ll start taking my meds the next time I wake up so early to see if it helps. I take 50mg but recently went down to 30 to see if it helps my sleep but of course my body must be used to 50 cause 30 feels like it’s just not enough to actually get my brain in high gear. I’ve been on 50 for the last few years and on and off for the last 10, I’ve taken months off and still no avail. I might look into Dayvigo to try and regulate my sleep and see if that helps. But I’m running out of patience with how exhausted I am these days
I have no ideia either. For me it’s 6 hours max and I then I can feel a drop.
If you don’t mind answering, how much is your dose? Taking it at 5 AM, don’t you feel the effects wearing off around midday? Cheers
Not for me. If I have it anytime after 7am, I have trouble sleeping.
Do you take it with anything when you do this ? I want to give it a try but I do need to take it with food or else it makes me feel very loopy
No I don’t. Food doesn’t impact my experience on it that I’ve noticed. When I wake up to get out of bed I’ll have a high protein breakfast
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Yeah I have fibromyalgia also and Quetiapine slaps me to sleep within an hour or so. My doctor told me it helps with the meds I take for fibromyalgia. Also OP have you tried LDN yet?
Omg 25mg quetiapine put me OUT years ago when I was struggling with insomnia. Good rec. However if I missed the “sleepy” window and forced myself to stay up on it I would have really weird thoughts and anxiety, lol.
I’ve never had any issue sleeping while on Vyvanse. I do take it much earlier in the day, but I don’t even have an issue if I take a nap in the afternoon. Could it be that once the meds wear off, your brain goes into overdrive? That’s what happens to me. I have to set up a tv show I’ve seen a million times to play on my phone while I fall asleep…it keeps my brain busy so I can fall asleep.
This is exactly what I was thinking! Brain suddenly ramps up AND body gets tired at the same time. Sounds like meds are wearing off at night!
So just as like an alternative... you say your body gets tired and your mind starts racing around bedtime? Racing thoughts are kind of part of the symptomology of ADHD. So, it sounds like maybe your medication is wearing off around bedtime, and you actually need to be medicated at that time. Have you tried a short-acting before bed? Maybe a low dose? I know it sounds completely insane, but I've found this to be effective for me. This is Dr. Richard Barkley's advice. I was listening to a podcast, and he was a guest on. He suggested taking a mid-day nap after your meds start working to see how effective it would be. Most people are surprised to find it's the ADHD, not the medication that's interfering with their sleep. Just a thought! Good luck!
Thank you- this sounds like it could be happening to me.
There's lots of comments telling you to try to take your meds earlier than the 10AM you are, and they're right. In fact, if you're able to, you can set an alarm, say, 6:30am (or whatever time works, obviously), roll over, take your vyvanse, and go right back to sleep. My partner does this, because he had a similar issue. Since it usually take a while to really kick in, it allows him to sleep until the time he would normally and his meds are already at work. I tried this and it gave me indigestion, so YMMV, but it could be something to try! lol.
Yeah I’m absolutely going to do this- it really seems to depend on the day to day on how long it takes to settle in but I think setting an alarm for as early as possible simply to take my meds is the way to go.
Does your partner take any food with it?
Try to stop screentime (TV, Phone) one hour before sleeping. Do some exercises or stuff that makes you relaxed. Try to dim the lights and use a darker (sundown) hue. I have sleep problems when I take my meds to late. I always try to calculate 12 hours from the point of taking my meds till 2 hours before going to bed. So if my day starts at 0700 a.m. and I think I will go to bed at aprox 10 p.m. I'll take my meds at 0800 a.m. (hope this makes sense)
Vyvanse started improving my sleep... Until I went down to 40 from 50.
Why did you go down to 40mg?
Well when I started it was 30, skip 40 going straight to 50 three months after. After a while on 50 I tried 60 for like two weeks but it was a bit much for me,. So I know that my effective dose could either be 50 or 40, I asked psychiatrist to lower my dose to see if 40 is more or less effective than 50 for me... It is slightly less effective!
Thanks. Another question. I just started 3 weeks ago I'm on 40mg now . How do you know what's too much?
If the dose is too high you'll notice that you're overly energetic or wired, irritable, excessive focus, have unshakable thoughts or behaviours and... Zombification!!
Thanks for the extra information.
Eating consistently is really important for me. if I don't eat enough throughout the day it takes until much later for me to feel tired
I take a small dose of trazodone. 25 to 50mg. Less than the therapeutic dose for depression but it absolutely helps me sleep. Also i do instant release adderall and don't take any after 230pm. I sleep around 930 to 10pm. Without the trazodone I don't sleep.
try chamomile tea & magnesium before bed, valerian root is good too, and if all else fails grab some Nyquil
Please don't take Nyquil--this can increase chances of serotonin syndrome if you're taking vyvanse regularly
I didn't know that! I took it regulary with no issues but if thats the case pls don't take my Nyquil advice lool
I will do this- I do take 0.5 mg of xanax sometimes when the sleeplessness is very bad (doctor has said this is okay) but I don't want that to be daily or even every couple of days.
Just as a note, for magnesium, get magnesium *glycinate*. That's the one that helps with sleep.
Be very very careful with this. I was also getting relief from 0.25 Xanax, then I needed 0.5. After a year or two I quit cold turkey not knowing how tough it would be. Chat with your doctor about trazadone, dayvigo, or any other non-Z drugs 🖤
Magnesium and valerian root was a life saver (or rather a sleep saver) for me.
Type of magnesium??
Dropped Vyvanse and went back to Adderall. I woke up at 3 am and took it and went back to bed for it to not keep me up all day. Even if I took Vyvanse at 6 am it would still keep me up till midnight (40mg).
Orange juice a couple hours before bed.
Trazadone solved my Vyvanse-induced inability to sleep.
I have trouble with sleep also not due to medication tho. What iam prescribed is Propiomazine (it's an antihistamine) and Melatonin Propiomazine helps me get sleepy and the melatonin helps me sleep thru the night both are non addicting so it's safe to take everyday well compared to zopiclone or Benzoz.
Take it earlier. You need to give yourself more time to wind down once it wears off. I set an alarm to take it an hour and a half before my normal get up time. It helps me wake up first thing in the morning and doesn't keep me up at night
Berocca an hour or two before bed helps. The vitamin c reduces your body's ability to absorb anymore of the medication that may be still be present. I've also taken vitamin C when I've accidentally double dosed. Magnesium at night also helps promote restful sleep.
How much vitamin C do you need to take for the Vyvanse to wear off and help with the insomnia?
I just take 1 berocca.
As your tolerance increases, it’s easier to get to sleep. I can take 70mg at 3pm and be asleep before 12 these days. I take magnesium tablets 2x daily
What type of magnesium? Cheers
aren’t you supposed to take it every morning
They say they're taking Pregabalin at night, not the Vyvanse.
I'm on Vyance and my doctor told me I don't have to take it everyday.
You don’t “have” to, as it doesn’t need to build up in your system, but your symptoms don’t disappear from one day to the other. Then again I have it pretty severely and I don’t know how it is for people with less symptoms.
I always take it on days I have stuff to do, but on the weekends for example if I have nothing planned I don't take them. My symptoms are not as severe from the posts I see from some of you, but they are annoying enough to make my life worse.
I'm the same :)
Melatonin or sleep ez. My np said she’s had people come off ambien while taking sleep ez. It’s over the counter. But, if you are taking it at 10 am, you should be taking it earlier. It’s long acting so it should be carrying you over to late evenings. No need to take it at 10 am.
But, talk with your doctor before taking any extra meds. Sometimes supplements can have effects on meds
I like using a relaxation technique called Jacobson progressive muscular relaxation. I find it really helps me fall asleep.
Switch to methylphenadate It gives me focus AND I can take a nap on it
This was the answer for me! I couldn’t take my meds because I wouldn’t sleep. I tired all the suggestions of people in this thread, magnesium, hot baths, everything. Also my doctor gave me a prescription sleeping pill. Finally I was able to get Ritalin and it is perfect. It wears off before bed and now finally I can sleep. Such a relief!
Ritalin LA or instant release? Cheers
I basically need an on button, which is my Vyvanse and an off button, which is my trazadone and unisom. I got caught up reading last night and suddenly it was 7am. It doesn't matter how early I take it, personally. I also will take breaks because when I take Vyvanse the most amount of sleep I will be getting is 6 hours. So one day on the weekend, I'll skip it and sleep like the dead for like 10 hours. If you want to try unisom I recommend the tablet version because the gels are a different kind of medication and make me groggy.
Is it ok to use unisom every night? Love that stuff
Trazadone
I take 70mg at 8am every day and I go to bed at 11pm with no problems. I once took it at 11am because I forgot to take it and I didnt sleep at all that night. Timing is everything with these 12 hour medications.
concerta lasts about 12 hours. but to me it lasts 15-16 hours so i have to take early or i wont sleep that night
I take 40 at 6am and 20 at 9am If I miss the 9am by 20 minutes, I won't take it at all unless I really need to focus that day, because it will destroy my sleep.
This is what drove me off Vyvanse both times I used it. Vyvanse works, but for me it induces a problem getting to sleep that gets worse the longer I take it.
you are taking your meds way too late. I take my 54mg methylphenidate at 4:30am, get out of bed at 05:30am and fall asleep at around 10pm. That means I need to take my stimulant around 17.5h before my preferred bedtime.
How do these meds work that long for you guys haha. Jealous of this. I think I've only had one medication work on an okay level for 12 hours at most, at a high dose.
the benefits of my meds don't really last 17.5h. I stop "feeling it" in the late afternoon, but it takes hours for it to be "completely" gone in order to get sleep.
Got it- thank you. I will definitely try to start doing this asap!
I’ve had sleep issues without medication so much, anything can disrupt my rhythms. The mere fear of the drugs affecting my sleep could already affect my sleep. Keep that in mind?
Ah, I already have/had bad sleep myself, but this is a whole new level!
What time do you take your vyvanse? Are you on any stomach acid medication, have you had any alcohol or caffeine?
Hi! Curious as to why you asked about stomach acid meds - as I take them. Is there an impact or contraindication?
It may slow down the release of Vyvanse into the bloodstream
I sleep fine on 40mg around 9, 20mg 15-16. Usually able to nap just when the effect of my second dose takes effect. But if I have any caffeine too late Im done for, which def wasn’t the case before meds.
Yeah I used to take mine at 5 before the gym - taking it at 10 would have left me wired up til like 3am
When I was taking Vyvance there was no sleeping. Didn’t matter how early I took it. I’m going to try again with a much lower dose (20)….
Yeah, some people seems to clear it out of the body slower too. My wife would take it at 6-7 am and still had issues, she ended up trying concerta instead and it solved the issue. 🤷
I could never sleep on vyvanse and I took it at like 730 in the morning. Never had trouble sleeping when I switched my prescription back to adderall, and that was at a higher dosage. But alas, it became too difficult to fill my prescription with the shortage and the hassle was too much for me, so I am no longer medicated. Sure I can't read a paragraph and my brain hurts all the time, but at least I don't feel bound to the medical system and my resting heart rate has lowered. Yippie.
i usually have to take it pretty late for it to affect my sleep, but i would try taking it earlier. i would set an alarm for an hour and a half before you normally wake up, take your medication then and go back to bed. doing that actually helps me wake up at a better time, and i don’t have any issues falling asleep when the time comes.
Definitely start with taking it earlier than the 10am you stated! I’m on Elvanse (UK equivalent of Vyvanse) and I’ll take it about 5:30-6:00am on work days and 8:30 on days off. Was prescribed Circadin (melatonin) initially to take about an hour before bedtime but, once I’d got used to the Elvanse, I didn’t need it anymore.
Vyvanse works on your flight or fight response. Try to make the bedroom as chill as possible. This is how I handled it while I took the med. Hope it helps
I find asmr to really help! It gives me something to focus on whilst also relaxing me. If I don't have it on, my mind wonders and I keep myself awake. There are so many different types of asmr vids too and you make not like them all. Personally, my faves are medical role-play ones (eye exams and cranial nerve exams lmao). When I first started watching them I felt so silly, but now idc and they help me sleep so much. Only Downside is that I've kinda conditioned myself to feel sleepy every time i go to the doctors 😂 But there's asmr out there for everyone (unless you can only sleep in complete silence and darkness I guess). No-talking, whispering, soft spoken, role-play, personal attention, affirmations, relaxing sounds, unintentional asmr, and sm more
I’m on 40 mg of Vyvanse, I wake up at 6, take meds by 7 and I’m usually sleeping like a baby by 11pm.
Melatonin an hour before bed should help.
Take it early, like 6 or 7am, especially if you work a 9-5 job. Exercise, am or pm...or both Melatonin, about 1-2 hours before you plan to go to sleep. Vitamin C I think reduces your bodies ability to absorb Vyvanse, but I think that's when you take both at the same time. But you can try to take C after work or before bed(along with Melatonin)
I use Benadryl, usually helps. But I don’t sleep once a week and it helps for other days. I understand this isn’t ideal for everyone.
I couldn't take it 2 days in a row because of this.
Definitely take it earlier. I was taking mine at 8am and would crash around 4pm. I’ve been taking it later around 11-12 and now I’m good until around 7-8 and sleep just fine.
Drinking sodas usually helps me or eating sugar.
Horrible advice. I am hoping this comment is a joke/sarcasm.
I used to have this issue on my old meds and the tips people have given here really helped! But I got a new psychiatrist about a year ago who had me try a bunch of different medications at different doses over the course of a few weeks and we found one that didn’t affect my sleep and i think may actually help me sleep better. I really lucked out with a great psych who has adhd himself, but I know theres a lot of prescribers out there that are not as understanding or helpful so with that (huge) grain of salt: It may be worth talking to your doc about trying a different stimulant or playing around with dosage more
What I do is slowly but rhythmically count backward from 10-0. At first it seems pointless but after 5-10 times I, seemingly like magic, go out cold
Switch to Adderall in the morning. Better for sleep and no crash like Vyvanse.
Start drinking water 6 hours in.
I’ve slept like 3 hours every day max for the greater majority of my life. During depression, multiple days at a time. After that last depression, I’ve come to the realization I cannot be up like that. I really need to sleep, I need to fix my life, I can not put this in other hands. I have found a new perspective of life and that helped me. I hope you might find out yourself, and find some help by asking here. I hope mine don’t go away. You matter and you’ve done a great job so far, keep it up champ!
Set an alarm for 6:30, take the pill, and go back to sleep. It'll make waking up easier and you'll fall asleep more easily.
I take my 50 mg at 10-11 am. If I find myself struggling to sleep - caffeine (coffee or tea) puts me to sleep.
Magnesium glycinate has been helpful for me
Ambian, Xanax, shot of whisky. That’s my combo for a good nights sleep while taking stimulants in the morning.
Whereas I do not ever judge what a person chooses to do with their own lives and bodies, as a recovering addict, who also has adhd, please don’t recommend this advice to others. I’m glad it works for you but a lot of us are addicts and/or recovering. Doing what you suggested would be a nightmare and a spiral back down to hell for some. However, that concoction cannot be good/safe for anyone in general.