New drug for ADHD

<p>My soon to be college freshman came home from his last visit with his Psychiatrist before leaving for college with a new prescription. I haven't gotten much info out of my son other then the Dr said he should try it and see how it works for him. He included a card for a free 30 day trial.
The new med is Vyvanse. It looks like it was just recently approved by the FDA. My son has been taking Adderall XR but doesn't love it. It looks like the Dr is trying to find if a different med would be a better fit. He also wanted my son to try the Daytrana patch this summer but my son filled the prescription but never tried it.
Has anyone had experience with either Daytrana or Vyvanse?</p>

<p>is it a new drug??</p>

<p>Daytrana or Vyanse?</p>

<p>Patches stink im sorry...i was on a tourettes patch for yrs...im happy to say im on no adhd meds nor meds for tourettes and im getting off my seizure meds..
I wanna look at these drugs..</p>

<p>My son has also been taking Adderall. His Dr. also switched him to Vyvanase as a "trial". Unfortunately he is reluctant to take anything so has only tried it a few times, but will take it to school. As I understand from my research (I'm a school psychologist):
1) Vyvanase is being sold by the same company as Adderall (
Shire, I think). Adderall has gone generic so there is going to be little future profit in it.<br>
2) Vyvanase has essentially the same ingredients as Adderall but is supposed to be released more evenly over a longer period of time (e.g. still effective at 6 p.m.)<br>
3) It is less desireable as a recreational drug so less likely to be stolen/traded.</p>

<p>I'm not thrilled that he is being switched to what I believe is an unproven product on the market. (Strattera was supposed to be a breakthrough but doesn't seem to live up to it's hype in most cases). On the other hand, he wasn't "thrilled" with Adderall either. He said that he feels about "the same" on both products but I'm not sure he will take it regularly enough to get past any initial side effects. His Dr. did give him 30 10mg Adderall to split for those times that he needs to work for a couple of hours but doesn't want to take something lasting all day. I noticed that the pharmacy filled his Adderall prescription with the generic, amphetimine salts. I wonder if it will be less effective. It was a lot cheaper.</p>

<p>Sorry. I misspelled Vyvanse!</p>

<p>I thought Vyvanse was being marketed for the younger child. The ads I have seen said for children 6-12. I have one child on Adderall XR and another that tried Strattera during college, but he didn't care for it so had decided to go with no medication.</p>

<p>Our D is taking Adderall XR. Is the XR generic now?</p>

<p>jcarol,</p>

<p>It sounds like your son's physician is being paid to switch as many of his patients as possible to the new drug. This happens all the time, unfortunately. Before committing to the new drug, you may want to find out if the co-pay will be higher. It may not even be covered. </p>

<p>IMHO, if kid is doing well on the current drug, why switch?</p>

<p>My son is 15 and on Adderall. He does not like it. He claims it makes him tired. It got to the point where he would just tell us he was taking it while really he was placing it in his mouth and then spitting it out later. During the summer months we have not made him take it. He is irritable, impatient, and frankly, tough to live with. We are seeking an alternative to Aderall. I know he NEEDS something because otherwise he cannot focus or sit still... he drives his teachers crazy. Why did your S's or D's NOT like Aderall? I'm really worried. He is a bright kid, but he just can't control his behavior without help. I'm open to any suggestions.....</p>

<p>Our daughter takes Adderall XR. She did try the Daytrana patch last year and removed it after 4 hours. she said it made her jumpy.</p>

<p>Nightingale, have you talked to your doctor about Focalin? It is short acting and helps our daughter focus in the evening for important study time, sucha as exams.</p>

<p>Nightingale- I don't know if your son gets his meds from a psych Dr or family dr. I know that the psychiatrist was much more agressive in switching around the meds and trying different drugs. My son doesn't like the adderall XR for lots of reasons. He feels it changes his personality. He also feels it hampers his creativity. It also makes him not hungry. This summer being off of it for several months he has gained almost 15 lbs which he needed. It doesn't make him tired though.
My son first tried Strattera. That was the worse. He was irratible, had no appetite and just difficult to live with. The report cards improved but for my son it wasn't worth it. He then switched to Concerta. That gave him anxiety and he couldn't sleep at night. At 16 he decided that he hated all the meds and would not take anything. Also what we found is the dosage can make all the difference. With both the Concerta and Adderall XR there was a fine line between effectiveness and a slight higher dose that caused anxiety and over analyzing.
We then switched Dr's. He has tried almost everything out there. He also went through a phase where he took adderall in the am and then fast acting ritalin in the evening for a night class.
I am going to have him try the Vyvanse and see how he likes it. Since it is similar to adderall I hope he can tolerate it. One benefit is that since it works as well late in the day as in the morning he won't have to try to figure out in the late afternoon if he needs to take something else to study at night. </p>

<p>Also Vyvanse needs to be digested to work, therefore it has little value on the street. I will also send the Daytrana patch along as well since we have it.
I don't know how the insurance company will cover Vyvanse. They didn't pay for Strattera when he took that. I know Daytrana is not on the formulary and is extra.
Snowball The literature we got on Daytrana was geared to use by young children. From what I have read about Vyvanse it is being marketed for young children but was also tested and successful with adults.
We went through one phase where he tried so many different drugs in different dosages that I was embarrassed to keep going back to the pharmacy.</p>

<p>How have you handled prescriptions at college? I am going to send him off with a month of each med but how about refills. With the ADD meds you can just do a phone in refill.
Options I have thought of:
1. pick up the prescription at home and send the prescription to son for him to fill
2. Pick up prescription at home and I refill and send the meds
3. find a Dr up at college who will write the prescription each month.</p>

<p>"It sounds like your son's physician is being paid to switch as many of his patients as possible to the new drug. This happens all the time, unfortunately."</p>

<p>That is not true. You may get some Jamba Juice if they think that will help them get some of your time...</p>

<p>"Before committing to the new drug, you may want to find out if the co-pay will be higher. It may not even be covered. "</p>

<p>That is good advice. That's the reason they offer the "free 30 day trial" deals. "The first one is free..."</p>

<p>Nightingale, my son has been on Adderall for a little over a year. For some reason the XR bothered him more than the short-acting. He also tried a couple other drugs but the side effects were worse than the short acting Adderall. For him the XR seemed to prolong the "jumpy feeling" time and also interfered more with his sleep and his appetite. Sometimes I think they just have to try some different Rxs and see what works best for them.</p>

<p>mom60-I have some of those same questions. I'm not sure of your situation's logistics, but there can be a problem with a pharmacy dispensing a prescription written by a doc from another state if the doc is not also licensed in that state. Perhaps if you use a pharmacy chain with locations in both places, something can be worked out.</p>

<p>My 18 year old is on Adderall XR and leaves for school in 10 days, yikes. We get a 90 day supply of his medication through our insurance mail order system. I thought this would make refills easier but now I'm worried about him having so many pills in his dorm room. When he had his last visit a few weeks ago, his doc could not stress enough how important it is to keep his meds locked and secured. He said that whether going to a reform school or an ivy, if kids know you have it, someone will want to get their hands on it. We both left the visit feeling a little uneasy about him 90 pills in his room.</p>

<p>What have others done about medication security? I was thinking of a lockbox that will fit discreetly in a drawer. I thought of only sending him with one month's supply and then mailing 30 days worth each month, but the pills come in one big bottle and I'm not sure that mailing pills in anything other than the original pharmacy bottle sounds like a good idea.:confused: My other thought is to send enough to get him through until the next time we see him like Parents Weekend, then T'day, etc. He will be just under 3 hours away so we could always make an emergency delivery trip if necessary. How do others handle this?</p>

<p>Our daughter took a 30 day supply of Adderall and Focalin with her. We talked about her keeping it in her lockbox but decided to put all her meds in a baggie and put the baggie under some clothes. Our thought was the lockbox was just too much trouble to get into every morning. We also had the discussion about people wanting these meds.</p>

<p>Our daughter is instate but had she gone out of state we were going to have to find a doctor in that state. Our insurance requires anyone on that type of medication to see a psychiatrist every 6 weeks for a 15 minute medication evaluation.</p>

<p>We are in the same state but he will be 5 hours from home so we won't be seeing him probably till Thanksgiving. Our insurance company will only refill 30 days worth at a time. I would be nervous with him having 90 days. Also if it is stolen it would be hard to replace.
I have to talk to my son about where he will keep his meds. As of now I think he is planning on taking a few different meds. He is taking a 30 day supply of the Vyvanse, the Daytrana patch and also some adderall xr in case he finds he doesn't like either of the other options.(I will keep the majority of the Adderall at home and send it if he needs it) I think of the 3 meds it is the only one that anyone is going to want from him. I think that is one of the advantages of the patch or Vyvanse. From talking with my son he is hoping to start off trying the patch. If he doesn't like that he will try the Vyvanse and if both those fail go back to just using the adderall. I just wish we had tried the different meds this summer so he would be going off with a clear idea what he is going to use.
I am also going to warn son that he should not let it become public knowledge that he takes this type of medication.</p>

<p>mom60, please let me know if the Daytrana patch works for your son. I wanted our daughter to give it more than a 4 hour try but I was not the one feeling jumpy. She has ADD and the only side effect she notices with Adderall XR is a slight appetite lose.</p>

<p>We also discussed not letting everyone know she has the meds. Good luck to your son.</p>

<p>My son's physician would only give Rx for 30 days at a time. He did use the lockbox for his meds and it worked fine for him.</p>

<p>I asked my son today if the Dr gave him any instructions. He said the Dr said he should lock it up or at least not let people know that he had it. The Dr stressed the importance of not giving it to anyone.
What kind of lock box did you get?</p>

<p>He just has a small metal lock box that has a key (he keeps it on his key chain) that is the size of what I would call a cash box. He kept his Rx meds in there, extra cash and his passport and credit card. Of course if someone knew it contained something they wanted, they could steal the whole box and work on it at their leisure. But I think that is unlikely in a dorm situation. He just kept the box in one of his dresser drawers.</p>

<p>The box is one of those "fire proof" ones--I believe he got it at either an office supply store or maybe Sam's.</p>