mods, if this is not suitable for BLTC you can move it. I know its more of a medical inquiry than talking about the drug, but I don't know of any other forum where people might possibly know about weird side effects like these.


I had adderall XR for quite a while, but I had started to crash on it like 6 hours after taking it, so my shrink switched me to Vyvanse. I think its dextroamphetamine thats chemically bonded to release more evenly throughout the day, so its pretty similar to the adderall. I don't remember having this problem with the adderall (maybe i did but not as bad), but more often than not when I take it I get some degree of runny congestion in my throat and it just drives me nuts. It's very rare that I'm actually coughing stuff up... I'm just constantly clearing my throat because it tickles and kinda gurgles.


I usually only take it monday-thursday or monday-friday and i have enough work done that I don't need it on the weekends. When I take it thursday or friday morning for the last time that week, the congestion is nearly all gone by afternoon the next day, and then im fine for the rest of the weekend. When I take it the following monday morning the congestion usually doesn't return until sometime tuesday.

On a given day in the middle of the week I take it at 6:30 or 7:00 in the morning, and I'm usually fine until about 11:00, then it starts. It seems like the more stressed that day is the worse it gets. By 9:00 or 10:00 at night it usually starts to subside. It doesn't go away but it gets significantly better.

When I've taken double the dose (100mg) for an all-nighter it usually gets bad enough that it's become my primary motivation to do those as infrequently as possible.

If I'm really strict about going to bed early and get like 9 hours of sleep every night then it doesn't get very bad, but its not practical for me to be in bed by 10pm every night (which i'm sure most ppl who work go to school etc. can relate to).

In short, it seems like
things that help: longer periods of time between doses, smaller doses, lots of rest, low-stress environment
things that make it worse: taking it daily, higher doses, less or lower quality sleep, stressful/busy environment.

I smoke cigarettes lightly (1/3 a pack a day at most) and I thought that would surely be a big part of the problem, but I can't actually find a link between them. If I take the Vyvanse and don't smoke any cigarettes I get the congestion the same as if I do smoke, but on the weekends when I don't take the Vyvanse i can smoke and not have any congestion at all.

I've tried quite a few OTC products and home remedies... sudafed, chloratrimaton (sp?), benadryl, zyrtec, robitussin, gargling salt water, those are the ones I can think of now. My roommate and I drink opium tea (more often than we probly ought to) and sometimes this helps a lot, but its hit 'n miss. Dicyclomine (Bentyl) 10mg seems to help "okay" ... My doc wrote me a Rx for it because the Vyvanse has given me mildly loose stools (no i wasn't running to the restroom leaving a trail of shit lol) a few times and he said I can just take this as needed. Could the loose stools and this gurgly throat congestion have any correlation?

Would you guys guess this is some kinda histamine response allergy thing, or a short lived infection that the Vyvanse makes my throat temporarily vulnerable to? Like I said I garggled a whole lot with HOT salt water, and it didnt seem to do anything.



i've googled the hell outa this and can't seem to find anything, so if anyone has some insight I'd be extremely greatful.

thanks
-Jon

That's pretty strange to me...but I think I might know what you're talking about.

I've been taking Vyvanse off and on for about a week, not by prescription though. If I had a long night and need to work early I take about 60mg and it gets me goin. Sometimes 90 and occasionally 100.

The most prominent side effect for me is dry mouth. But this could be what you're experiencing. Sometimes the dry mouth causes the mucus in your mouth to become so thick that when you try and swallow it just gets kind of stuck.

Or it really could be congestion (too much fluid in sinuses/chest). Does it feel tight in your chest like there is flem in there? Try taking a relatively high dose of guaifenesin (mucinex). If that relieves tension and you cough stuff up, then you should probably talk to a doctor about it. I'm pretty sure that amphetamines are decongestants.

I'm guessing, however, that it is the first one in which case you can go to your doctor and get a lower dose, or drink an extra few glasses of water and avoid other diuretics.

I personally dont even touch ADHD meds anymore. I once took 250mg of Ritalin and my heart was beating so fast i couldnt even count my pulse. I just tried to stay calm and eventually it went away but it was a scary experience nonetheless.

I do get the dry mouth side effect from it. This doesn't really bother me a lot because I make a habit of having a bottle of water with me just about anywhere I go. What doesn't add up about the gunk in my throat is that often times I have it when my mouth isn't dry too. It may just be a delayed effect though, because I usually start getting the dry mouth as soon as an hour after I've taken the stuff, but the throat gunk doesn't come until 3 or 4 hours afterward. The dry mouth subsides about 8 hours after taking it, but the throat gunk continues for about 4 hours after that.

I'll try mucinex and see if that helps me at all. As far as breathing goes the Vyvanse certainly does have a decongestant effect like on my nasal passages and all, but I hadn't thought about how the chemistry that causes the dry mouth is probably also causing dry throat which could thicken up mucus that normally flows freely. I can't really distinguish if it's just regular mucus or "flem", but I'll just see what the mucinex does.

thanks for the help,
-Jon

... loose stools...


I lol'd.

No problem...It happened to me too, so it isn't a side effect that you should be worried about at this point.

I lol'd.

haha ya i figured somebody would get a laugh outa me talking about taking shits too frequently. either way I thought I would get the most help on the subject if the post was detailed and thorough.

I got some mucinex 1200guaf/60dxm and I just took one about 15 minutes ago so I'll see if this helps me. If it doesn't you think I should try the mucinex-D? i think the only difference is it has psuedoephedrine in it, which i guess i could simulate for much less $ by just getting some sudafed and taking it at the same time.

thanks again for the help
-Jon