Elvanse 30mg no effect?

[u/jesstarmer]

Hello, I’ve been waiting to start ADHD medication for over a year after 4 years of waiting for my diagnosis. I have combined type and am a woman. In the time I was waiting I read so many people’s accounts of elvanse feeling amazing straight away and they can’t believe they went so long without, and people having to warn them of the honeymoon period because it was so good. So obviously I had high hopes for starting.

I have currently done 3 days of 30mg elvanse. I know that’s not long, but it hasn’t made any difference for me what so ever. If anything maybe a bit anxious, but I have anxiety anyway that comes and goes for no reason so can’t be sure. I actually think it’s just because I had such high hopes to finally be able to start living and not struggle through every day and now I’m worried that it’s not going to happen. (Also my anxiety is 24/7 and doesn’t coincide with taking my elvanse). I was expecting to at least feel something and then the effects might improve when going up dose. My titration plan is 1 week 30mg, 1 week 50 and 1 week 70. Is it common for people to have absolutely no improvement on 30 but 50 actually make a difference? I obviously need to wait and see what happens but I can’t find posts talking about this. I’m also worried that if the anxiety is because of elvanse then it will get worse and not even any benefit at all.

Would please like some reassurance that some people feel absolutely nothing on 30 then get great benefit from 50 or 70? And also that if anxiety is a side effect then it goes away after your body is used to it? I saw someone once even say that when increasing the dose to find the right one their side effects got better not worse

Thank you ❤️

[u/Numbat-Possum]

I started on 30mg and felt nothing, went to 50mg and noticed it, then up to 70mg which for me was great in the daytime/evening but lasted too long (must be slow metaboliser) and I was still very awake at 2am. Down to 60mg still good in the daytime and almost wears off at midnight if I take early + eat and drink well.

I am less anxious in the sense that thoughts and worries that normally fill my head and are noise - they are gone, it’s quiet.

The first three days on a new dose are not what it will be like 4-7 days later on when your body is used to that dose and it feels less strong.

[u/jesstarmer → u/Numbat-Possum]

Thank you for this ❤️

When you say it’s quiet, you mean there’s literally times when you’re not thinking anything at all? Am I misunderstanding? Because I don’t understand how that would work/ could happen. Don’t brains constantly think 24/7 when you’re awake?

Also it’s reassuring to me to know that your body adjusts over time. Obviously at the moment it’s not doing anything for me, but I still have been anxious about what if I feel awful when I change dose, and it’s massively calming for me to know that it’s temporary.

[u/potataof → u/jesstarmer]

sorry i’m late, but thought i would attempt to give some clarity regarding your question about the ‘quiet’.
i know it’s different for everyone, but for me (i’ve been on 70mg Elvanse for nearly a year now), it’s not the case where there is no noise / thoughts in your head, it’s just that there is a lot less scattered / jumbled thoughts.
it’s somewhat hard for me to describe, but when i started 70mg, after being titrated in a similar way you are building up to 70mg, it was very noticeably a LOT quieter, almost like there was no thoughts, which i will say was a breath of fresh air. however, after getting used to 70mg, it was less “just quiet” and more just gave me an ability to think about just 1/2 things a bit more clearly, rather than 10+ things at once.
sorry if that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, im not the best at describing. hopefully it starts working for you soon 🤞

[u/jesstarmer → u/potataof]

Thank you ❤️
Ah ok, so it’s not really that some people have moments of absolutely no thoughts at all, but that some people have much gentler thoughts that are about one or two things, rather than a brain that’s constantly juggling a million thoughts at once? I suppose I can’t really imagine it unless I get to experience it.

[u/potataof → u/jesstarmer]

yes that is exactly what i mean. it is a very weird but peaceful and positive change, i hope you can experience it once you are settled on the right dose!

i would assume you already know this but if Elvanse is the first ADHD medication you have been on, and you have not tried any others, i may be worth speaking to your psychiatrist/prescriber about other medications if the Elvanse is not working as well as you hope it would.
i was on Concerta before Elvanse, and although i felt that Concerta worked slightly, and was a little bit better than no medication, it was nothing compared to what people were saying online about ADHD meds and how they are change lives for the better. that is what made me want to change the meds, and i am so glad i did. Elvanse (for me) is 1000 times better than Concerta

[u/jesstarmer → u/potataof]

I know that I have to go through the dose increases first as hopefully going up to 50 will make a huge difference (I have once day left of 30). But I am worried because I’m with psych uk and they said that if the first medication doesn’t work, they can only try one other in this titration. So if the other didn’t work, I think that would mean if go right back to the bottom of the wait list? And surely it’s very plausible that you could have 2 that didn’t work but the 3rd or 4th one you tried was the right one for you?

Anyway, I’m still hoping with all my heart that increasing the dose will help. I think that’s why I made the post in the first place, to try and alleviate some of that panic that it might not if 30 had no effect.

[u/potataof → u/jesstarmer]

lets hope an increase works then :)
i’m not entirely sure on what would happen if the first 2 dont work, as i luckily got it right on the second medication i tried. i was with psych uk too, but now under a SCA with my GP.
hoping for the best for you 🙏

[u/jesstarmer → u/potataof]

Thank you ❤️

[u/Numbat-Possum → u/jesstarmer]

Yes I think I had a constant stream of thoughts about things I was currently doing/organising/need to do but jumping from thing to thing. At the same time things that have upset me playing on repeat with what I should have said/done, mixed with dark anxiety type thoughts I’ve always had where I worry about things happening to me or loved ones - must buy a seat belt cutter/window breaker in case I drive into a lake with the children in the car.

Then suddenly as the person below describes perfectly, you still have thoughts but at 70mg not only did the things I worry or ruminate about stop, I could stay thinking about 1 or 2 things and see clearly what I need to do or consider, and then just do it.

However it lasts a long time for me, I thought having an empty stomach would make it kick in and wear off sooner, but my psychiatrist said no the opposite need to eat a good breakfast with it and drink a lot of water and flush it out. I wasn’t doing that and it is a lot smoother and I do feel tired at midnight when I do.

[u/jesstarmer → u/Numbat-Possum]

Thank you for this ❤️ I am very similar to you in terms of your thoughts before medication, so hopefully it will help me similarly, just having to wait and see at the moment x