u/Extra-Location-1893

So, I hit my wall with the Dex. I got to day 3 with taking 5mg x twice a day and it became too much for me. My heart palpitations were completely non-stop, I was super anxious and by the 2nd dose Iiterally couldn't concentrate on anything. I felt like I was in a fishbowl just super speedy and wired feeling and the crash was absolutely horrible. Extremely irritable and snappy.

I dropped the dose to 2.5mg x twice a day for the next 3 days and thought I found the sweet spot. Except it happened all over again with the third day taking it at work and I had a full blown panic attack. I had to go sit in a dark room for 10 minutes to calm down. I am so frustrated because it was working but I have no idea why my body decided to completely flunk out on me. I only had my first 2.5 mg dose at work and it sent me off the edge and the whole day was basically a write-off.

Over the weekend, I completely realise how bad my ADHD is. More than I actually thought. I was super scattered over the weekend and never realised how loud my brain is with chaotic thoughts and disorganisation.

As mentioned in a previous post, I recovered from very severe Pericarditis earlier this year which was a super stressful, albeit, traumatic time for my health but with no health negative health outcomes after recovering. However, I found that I can't even ingest caffeine like I used to. I used to be able to down 4 double shot coffees in a day to lock in at work and not feel the rush of caffeine and now even a strong Matcha can send me in a bad way. :( Just venting a little but I'm really annoyed at how my body has reacted so badly to the medication. Mind you I fully felt the effects and the difference it made but the rush of it seemed to much for my nerves.

My doc has now prescribed me 20mg of Vyvanse but I am also slightly worried that the same thing will happen...

EDIT: I should've of clarified (apologies) that I've been caffeine free since recovering from pericarditis in April as my body chemistry has completely changed to how it reacts to caffeine. I have not consumed any caffeine during my course with Dexamphetamine :)

Hey everyone! I'm a 28m who just started their medication journey with AuDHD.

I am prescribed Dexamphetamine 5mg, twice a day. (One at 8am and the other at 12pm.)

I am currently on leave from work and have been anxious to try it as I had recovered from pericarditis in April. I've had all my scans done and my heart is healthy and back to normal levels.

So I had my first dose this morning and first of all, wow, I have never experienced clarity like this. My daily anxieties that I didn't even know of completely melted away. I was completely in the moment and was attentive to everything I was doing. I have not felt a calm like this in a very long time.

I might add though that there were a few times throughout the day where I did have small waves of anxiety, but nothing that sent me into a panic. When anxiety comes around usually for me I have some sort of spiral/hypervigilance which makes my ADHD much worse. But these were quick come and go's, maybe a moment or two on my second dosing where things started feeling a little overwhelming but that could have been because with my ADHD managed, my autism came through a bit more than usual and ended up being over stimulated. Who's to know, but I was so surprised how my brain managed to snap me out of it so fast.

I am also wanting to see if anyone else experienced these symptoms when first starting? Just so I know what I can expect and know what is considered "normal" when starting this medication:

- Slight Dissociation (when the medication is beginning to "peak" and also when on the second dose of the day.
- Stronger/more aware of heart beats.
- Slight dizziness when stopping moving. (Noticed this especially on my second dose.)
- Moderate headache (noticed this around the time my first dose is starting to wear off, but this could have purely been from dehydration although I am insanely thirsty on this medication and have been watching my water intake)

HOWEVER, might I just add that holy moly, even though I'm on the beginner dose the come down of this is no joke . 😂 I am suffering currently, nothing to the point where I can't handle it but have more of an icky, heavy, fatigued, empty(?) feeling.

Mind you I had a MASSIVE protein heavy breakfast and lunch. Food also seems to not have the same pleasurable effect like as normal. I'm not deterred by it but I'm also definitely not freely going out of my way to eat it.

Thanks everyone for reading! Sorry if this comes across a bit scrambled or scattered haha. If anyone else has any tips, tricks and advice please let me know! I would love to have this medication work for me as best as possible. :)