r/qelbree

Anybody have any experiences which one is better or bad/ good effects. My insurance looks like it not covering Qelbree anymore.

The reason from insurance for why they won’t cover Qelbree (which I’ve been on since October 2025) is: You have a history of failure, contraindication, or intolerance to the following: An alpha-2 adrenergic agonist [for example, clonidine extended-release, guanfacine extended-release.

Really, WTH! Has this happened to anyone before?

Has anyone recently had issues with using the manufacturer coupon? My drug has went from $20 to $384 because there is some error my pharmacy is experiencing.

Hi. I’m Justin. This may seem silly but I stopped this med after only 2 days due to pretty bad exhaustion that almost cost me my job. I have severe panic disorder so I am panicking that these two days will bring on the nasty withdrawal symptoms I have read about. My wife is a pharmacist and said it shouldn’t do that as it wasn’t taken more than 48 hours but I am paranoid. Has anyone come off short use and not had withdrawal?

I should also add.. I trust my wife lol. I’m roughly 12 hours past my next dosing but I am just paranoid so I wanted peoples experiences. She also likes asking Reddit stuff.

For those of you who have made it to the 4 week mark and beyond did you find raising dose causing increased awareness and energy or did raising dose make you more sleepy and tired.

I started on 200mg, at week 4 I was upped to 400mg. I have tiredness until 2pm and have to nap most of that time. Plus I'm on Wellbutrin to improve energy levels but I'm also on multiple medications that could raise or lower energy levels.

But anyway did raising to 400mg or 600mg help with energy or cause more tiredness?

Thank you

Hi! 25F here. I’ve been on qelbree ER for about a month now. I started at 100MG for 2 weeks and have been on 200MG for the past couple of weeks. My insomnia is the worst I have ever experienced in my life! Falling asleep has always been easy for me. My boyfriend would always joke that I fall asleep in seconds, but since starting this med, the insomnia has been nonstop. I’m lucky if I can fall asleep before 6AM. I’m up all night but then exhausted during the day which leads me to nap for an hour or two in the middle of the day and then I’m up all night again.

I’m in between jobs as of last month, so I’m sure that has something to do with it as I’m not burning myself out as much, but I’m starting to get really concerned.

I was on this med previously a couple years ago and never had this issue, but I am on the ER this time - so maybe that’s why?

Any advice to help me get to sleep is much appreciated! For context - I started taking it in the morning but would be very drowsy during the day, so I ended up switching to right before bed.

Hey all, it’s been less than two weeks since I began Qelbree. I know, I’m being naughty and combining these two drugs that my psych said specifically NOT to mix, but I’m a habitual marijuana user.
At first, Qelbree alone would made my stomach feel so fucked up, so I figured smoking would get my appetite going again. Then the weird brain fog and body tingles began. I feel like I’m in a weird daze, I can’t really focus my eyes, and I feel super sluggish. I feel like removing the marijuana would twist my shit up further and not allow me to eat at all, and with, it’s still not that much of an improvement. Overall, I’m still kind of unsure about the whole drug itself, and I’m just considering asking about a regular stimulant in general.

Did any other stoners feel the same sensation? Did you quit smoking?

Hi all!

I've been struggling to find a stimulant med that works for me. I was diagnosed with severe inattentive adhd, and suspect there's some AuDHD in there.

I've tried multiple stimulant options, and the only thing that's worked for me nominally without too many side effects is Vyvanse. It worked miraculously for about 2-3 months, and then has lost effectiveness since then.

I told my practitioner that Vyvanse helps with daytime focus at work, where I can lock in on my tasks, but focus has never been my lifetime struggle. I sought out treatment for adhd for executive function help. I struggle with task initiation and extreme procrastination. Even on Vyvanse, I still hate doing mundane and complicated activities like cooking, errands, cleaning, etc. I've gained tons of weight because my brain would rather order takeout or delivery rather than spending an ounce of brain capacity on planning or preparing a meal. I haven't always been this way, but I think work burnout and medical trauma has pushed me to a point where I got depressed and struggled to function. I just started adhd treatment about a year and a half ago to pull me out it.

My psych told me she's heard this common complaint with a lot of her patients on Vyvanse, and suggested Qelbree to add on top of it. That Vyvanse helps with focus, but that Qelbree has helped her patients fill that executive function gap. I'm supposed to take 100mg for two weeks, and move up to 200mg. She warned that the first two weeks would be the most symptomatic, and that I might need to "push through" to see the long term benefits.

I took a look through this sub, and admittedly, am a little scared to start.

There's a lot of stories of the extreme vomiting or stomach issues the first two weeks, and scary stories about the withdrawal effects when missing just one day. I've never had a migraine in my life, and I'm not excited to potentially experience one if I miss a dose.

I'm also in the middle of an interview process for a potential life changing new job, and I'm afraid to start this med during such a critical time in my life.

I guess my questions are:
- Are the extreme scary stories on here just rare cases? Has the initial two week period been mild for some, and have you been able to continue your day to day life even with symptoms?

- Has Qelbree helped you with executive function? Do you have that "verve" to do daily tasks and keep up with them? Is it easier to keep routines on Qelbree?

- I'm forgetful (because adhd) and sometimes miss taking my vyvanse dose. Is it common to feel severe withdrawal effects after just one missed dose of Qelbree?

I've had this script in my home for two weeks now, but I just haven't had the courage to start. This med comes across as very scary, so any positive stories would be really helpful!

I (38F) started Qelbree about 6 weeks back for ADHD. I haven’t seen much benefits really but my sleep has been so worse, can’t sleep more than 3 hours. Then I found that my blood pressure has been gradually increasing. I also started getting shortness of breath even when I’m just sitting down. Initially I thought it was anxiety but it’s just constant though I’m much relaxed.

After completing all my blood work, seeing a cardiologist, finally both doctors have agreed I can gradually come out of qelbree. I wanted to check if anyone had BP issues due to Qelbree. Did you stop the medication and find BP to regulate itself?

Some background context:

I’ve tried stimulants such as Adderall and Ritalin but they make me really agitated so I wanted to try something new.

So far it’s been 9 days on Qelbree (220 mg). I really haven’t felt any positive side effects. In fact I would say I have a harder time starting tasks and staying focused. Also I’ve had a number of negative side effects such as stomach pain, feeling off, sleep issues.

I think I can manage the negative side effects but I don’t see the point because I haven’t felt any positive effects. I’m curious to know if other people felt any positive effects in the first 10 days or do I need to give it more time?

I’ve been on Qelbree for 4 years 500mg, I started having a lot more anxiety and a little bit of depression more anxiety for sure. What has worked for anyone they gave me propranolol but it isn’t really doing anything. I heard fluoxetine may be a good option or lexapro but anxiety is the main thing I want to fix.

I'm a 19 yr old female who's been on Qelbree 300mg for about 2 months now. I'll be heading back to college in a month and not planning on drinking a ton, but it is definitely a part of the culture and something I'd like to participate in if I can. Does anyone have any past experiences or tips for drinking while on Qelbree? Or is this something I should completely avoid?

i've been taking qelbree since the first week of february, i think. i started at 100mg, moved up to 200mg after about two months in early april, and then i finally moved up to 400mg mid-may. maybe 4-6 weeks ago. on both 100mg and 200mg, i really didn't have any side effects, but at the same time, i didn't notice any changes. positive or negative. only when i moved up to 400mg did i start noticing changes.

one of the first side effects was the dry mouth,, it was weird, but i still usually get it in the morning after waking up. another symptom i noticed, i mistook for insomnia. not quite, it was just my focus and ability to stop tasks/executive dysfunction got worse 😭 even now, i've had a meal sit on my desk for the past two hours because i keep forgetting to eat. keep saying i'll stop and eat after i finish x. and then proceed to do something else. food left abandoned. it's caused me to also stay up terribly late, usually sleeping somewhere between 4-7 am nowadays. another early side effect i noticed was a decreased appetite. i already did have a huge appetite, but somehow it got even smaller

more recently, i've noticed reoccuring headaches. they appear sometime within the day. i'll drink water, eat, take tylenol, and it still won't go away. i've noticed i really just gotta lie down and try to sleep it off. goes away after a few hours, sometimes stays throughout the entire night, though. another one, constipation. i already don't eat enough fiber. this one is absolutely cooking me. i didn't know it could get worse.

i think my last symptom, and potentially one of my most alarming, is bladder related. i'm not even completely sure what it is yet. first time, it was an uncomfortable need to pee. but after, it just burned and felt like i didn't completely empty my bladder. only after taking my backup uti medicine (cephalexin 500mg) did i notice it disappeared. i considered it a random one-time thing. until it happened again. it first started as a faint foul smell and a slight bladder retention. concerned, i took some medicine, and it went away as usual. only for it to return a day or two later. this time, the smell was stronger, burned afterward, and also felt like my bladder wasn't completely empty. took more medicine, and it's finally fading.

is this something anyone else has experienced ? specifically the last symptom. it reminds me of strattera (atomoxetine) a lot. i started with 40mg in early-may of last year. upped my dosage to 60mg in mid-june to mid-august where i finally quit. when i was taking 60mg, i noticed a lot of frequent bladder issues and reoccuring uti's (hence the backup uti medicine). i had never had a uti in my whole life, and it was so terrible, i immediately stopped, and i haven't had a uti since,, until recently. might reach out to my doctor and get her opinion since this is honestly the one symptom i cannot deal with 😭😭

I was really open minded to taking qelbree and super excited to trying a non stimulant. Unfortunately the negative side effects are affecting my daily life too much. I’m super drowsy and nauseous for half the day (I take it at night). I’m having such brain bad fog that I can’t do work tasks. I don’t get good sleep, and I have sleep paralysis now. I get sleepy driving to work and being in meetings. It’s like my adhd got worse.

It seems like it helps people usually 2-3 months in? I just don’t know if it’s worth it, and especially with a chance of it not working. I can’t lose anymore days of feeling “sick” from taking qelbree when it’s affecting my school and work. I think I’m telling my psychiatrist that I’m done.

Hi, I am starting Qelbree next week. But I am super worried about irritability and ED with it. The more I look through this subreddit, the more I hear the horror stories about it. I have issues with being indecisive (could be related to my ADHD,) and it has taken me a long time to finally come to the decision to get onto an ADHD med. My executive functioning issues are just too much for me to ignore, and I read all the positive things ADHD people say about meds.
But, my main problem is that my dad is very much against me doing any ADHD meds of any kind, because our family has a long and horrible history of drug abuse. I agreed not to go onto a stimulant, which is why the doctor chose Qelbree. But he still thinks I don’t need it, and that I am just lazy. Deep down, I know I need ADHD meds, but I also do not want the side effects.

EDIT

Another, very important thing that is making me scared is that the doctor was a fill in for my main doctor who’s on maternity leave, and she seemed unsure about anything ADHD med related. She and I both looked up non stimulant ADHD meds together, and it was me who found Qelbree as the second option. The first option, Straterra, I said no to because ED was the top side effect. Qelbree had no mention of ED, until I saw it on this subreddit. She had never heard of it, but she said it didn’t interact with my Buspirone anxiety med, so it should be good.

So, should I go on Qelbree and risk being an irritable and angry POS to people and develop ED, or just listen to my dad and just deal with the fact that I’ll be a useless POS because I have no executive functioning skills and end up poor? Because that’s all I’m seeing right now, either outcome is going to be bad.

I'm right at the beginning of week 4 on Quelbree and I can not tell that its doing anything at all other than dry mouth, and possibly tiredness. My question is what is your experience with Quelbree, has it been activating and energizing or more sedating and tiring for you?

I'm at the 200mg dose, has dose changed anything for you?

I haven't started taking it yet but I had to switch from strattera bc I have to eat a heavy meal in order to take it and I'm not someone who eats at the same time everyday. is this a med that does okay on an empty stomach or after eating?

edit: so far no nausea! and no problems taking it w my lexapro so hopefully it stays like this.

My doctor is switching me from xelstrym 9mg patch to Armodafinil 50mg. Since I take Qelbree 400mg which acts on norepinephrine, the xelstrym, which also increases norepinephrine and dopamine, was causing me to not be able to find my words. It was as if I didn’t have access to my knowledge or I wouldn’t be able to articulate myself properly.

Since Armodafinil only works on dopamine the theory is that it should be a better combo. We’re going with a super low dose because the Qelbree will intensify and prolong the effects of the Armodafinil.

I’m curious if anyone has tried this combo?