The question came up during therapy.
Reasons:
- The lisdexamfetamine is completely out-of-pocket, while the methylphenidate could be paid for by insurance. Even tried, failed and documented, future lisdexamfetamine would be paid for by insurance.
- There might be a co-occuring autism spectrum disorder, and methylphenidate sometimes does a better job / less side effects, then.
- While the Elvanse/Vyvanse completely fixed two symptoms, ability to focus and getting started with a task, more would be nice.
But, I’d like to stay functional, so is this attempt worth it?
Honestly, you ought to try it and see what happens, especially if you can always go back. It’s dependent on the person, so take this with a grain of salt: vyvanse, for me, was like rocket fuel that burned me out by 5pm. It worked mostly well and I only switched because of shortages. Methylphenidate was workable, but ultimately not able to sustain focus like the vyvanse was (this was between both concerta and Ritalin). Also, different dosages of vyvanse might do different things. Be careful of chasing higher doses, though, because that likely means it’s not working as it should.