After reading my post and your response I guess my question is more this...His pain is not constant in his back, but can be aggravated where he may need to eventually take something to get him through (probably not Percocet because of the no worries attitude..and the fact that he was taking it all day he would take it even if he had no pain...which led to taking increased amounts, taking it to get him up in the morning, taking it to keep him up until all hours of the night if he had to finish a job. So the main benefit other than the pain relief was the motivating feeling it gave him.  The adverse being he started being dependent on it for that motivating feeling, not so much for the pain.  He has always had issues with temper, explosiveness, not really thinking before he talked, did very poorly in school.  When I first started dating him almost 20 years ago my family members accused him of being a "coke-head" because they said he was constantly moving, hyper...I knew he wasn't.  He is not the type of person who will do "recreational drugs".  Tried pot as a teenager once, hated it, never did it again.  Tried coke once as a teenager, same thing.  Not a drinker either...maybe a beer on New Years' if your're lucky. 

Now, his sister (a nurse), her 2 kids and his father all suffer from ADD.  His dad was never diagnosed but has a really short fuse, violent explosive temper on occasion.  He explained to the doc all what I am telling you...she said ADD...but we won't give you Adderall due to the "high-risk" of abuse.  Gave him Vyvanse 30 mg.  Worked great day 1.  But every day since has not had the same effect.  He feels a "heaviness in his chest",  after a few hours his eyes feel "really tired", doesn't feel "motivated" to do what he needs to do in his daily life.  Why does this med make him feel this way.  In addition to the Vyvanse he takes an occasional Naproxen, has taken Trazodone at night to sleep.  Other than those meds. he takes nothing else.  He was drinking energy drinks for a few days but noticed they made him feel dizzy when he stood up (since taking the Vyvanse).  Was drinking like 3 a day for a couple days and then stopped when he started the dizziness.  She he request his doc switch him to Adderall and see if he has the same reaction?

Karen Lee Richards, Health Guide

4/ 5/09 6:56pm

The heaviness your husband is feeling in his chest concerns me because some of the more serious side effects of Vyvanse can be cardiac problems.  I'm by no means an expert on ADD medications, but according to my drug guide, Vyvanse has the same "high risk of abuse" warning as Adderall, so I'm not sure what his doctor's reasoning was.  Perhaps she's had other patients who have responded better to it.  But I would suggest your husband tell her about the side effects he's experiencing as well as how it is/is not working to see if he should continue taking it or if he could try Adderall or another medication.  You might also try asking your questions about ADD medication on our ADHD site since they have much more experience and expertise in that department than I do.  Here's the link:  ADHDcentral.com

 

As for his back pain, since it's not constant, he may want to try some treatments other than medication, such as a TENS unit.  Here's some info on TENS units:   http://www.healthcentral.com/chronic-pain/treatment-36204-5.html  Or, if he does need some medication, there are other pain relievers (like tramadol) that don't have quite the dependency problems that Percocet does.  Of course, any opioid medication used every day will eventually cause dependency problems.  It's important to only use them when he's actually having pain that is severe enough to interfere with his functioning.