Switching from CONCERTA to Vyvance

My 9yr old has been on Vyvanse for over a year now. It works well, and has almost no side effects for him. We have, however, realised that it won't work completely on it's own for him. He also takes Intuniv. Since Vyvanse does have one interesting side effect of increased obsessions, the Intuniv quiets those obsessions, and allows the "noise" in his head to be a bit quieter. (I've been told that it's mostly ASD children have the increased obsessions on Vyvanse.)
Good luck with the new meds. It's not as easy road, but oh so worth it!

Have you maxed out on Concerta? Our son got to the max dosage and developed severe tics so we had to switch. Otherwise, Concerta was amazing for him.

We next went to Adderall, which sent him into severe rages as it wore off. Vyvanse has the same potential since it's in the same family of meds, so if you notice any anger as it wears off, call the doctor's office right away. It won't get better.

Our son is now on Vyvanse and doing well behaviorwise. However, it's also just started bringing out tics. Also, we had to start off on a low dosage and it did nothing for the ADHD. Once we got to the full dosage, though, it did work on controlling the symptoms.

Results vary so much by each child, you just don't know until you try. My big tip is to not brush off any initial concerns about side effects with the medication. Things don't get better over time with side effects.

Good luck!

ETA: 2014 Vyvanse ended up being a total nightmare. He started developing severe rages on it. The last day, he was punching holes in his bedroom wall and threatening to jump out his window and kill himself. I had to call 911. Vyvanse proved to be a horrendous match.

My 10 y/o SD has been on 30 mg Vyvanse for a year. At first the major side effect was loss of appetite but that waned within a couple of months. Vyvanse is great for her ADHD (inattentive type) and her behavior at school did a complete 180--which we were much relieved. However, I read the other moms' posts and realized she may be experiencing the "ticks" they mentioned and I'm going to talk to DH and therapist about that. We did try upping the dose to 40 mg a few months ago but didn't notice any signficant change so we went back to 30 mg. I'm thinking now she may need the higher dose again because of her other behaviors. School is still good but she's started stealing and lying a LOT more and not wanting to sleep at night, including getting up and sneaking candy and snacks while everyone is asleep. Other than the loss of appetite in the beginning, I think Vyvanse was great. It's time-released so it lasts about 12 hours but she has to take Mirtazapine before bed to supposedly help her sleep (see above). Finding the right Rx, dosage, and combination is hard. Best of luck to you!

Not sure where you are on dose, but if you can go up, I would try that before switching to a new med. You could also possibly add in Intuniv. That worked for my 10 year old. We did Vyvance for a year. Did not end pretty. For us, caused aggression. It is also VERY long lasting. That seems like a good thing, but it affects sleep and appetite. We had done concerta a few years ago and went back to it. Very excited that it is now available generic. Now 25 for 3 month supply.
Good luck in your decision.

Our son is on Vyvanse, and it works GREAT!!! We're happy with this medication.