If you know you’re addicted to Vyvanse, you may remember it coming about slowly. In the beginning, many people who are prescribed ADHD meds don’t understand that they can become addicted to them, and that this addiction can ultimately have a major impact on their lives. The unnecessary guilt and trauma this causes can linger for years. At our drug addiction recovery treatment center, you will find the help you need. Our medical and professional staff have seen it all, and addictions to Vyvanse and ADHD meds are common. You’re not alone.
People who get hooked on prescription medications that were originally given to them by a medical doctor for a legitimate purpose can carry a different type of shame and guilt from recreational drug users. The former often take the prescriptions in an effort to improve themselves or to be more “normal” or acceptable to others. The last thing they expect is that this will cause them greater distress than they have been suffering. But unfortunately, it sometimes does, resulting in a drug addiction.
New ADHD medications are continually being developed in an effort to target these drugs more narrowly to their purpose and reduce the incidence of side effects as well as tendency to become addicted. Vyvanse was approved in 2007, and since then has replaced many prescriptions for Ritalin and Adderall. Although it may be safer than these two better-known drugs, it is far from 100% safe.
Vyvanse, like other ADHD meds, begins working almost as soon as you take it. For many people, it provides better focus and concentration, and for some, it produces a type of euphoria that they began to crave, needing more of the drug more often just to feel normal. This is the beginning of a Vyvanse addiction.
The first step in beating any drug addiction is detox. Some of the side effects that you may have suffered from when you first started taking Vyvanse may resurface as symptoms of withdrawal, including sleeplessness, nervousness, rapid heartbeat, loss of appetite and anxiety. As you move through the stages of Vyvanse withdrawal, you may feel symptoms on the opposite side of the spectrum, including fatigue, increased appetite and depression. You may experience changes in mood or even rapid mood swings.
If you were using Vyvanse to manage your ADHD symptoms, you may worry that detoxing from Vyvanse will cause an avalanche of symptoms to return. While you will likely struggle with temporary brain fog and confusion throughout your detox, rest assured that your focus will eventually return, as your brain will reregulate to functioning without stimulants.
While there is no specific medication that aids in Vyvanse detox, we want you to know that we have a medical doctor on staff who monitors your withdrawal to ensure you remain healthy and well during your rehabilitation. Many of our patients receive a dual diagnosis while they are here, whether it’s an underlying mental health condition or another issue, and our physician works with them to chart a path forward to recovery.
At our inpatient drug rehab facility, we provide our clients with many types of therapy, all designed to help you learn to live your life without the drug you became dependent on. Although all the therapy we offer is important, perhaps the most important is individual therapy. In these sessions, you will delve into how and why you became addicted to Vyvanse, possibly examining past traumas, expectations others have had of you and your personal beliefs and habits.
Clients also participate in group therapy sessions. Group therapy for Vyvanse addiction is critical to recovery. It is in these groups that you can finally understand that you are not alone in your struggle with drug addiction, and that there is no longer any need to lie, hide or feel shame or fear. You and your fellow group members will share stories and offer support in a welcoming, nurturing environment.
Your loved ones may also participate in family sessions with you as part of your drug rehabilitation treatment plan. In cases of addiction to Vyvanse and other ADHD meds, family members share a special kind of guilt and shame, since they likely took you to the doctor and encouraged or even required you to take the medication that you eventually became addicted to.
Something that sets Alpine Recovery Lodge apart from other Utah drug treatment centers is our dedication to nature and experiential therapy. While traditional talk therapy is indispensable in a recovery program, we also believe that other, less-common types of therapy give you the skills you need to make staying clean easier.
Studies show that spending time in nature and moving your body are two important ways to keep your mind healthy. We encourage our clients here at our rehab center to spend time in nature, on our hiking trails, walking through fields and meadows, playing basketball or other sports, or simply relaxing on a hammock or in our gazebo.
As part of our drug rehabilitation program, we also encourage participation in experiential therapy such as drawing, painting, sculpting, journaling, writing poetry or taking part in role-playing. No special talent is necessary to participate in these healing pursuits — they are simply tools to help guide you on your journey.
Ongoing resistance and resilience are necessary for your continued success, and to that end, we offer those who have completed our residential drug treatment program access to our outpatient services. The next step down from residential treatment is day treatment (PHP), which clients attend five to six days a week from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., after which they are free to leave our campus and return home to their families each day.
The final step in our program is IOP, or intensive outpatient program. Here, you receive most of the same services we provide in day treatment, but on a reduced scale. You will come for fewer hours per day and gradually reduce the number of days per week you attend until you graduate from our program.
The reason we built our drug treatment center here in beautiful Alpine, Utah, has to do with our dedication to nature. Wherever you are in Alpine Recovery Lodge, you can look out the floor-to-ceiling windows and catch a glimpse of the towering mountains that are part of the Wasatch Range. Whatever the season, you can wander freely through woods and meadows, perhaps spotting wildlife such as deer, birds and other woodland creatures. These experiences help bring you peace and remind you that as a human, you are part of nature, you feel drawn to it, and it can help fulfill some of the cravings you may feel for the drug you have given up.
While you are here at our drug treatment center, you will enjoy meals cooked by our talented chef. Adequate rest, hydration and consuming balanced meals are the keys to good health, and they help make you stronger and better able to resist temptation.
Don’t suffer in silence with your Vyvanse addiction. Resolve to take your life back — with the help of the team at Alpine Recovery Lodge.
Alpine Recovery Lodge
