Will Vyvanse Help Me Focus? Here’s How Vyvanse Can Help

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Posted by Prescription Hope - See Editorial Guidelines (Last Updated On: Mon Apr 17 2023)

Will Vyvanse help me focus is a question you might ask yourself if you’re using Vyvanse for ADHD?

In this article, we’re going through the ways in which Vyvanse can help. But let’s start with a quick answer, then we’ll dive into more details…

Vyvanse will help you focus, but only if you have ADHD. Vyvanse is a medication that improves common symptoms associated with ADHD, such as issues with focus, attention, hyperactivity, and impulsiveness. However, it does not increase focus further for those without ADHD.

Let’s read on to get more into the question “Will Vyvanse help me focus”…

Vyvanse and focus – what is the connection?

Vyvanse is a medication mainly used to treat and control ADHD symptoms – short for “Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder”.

ADHD is one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders developed in childhood. Although it is first diagnosed in early childhood, it can often be carried into adulthood.

As the title ADHD suggests, people with this condition have trouble paying attention, focusing, and concentrating in general.

They do not necessarily grow out of these behaviors, and these symptoms can sometimes become severe over time …causing difficulties at school, home, or within social settings with friends or within a relationship.

All other ADHD symptoms such as those outlined below, are heavily influenced by a lack of focus and attention. These include:

• Daydreaming
• Forgetting or misplacing items
• Squirming or fidgeting
• Excessive talking
• Making constant mistakes
• Taking unnecessary risks
• Having a hard time resisting temptations
• Having difficulty getting along with others

This is why ADHD medications, including Vyvanse, can help people with this condition focus better.

It allows them to gain greater concentration and reduces hyperactivity and impulsiveness.

This enables them to control many of their symptoms to a greater extent and live everyday life more easily.

Will Vyvanse help me focus – How it helps you to focus

While the exact cause for ADHD remains unknown, some researchers believe it is most likely to do with some underlying issues with the brain, and the neurotransmitter dopamine acts as a possible contributor to ADHD.

Dopamine allows you to regulate your emotional responses and take necessary actions.

It is mainly responsible for generating feelings of pleasure, reward, and happiness. Research says that the levels of dopamine in people with ADHD are different than in those without.

This difference is caused by people with unmedicated ADHD having a higher concentration of proteins called dopamine transporters in their neurons in the brains and nervous systems.

The high concentration of these proteins is called “dopamine transporter density” (DTD). A higher DTD lowers the dopamine levels in the brain, making it a key risk factor for ADHD.

All the medication for treating ADHD, including Vyvanse, works by altering the balance of a chemical in your brain and primarily increasing dopamine, thereby stimulating focus.

Targetting dopamine transporters

They do this by targeting dopamine transporters and increasing dopamine levels.

Vyvanse and other ADHD medications are considered to be stimulants and include amphetamines such as amphetamine/dextroamphetamine (Adderall) and methylphenidate (Concerta, Ritalin).

These medications also increase norepinephrine in your brain, which is a neurotransmitter that increases attention and alertness.

Increasing these substances can help improve attention span, concentration, and impulse control.

This is how Vyvanse helps those with ADHD stay attentive – by keeping them within greater self-control.

Because of these properties, Vyvanse – and other ADHD medications – are often used for off-label treatment-resistant conditions like depression and narcolepsy.

Some also take it to improve symptoms associated with depression, fatigue, sleepiness, and wakefulness.

However, they should not be taken without a doctor’s advice.

This brings us to the question, will Vyvanse help me focus and improve attention during exams …if I don’t have ADHD?

Can Vyvanse help with increasing focus during exams?

We all have dreamt of a magic bullet that can help us focus better and do well in an exam – regardless of how much we’ve prepared for it.

However, Vyvanse or other stimulants can’t make you work faster or smarter or help you focus better than someone who does not suffer from ADHD.

Even for people with ADHD, it only helps them to regain their normal focus and have stability in their thoughts, concentration, and attentiveness as much as a person without ADHD would.

Sadly, it doesn’t make you a straight-A student either. It only helps to keep ADHD symptoms under control …so that they can sit still, concentrate and study – or take an exam more effectively than they normally would without this medication.

What happens if you take Vyvanse to focus on exams without having ADHD

Taking Vyvanse and other stimulants with the intent to help you focus better than those without ADHD can actually harm your test-taking abilities.

It simply makes your dopamine levels too high, and you won’t be able to focus.

That’s not all; you might also experience potential side effects from the medication, such as

• Anxiety
• Trouble sleeping
• Increased heart rate
• High blood pressure
• Hallucinations
• Irritability.

As you might know, coping with these unneeded and disruptive side effects will likely not help you focus on an exam.

In other words, taking Vyvanse without having ADHD can put you in a more difficult situation where you may not be able to sit still, let alone be able to focus.

Vyvanse, focus, and binge-eating disorder

In 2015, Vyvanse was approved by the U.S. FDA as the first medication to treat binge-eating disorders.

Although it is not entirely understood how Vyvanse helps binge eating disorder, it’s believed to work by boosting the amounts of certain brain chemicals.

So one feels more focused, alert, and aware of their diet and how much to eat.

In other words, Vyvanse and similar stimulants help people with binge-eating disorders to increase their focus in assessing their dietary choices

Also, see our article on Adderall vs Vyvanse.

On the other hand, when consumed, Vyvanse gradually transforms in the blood into another substance called dextroamphetamine, throughout the day.

This conversion helps in increasing dopamine, the chemical that we discussed above, which has the ability to regulate one’s emotions, focus, and motivation.

Normally when you eat something delicious or hug someone you care about, your body releases dopamine and makes you feel happy.

Experts think the issue with binge-eating disorders is that, much like exercise, food triggers your brain to make extra dopamine.

As Vyvanse can increase and keep your dopamine levels high, you won’t, therefore, try to feel better by eating more food.

However, remember that Vyvanse is not a diet or weight loss drug, and you need a prescription from your doctor.

Vyvanse has not yet been studied for these weight loss purposes.

At the same time, while Vyvanse has a positive relationship in helping people with binge-eating disorders to regain focus and make responsible eating choices, they are not yet approved to treat this condition in young children.

So be sure to consult your doctor for further advice.

Will Vyvanse help me focus – Next steps

We hope this has provided you with an overview regarding the question “Will Vyvanse help me focus”.

If you’re a sufferer of ADHD and currently pay high prices for your medications, then you really need to enroll with Prescription Hope, and you could pay as little as $60.00 per medication per month through Prescription Hope’s medication access service. Contact us now to find out more.