How Long Does Vyvanse Take to Work?

Vyvanse (lisdexamfetamine) is a prescription drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in adults and some children. It's also approved to treat binge-eating disorder in adults.

Vyvanse is available as an orally administered (taken by mouth) capsule and a chewable tablet. How long Vyvanse takes to work can vary according to certain factors, such as your age and whether you take your dose with food or on an empty stomach.

Generally, Vyvanse takes about 90 minutes to two hours to begin working. However, it may take up to an hour longer if you take the medication with food.

What Is Vyvanse?

Vyvanse is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant approved by the FDA to treat the following in adults:

• Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
• Binge-eating disorder

Vyvanse is also approved to treat ADHD in children ages 6 and older.

How It Works

The active ingredient in Vyvanse is lisdexamfetamine , which is a prodrug of dextroamphetamine. A prodrug is a chemical that changes from an inactive to an active form when it enters your body. With Vyvanse, the prodrug lisdexamfetamine changes to dextroamphetamine before it becomes active.

Amphetamine drugs, such as dextroamphetamine, help increase the availability of the neurotransmitters norepinephrine and dopamine in your brain. Neurotransmitters are compounds that allow nerve cells to communicate.

Norepinephrine is a stimulant. Increasing norepinephrine levels in your brain helps improve your concentration and reduce impulsive behavior.

Dopamine helps regulate your mood, movements, and how you experience pleasure and pain. Scientists believe that binge-eating disorder may be associated with an imbalance of dopamine in your brain. Vyvanse can help restore this balance.

How Long Does Vyvanse Take to Start Working?

How long Vyvanse takes to start working can depend on factors such as your age, the condition you're taking the medication to treat, and whether you take it with food or on an empty stomach.

ADHD

Vyvanse starts working to improve symptoms of ADHD in children within about 90 minutes to two hours after taking a dose. This can include improved focus and attention and decreased fidgeting and impulsive behavior.

For adults taking Vyvanse for ADHD, it may take up to two hours for the medication to begin working to improve attention.

The effects of Vyvanse typically last for about 12 to 14 hours.

Taking Vyvanse with food may delay the time it takes for your body to completely absorb the drug. This may also affect how long it takes for Vyvanse to start working. However, it should not affect how well Vyvanse works to improve your symptoms.

For more information on how food affects the way your body absorbs Vyvanse, see the section titled "How Quickly Is Vyvanse Absorbed?" below.

Binge-Eating Disorder

Vyvanse is approved to treat binge-eating disorder in adults.

For this condition, you may start to feel the effects of Vyvanse about two hours after taking a dose. However, it may take up to 12 weeks to notice a reduction in your number of binge-eating days per week.

In studies of adults who took Vyvanse for binge-eating disorder, the medication controlled symptoms for at least 38 weeks.

How Quickly Does the Body Absorb Vyvanse?

In studies of children ages 6 to 12 years with ADHD who took Vyvanse capsules on an empty stomach, dextroamphetamine, the active form of Vyvanse, took about 3.5 hours to be completely absorbed and reach peak levels. In adults, the drug took an extra 15 to 20 minutes to reach peak blood levels.

When taking Vyvanse capsules after a high-fat meal, such as a hamburger or eggs with buttered toast, the medication takes about one hour longer to be absorbed. If Vyvanse capsules are taken with a light snack or meal, such as yogurt, the medication may take about 30 minutes longer to reach peak levels compared with taking the capsules on an empty stomach.

Vyvanse chewable tablets take about 4.5 hours to be completely absorbed when taken on an empty stomach. As with Vyvanse capsules, taking the chewable tablets with a high-fat meal increases the time the medication takes to be absorbed by about one hour.

Do I Need to Take Vyvanse Every Day?

Vyvanse is typically taken once daily in the morning for ADHD or binge-eating disorder. Taking Vyvanse regularly every day helps the medication effectively manage your symptoms.

Your healthcare provider will prescribe a Vyvanse dosage that's specific to your condition. Factors that may affect your dosage include:

• Your age
• The condition you're taking Vyvanse to treat
• How your body responds to Vyvanse
• Other conditions you may have, such as kidney problems
• Other medications you take

Sometimes, your healthcare provider may recommend that you pause your Vyvanse treatment for a short period (typically for a few days). This is often called a treatment holiday or a "drug holiday."

Your healthcare provider may recommend a treatment holiday to determine whether you still need to continue taking Vyvanse for your condition. They may also do this to help relieve side effects you may have from Vyvanse.

Follow your healthcare provider's instructions when taking Vyvanse. Please do not stop taking this medication without talking with them first. If you want to pause your Vyvanse treatment, your healthcare provider can help you devise a schedule that works for you.

How Does Vyvanse Compare to Other Medications?

If you're considering taking Vyvanse for ADHD, you might want to know how it compares to other medications.

Vyvanse is one of several stimulant drugs that treat ADHD. Examples of other ADHD medications include Concerta (methylphenidate ER) and Adderall XR (mixed amphetamine salts).

The effects of all three medications last throughout the day. However, they vary in terms of how quickly each begins to work and how long its effects last.

Adderall XR starts working about 30 minutes to one hour after you take a dose. Similarly, Concerta takes about one hour to begin working. Vyvanse may take a bit longer. Feeling the effects Vyvanse typically takes about 90 minutes to two hours after taking a dose.

Although Vyvanse may take longer to start working, its effects are felt for longer than Adderall XR or Concerta. Adderall XR helps to improve symptoms of ADHD for about 10 hours. With Concerta, the effects are felt for about 10 to 12 hours. The effects of Vyvanse last about 12 to 14 hours.

The table below summarizes the differences between Adderall XR, Concerta, and Vyvanse in terms of how quickly each works and how long each drug's effects last.

What to Do if Vyvanse Isn't Working

After prescribing Vyvanse, your healthcare provider will likely follow up with you periodically to check whether the medication is working.

You may not notice that Vyvanse is working right away. Signs that the medication is working may appear gradually. For example, you might notice that you or your child:

• Is less likely to make careless errors at work or with schoolwork
• Finds remembering details from conversations or school lessons easier
• Is leaving the house on time more frequently
• Is less likely to interrupt others during a conversation
• Has made improvements when finishing small tasks or homework assignments
• Has decreased fidgeting or restless behavior
• Has fewer binge-eating days per week than usual

Vyvanse may not be the right medication for everyone. If you think this medication is not working for you or your child, let your healthcare provider know. They may adjust the dosage or recommend a different treatment.

Let your healthcare provider know if:

• Your symptoms improve during the day but worsen in the evening.
• You or your child has new or worsening irritability or hyperactivity.
• You notice no change in symptoms after a few weeks.
• Your symptoms improve for some time but then return.

Summary

Vyvanse (lisdexamfetamine) is an orally administered prescription drug for treating ADHD in adults and some children and binge-eating disorder in adults.

By increasing norepinephrine and dopamine levels in your brain, Vyvanse helps improve concentration, reduce impulsive behavior, and improve symptoms of binge-eating disorder.

Generally, it takes about 90 minutes to two hours for Vyvanse to start working. However, certain factors, such as whether you take the medication with food or on an empty stomach, may affect how long Vyvanse takes to begin working.

When taking Vyvanse to treat ADHD, it generally starts working faster in children compared with adults. Taking the medication with food may delay the time it takes to start working by 30 minutes to one hour.

The signs that Vyvanse is working may not be obvious at first. Gradually, you should be able to notice improvements in attention, focus, and impulsive behavior.

Please inform your healthcare provider if your symptoms don't improve (or if they worsen) after a few weeks of Vyvanse treatment.

Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

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By Rosanna Sutherby, PharmD
Sutherby is a community pharmacist with over 20 years of experience in medication review, counseling, and immunization.

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