Vyvanse effects on runners

Another thing I wanted to address is every single post online about vyvanse and running always says “yes it does increase heart rate but it’s not that extreme and the focus makes it worth it”. Nothing is worth that, you can’t train a healthy way, you can’t run fast, and your probably doing some sort of damage to your heart. No one is willing to say up front it’s awful for runners.

I've been taking it for almost a year and noticed similar things - my heart rate has been much higher for easy efforts and I've also worked hard all year, upping my weekly miles consistently, and I've barely seen any benefits. It's been frustrating but I've also read that stimulants can increase performance so not sure. I also moved to a very hot place at about 4000ft this spring so that's probably played a role in my situation.

The heart rate increase is noticeable but not too bad in my experience. If you have a key workout you should do it in the morning before taking your medication so you can really dial in without feeling like your heart is beating out of your chest. Vyvanse is slow release so it'll be active all day long unlike some other amphetamine drugs.

Hi,

I'm experiencing a similar thing since taking stimulant medication for ADHD.

You mentioned switching to a non stimulant, I have thought about this too but after reading up on Strattera I discovered this also causes issues with heart rate and running.

Did you switch to another medication and if so how are you doing on it?

Best wishes

Simmo

Hello,

Can I ask what amount you are taking? I have just started Vyvanse and run half and full marathons. I am taking 30mg so hoping my experience is similar to what you have explained here.

Wow!!! finally found something on the Internet relating to what I'm experiencing, your post is 2 years old but thought would put my 2 cents in. I started Vyvanse in late July 2021 and gradually dosed up from 10mg all the way to 70mg. The medication has changed my life significantly with focus and fatigue/sleepiness but I have noticed a significant hit to my running. I'm just your regular runner, nothing special, ran my first marathon this year at the beginning of September. Anyways I can confidently say that this medication not only raises my heart rate by 15-20 bpm when doing a easy easy easy run but it also inhibits my running performance as well. I just dosed down from 70mg to 60mg and even doing that I've noticed a slight improvement with my performance. On 70mg for the life of me I could not even run 5;40min/km but when I dosed down I was able to easily do a 5;20min/km which is more my pace, my heart rate hasn't seen an improvement though with dosing down. I told my doctor about this and he didn't seem to concerned but took my dose down, the pharmacist said to run in the morning before you take your medication which I might have to do. I really don't know what to do because on one hand the medication works hands down but I love being active and doing cardio. I've found very little information on this topic, I'm sure it would effect other sports as well like cycling and swimming. I wonder if this is just a common side effect that everyone has but runners only notice because were so Intune with our stats or if there's a underlying cause that makes it happen. Anyways thats my two cents. Hope someone gets to read this.

Glad to find this thread!! as it confirms what I am experiencing. I am trying to understand the correlation between Vyvanse, higher heart rate and slower running times. I have been running for a long time and started on 40mg of Vyvanse about 6 months ago. Initially, I noticed my times were slower and my heart rate was higher but I figured I wasn't hydrated, dressed to warm on a hot day, stressed, or didn't get enough sleep, didn't eat properly, had a cold, etc.etc. etc. Last month, I upped Vyvanse to 50mg and noticed my heart rate increased 15-25 bpm as an "average" where that level used to me my momentary peak when I was sprinting to finish any given run. I was so startled I started Googling around.

That said, my next step is to drop back down to 40 mg (the 10mg increase didn't do much to help attention). Depending on how that goes, I might drop to 30mg or even switch meds. By all account I have a healthy heart but stressing it daily runs at 1/2 or 3/4 speed can't possibly be good for long term heart health.

Hi hope all is well. Can you share what non stim you are taking? I was consider to take Vyvanse but I need to run and do not want a heart attack. Thank you