Biphentin Vs. Concerta Adult ADD

[forestcitymike]

Hello everyone 🙂

I’m new to this site and also new to ADD sort of. I’ll explain. I’m a 32 year old man and was diagnosed with ADD as a child. Since then however I’ve ignored my diagnoses the best I could and just developed incredible coping strategies.

Anyways, about 5 months ago I had enough of kidding myself that ADD is just a label I was given to explain my negative personality traits. So I met with my doc who has helped a lot in the last few years. As of July 7 I’ve been clean of my viscious opiate addiction that I had for 5-6 years.

I’m just realizing ita difficult to edit my typing and I can’t seem to move my cursor back. Lol. I’ll just say this, I will introduce myself and tell my story in my profile if there’s room. Basic info for the purposes of this post is I liked opiates because they slowed my thoughts down to a point where my anxiety was manageable.

Anyways again lol, since starting back up on medication, methylphenidate, I’ve never felt better both physically or mentally. 🙂

i was started on Concerta 36 migs and these worked great for about a week. Then I started to notice a very strange effect. It seemed the meds would work great for an hour or so and then it would wear off for say half hour then work again. These “waves” continued all day. Not sure if it was the contrast between the meds working and then not working, but the difference was unbearable literally.

I explained to my doc and we adjusted the dose and times to no avail. So he Rx’d Biphentin to see if that would work any better.

Since starting the Biphentin things are incredible. There’s no noticeable physical effects yet at the same time I find I’m able to focus like a laser and honestly never drift off into Lala Land. Lol.

As I said I’m a 32 year old man and this is just my experience. I wanted to post my experience because I’ve found it hard to find decent comparisons between these two meds in adults.

My addiction has turned me into an incredibly open person. I’m not ashamed of my addiction or my depression or anxiety. If ANYONE out there feels the need to ask anything, feel free to message me ok. I’m open and honest about my issues because I’ve found if you own your negatives and don’t hide them they can never be used against you. Also I’ve helped numerous friends and strangers because I’ve talked openly and honestly about addiction and ADD and anxiety.

I hope this wasn’t too long.

I wish nothing but the best for everyone on here. I know so profoundly how hard it is to deal with ADD, especially for people around my age when ADD had such a negative stigma attached to it.

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[forestcitymike]

I wanted to ask an Admin…can I copy and paste this into the “Concerta” forum? I just want anyone who might be having similar issues with Concerta to have this article available to them.

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[driddles]

forestcitymike – yes, please feel free to copy this post into the Concerta forums.

Thanks for sharing your story with all of us.

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[Scattybird]

Hi forestcitymike – thanks for your post and welcome to the forum.

I think it’s quite common for those of us with ADHD to self medicate until we manage to get a diagnosis and work out what’s wrong. Well done for kicking the opiates into touch – it can’t have been easy.

I took Concerta for a short time and it was fantastic until it started making me feel emotional. Feeling it kicking in was weird. But the short release methylphenidate was fine yet it’s the same drug. So I do believe that the method of release and/or the carrier substances work differently on different folk. I am glad you found biphentin and that it works well. I hadn’t heard of it before – it isn’t used in the UK, but it sounds good.

 

 

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[forestcitymike]

Hello there and thanks for reading and responding. You’re more than welcome. I like to share my story in case anyone can relate.

Its comforting to know that others have self medicated before actually seriously dealing with their ADD. I’d never really thought if it that way, even though my explanation is the epitome of self medicating. 🙂

ive learned that Biphentin is a Canadian medication used for ADD. It’s capsule form and contains multy layer beads. The first layer is IR and provides 40% of the total dose whereas the rremaining layers contain 60% that is used as controlled release.

I also find it strange that different formulations of the SAME med work differently. Strange and kind of scary actually.

Im glad I’ve found this forum when I did. I’m also glad I finally was able to just stop being an idiot and realize that just because I need help with something medically doesn’t make me said idiot. Lol

hey, some people take blood pressure meds, I take meds for my focus and attention.

Another thing I find odd is that methylphenidate is classified as a stimulant. However it’s effects on me are nothing close to stimulating in a Classic sense. I understand stimulating to mean energy producing almost. It actually stops me from being fidgety and shakey.

Can anyone explain this to me? Lol

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[blackdog]

Hi @forestcitymike, welcome to the forums. 🙂

Methylphenidate is most definitely a stimulant.  The reason it doesn’t feel that way to you is because you have ADD. The ADHD/ADD brain actually is different and responds differently to stimulants than a typical brain would. The fact that it is stopping you from being fidgety is an indication that it is working the way it should.

It may also be in part because you used to self medicate, so the prescription medication doesn’t feel as strong to you as it might to someone who has never used drugs.  Kind of like the difference between a regular coffee drinker and someone who has never had coffee.

So, why do different formulations of the same med work differently? The answer is you. How you react to a med is determined by your metabolism and your brain chemistry and all the things that make you you. So there is no way to know how it will work for sure until you try it. What works for one person will not work for another.

If you want to know why on the scientific level, talk to a chemist. But basically, it has to do with the inactive ingredients, the binders, and the release mechanism. Different ingredients have different effects on how and when the med works. So it can be altered to be released instantly into your system or slowly over several hours, or to be absorbed in a different way than it normally would be. In most cases it is not the med itself that you react differently to but the other ingredients.

It sounds like you have hit the medication jackpot and found what works for you, so stick with it. But remember, you still have ADD and there is no magic pill that will make it go away. You need to learn to cope with it. And watch the depression/anxiety too. That may go away now that the ADD is being treated, but it might be you will still need some help with it. Lots of us take antidepressant meds along with our ADD meds.

You mentioned difficulty editing while you typed. Were you on a mobile device like an iPad? If so, that’s the reason. The site doesn’t work as well on mobile and it can be a bit tricky.  It’s also a little glitchy from time to time. But you have the option to edit your comments for a couple of hours after you post them. Sometimes it’s better to post first then edit.

And if you made it this far, then your med is really working. 😉  As you can see, long posts are pretty normal around here. At least for some of us…..  *ahem* 🙄

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[forestcitymike]

Lolol 🙂 Thanks so much for the response and the info. Makes complete sense. And yes I use my iphone most of the time. 😉

as far as the anxiety/depression goes I appreciate the advice and therefore the concern. I’ve been seeing my psych every week now for a lil over two years and she has helped tremendously.

I honestly feel everything I went through and all the lessons I learned from losing literally everything with my addiction helped out A LOT!! It’s horrible to say but I’m glad that I had to go through that. It made me who I am, which btw is a completely different person before this. It also taught me what’s important to me. Also the viscous loneliness both during and after it has given me the chance to really discover who I am at the deepest level I’ve ever been able to.

Like I said I’m 32 and I think people around my age or older that have ADD had it very rough as a child. Considering those are the most important years development wise, I’m so profoundly proud of myself and anyone else whose even through it. I love that it’s more accepted these days and all of the negative connotations associated with ADD in the past have all but vanished. 🙂 now as a society we need to reach that pint with mental health and addiction!

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[blackdog]

It’s not horrible to say. It’s good to be able to see it as a positive experience. I have often thought that I would be better off, be a better person, if I had gone through something like that. It helps build character. That is, you know, if it doesn’t kill you.

Unfortunately, ADD is still not very well understood and there is still a lot of negativity out there. It is more accepted than it used to be for sure, but don’t go advertising the fact that you have ADD to just anyone. Trust me, I learned the hard way.

I would love to see the day when mental illness is accepted and understood the same way any other illness is. And I do my little bit to make that happen, participating in the Bell Let’s Talk thing and trying to dispel myths about mental illness whenever I can. And addiction too, of course. No one just wakes up one morning and decides to become an addict. There is always a reason, and that reason is often untreated mental illness.

As for me, I just chose not to wake up. Maybe under different circumstances I would have turned to drugs. But my way of dealing with depression was to not deal with it. Or anything else. Just pull the covers over my head and go to sleep. Which is what I feel like doing right now. So I better get up and go out to my garden and get busy before I give in and waste the whole day. 🙂

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[forestcitymike]

Lol. :)): totally understand that feeling. About sleeping. My depression and anxiety was obviously a result of a brutal stutter and years of bullying. I’m learning though that the ADD going untreated most definitely didn’t help.

as far as my addiction goes I NEVER used my drug of choice to get high. Honestly. Now that’s not to say I didn’t have my “fun” with drugs when I was younger. Actually looking back I would say I was a text book “stoner”. From an early age I just never liked how I felt physically, mentally and emotionally. I just felt blah constantly. If that makes sense. Never happy or sad just blah. Lol. Now that I’ve dealt with my addiction and came out the other side a completely different person, it’s almost as if I’m now one of those people I used to just loathe. Ya know, happy and healthy. Lol.

 

Im im curious to know more about your comment about not broadcasting out ADD to others. Not that I have but that really peaked m. Interest. What exactly do you mean? Do people automatically assume the worst of you and underestimate you ? My secret to life has been to be underestimated. Lol. All those years I couldn’t talk or communicate I just soaked up EVERYONE’S body language and somehow I’m able to “feel” people. Lol. And I am NOT a stoner or hippy I’m being completely honest.

 

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[forestcitymike]

Hello all!!! Lol

its been since early summer that I’ve actually felt the need to check back in with my ADD diagnosis and continue learning all I can about it.

Just a quick catch up of the last 7 months…..

As some might’ve noticed from my earlier posts in this thread I was so DAMNED excited and straight up lil school girl gitty about the fact my new medication was working so well and literally changing my life!!

well today, January 5, 2015 I can say that I’ve been with my girlfriend now since summer and I’ve truly never been happier in my life. * I don’t like to get into details but my 14 year relationship with my wife ended at the same time my addiction to H did. We have 2 beautiful girls from our relationship and they’re the two complete loves of my life!! Here’s why I mention this…at the time my wife told me to leave so her new guy could take my place she was convinced I was doomed to live a miserable life, she actually convinced me of this as well. So, no details but EVERYTHING was done to have my girls see me as the monster my ex convinced herself I was. No exaggeration at all, but NEVER, and I mean NOT ONCE speaking ill of their mother and just focussing on recovery and being a father worked miracles for me!!! It’s probably not possible for a father and his daughters to be closer to each other than I am with my girls, who are 6&8 btw. My oldest has a sense of what I’ve been through and surprisingly enough is proud of her Daddy

I can’t say enough how much I appreciate and value sites like this and this forum in particular. Although I don’t consider others on here as complete strangers, in reality this is what we are to each other. It’s so incredible that I’ve found a community that I can research and vent and talk about my deepest life issues without worrying about assholes or just plain stigma.

Mi sincerely want to thank EVERY single person who’s used these forums and added a caring conversation partner when we have no place else that feels so safe.

I’m sure you’re noticing that I’m seriously cheesy but as stated in my earlier posts, I’ve been through hell and all the way to the bottom and back up again. The lessons that’s taught me make me feel the constant need to communicate my appreciation for anyone who’s willing to help a “stranger”

and BlackDog. I edited out my part about having my anxious thoughts come back just as you warned me about. Thanks for the heads up there. Having read this actually helped me realize that it was “normal” to still feel anxiety/depression from time to time

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[goodbad]

Hi everyone! Im new here.ihave an important question to ask…when i take my biphentin 50mg once daily…ok let me start by saying im male 42,on my medication i feel like a woman..i want to dress like a woman , make up everything, is this normal? I dont not like it..but others have issues with it..help..:)

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