Concerta? Does it work for you?

[Anonymous]

Well, I’m on my fifth day now (first two days on generic and last three on Concerta). I agree Concerta is “smoother” overall, ie I don’t get the kick in the am and then the crash in the evening. I am however realizing that as my body is adjusting to the methylblahblah compound, so the “all is well” effect does wear off and I have to do some of the work as well and not just rely on the drug to solve all my problems. Up to yesterday it really felt great, I thought it was the solution to all my problems, no one or nothing could get me upset or get me down, but now it seems like some of the old nags are returning (not focusing quite as well as the last few days, thinking negative thoughts, that kind of thing). So it’s going to take some time and some figuring out, but that’s ok too, i’m up for it so bring it!!!!

All of you on this forum are absolutely great, thanks for posting

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[Anonymous]

My doc just gave me a script for Concerta 18mg 1x day. I haven’t filled it yet, but I’ll be following this thread with interest and I’ll let you know if it works for me. I might wait a little while before filling it though, because I still have a lot of Ritalin left. I hate wasting medicine that I paid good money for.

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[Anonymous]

Hey Brentitude,

Concerta for most people won’t take you through the whole day, it might initially but the effects usually fade away after 12hrs….I take my concerta usually around 8h00 and usually by 7h00 at night, the effect has worn off.

A lot of people use Ritalin in conjunction with concerta if they need an extra 3-4 hrs of productivity after 6-7h00 so you might want to hold on to that ritalin (just a thought ) Talk to your doctor first of course !

JM

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[Anonymous]

Thanks for the tip, John. I tend to work later hours, so the chances are good that it will wear off before the end of my work day.

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[Anonymous]

Hi nvrl8,

Seems like we’re in the same boat! It would be interesting to know why the meds actually do that.

I still know its still working to some degree but I have to say my attention span and desire to get things done is wearing off.

I’ll be switching to 54mg next, we’ll see how that goes….dosing seems to be very critical, i just hope that the effect stays next time I switch…I’m seeing my doctor thursday.

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[Anonymous]

If I read your post correctly, you’re going to sleep and midnight and getting up four hours later? Because if that’s the case, then your problem is exhaustion, not necessarily that the meds aren’t working.

I was on Concerta for awhile, but went on Adderall twice a day instead because the Concerta wasn’t giving me enough of a dose early in the day. I was irritable and distractable and non-productive until about four hours in. Plus, I have a little more leeway to play around with the dosage.

Be careful about playing with your meds. I know it can be tempting to take two pills instead of one, but when I had my dose raised from 36 mgs of Concerta to 54, it shot my blood pressure through the roof, raised my heart rate, gave me chest pains, and nearly sent me to the hospital. I ended up on beta blockers for awhile. Don’t do anything without your doctors help.

Concerta might just not be the med for you. Good luck. Try to get more sleep!

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[Anonymous]

I found that Concerta had no effect for me. No negative effect, just… nothing… I have not tried anything else yet, but looking forward to trying something else.

Would be interested in hearing from other that have tried Concerta, where it did not work for them – what did work?

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[Anonymous]

Concerta will not replace sleep FWIW.

I find that I have to be more careful to get quality sleep in enough quantity to keep from getting worn out.

Once you hit a certain point on the exhaustion scale your body’s need for sleep over rides everything else.

When I get to the point where I just need to lay down and rest and don’t, but push through it everything seems to be a trigger for a bad mood, to snap, to be in a negative place. Eight hours of sleep and lots of H2O works wonders. My last observation, real sleep works best. No alcohol, sleeping pills, or other ‘self-medication’ to get to sleep, just good old exhaustion from activity (if you have dogs and don’t get them out for enough exercise how happy are they? why should we be any different.)

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[Anonymous]

Hey John, sorry I didn’t reply earlier, but yeah, this ADD stuff really, really sucks!!

l’m still on the 18mg dose but I’ll ask my Dr next week to up me to the next dose (think it’s the 36 mg). I did notice that I’m starting to revert too after feeling like a new person for a few days (which was great). My symptoms are primarily inability to concentrate, short temper, forgetting stuff and negative emotions. There was some initial improvement initially which I think is a good sign. Mind you I have not yet started the CBT yet, so will see what that brings…

On the topic of sleep, I noticed that zopyclone with half a pill of Benadryl works wonders, my experience, anyway. I meant to stop by the health store for the melatonin, but guess what I KEEP FORGETTING to do that. Oh well

Sorry, just had to vent,

How are you holding up ?

And in line with Rick Challenge #3, big thanks to all of you for sharing and caring!!

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[Anonymous]

Paully, just curious, did you take Concerta or a generic like Teva ? I’m alternating between the two and noticed that the generic had actually more immediate noticeable effects (probably because the release mechanism is not as sophisticated as Concerta’s). But just a caution (and please forgive me if this comes across as ignorant to your particular situation), I keep reading that medication alone is not going to fix it, so is the therapy approach not working for you either ?

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[Anonymous]

The meds will work with you not for you, at least that’s what I’m experiencing.

If I’m not getting enough sleep, I’m more likely to be irritable, unable to focus and not very positive.

The meds seem to work with that, adding to the irritability, lack of focus and negative thoughts, but

if I get enough quality sleep and some exercise on to of that, the meds work with that too making it a little easier to keep going once I get a little momentum.

In a moment of sleep deprived frustration at not feeling better and not accepting that I make a list of 3 goals for the next 3 days or so:

1. Rest and Exercise

2. Think positive thoughts

3. Worry about the rest later.

Now that I’m starting to feel a little brighter about the day ahead I can start adding a couple other tasks that need to get some attention, but only one or two, the rest can keep waiting until it’s time to deal with them.

I’m up to 27mg of Concerta and I learned that if the Dr writes NO SUBSTITUTIONS it is covered by my drug plan.

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[Anonymous]

Hi nvrl8,

It is the real thing. And fair questions. I really did not feel any noticeable effect. I understand the need to do therapy (CBT ideally) in a co-ordinated approach, and that the drugs are not a panacea. And I am still trying to put all that in place. But, I was expecting to feel some kind of change. I truly found no effect at either 36 or 72 mg.

I am currently trying to find a GP (no easy feat here in Ontario), and look at medication in conjunction with therapy. Trying to juggle the financial aspects while knowing that the finances will probably not improve until I do it.

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[Anonymous]

Paully. It’s frustrating and I do feel your frustration. The family doctor ideal in Ontario is getting more and more difficult to find, and without that how can a doctor know his patients well enough to help with something besides lumps, bumps and colds? Good luck on your journey.

On another point, I didn’t feel a difference between 18 and 27 mg with the exception of it lasting longer and neither felt like a “good cup of coffee” after the first few days. It’s more of a feeling of being able to tap into my energy and do something with it as long as I’m not exhausted from lack of sleep. If I try to over do it on the tired days, the following day is a complete right off. The bumps in my road, but I’m seeing them and I’m developing better skills to deal with and avoid things that try to get me off track. Its been a relief to say I can only do what I can do and be okay with that.

Here’s to finding what works.

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[Anonymous]

callmecrazy, the idea of just focusing on specific goals for a given period of time seems to work best for me as well. Although I have to admit, the one i am have a really tough time with is your number 2, think positive thoughts. When I do manage to keep positive thoughts in my head and a positive attitude, the pills seem to work a lot better too… I think that one is the kicker cause when I manage to keep some optimisim going, I practically feel the dopamine kicking in. After all, life is too short as it is, so why not make the most of what we get right ? Also further to Concerta vs generic, there is no contest. After alternatiing between generic Teva and genuine Concerta for a few days, I am throwing the generic in the garbage, where it belongs!!! I’ll take a second job waiting tables if I have too, but i’d rather pay the difference for something that really works.

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[Anonymous]

Question If I may

Does the concerta help with concentration and short term memory.. I am often easily distracted, even if I force myself to get in the focus mode Memory is awefull.

Ex. As a contractor I would take a measurement then I used to be able to remember that # for five minutes till I got to the chop saw and then i would remember that number to make my cuts . Now I cannot remember the numbers i measured for 1 minute.

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