for concerta users

[dspicelady]

I found out something interesting, to me at least. I have been taking Concerta for about10 months, but I had been taking Topamax (mood stabilizer) for about a year. I had thought that I needed both since I had been anxious and sometimes depressed for years(of course now with the ADD diagnosis, I understand why I was). Anyways, it didn’t occur to me to go off of the Topamax. I mean, why would I?

So a couple of weeks ago, by accident, I forgot to take it at bedtime, for several days running. Low and behold, I found myself feeling fantastic!

Before this happened, I had been sleepy in the afternoons, my Concerta didn’t last all day, and I felt the rebound effect pretty significantly around 5pm. Now I don’t feel sleepy anymore, get decent rest at night, and feel even more clear than ever. I can get everything done, that I had planned. I’m not rushing around or anything…just keeping in mind the things I’d planned on doing. I can multitask without getting lost!

I suspect that since the Topamax brings you kinda “down” and the Concerta perks you “up”, these two meds were working against each other to some degree. Now that I’m only on Concerta, it can do its job much more effectively. My anxiety, which usually centred around not remembering things and being distracted, is all but gone.

So, anyhoo, just wanted to share that with you all. Maybe some of you are wondering why you’re not getting a great effect from your meds and maybe it’s possible that another med is interfering. At least that’s my unprofessional opinion. But obviously, talk to your doc about it if you think this may be the case with you. I did and he was quite supportive of the idea. Either way, I take less drugs and feel better, so…..it’s all good!

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[Anonymous]

I didn’t really understand the link you made btw mood instability and adhd. Could you explain please? were you depressed or was it more for the hyperactivity factor?

Why I’m asking : I just started with concerta a couple of months ago myself and I’ve been on effexor for years. My new doc told me I could stop the effexor I originally took for depression and anxiety since it wasn’t necessary in my case. I am kinda afraid to stop it, I don’t know what to expect.

What was your doctor first diagnosis and why did you started taking Topamax (ie topiramate)? The wiki page (by no means perfect but I guess user friendly) indicates that topiramate is used for treating epilepsy, migranes to bipolarity.

Did you get an explanation for the sudden change when you stopped taking topamax?

Thanks for sharing !

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[Lucky77]

“….My new doc told me I could stop the effexor I originally took for depression and anxiety since it wasn’t necessary in my case. I am kinda afraid to stop it, I don’t know what to expect.”

I had been on Cipralex for depression and anxiety for years. My Dr told me to stop Cipralex when I started Concerta. I was hesitant as well – but have not had any issues with anxiety or depression since. I am on a different stimulant now, which is actually working! In fact even when I took Cipralex I still suffered from depression, which my Dr has told me is the side effect of dealing with my undiagnosed ADHD.

Different for everyone, but I was fine stopping my anti depressant when going on stimulants! Hooray!

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[dspicelady]

@Claudea-Originally I was on Effexor for years because my doctor at the time thought I was depressed. He felt that my agitation, irritability and distractedness was all related to depression. I was too far gone to argue at the time. When we finally managed to get a new doctor (not so easy to do where I am), I told him I wanted off the Effexor. Lots of side effects and I really didn’t feel all that depressed, just anxious. By the way, if you do get off the Effexor, do it REALLY slowly. That was a horrible ride! Anyways, my anxiety hit an all-time high. My guess is that since Effexor is something like a third-line med for ADHD, it probably did help a bit to control some symptoms, but when it was gone…yikes! During that time, my teenage daughter was suffering with her ADHD bigtime. However, this doctor decided that even though she had been diagnosed 5 years previously with that (and chose to be med-free), he was leaning more to bipolar. While we waited for a consultation at McMaster(premier hospital for mental health. you wait a long time to get in), he prescribed all kinds of crap for her. She was on so many different meds, she was a mess. He used Topamax to help counter the effects of one particularly nasty drug(olanzapine) that had her go from 113lbs to 160lbs in 3 months(she’s 5’2″). Apparently Topamax is being used off-label for diabetics to help control blood sugar levels which is supposed to help them lose weight. I think he was getting HUGE kickbacks because he thought that since her mood was better and she had lost some weight, that genetically speaking, it would also work for me in the mood department (and losing some pounds would not be bad either). Again, I was too confused, anxious and fed up to argue or care.

When she finally got to McMaster, and re-diagnosed with ADHD and NOT bipolar, we finally found a wonderful psychotherapist(an MD that focuses on CBT) and he agreed to see us both. After a few sessions with him, he diagnosed me with ADHD about a year ago. At the time, we didn’t remove the Topamax because I wasn’t experiencing anything negative with it (that I was aware of at least) and to be honest I was too afraid of going back to the debilitating anxiety. Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago, and you see my previous post.

My therapist MD believes strongly in having the patient in charge of the meds and titration (of course he does control the prescription pad). He had no problem with me removing the Topamax. He believes in letting me direct the meds. I’m on 36mg Concerta. If I feel I need to go up to 54mg or down to 27mg he will be ok with that. I also have a ritalin “chaser” on hand, in case I need it. Since being off Topamax, I haven’t needed it at all.

So after this whole long-winded post, I reread your post…..to answer your question (sorry), the doctor who prescribed the Topamax didn’t believe in or have much knowledge of ADHD in adults (or children for that matter). He felt there was a bipolarity issue for both of us. But he was sooooo wrong.

@Lucky77- I’m so glad for you that you’ve been able to reduce your scripts with no problems. I know that that’s not always the case for people. While I know it’s common for people to be placed on anti depressants or anxiety meds, when they should be treated for ADHD, some of those individuals actually need both. The only way to know is to try it under controlled conditions (or by accident :wink:)

I just felt the urge to share this, since you never know if it may help someone else. Thanks for listening and good luck!

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