From Ritalin to Concerta and sad about it.

[Anonymous]

Last month I finally started some ADD meds. My ADD is pretty severe, and I’m in college, so I was pretty desperate for help.So… she gave me 5mg, i could take two a day. Well it sorta was okay the first day, then nothing. I ended up taking 4 pills at once on days I really needed to concentrate (so 20mg) and it worked really well, I was happy I could actually do my schoolwork (but it didn’t work enough for me to feel like i was on stimulants, i just felt like normal people must feel) but because she only gave me 60 pills for the month, I couldn’t take them every day.

At my follow up I told her that, and since she told me from the beginning that Ritalin was just for that month then she’d switch me to something else (why?) she switched me to Concerta, 27. She has a thick accent and she didn’t seem to understand me, she kept thinking I took 10mg twice a day, but i said over and over NO I took all 4 in the morning (most of my classes are in the morning anyway). But here I am, with a pill that just releases 9mg three times a day.

Yesterday, because no one told me you should take it with food, I took it (and an antibiotic) on an empty stomach and biked to school… and then puked (but not the capsule), but some meds sure left. I didn’t feel like I had taken any meds that day, and in fact, my 2:30pm class (when my SR pills would have worn off) was actually MISERABLE. My favorite class but I could NOT pay attention to save my life. I was painfully bored and miserable. It’s like the ritalin SR helped jumpstart my brain and then it worked pretty well into the evening. But this concerta was supposed to work all day and i was worse!

Today I did the same thing (I thought it was the biking that made me sick), but luckily i had food near me that i quickly shoved in my mouth when the wave of nausea hit. I’m also shaking really badly. Everyone says that Ritalin & Concerta are the same thing, but why is this, a lower dose, making me jittery and not helping my ADD at all? How long do I wait to get used to it before I call the nurse and beg for my ritalin back?

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[caper]

According to this doctor, 27mg concerta = 6mg ritalin 3x daily.

http://www.addadhdblog.com/concerta-getting-the-right-dose/#4c2a2

I’m an adult & weigh ~75kg. I’ve tried 27 & 36mg concerta. No nausea or headaches (I always eat a full breakfast when I take it). I do get a strange (but not uncomfortable) sensation inside my head in the first few hrs. 36mg works well for me, but 27 doesn’t do much. I’d like to try 54, and try ritalin SR and generic methylphenidate for times when I don’t need the effect of the concerta for the whole day.

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[Author]

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