[squeaky_wheel]

Seems like everyone's expereince on Concerta for ADD was just so-so but most people were really helped by Adderall. After months and months and months and a variety of dosages on strattera (it never worked, even after telling the doctor at month 1 that it never worked he kept trying and trying), I've just been prescribed Concerta. Has anyone (any adult, not child) had success with concerta if so, at what dosage?

[sassyassy]

I took concerta for only a few days so im prob not the best judge.
From my short experience with it, Concerta at a very low dose, had the effect of
a) throwing me into a state of paranoia
B ) gave the sensation of being "spun"...like just everything is moving fast and stuffs flying around your head outside and in.  You kinda get the sensation of  skipping half the frames in a movie...its kinda hard to describe...
c) headache

I am on adderall XR now, and for most of the time its treated me well enough...but take in mind different people need different things.
Your psych prob has a good reason for choosing methyphenidate over the amphetamines...so at least give it a week or two even if you think adderall would be better...hope everything goes ok!

This post has been edited by sassyassy: 04 October 2005 - 01:56 AM

[ldo]

Well, I took generic methylphenidate (i.e. Ritalin) for a day. Spiked my blood pressure and scared me, but before that I went to a 3 hour lecture and paid attention the whole time! That's not much to go by, but methylphenidate seems to be the standard place to start with stimulants. Perhaps because it's a bit less likely to be abused?

[JUST CRUSH]

Hi,
I began with a concerta dose of 18 mg and am at now at a dose of 54mgs I love it, it lasts about 6 hours to 8 hours, but long enough to deal with the work that requires my attention./ I have found no side effects.  I am an athlete 174lbs so my metabolism is quick. They say it is time released over 12 hours..

squeaky_wheel, on Oct 3 2005, 02:56 PM, said:

Seems like everyone's expereince on Concerta for ADD was just so-so but most people were really helped by Adderall. After months and months and months and a variety of dosages on strattera (it never worked, even after telling the doctor at month 1 that it never worked he kept trying and trying), I've just been prescribed Concerta. Has anyone (any adult, not child) had success with concerta if so, at what dosage?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[AuburnSunshine]

I'm on 36mg Concerta plus 10 mg. ritalin...not so sure it's working cuz I still don't do much. I'm thinking about asking my doctor about Adderall and hoping it might make a difference.

[Bombinadam1403]

I was started on Adderall, the doc started me out on 10 mgs of the regular and then upped it from there. I believed it worked better than the Concerta. They had to keep re-adjusting my Concerta, I went from like 18 to 36 mgs and when they did that, I stared at the clock on the wall at school for 15 minutes straight. After that day, i told the doctor no more.
So I do believe that the Adderall did work better for me. I haven't heard that many success stories with concerta either.

[ldo]

I know at least one person who does well with Concerta. Don't know the dose. I could probably think of more if my memory was a bit better.

[AuburnSunshine]

Finally have an appointment with my pdoc tomorrow morning to discuss my Concerta/Wellbutrin combination. I did mention to her on the phone when making the appointment that I don't think the Concerta is working and that I've gained weight since taking it...it makes me sleepy much of the time.

I mentioned that I had read on one of "my forums" that Concerta/ritalin has caused some people to gain weight. She was FURIOUS! She has had "many, many people" on Concerta and has NEVER heard of that happening...and how dare I take these forums seriously when she's the one who knows???

I guess I imagined reading that.

I'm going to suggest she up my Wellbutrin (I've been on 400 mg in the past) because the 150 mg is not doing the trick for my depression...and that we change from Concerta to Adderall. I have grad school starting next week so I want to get on top of this.

And oh yeah...she wants to put me on a "mood stabilizer" because that's what she's always thought I needed. I go back and forth on that issue.

I just hated the way she yelled at me...and I feel that seeing her tomorrow is going to be like going into battle. I go her because I have to pay out of pocket and she gives me a "discount" at $120/30 minutes. Why can't she be proud of me that I research and learn as much as I can about my "conditions" and the medications instead of screaming at me about how these type forums are "dangerous" because people lie and don't know anything about what they're talking about???

Wow...I thought my depression was bad this morning!!!! Just the thought of seeing her tomorrow makes me sick to my stomach.

Thanks for listening...I hate all of this...but I guess we all do.

This post has been edited by AuburnSunshine: 25 October 2005 - 07:38 PM

[ldo]

I hope you can get another pdoc. It's not so much that she doesn't like the forums as that she got mad. That's really out of place and, IMHO, unprofessional.

My tdoc and pdoc don't give me crap about what I read here. The only crap I get is if I spend hours every day here, and that's probably justified.

[Steve@3AM]

What Ido said!

Also, I took Ritalin (I loved it when Bones was talking about R(eye)talin in that Star Trek episode. I would just smile at everyone!) Anyway, it made me very edgy, uncomfortable and a bit headachy. I dropped it. Adderall didn't exist then.
I took Adderall many years later. Found it much smoother but don't recall it helping my ADD much. Possibly because I had other issues and the pdoc I was seeing at the time didn't seem to want to go to higher doses. (not that I asked. I was very compliant and ignorant re meds at the time. - Bless these boards!)

Anyway, could someone tell me - I know there is a difference between Concerta and Ritalin, but they are both methylphenidate. What is the difference?

[ldo]

Isn't Concerta supposed to be slow release so you don't have to take it as often?

[Steve@3AM]

Is that the only difference? I thought they made a slow release Ritalin. (They didn't when I was taking it.)

[AuburnSunshine]

Concerta is extended/time released ritalin.

I'm such a nervous wreck about seeing my pdoc this morning...didn't sleep at all last night. Of course I can't tell her that because then she'' say "hmm...yes...just like I've said you're bipolar and you need a mood stabilizer."

The only way "we" got to a diagnosis of bipolar for me is that when I go in to talk with her I DO talk fast...because I know I only have 30 minutes (or less it seems much of the time!) and I want to get everything out so "we" can get the right medications for me. However, it's because I talk so quickly when I'm in her office that she says I'm bipolar.

I keep telling her that I just don't think that's the case...1) I've never had a manic (even mild) state that wasn't because of a special reason, i.e., acknowledgement for a project, etc. But she'll say "and how did you feel when that happened." When I say that I felt great...my self esteem was up, etc....she goes back to this bipolar shit.

I've been studying bipolar as much as I can (which pisses her off royally) and I haven't had any kind of a manic state for four days in a row...that's what the DSM says for Bipolar II. All of this horrible, horrible depression began after my parents' suicide and then the loss of my life as I had always known it. I've always hoped I would "snap out of it" but haven't so I've accepted it as a part of my life for now.

She won't listen to the depression being caused by PTSD...says it was there way before they died. But you guys have helped me realize that she doesn't know squat...she never knew me before their deaths and so how can she say that?!?!?

I never had manic states before - or even after - their deaths so how can I be bipolar?

I'll admit that I probably had had ADD throughout my life...but I always was able to keep it under control until the depression hit. So much of what is ADD is also depression...

I've got to stop crying before I see her...I have to get myself calmed down and under control so I can go into her office as the mature, assertive woman I AM...and not allow her to bully me because of her insecurities.

I can't tell you enough how much it means to me that you read my post and responded. Thank you so very much.

[AuburnSunshine]

Ok...so I'm crying out for help people...literally and figuratively...and no one answers.

If a crazy person scream in the woods and no one has a nice word, does that means she isn't crazy or that none of the trees give a crap???

[Steve@3AM]

AS
So will we eventually have an "extended time release" Concerta? (!) (Guess it depends on sales, right?)

I'm "depressive" too. But I also have questions about possible BP at times. I sometimes think I'm not manic just because I feel like I'm spending all my energy just holding things in - like anger, fear etc. I feel like if I ever get to the point where I can no longer hang on to those things that they will "explode" uncontrollably. And I do have 'minor' upswings in mood sometimes and sometimes I do talk faster - and too much!
But then, like you, I read the descriptions of BP and they still don't ring true for me - for the same reasons you state. I don't think what your talking about is a sign of BP (what do I know from BP?) It took me a long time to reconcile my depression as being fairly bad as I didn't have anyone to compare to so thought I just felt down and was embarrassed by it. I thought "depression" meant only when you were staring at the ceiling "all the time", couldn't get out of bed or do ANYTHING except cry etc.
I hate to keep inserting this into my posts, but the AMEN Clinic brain scan helped me to see a lot of what was/is going on. The description for the "temporal lobe disfunction" of my Dx says things like mood instability, (fast on/fast off). Says people describe symptoms such as "attacks" of anxiety, anger, spaciness and confusion etc. Also memory problems, social withdrawal, social skill problems, depression etcetc. Somewhere it talks about "dark thoughts".
Nowhere in the descriptions of various probs or on their scans does it show patterns of BP (though I was about as "mellow/stable" as I have been in a long time when I had the scan, so maybe there is something "lurking".
I guess I'm just taking the long way of agreeing with you about your Pdoc. It sounds like - like a lot of people - she has made a decision and then has to "justify" it by making everything fit it.
Good luck. - I don't really have any advice!

[Steve@3AM]

PS - I just saw your second post after I finally transmitted my first.
Sorry it took me so long to get response out. Sometimes it takes me a while to get my thoughts out. Blame the temporal lobe thing. I do!
Apologies, too, that my reply probably didn't help much except to say "your not alone in your thinking".
Wish I could be more help.

[jonathanupr]

hey sunshine
i hope things go good.....and i mean it in a way where you hold to who you are regardless of someone else's opinion! just because someone has a degree does not mean they are right!  People have that situation called an opinion, a biased one at that, and if we dont see their opinion fitting to what we see and feel to be true then it probably is time to move on to another situation if there is no room for improvement, or if the other side is not willing to grow along with us.  That's just plain me, if a p-doc was pulling that shit with me, i'd say "screw off" and go find another one.  The thing about some p-docs is that they are truly mysterious in what they are doing, some just seem to have a vandetta to say black is white when it clearly is not, i dont know why!
Search for someone that has your best in mind (maybe your present p-doc does, but there's just miscommunication).....my girlfriend went to a p-doc yesterday that had a 1 1/2 hr session with her, pretty meaningful in the gist and arena of p-docs who see their patients for 5 minutes to a 1/2 hr before diagnosing them something that they may not be.  There really should be a much more comprehensive recovery plan of forming a relationship between the patient and p-doc in order for their to be genuine diagnosis.  And at times the only genuine diagnosis is through collecting info of the patient, and then trial and error with meds that may seem to fit such a diagnosis.

Also, something that struck true to me: when i was on Wellbutrin without taking an SSRI anti-depressant to counter the exacerbated OCD side effects of the stim (i was insane with OCD!), i was very jumpy...nervous...worried...and talked very fast....which gave heed to my doc thinking i was bi-polar...which i am not...as soon as i was put on an SSRI that worked  i no longer was up and down so much....my ups and downs in the past have been drastic reactions to my OCD which really tore me up inside, i thought i was sick and crazy because of the thoughts within my head, and the anxiety hooked to them.  I'll tell ya though, i did go on Zyprexa at my doc's wanting (this was at a time when i was ignorant of meds, "oh this will take all your worries away and you'll feel like a new person" were his words), and i ended up going from 185 lbs to 230 lbs in 3 months, ha! I said screw it and got off that med and meds for 3 months....okay and not wigging out, but unable to concentrate and get up and live a thorough life beyond 10-12 hr days.  After a few months, i went and saw another p-doc and got on Lexapro gradually (5 mgs to 10 mgs) and then started up Concerta (this didnt fare well with me .... due to mood swings at the end of the 10th hr, though i didnt wig out on it . . just preferable to switch to Adderall).  I've been on Adderall XR at 25-30 mgs for the last 5 months with great results (even though there are OCD effects at the end of the 9th hr, though no mood swings whatsoever!).  I am pretty calm on this combo of Lex and Adderall (i may switch to Dex in the future to see if the OCD is less on that than on the Adderall).

Hey hang in there sunshine.....it has helped me so much to share my pain with others, and it has helped me so much more to learn the field of psychology and psychiatry (medicines...the uses of them, what they do, and side effects)...i was just thinking of this the other day.  Before this website i was in the dark of what a particular med would do.  I would hear people saying this med is bad! or good! and i was always hesitant to try it due to someone else's opinion, and i didnt know what or how it would or could help me or wouldnt help me.  Side effects are a reality with the majority of meds, and some meds i'll never consider taking because of such side effects (unless i was in dire need and couldnt cope in another way, such as diet, exercise, good foundational relationships with people on a regular basis, and other meds).  If we dont know who we are and what we are, then we cant treat who we are.  The p-doc may give us meds, but it is we who must in the end treat ourselves with life, because it is we who choose! on what to do! For your p-doc to get pissed because you are researching what a particular illness is, that is just assinine!  Only if one had hypochondriacical symptoms should a p-doc be a bit stern on one researching illnesses, and then ... one must learn and go through the process of seeing what is and what is not in order to see what is! 

[Steve@3AM]

I second that. This site is the best on all counts!

[nzkiwi]

I don't mean to side with your doctor but she probably has seen many more psychiatric patients than you have. I have heard that many people with adhd have a mild form or subtype of bipolar. perhaps you can take a mood stabilizer and a stimulant it you still need it.