I've been taking Concerta for a couple of weeks and I've been pretty happy with it. Until today. I do have some issues with anxiety (such as on days of important meetings, interviews, etc.). Well, today was such a day and my anxiety (combined with depression) hit me like never before. I had never experienced anything like this - the feeling of anxiety and discomfort was so overwhelming that I thought I was going to break down completely. Anyone else had increased anxiety while taking Concerta? I think that the medication had something to do with it because I had never experienced anxiety of this magnitude before.

Does your prescribing doctor know that you have anxiety issues?

I know what you mean with the levels of anxiety. I have that same feeling. No matter how the dose is adjusted, I keep getting the anxiety and the feeling I am going to lose my mind! I have already done this not too long ago. I have this fear that something will go wrong and I can't pay attention to a thing when I get like this. If I am not alone, I am a mess. Hope these problems will be cleared up for all of us so we can be feeling "Good" and not like a spintop out of control. Thanks for reading.

Seems like that was a one-time event. Haven't had any problems since then. Right now, however, I don't feel any of the effects of the medication anymore. Probably time to increase the dosage.

Does your prescribing doctor know that you have anxiety issues?

I don't think not feeling the effects of the medication means it's not working. I don't notice it like I used to either, but I'm still having good results from it. I think your body just starts adjusting after a bit. Now if your symptom control is getting worse that's another story.

Scattered

I had suffered some bad anxiety on Concerta too. I've always had a little bit of social anxiety but when I started Concerta I was having bad anxiety attacks when in school and social situations. I spoke with my doctor and decided that I could over come it, because I was doing so well in school. Since then I have become a lot less anxious in social situations. But it's been 10 months that I have been on it. I just started a higher dose this week because I feel the effectiveness had worn off.

BTW, your body does get used to it, so probably don't up the dose right away. The first few days/weeks are a more noticable feeling I think. Then your body gets used to it.

One possibility for the anxiety is too high a dose of concerta. You might feel high anxiety or "speeding". The problem I've found is that it's sometimes dependent on diet and exercise changes, so it may be difficult to predict. If you've changed those things recently, it might be that a lower dose will be effective without the anxiety (if it's being caused by concerta...)

Two things I know you can do is ask you doctor about taking an SSRI w/ your ADHD medication (I do that - I take 36mg concerta/50mg zoloft each day), or have your medicine reduced, or take an antianxiety medication (like ativan or klonopin: these are the better ones).