I am newly diagnosed, so of course new to meds as well. My doctor and I went over some basic goals, that I had for myself and that he had, basically to make sure they were realistic goals. He said they were.

Anyway, I'm still questioning if I'm expecting to much from the Concerta or if it's time to move on. My doctor told me from day one that it's ultimately up to me if I'm happy with a med or not, and he will of course guide me as we go along.

Let me tell you where I'm at...I tried 18mg Concerta and it wore off really quickly and didn't do much of anything. I moved onto 27mg, which gives me about 7 hours coverage. I've been fairly happy with this, just not completely. It definitely keeps me calm and has stopped the fidgeting that I do. My head is finally quiet too. I am able to think through the steps of organizing things, which is something I've never done. I normally just bounced from one thing to the next. I am not losing bits and pieces of conversations from zoning out. When there are different things coming at me all at once, instead of my brain just shutting down and me getting really agitated, I can now filter through it all. I even sleep better. So there are a lot of improvements as you can see.

Things I am not happy with is that I don't really feel all that focused or attentive. I'm still doing many things that I've always done like walking out the door without my keys. Writing checks and not writing them in the register. Filling up the washer half way full, getting distracted, and not realizing until 2 hours later that I haven't finished putting the rest of the laundry in. I'm still struggling with reading as well, having to read things over and over, or realizing I've just spent 15 minutes lost in thought. I also only really had the motivation to actually get things done for 2 days then that seemed to fade off.
I tried to take 36mg and I was hyper-focusing a lot, and hubby said I seemed a bit stoned. I couldn't get to sleep and I also noticed my head wasn't quiet, so I figured the dose was to high.

So I tried Adderall today. Doc had warned me that it may increase my anxiety, and it definitely did that. There is no doubt in my mind that I can not take this med. There were only about 3 hours during the day that I didn't feel like I was having a panic attack. I was not calm at all. Very fidgety, and internally restless. It was horrible. The only good thing was that I did have energy to get things done. I won't take it again though. I can't handle that level of anxiety.

Anyway. I have a call into my doctor, but I guess I'm just looking for personal experiences from those of you that have been doing this for years. Am I expecting to much, or should I be looking for something that will improve my focus and attention better then this is? I'm almost afraid to try new things now, after today, yet I would also like to not be so dang spacey and distracted. Those are my main reasons I wanted to get help anyway.

Thanks for listening and for any insight!

Never mind :). Talked to doc, he said to give the 36mg a week and see if the hyper-focusing levels out, which it seems to be slightly better, so hopefully it will.

Yeah, just started too and it does level out after the first couple of days. Noticing less of a rebound. Best thing is I am sleeping better than I ever have in my life and waking up refreshed which I've rarely experienced. Also feel much calmer with less anxiety. And my energy level is constant through the day whereas before it was a roller-coaster. Weird that a stimulant works like this. Intuitively you would think it would be the opposite. So far so good. I'm upping dose next week to see what happens.

Medication can be very helpful but it won't teach you new skills. Many people expect medication to be a magic bullet and it's not. The medication may not help you stop forgetting your keys but it may help you to develop a system so you can remember your keys.

Also be aware that your menstrual cycle affects your medication. It's less effective when you have your period. So 18 may have worked great during part of the month and the 36 could also have been too much during parts of the month too.

Yeah, just started too and it does level out after the first couple of days. Noticing less of a rebound. Best thing is I am sleeping better than I ever have in my life and waking up refreshed which I've rarely experienced. Also feel much calmer with less anxiety. And my energy level is constant through the day whereas before it was a roller-coaster. Weird that a stimulant works like this. Intuitively you would think it would be the opposite. So far so good. I'm upping dose next week to see what happens.
Same here! I am also sleeping so much better, and wake up feeling refreshed, which I've never felt in my life. I figured they would keep me up all night, but they don't. I'm still getting the same amount of sleep, yet feel ten times better in the morning. My anxiety is much better controlled also, and I've also noticed the stable energy level as well.
I'm think I'm pretty happy at the dose I'm at right now. I would just like to get more coverage now. I'm only getting about 7 hours out of the day, which isn't great when I'm up for 16 hours:p

Medication can be very helpful but it won't teach you new skills. Many people expect medication to be a magic bullet and it's not. The medication may not help you stop forgetting your keys but it may help you to develop a system so you can remember your keys.

Also be aware that your menstrual cycle affects your medication. It's less effective when you have your period. So 18 may have worked great during part of the month and the 36 could also have been too much during parts of the month too.
Very true, thanks for the reminder. I keep expecting it to help with memory and my doctor already warned me it would not. Hard to keep that in mind:p .
Thanks for the tip on the menstrual cycles. I've definitely noticed a difference, so it helps to know that it's normal :).