Table of contents:
1.1) My personal Concerta use (story)
X.X (Small note by me)
1.2) My Concerta side-effects (for those who do not wish to read the story)
1.3) The experiment (NOTE: the experiment even shocked me!)
1.4) Why i decided to write this

Well like i said in another topic i would do a experiment with concerta, well i did and also this is a to be continued thing (TBC):

1.1) Well about a year ago i was put on Concerta, after switching from Ritalin. I took Concerta for about 3-4 months, 3-4 months i wish i never had to experience. I started the Concerta about last november maybe a little earlier. I first took 54 mg's, (1 month) then increased to (2) 36 mg pills (about 2-3 months). As you can see i dont remember too much about the length i took Concerta as everyday was the exact same get up, take Concerta, get dressed, go to school, go home, eat, sleep, and repeat. I had no personality at all while on Concerta one teacher who knows me outside the school kept saying i should mention to my doctor that im getting side effects, but i never did, i was too much of a zombie i was sucked into the Concerta ritual of constantly taking my Concerta get up, take Concerta, Get dressed... everyday i remember seeing my personal friends having a blast and i would be sitting in my chair with a sharp pain in my stomach due to the fact that the concerta caused, in some wierd way, me to not being able to control my urination (i could not urinate at will it was... in a way like my bladder was twisted at the bottom into a knot, and everytime i kinda giggled (if and when i giggled) i quickly remembered not to as when i did i got this sharp shooting pain in my lower stomach area (near my bladder), i also had very bad breath constantly i would brush my teeth and not but an hour later horrible bad breath gum would only last for about 30 minutes until i had to change pieces due to it loosing its flavor so rapidly. i had no personality as i mentioned above, i was know as whats becoming comminly known among the parents of medicated kids as zombification, that is i WAS a zombie no personality just a body going through life. Among the side effects mentioned above i also got constipated severly constipated and did not know at the time why, i also was VERY paranoid, and VERY nervous with sever anxiety, and before i forget along with being constipated i was also deppressed a little (possible due to the constipation, and all the side effects i was having), i also had jaw clenching i am not sure at the moment what other side effects i had but there are more i just simply cannot think of them. but after doing about 2-3 months with all these side effects i finally realized hey if this stuff is causing so much bad to my body, then why take it? so i finally stopped taking it and i felt so so so much better after i stopped taking it i was me again. i dont know why i kept taking it but it just never clicked in my head to stop taking it, i was a robot sucked in by the Concerta the Concerta had put me in this state of mind that it was ok to experienc ethis as long as it helped me study i guess but i believe one day i had it when i relaized i looked pregnant! (i am not making this up) the concerta made my bladder get so full it caused me to look pregnant! i looked like i was carring a baby! and i am a male so that did not look to good (nor did it feel good either it was painful, and when i went to the restroom i was only able to empty about 1/4th of my bladder, but my bladder was still very full when i stopped urinating and still woudl cause me pain to an extent i wish NO ONE to NEVER have to go through!!! but when i finally got off the concerta i started realized how bad it was for me and i am to this day glad i stopped takign it as i dont rememebr specific days during that time frame, i just remember one daily routine that i followed through out those intire 2-3 months of horrible pain, get up, take Concerta, get dressed, go to school, go home, eat, sleep, and repeat.

(please if you have a child taking concerta please ask him/her every so often if he/she likes taking the concerta, let him or her know you are willing to change the prescription if he/she does not like it, there are too many other and far better AD/H/D treatments, sit down and take in a serious voice and tell your child are concerned, and if you are a child taking concerta tell your parents, have them sit down and make sure there are no distractions, no tv no football no telephone no work stuff just you and your parents, it will be hard for both parents and especially the childrent to say i dont like it take me off it, but its important please do so)

(well this took longer than expected so i will continue hopefully tonight as i must leave if i cannot continue tonight it will be tomorrow ( i will have the pictures uplaoded by tomorrow for all to see!!!)

What idiot doctor had you start on 54mg of Concerta? I'm a 230 lb male and started with 18mg slowly going up and stopped at 27mg. Sounds to me like you were taking too much especially with the side effects. I'd lose that doc quick...

What idiot doctor had you start on 54mg of Concerta? I'm a 230 lb male and started with 18mg slowly going up and stopped at 27mg. Sounds to me like you were taking too much especially with the side effects. I'd lose that doc quick...well during that time the doctor wouldnt have been my personal pick but... now she seems to understand me and she put me on dexedrine (10mg's) and its doing great for me. i just think my body doesnt like methlyphenidate based stuff but i did an experiment with concerta and the results i found SHOCKED ME!!! i cannot believe they make such a pill! i understand they wanna make it time released but OMG i will tell more about the experiment tomorrow and thank you for reading! i hope you and others understand what they take every morning when they get up as its kinda scary that this pill is even mad ein my point of view... but i will update tomorrow! until then...

FYI
When changing from immediate release methylphenedate (like ritalin) to concerta there is a conversion chart where if you were taking 15mg methylphenidate you start at 54mg concerta. If you are not on a methylphenidate, you start at 18mg concerta. So the doctor may have just been following the recomendations of the drug manufacturer.

The way the OROS delivery system delivers concerta (it is also used for other meds see http://www.alza.com/alza/oros):
CONCERTA delivers a consistent effect that lasts all day

Only CONCERTA provides the precision and security of OROS<SUP>®</SUP> delivery.

Release of Methylphenidate From a CONCERTA 18-mg Tablet
http://www.concerta.net/active/mccus/en_US/images/concerta/14_OROS_Delivery.jpg

<LI class=realestate>Immediate-release overcoat provides a rapid onset of action (1-2 hours). <LI class=realestate>Controlled release of methylphenidate in the morning hours helps avoid the troughs seen with immediate-release products.<SUP>2</SUP>
Higher concentration of methylphenidate released in the early afternoon provides a smooth effect through the early evening hours.<SUP>1,2</SUP>
CONCERTA is made with a crush-resistant, nonabsorbable shell that releases medication at a controlled rate. The tablet shell is eliminated from the body; patients should not be concerned if they occasionally notice in their stool something that looks like a tablet.

CONCERTA should not be used in patients with preexisting severe gastrointestinal narrowing.

CONCERTA minimizes peak-trough fluctuations in blood levels seen with shorter-acting therapies

While shorter-acting ADHD therapies may result in fluctuating peak-trough plasma concentrations, one morning dose of CONCERTA maintains consistent levels of methylphenidate throughout the day.<SUP>2</SUP>


Mean Methylphenidate Plasma Concentrations of CONCERTA and Methylphenidate tid (N=15)<SUP>2</SUP>
http://www.concerta.net/active/mccus/en_US/images/concerta/15_Swanson_PK.jpg From Swanson et al, 2003.

Thanks Vickie, you saved me some time. I am terribly interested in the experiment myself. I am very familiar with the mechanisms of Concerta, and might be one to say rude things about other forms of medication that gave me bad effects yet work well fot others.

Crazy :cool: (stopping now before I start snorting)

1.2) Well for those who did not wish to read the story above, my side effects included (but this is not a complete list will update as i rememebr them all):
Jaw Clenching, Constipation, mild Deppresion (due to constipation, and no personality), bad breath, paranoia, anxiety, zombification, urine retention, muscle twitches,


1.3) Now for the big one, the experiment, although i was shocked with what i found out, and will do more research and experiments as i have plenty of left over Concerta. Anyway i will uplaod the pictures using imageshack.us and i will give a brief description of what each photo is about and info i observed when each photo was taken etc. etc.

Experiment notes:
When i did this exeriment i expected the Concerta pill coating to turn into a gel a very sticky gell, boy was i wrong... it turns out the coating that the pill is in does not turn into a gel instead its the methylphenidate that turns to gel!!! i was shocked to see that happening but its true im guessing in order to keep abuse down they decided that they would mix the methylphenidate with some gel mixture and yes the insides of the pill (what is really the methylphenidate and extra added in stuff like the gel etc etc) is water soluble (like i was expecting something different) but what got me was that the gel did not get any... less potent in a way, but instead kept the water that i let the pill stay in turn into a very loose gel itself!!! i could not believe that i figured it might breakdown after a while but no it kept its strenght and still some 36++ hours after i started this experiment its still a very strong gel! and one other thing i realized is that the pill jsut does not release the methylphenidate and the methylphenidate disperse into your body no no no the methylphenidate comes out like a long cord!!! i was also very shocked at that! i let the pill sit for some 20 hours came back and the water had this very long cord all wrapped up in the bottom of the glass i was very shocked to also see that when i tried to mix the 'chord' of methylphenidate it did not fully dispers in the water it still stayed intacked in certain parts of the chord! so i had little balls of methylphenidate floating in my glass of water and another thing i noticed when i raised my ahnds out of the water was that the waters viscosity i believe is what its called increase greatly! it was like i was dipping my hand into a cup full of... its hard to describe but a cup full of... thick cream maybe or thick gravy, although the texture was not like gravy it was more like regular water it looked like regular water (except for color distortions, ther were no signs it was 'thicker' or 'altered' in anyway it simply looked like discolored water, but when i picked my hand out of the glass the water started to fall off my hand into the glass again but it was fallign of my hand at such a slow rate, not very slow but like i said a thick gravy or cream of some kind although not as thick measurement wise it was thick in a watery way, more like a (i know this is kinda inappropriate but its the best kinda way i can desribe it) it is kinda like siemen, a sorta thick water substance and there was a good ammount still wanting to stick to my hand as i will show in a small video clip soon to make and add.

(was gonan add pics but i kept getting side tracked and will update pics in a few hours maybe sooner i hope so atleaste but i gotta do some stuff now) will add pics todaye though

Thanks for the description JustNeedHelp. I would be interested to see the pictures from your experiment. Sorry to hear that this med is not right for you, I guess if one med formulation worked well for everyone then there would not be so many choices.:p

Thanks for the description JustNeedHelp. I would be interested to see the pictures from your experiment. Sorry to hear that this med is not right for you, I guess if one med formulation worked well for everyone then there would not be so many choices.:pjust about to edit my post to add em, but i had to leave my computer for a bit

1.3) And to finish the section 1.3) The experiment, with the photos:

http://img91.imageshack.us/my.php?i...17062301qr1.jpg (http://img91.imageshack.us/my.php?image=0817062301qr1.jpg)

This picture is of the pill after the white coating has all disolved of the pill itself, it is sitting on a quarter because at the time i thought that the plastic part of the pill woudl turn into gel but my experiment proved me wrong...


http://img243.imageshack.us/my.php?...18061622vz5.jpg (http://img243.imageshack.us/my.php?image=0818061622vz5.jpg)

This picture is of the pill once it has been sitting over night, for about 20+ hours and this picture shows how i mentioned about how i found the pill with the 'cord' of methylphenidate


http://img227.imageshack.us/my.php?...18061623eh2.jpg (http://img227.imageshack.us/my.php?image=0818061623eh2.jpg)

This picture is of me holding up the 'chord' of methylphenidate and it shows the strength of the 'chord' or better it shows how the chord is strong and it a fragile thing


http://img226.imageshack.us/my.php?...18061624zc8.jpg (http://img226.imageshack.us/my.php?image=0818061624zc8.jpg)

This picture is a little better at showing the 'chord' of methylphenidate at is more of a close up picture


http://img226.imageshack.us/my.php?...18061625ov1.jpg (http://img226.imageshack.us/my.php?image=0818061625ov1.jpg)

This picture is ALOT better at showing the strenght of the chord and as you can notice the chord is out of the water at the very top, just showing it is pretty strong and also pretty long


http://img226.imageshack.us/my.php?...18061626uc5.jpg (http://img226.imageshack.us/my.php?image=0818061626uc5.jpg)

This is a picture of the pill out of the water with the chord still intact i notice that the pill is still pretty full and the chord has a strong texture and is VERY jelly like in feel


http://img226.imageshack.us/my.php?...18061627zt1.jpg (http://img226.imageshack.us/my.php?image=0818061627zt1.jpg)

This is a picture of me after i squeezed the capsule and made all the extra methylphenidate rease from the inside and after this pictrue i played around with it noticed the texture and it was like a jelly, strong jelly feeling to iti could break it by pressing my fingers between the big humps of the brown gel stuff but it was very slippery and it made it hard to squeeze.
________________________________
-------------------------------------
This completes the '1.3 The experiment' section i hope you enjoyed the photos and please dont send the DEA or anything i didnt intend to sell a pure form of the methylphenidate on the streets as crack or anyhting i did it for informational purposes only, and i also do NOT condone the mutilation of your own Concerta pills that is (possibly) agaisnts the law and i might have commited a felony or something (damn mandatory minimum sentences lol...) but anyway... please do not do anything i did in the above posts or anything i mention in the following post


now on a different note:
if you have any questions please ask and i will try to answer promptly and with as much detail as possible ( i will even research a question you might have about Concerta, if i do not know it)


(will finish the thread tomorrow i did type the last part up but there was an error when i submitted the thread so it all went away... (sad face)) but until then...

OK I have seen the pics...allow me to elaborate on the "push-pump" release mechanism of Concerta:

Image 1: yes the inner shell never does "dissolve", and it is not supposed to. It is clearly stated in the literature that it is made of a benign, indigestible substance. This substance passes through the system and out of the body in the stools. Some people are able to see the nondigested portions when they use the toilet, others do not because it becomes softer when exposed to stomach acids.

Image 2: this is not a "chord of methylphenidate. It is the compressed part of the sustained release mechanism, This became apparent overnight because it is designed to absorb stomach fluids very slowly, thus pushing the extended release methylphenidate into the bloodstrem through the laser-drilled hole in the shell.

Remaining images" the "pushing" aspect yet a few more times. It is jellylike in feel because it is meant to pass through the digestive sytem at this point.

None of this is in any way shocking to me, personally, becuase I understand what I am ingesting.

From HERE: (http://www.rxlist.com/cgi/generic3/methylphen.htm)

"Methylphenidate HCl USP is a white, odorless crystalline powder. Its solutions are acid to litmus. It is freely soluble in water and in methanol, soluble in alcohol, and slightly soluble in chloroform and in acetone. Its molecular weight is 269.77."

<!-- begin 300x250 and 431x131 ad tag for rxlist monograph and other misc pages begin --> <script language="JavaScript1.2" type="text/javascript"> document.writeln('<iframe width=\"431\" height=\"262\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" style=\"margin:0;\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" name=\"w1441a431x262\" src="http://adv.webmd.com/html.ng/transactionID=' + any_ten + '&apg='+apg2+'&drug='+drug+'&site=affiliate&affiliate=rxlist&dom=my%2Ewebmd%2Ecom&uri='+uri+'&pos=middle&adsize=300x250&adsize=431x131&network=consumer&brand=rxlist&allowcompete=no&tile=' + pageview + '&asset=drug_db"><scr' + 'ipt language=\"JavaScript1.2\" type=\"text/javascript\" src="http://adv.webmd.com/js.ng/Params.richmedia=yes&transactionID=' + any_ten + '&apg='+apg2+'&drug='+drug+'&site=affiliate&affiliate=rxlist&dom=my%2Ewebmd%2Ecom&uri='+uri+'&pos=middle&adsize=300x250&adsize=431x131network=consumer&brand=rxlist&allowcompete=no&tile=' + pageview + '&asset=drug_db"><\/scr' + 'ipt><\/iframe>'); </script>This is why patients are told to drink a full glass of fluid and plenty of water throughout the day, in order to dissolve the methylphenidate.

From the same source:
"CONCERTA^® also contains the following inert (javascript:defwindow('inert')) ingredients: butylated hydroxytoluene, carnauba wax, cellulose (javascript:defwindow('cellulose')) acetate, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, lactose, phosphoric acid, poloxamer, polyethylene (javascript:defwindow('polyethylene')) glycol, polyethylene (javascript:defwindow('polyethylene')) oxides, povidone, propylene glycol, sodium (javascript:defwindow('sodium')) chloride, stearic acid, succinic acid, synthetic (javascript:defwindow('synthetic')) iron (javascript:defwindow('iron')) oxides, titanium (javascript:defwindow('titanium')) dioxide, and triacetin."

I left the links intact so that those who wonder can see that these substances pose no harm to the body.

And again, same source:
"CONCERTA^® uses osmotic pressure to deliver methylphenidate HCl at a controlled rate. The system, which resembles a conventional tablet in appearance, comprises an osmotically active trilayer core surrounded by a semipermeable membrane with an immediate-release drug overcoat. The trilayer core is composed of two drug layers containing the drug and excipients, and a push layer containing osmotically active components. There is a precision-laser drilled orifice on the drug-layer end of the tablet. In an aqueous environment, such as the gastrointestinal tract, the drug overcoat dissolves within one hour, providing an initial dose of methylphenidate. Water permeates through the membrane into the tablet core. As the osmotically active polymer excipients expand, methylphenidate is released through the orifice. The membrane controls the rate at which water enters the tablet core, which in turn controls drug delivery. Furthermore, the drug release rate from the system increases with time over a period of 6 to 7 hours due to the drug concentration gradient incorporated into the two drug layers of CONCERTA^®. The biologically inert components of the tablet remain intact during gastrointestinal transit and are eliminated in the stool as a tablet shell along with insoluble core components. It is possible that CONCERTA^® extendedrelease tablets may be visible on abdominal x-rays under certain circumstances, especially when digital enhancing techniques are utilized."


So there ya have it. Thanks OP for proving that Concerta is exactly what they claim it to be. I am personally unimpresed by the hysterical response you are having to discovering this fact. I am very deeply sorry that your meds made you ill, but it has been stated over and over again that when it comes to ADHD meds, what works for one may be perfectly awful for another. As of this date, Concerta is absolutely perfect for me.


Crazy :cool:

Neat pictures JustNeed Help. I think this is a pretty ingenious way to get a med delivered in a sustained manner. Seeing the pictures, it looks no worse than swallowing gum (but gum may be stiffer). I can see why the manufacture warns you that it might be seen passing in the stool and all. Thanks for taking the time to post the interesting pictures.

What's the point of all this? You're not the first person who had a bad reaction to a drug. The point is you and your doctor should have been on top of this and tried a different med as soon as you had a bad reaction. We all know that ADHD comes in different flavors and also has comorbid conditions which calls for different meds. So either you or your doc did not do their homework. There is nothing strange about what you are describing about Concerta. It is in fact an ingenious system for extended delivery of MPH which was a real breakthru when it was invented.

I think you should read a book by Daniel Amen called Healing ADD in which he explains which drugs to take depending what type of ADD you have. One size definately does not fit all.....

i am sorry concerta didn't work for you.

that said, your experiement was interesting but didn't really show anything of value. the primary reason being that, as another user posted, the methlyphenidate was dissolved in the water and not visible.

most importantly, though, is that a class of water with a pH of 7 left undesterbed all night has no relation to the physiology of the stomach or intestines and also does not take into account the action of digestive enzymes or bile salts. futhur it doesn't acount for the mechanical movement of the gut.

why do i mention these thngs? because concerta is an OSMOTICALLY controlled release mechanism. The osmotic balance between the pill and the envronment is vitally important for appropriate function. i won't bore everyone with discriptions of how osmotic pressures are effected by the solute changes as one moves through the gut, but it's enough to say that - sadly - your experiment is completely invalid if you actually wanted to know anything about how this stuff is released in the gut.

it did make some interesting pictures, though.

simbryo

well, i knew i would have negative feedback but, i do havbe to say i did think about the stomach acids eating away at the pill but then again the insides of the pill can still cause problems, that gell cannot all be dissolved as my doctor stated that to me, and i was wondering why it wouldnt all dissolve and i also though that it was the gell cap that woudl get slimmy, or sticky but to my suprise it wasnt, anyway again i knew i would get engative feedback but i also hoped that this would also help people to understand what they take that in a way it can be more dangerous to take than in a regular tablet form i personally think that Alza made a bad move by making the pill the way they did and i also think that no one should have to take such a high dose of methylphenidate, i personally think that the 18 and 36 mg pills are fine but to have to take 72 mg's and 54 mg's thats just too much i feel i think that people would have much more success with an amphetamine based drug than such a high dose of Concerta, and if the forum wouldnt be so gay and let you edit post that are more than 30 minutes old i woudl have had this up before you could have criticized it, yes i understood that to a degree my experiment was invalid but i was also wanting to find out how Concerta could (or might) cause so much damage and now i understand, that pill can still realse the methylphenidate well after its been through your stomach and stomach acids and could still release some of iits medicine in your intestines, thus causing problems and i personally jsut wnated to warn people about it, im not anti-drug's i support the use of drug's, i personally think if you wanna take something then fine thats your choice but i just wanted to let the others know who had no idea what there pill was made of or how it worked, (as not everyone does there reaseach like you guys who posted reply's.

Table of contents:
1.1) My personal Concerta use (story)
X.X (Small note by me)
1.2) My Concerta side-effects (for those who do not wish to read the story)
1.3) The experiment (NOTE: the experiment even shocked me!)
1.4) Why i decided to write this

Well like i said in another topic i would do a experiment with concerta, well i did and also this is a to be continued thing (TBC):

1.1) Well about a year ago i was put on Concerta, after switching from Ritalin. I took Concerta for about 3-4 months, 3-4 months i wish i never had to experience. I started the Concerta about last november maybe a little earlier. I first took 54 mg's, (1 month) then increased to (2) 36 mg pills (about 2-3 months). As you can see i dont remember too much about the length i took Concerta as everyday was the exact same get up, take Concerta, get dressed, go to school, go home, eat, sleep, and repeat. I had no personality at all while on Concerta one teacher who knows me outside the school kept saying i should mention to my doctor that im getting side effects, but i never did, i was too much of a zombie i was sucked into the Concerta ritual of constantly taking my Concerta get up, take Concerta, Get dressed... everyday i remember seeing my personal friends having a blast and i would be sitting in my chair with a sharp pain in my stomach due to the fact that the concerta caused, in some wierd way, me to not being able to control my urination (i could not urinate at will it was... in a way like my bladder was twisted at the bottom into a knot, and everytime i kinda giggled (if and when i giggled) i quickly remembered not to as when i did i got this sharp shooting pain in my lower stomach area (near my bladder), i also had very bad breath constantly i would brush my teeth and not but an hour later horrible bad breath gum would only last for about 30 minutes until i had to change pieces due to it loosing its flavor so rapidly. i had no personality as i mentioned above, i was know as whats becoming comminly known among the parents of medicated kids as zombification, that is i WAS a zombie no personality just a body going through life. Among the side effects mentioned above i also got constipated severly constipated and did not know at the time why, i also was VERY paranoid, and VERY nervous with sever anxiety, and before i forget along with being constipated i was also deppressed a little (possible due to the constipation, and all the side effects i was having), i also had jaw clenching i am not sure at the moment what other side effects i had but there are more i just simply cannot think of them. but after doing about 2-3 months with all these side effects i finally realized hey if this stuff is causing so much bad to my body, then why take it? so i finally stopped taking it and i felt so so so much better after i stopped taking it i was me again. i dont know why i kept taking it but it just never clicked in my head to stop taking it, i was a robot sucked in by the Concerta the Concerta had put me in this state of mind that it was ok to experienc ethis as long as it helped me study i guess but i believe one day i had it when i relaized i looked pregnant! (i am not making this up) the concerta made my bladder get so full it caused me to look pregnant! i looked like i was carring a baby! and i am a male so that did not look to good (nor did it feel good either it was painful, and when i went to the restroom i was only able to empty about 1/4th of my bladder, but my bladder was still very full when i stopped urinating and still woudl cause me pain to an extent i wish NO ONE to NEVER have to go through!!! but when i finally got off the concerta i started realized how bad it was for me and i am to this day glad i stopped takign it as i dont rememebr specific days during that time frame, i just remember one daily routine that i followed through out those intire 2-3 months of horrible pain, get up, take Concerta, get dressed, go to school, go home, eat, sleep, and repeat.

(please if you have a child taking concerta please ask him/her every so often if he/she likes taking the concerta, let him or her know you are willing to change the prescription if he/she does not like it, there are too many other and far better AD/H/D treatments, sit down and take in a serious voice and tell your child are concerned, and if you are a child taking concerta tell your parents, have them sit down and make sure there are no distractions, no tv no football no telephone no work stuff just you and your parents, it will be hard for both parents and especially the childrent to say i dont like it take me off it, but its important please do so)

(well this took longer than expected so i will continue hopefully tonight as i must leave if i cannot continue tonight it will be tomorrow ( i will have the pictures uplaoded by tomorrow for all to see!!!)


did this in anyway help you get better grades in school and focus more ?

well, i knew i would have negative feedback but, i do havbe to say i did think about the stomach acids eating away at the pill but then again the insides of the pill can still cause problems, that gell cannot all be dissolved as my doctor stated that to me, and i was wondering why it wouldnt all dissolve and i also though that it was the gell cap that woudl get slimmy, or sticky but to my suprise it wasnt, anyway again i knew i would get engative feedback but i also hoped that this would also help people to understand what they take that in a way it can be more dangerous to take than in a regular tablet form i personally think that Alza made a bad move by making the pill the way they did and i also think that no one should have to take such a high dose of methylphenidate, i personally think that the 18 and 36 mg pills are fine but to have to take 72 mg's and 54 mg's thats just too much i feel i think that people would have much more success with an amphetamine based drug than such a high dose of Concerta, and if the forum wouldnt be so gay and let you edit post that are more than 30 minutes old i woudl have had this up before you could have criticized it, yes i understood that to a degree my experiment was invalid but i was also wanting to find out how Concerta could (or might) cause so much damage and now i understand, that pill can still realse the methylphenidate well after its been through your stomach and stomach acids and could still release some of iits medicine in your intestines, thus causing problems and i personally jsut wnated to warn people about it, im not anti-drug's i support the use of drug's, i personally think if you wanna take something then fine thats your choice but i just wanted to let the others know who had no idea what there pill was made of or how it worked, (as not everyone does there reaseach like you guys who posted reply's.Nope! Concerta is not a gelcap at all. Metadate and Ritalin LA are. It is specifically stated in the internet and pharmacy literature that the inner core section is not digestible. Period.

I don't understand why Ritalin IR seemed OK with you yet Concerta does not. Perhaps you have a sluggish digestive system and the MTH was being released in your bowels? I do not know.

Once again I am very sorry you had a poor response to Concerta. I am also very sorry that my own child had a psychotic episode when titrated to max dose on Adderal XR. These are the chances we take.

Your hypothesis that a high dose of Concerta means that the person would have a better response to an amphetamine based dose is pretty weak considering my child's response to Adderall. I take a "large" dose of Concerta and so does she and we respond quite well that them, thank you very much. It occurs to me that you may be one of those people who are meant to take MTH to begin with. Please do not establish an agenda based on your own personal experience; it is not productive to noobs who may not realize that they may have to go through many meds to find the proper one.

I am glad Alza made this drug, because it appears that many people respond very well to its unique release system.

yes i agree but you must realize (and i do not mean to sound mad or offened just wanting to let you know) that alot of people do NOT know how Concerta is released and if this in anyway helps to inform people then by all means i am happy, when i took it i has almost no idea what i was taking, besides methylphenidate, i had no idea about the way it worked and what all the insides were made of and if this helps someone to realize what is in there pill(s) they take in the morning then im happy but i personally think that more should be done to inform people of pills like this one (mainly when they are made of and have so many waxes, and gels) as it can cause alot of problems for people, i did understand there are people who concerta helps greatly and thats fine but there are many who it does not help and i just wanted to make sure people knew what coudl happen lke my freaky 1/100000 case of so many side effeccts, and also i feel that mathylphenidate can cause you not to think properly... as in you can become a zombie and you can even realize you are a zombie and yet you still take your pill becuase you are sucked into this feelign that it helps and you cope with the side effects, and thats what happened to me until i finally snapped out of my methylphenidate cycle and said hey these meds suck for me take me off em! and some kids might be experiencing what i experienced and are sucked into this feeling of take this pill it makes you better so they take it im not saying stop taking pills but if its causeing problems then yes stop, but some kids cannot say that as they are unable to express it. like me.

yes i agree but you must realize (and i do not mean to sound mad or offened just wanting to let you know) that alot of people do NOT know how Concerta is released and if this in anyway helps to inform people then by all means i am happy, when i took it i has almost no idea what i was taking, besides methylphenidate, i had no idea about the way it worked and what all the insides were made of and if this helps someone to realize what is in there pill(s) they take in the morning then im happy but i personally think that more should be done to inform people of pills like this one (mainly when they are made of and have so many waxes, and gels) as it can cause alot of problems for people, i did understand there are people who concerta helps greatly and thats fine but there are many who it does not help and i just wanted to make sure people knew what coudl happen lke my freaky 1/100000 case of so many side effeccts, and also i feel that mathylphenidate can cause you not to think properly... as in you can become a zombie and you can even realize you are a zombie and yet you still take your pill becuase you are sucked into this feelign that it helps and you cope with the side effects, and thats what happened to me until i finally snapped out of my methylphenidate cycle and said hey these meds suck for me take me off em! and some kids might be experiencing what i experienced and are sucked into this feeling of take this pill it makes you better so they take it im not saying stop taking pills but if its causeing problems then yes stop, but some kids cannot say that as they are unable to express it. like me.
Actually, the delivery system of Concerta is probably the best at extended release. The waxes and gels are basically inert and are used to facilitate the extended release functionality of the delivery system. Yes, methylphenidate is not for everyone and I understand what you are saying from your experiences, but they are somewhat jaded by the fact that you were starting with a large dose. Like they say about toxic substances, it is the dose not the toxin.

As for dosing, if I take 18mg, I might as well take nothing, 27mg generally works well for me. 36 mg can be dicey, sometimes it works great others times it makes me tired and sluggish (I have yet to figure this out). If I take a 54mg, I can't keep my eyes open 4 or 5 hours after taking the pill.

I don't think you should not be alarmed by your experiment. Remember, sweetie, your body isn't a glass of water, it's an incredibly complex system. The metabolism would appear different than in plain old water. Also, you need to understand why the "shell" breaks down in such a manner. It's in order to slowly release small amounts of medication. It's actually an ingenious mechanism. Don't be afraid of what you saw. Unfortunately, your body did not respond well to the medication, but it wasn't due to the controlled release, most likely.

After a wonderful, successful month on Ritalin our neurologist suggested we try my 7yo son on Concerta to cut out his teacher having to give him his meds during school time.

It was a huge mistake. Half an hour after he took his first tablet he started a twitch I've never seen, somewhat like a hard blink. Within hours he became anxious, nervous and emotional. We continued on Concerta for 3 days, and by day 3 his teacher contacted me and also confirmed something was terribly wrong.

We switched back to Ritalin the next day, but 5 days down the line he still does not seem 100% right. The strange blinking is still with us, and he still seems off somehow.

I can't believe I agreed to tamper with his meds, and I still feel guilty for doing so.

Like I stated further upthread...these are the chances we all take, Andi2. That's the way this medication game works, for so many of us. If you page back you will read that my child had a psychotic episode on her first medication! I myself tried the same medication (Adderall XR) and while I did not have a psychotic episode, I loathed it; it simply did not work well for me. I limit myself to criticizing the medication's effects on me and my child, because our responses do not make Adderall a lousy medication. It merely means that we ought to try something else.

I happen to know some people can take Wellbutrin. It is indicated for ADHD, and many people are able to take it with good results--yet I myself have a tremendous rage reaction to this medication. A severe rage reaction. I don't give up because of things like that, and I hope that others will not either.

I don't waste time kicking myself for making a simple mistake in the process of trying to help myself and my daughter. I fully realize that things like this may happen to anybody, with any medication.

wow these exact same side effects and stuff are happening to me... should i get off concerta? i hate the zomby thing.. i thought it was just common with all adhd meds but perhaps im wrong should i talk to my doctor about trying something new? and if so what?