My ADHD partner is on Concerta. He has been on 18 mgs for a year and it no longer had much effect so he was given a script for 27. He tried it for 2 weeks and asked to go up again. So, for two days he was on 36. He liked it except he felt a little weird. The next day he took 27. This morning he didn't get up until 10 and seemed groggy and then he told me that he took 18 because he needed to rest.

I told him that from what I know he needs to give his body a chance to get used to the med.

My question is: Is there a potential harm in doing what he is doing?

Thanks. Jamais

My doctor had me titrate up every 3 days on Concerta. Yes, I think you are correct. although it will not harm him it will fail to help him. It should not be causing him difficulty in sleeping, however. If it is he is either 1-taking too much or 2-needs to give his body time to adjust to what his mind needs. I personally sleep better while medicated than when unmedicated.

Bumping this back up because I have a related question..

I've been on 18 mg Concerta for a week now, and it's having no effect whatsoever. The first few days were pretty good, feeling like I'd had a couple cups of coffee, but my mind felt more clear than usual so I was able to get things done. Rebound was a pain at first but thankfully that's gotten better every day. The last few days I haven't felt anything except maybe a tiny bit more awake than usual, where before starting the meds I'd just feel tired all the time. I feel like this might be a great med for me if I can get the dosing right.

My dr. gave me permission to take two of the 18 mg if one wasn't enough, and I'm going to try it tomorrow, but if 36 mg works for me there's no way I'll have enough to make it to my next appointment, and there's no way I can get an earlier one (psych is at home, 2 hours away from school, work, and horses, so I have to request time off, rearrange my schedule and all that). Unless I can find a psych near school with whom I can get an appointment next week, I'll either have to stick with the 18 mg, in which case I might as well take nothing, or play around with taking 36 mg on the days I really need it and 18 or nothing on the days I don't. Has anyone been in a situation like this? What did you do and how'd it work out? I'll try calling my psych on Tuesday and see what they recommend, but until then I'd welcome opinions.

I feel bad for ya Dizzy...I wonder why the doctor did not allow for titration and RX you enough to get through the month at 36mg? :confused: My doctor always does, when my stupid RX plan allows him to that is :rolleyes:

I think your best plan is probably to utilize the 36mgs when you need it and take nothing when you can afford to let things slide. I am sure you will dislike it :( but it seems the best option of several bummer options.

I myself just did a similar thing with Adderall and instead of optimum-then-skip I took optimum straight through and now have spent several days unmedicated. I must admit I am hating it! I cannot wait for Thursday; I see my psydoc and hopefully will get my Concerta back and stay on track instead of trying any more med-tweaking options. :mad:

Thanks Crazy~Feet.. I checked out my health insurance website, and I can only be prescribed 30 Concerta at a time (except for the 36 mg pills, which for some reason can be prescribed 60 at a time?), unless my doctor files for an exception first, so that's why he didn't give me enough to account for titrating up. I guess if the 36 mg seems to work better than 18, I'll just have to decide which days I need it the most.. it's only 2 weeks until my next appointment, at least it's the beginning of the new semester and I can usually hold it together for the first month or so of school before I get too far behind.

You and I must have similar insurance plans :mad: its so stupid isn't it? I managed to get the QL on Concerta waived, so start that process and hang in there! If I can do it, I am confident that you can too :). Keep coming back and keep us posted!

The body definatly needs time to adjust to new dosages. My doctor won't even let a person change more than 1 med at a time (ex: I wanted to add 2 meds to my regiman and would only allow me to add each one at a time). That is the safest route though. I think it would be wise to take the 27/36 dosage consitantly for at least a couple of weeks before going so sporatic like that. But that's my opinion and I'm sticking with it.