Josh is 10. He is an absolute miracle. He came to me as a foster child at 4 days old very crack addicted and with fetal alcohol effect. It seems to be that the only residual effect that he has from that horrible beginning is that he is extremely hyper. He is considered gifted, but he cannot stay still. He has begun to be disruptive in school. I have ignored and have been annoyed by lots of unsolicited advice over the years. People in the supermarket actually had the cajones to ask me if he was on medication. Well I finally regarded his best interest against my stubborness. Today he got a perscription for concerta. He will be starting in the morning.
Now comes my confession about my real stupidity. Josh went to stay with his Dad tonight. I had it in my head that I shouldn't have him take something that I wasn't willing to put in my own body. I decided to take 36mg of the concerta. He is starting at 18, so I doubled it for what I would think to be equivilent. OH MY GOD! IT WAS HORRIBLE! I took it at about 5:30. I noticed that I had become jittery and tense. My jaw felt tight. I didn't feel like talking to anybody which was fine since I was alone. At about 8pm though, my best friend called and began talking about a terrible day she was having. While I was on the phone, I got a cold sweat, my heart began pounding, and I felt really nauseous. I hung up, took a shower, and tried really hard to no avail to relax. About an hour and a half later it began to subside, at which point I just began crying at the thought of giving my boy such a potent, heavy duty, chemical.
I realize that it probably won't effect him the way it did me...I'm wondering though if there are any parents out there that have had the experience of trying the medication. I know in retrospect how stupid it was...but, I finally finished that book report that I had been putting off since 7th grade. I know...terrible joke...but if youdon't laugh you cry.

Ohhh my! Hey there too, to the boards.

I have read a post here and there like what you did, but never myself. Thought about it but never had the guts, and glad I never did now! YIKES!

I hope that you consider that the medication was (hopefully) prescribed for you son after a thorough physical and suitability for that medication, which is a stimulant. Even adults are usually prescribed a smallest amount at first, and then titrate up. So, it sounds like you had too much in your system. A small amount like is prescribed for your son probably would not cause the kind of reaction you had. ;-) Every body is different too, and I would assume that his doctor took all of his issues at hand when prescribing that for him. In other words, relax, let him try it on a Saturday so you can watch him and see how he does.

Well, when a doc starts a person on meds, he will start low and work it up slowly to the effective dose. This limits side effects and alllows the body to adjust to the med. This dose is not based on weight and kids tend to need more than adults due to their faster metabolism.

Is this about how you feel with too much coffee? Stimulants can calm someone with ADHD (at the right dose) and even make them sleepy. Without ADHD, a little is like a little caffeine, more is not better as you have found out. I sleep better with coffee, it calms my busy mind. My kids both calm and focus on meds, no jitters.

Everyone responds differently to the different meds and the first med you try for your son may not be the right one. It can take some work to get the best effects.

My husband had the thought, until I told him it was a bad idea (and he did agree). Besides, there no way to know that the effect one person has on medication will be the same for another. I'm allergic to penicillin, yet to most people it's very helpful.

Take heart. If this isn't the right medication you can always stop. It's not like you can't go back on this. :)

Welcome to Addforums poor judgement happens to the best of us don't beat yourself up.

Wow, 36 mg is a pretty high first dose for the uninitiated. Sorry it sucked so much! I've taken concerta in the past, started at the same 18 mg dose your son is supposed to start on. . . it put me to sleep! Honestly, I thought I was on a sedative. I went up slowly to 54 mg, but was having weird side effects, so switched to adderall, which ended up working better. The great thing about these meds is that they don't take that long to get out of your system after you finish taking them, so if you have a yucky reaction, you'll feel better fairly soon (like next day tops). And like others have said, everyone responds to the drugs differently, even those of us with ADHD don't respond the same to the same medications (some prefer the amphetamines to ritalin, others can't tolerate stimulants at all).

Wow, you took it yourself. While that may have not been the best decision, I have to admire you for doing it. Not too many parents would go to that length for their child. You seem like you are a really good mom....just don't take jr's meds anymore!!
The meds probably won't have the same effect on his as it did on you. Keep in mind it is used to treat ADHD. If you don't have it it will only elevate you. If you do have it, it will level you out.

Thanks very much for the replys. I felt not an ounce of judgement, and a lot of insight and wisdom. This forum is a really wonderful thing!