Hello all,

I am on concerta now for about a month and it works well for me. Started with 18mg but that wasn't enough, so I am now on 36mg and that does the job for me. I am taking concerta to improve my concentrationlevel for studying and paying more attention in the class, so I am not easily distracted anymore. The only downside I am experiencing, is that I hardly fall asleep. I can stay up for 28 hours without getting tired. And when I finally sleep it can last for 12-14 hours. I already took 1mg melatonine before I began taking concerta. Now I am on 4mg melatonine with not much improvement.

So what should I do now?

Should I quit concerta and start taking adderall?
Or should I take some havier sleeping meds, something like imovane?

Thanks in advance. :)

hi, sorry for not answering your question but I wanna ask you smth.

How much do you weigh, and who suggested you take 18mg and then step up to 36mg?

Do try this for me, if you could ;) : Grab a book while NOT on meds and try to read, then someother time when you're on 36mg try to read that same book. Is there any difference?

I'm asking cause I was prescribed with 90. I couldn't read a book :( Got too distracted (although I could sit in class and I was less jumpy/impulsive). Not attentive though.

Thanks for your help!

hi, sorry for not answering your question but I wanna ask you smth.

How much do you weigh, and who suggested you take 18mg and then step up to 36mg?

Do try this for me, if you could ;) : Grab a book while NOT on meds and try to read, then someother time when you're on 36mg try to read that same book. Is there any difference?

I'm asking cause I was prescribed with 90. I couldn't read a book :( Got too distracted (although I could sit in class and I was less jumpy/impulsive). Not attentive though.

Thanks for your help!

Hi anonimi,

I weight 78 kg/172lbs and I am 190cm/6'3 tall. My psychiatrist prescribed them. The 18mg was just to start slow to avoid majore side effects. :)

The difference between talking 36mg and not taking them is that with the 36mg I am not 'busy' in my head anymore. So I can read what I want without getting distracted by other things popping up in my mind. :cool:

Maybe 90mg is too much for you? Did you start with that dose? My psychiatrist told me 54mg is usually the max she prescribed. But reading throught the forum I saw people taking much higher doses. I think you need to find a compromiss between impulsive and attentive. :)

Insomnia is a common side effect of stimulants. Other people will have better advice than me. I have a major sleeping disorder not on stimulants. :)

Its possible decaffeinated green tea at bedtime could help.

Hi anonimi,

I weight 78 kg/172lbs and I am 190cm/6'3 tall. My psychiatrist prescribed them. The 18mg was just to start slow to avoid majore side effects. :)

The difference between talking 36mg and not taking them is that with the 36mg I am not 'busy' in my head anymore. So I can read what I want without getting distracted by other things popping up in my mind. :cool:

Maybe 90mg is too much for you? Did you start with that dose? My psychiatrist told me 54mg is usually the max she prescribed. But reading throught the forum I saw people taking much higher doses. I think you need to find a compromiss between impulsive and attentive. :)


I weight 92, and 1.88m tall. My psychiatrist told me to take 80mg ritalin LA or 90mg concerta. She said Is hould start easy (36 .. then 54 and then 90), but other than that, she said I should stay as high as 90.

I'll try 54 the next week and see how it affects me.

This is a tough call. And there is no one right answer, clearly.

I think you have several options.

1.) It is still possible that your body will adjust to this since it's been only a month. My body has definitely made adjustments resulting in fewer side effects sometimes 6 weeks into taking a medicine.

2.) You could double-check your lifestyle and eliminate caffeine and nicotine and also to begin some serious exercising (earlier in the day, not at night). The fatigue brought on by exercise is great for sleep.

3.) You could try alternate medicines, probably adderall, vyvanse or dexedrine and see if you can get the good effects with few of the bad effects.

4.) You could just stay on the Concerta because it's working well and just ask for a sleeping pill.

5.) Talk to your doctor about this and you might even consider visiting a sleep specialist who might have more insight into the biology of sleep and who might then make a better recommendation (than a psychiatrist or a general practitioner) for a sleeping pill.

6.) By the way, I'll pass on some info I've heard about melatonin ... I've heard two really good specialists recommend .3mg about 5 hours before you go to sleep. That's .3 mg (point three mg) not 3 ... Apparently with melatonin a really tiny dose taken 5 hours or so before bedtime helps bring on sleepiness. (A larger dose doesn't do this for some strange reason apparently.) If you need to take a pill closer to the sleep, then a higher dosage, i think, is recommended then.

It's a little frustrating that we can't get these good things all in one package. But I guess life would be too boring that way, huh? I'm glad to hear your focus is much improved. Let your spirits stay high. You can find a good solution, I'm sure.

This is a tough call. And there is no one right answer, clearly.

I think you have several options.

1.) It is still possible that your body will adjust to this since it's been only a month. My body has definitely made adjustments resulting in fewer side effects sometimes 6 weeks into taking a medicine.

2.) You could double-check your lifestyle and eliminate caffeine and nicotine and also to begin some serious exercising (earlier in the day, not at night). The fatigue brought on by exercise is great for sleep.

3.) You could try alternate medicines, probably adderall, vyvanse or dexedrine and see if you can get the good effects with few of the bad effects.

4.) You could just stay on the Concerta because it's working well and just ask for a sleeping pill.

5.) Talk to your doctor about this and you might even consider visiting a sleep specialist who might have more insight into the biology of sleep and who might then make a better recommendation (than a psychiatrist or a general practitioner) for a sleeping pill.

6.) By the way, I'll pass on some info I've heard about melatonin ... I've heard two really good specialists recommend .3mg about 5 hours before you go to sleep. That's .3 mg (point three mg) not 3 ... Apparently with melatonin a really tiny dose taken 5 hours or so before bedtime helps bring on sleepiness. (A larger dose doesn't do this for some strange reason apparently.) If you need to take a pill closer to the sleep, then a higher dosage, i think, is recommended then.

It's a little frustrating that we can't get these good things all in one package. But I guess life would be too boring that way, huh? I'm glad to hear your focus is much improved. Let your spirits stay high. You can find a good solution, I'm sure.

Thanks a lot Tonetone for your answer. :) I don't smoke but I already stopped drinking coffee after 16.00 pm, but it didnt help me. :(

Visiting a sleep specialist could indeed give me some insight in my sleeping pattern and telling me which sleeping pills could work the best for me. I'll talk about it when visiting my psychiatrist this week.

Twerp,

Thought I responded earlier, but I don't see it. Two points:

One, you may try to cut out coffee earlier than 4 p.m. I can't really have it past noon if I want to get to bed at a reasonable time. The noon time was something I just came upon after much trial and error.

Some people on this forum have said that ANY coffee at all just overwhelmed their system once they were on stimulants. It was just too much. You may wanna stick to decaf after 12 noon and even keep that decaf limited.

Two, are you exercising? There's a chance it could help a lot. I was having trouble sleeping on adderall and then the last few days I started to get exercise after a period away from it. The exercise did something to my body, truly relaxed it, such that I am getting sleepy at night and sleepy much earlier. It's like the exercise drained away the excessive stimulation of the adderall. Don't know if this will help in your case. Just a suggestion.

[quote=anonimi;604253]hi, sorry for not answering your question but I wanna ask you smth.

How much do you weigh, and who suggested you take 18mg and then step up to 36mg?


Stimulant medication is not based on the weight of a person. the amount you take is based on your chemical make-up.

My DS is on Concerta 54mg and tells me he sleeps better then he has in a long time. No more waking up 2-3 times a night.

Twerp,

Thought I responded earlier, but I don't see it. Two points:

One, you may try to cut out coffee earlier than 4 p.m. I can't really have it past noon if I want to get to bed at a reasonable time. The noon time was something I just came upon after much trial and error.

Some people on this forum have said that ANY coffee at all just overwhelmed their system once they were on stimulants. It was just too much. You may wanna stick to decaf after 12 noon and even keep that decaf limited.

Two, are you exercising? There's a chance it could help a lot. I was having trouble sleeping on adderall and then the last few days I started to get exercise after a period away from it. The exercise did something to my body, truly relaxed it, such that I am getting sleepy at night and sleepy much earlier. It's like the exercise drained away the excessive stimulation of the adderall. Don't know if this will help in your case. Just a suggestion.

Usually I drink about 2/3 cups of coffee a week. I can stop drinking coffee after 12 noon, but I dont think that will improve a lot. However I could do some more excercising. It normally helps to increase my somnolence in the evening, but since I take concerta I don't notice any difference. :(

We don't have adderall here. So there is no way I can start taking that. It's either ritalin, concerta or strattera. Ritalin only had side effects, so I could try strattera in the near future.

But for now my psychiatrist described me 7,5mg imovane for the insomnia. Hopefully that helps me out. :)