Concerta has done the exact opposite of what I have been hoping and praying an add medication can do for me.....

I Was prescribed 18 MG of concerta for the first week and 36 MG for 3 weeks after. Went to the pharmacy to pay for the prescriptions and it was Waaayyyy to expensive to pay for 7 18 MG pills and 30 36 MG pills, so I opted to purchase the 30 36 MG pills (even though my doc said to take 18 for 7 days, then to move onto 36).

So, this morning I awake around 10:30, make some oatmeal and take my first dose of 36mg concerta. I usually have coffee every morning, but I was scared that the caffeine would interact negatively with the concerta, so I skipped it.
The first hour, I didn't really feel anything. I was still very tired and groggy from waking up with no coffee, so I decided to have a cup of coffee and do some online concerta research. As the coffee started to wake me up, I then felt the effects of concerta, which started to make me really, really tired. My head felt clouded by nothingness. My normal ten million mile a minute thoughts died, not totally....but almost. I felt extra mellow (I have ADD, NOT ADHD, so I am not hyperactive) and as a lot of people on here say "zombified". I didn't like it all. I have felt tired and groggy all day, yet my heart rate is up and I feel like I am on some sort of chemical. I have pretty much hyper focused all day on the feelings how concerta has been effecting me and have been online, researching ADD medications for 9 hours straight..instead of cleaning massive piles of clothes that are everywhere (I did get a chance to do the dishes and one load of laundry, but have yet to put it away and have no motivation to do so). I don't really feel focused or motivated at all. In fact, I feel extra introverted and slow...I am very social and intelligent and have felt Kind of stupid and recluse all day. I hate it!

Do I need to give concerta a chance (the doc says I need to take it for at least a week for it to work properly) or do I need to switch something else?

Has anyone had this happen? had any success with concerta? same symptoms I am having with concerta and switched to another med? I would rather be off ADD meds than to endure this medication for another month (even two weeks) with the same side effects!!!

Thank god it is the weekend, because I don't know what would happen if I were at work!
Please help!
Thanks so much!

P.s. The effects I am looking for are, better concentration and focus at work/home, motivation and energy to do mondaine household/work tasks etc... NOT, what concerta is doing to me...I do not want to be exhausted all day with no motivation!!!!
:confused::confused::confused::confused::confused: :confused:

pps.. I think the concerta is finally wearing off (its's 8pm), because I am starting to feel "normal" again.. head is not cloudy, a little more energy, but still tired (probably from the crash)....still major lack of motivation... all I want to do is take a nap now....uugghhh...

is this a regular pill or a capsule?? and if it's a regular pill try splitting it in half tomorrow and taking your 18 mg.... that you were to start with. 36 mg may have been too much.

My daughter's pills were split in half.. although she was on a different med. It's worth a try.. and so is another try at the med.

it's the time release, capsule.. can't cut it..I will probably try to ride the 36 out for a week and see what happens.... thanks for responding...

k.. thanks for your response, too. I wasn't sure. I hope it gets better for you.

This sounds quite similar to the way Concerta made me feel, especially at lower doses. When it kicked in, I felt very tired (and actually nodded off at work). . . the higher doses were sort of better, but I got some episodes of depersonalization (sort of felt like I was an observer, like I wasn't really in the situation). That stopped happening fairly quickly (like after a week of being on the meds), but I didn't find Concerta to be particularly effective for me.

Different meds work for different people. Adderall worked better for me. I have no idea if another form of ritalin would have worked for me, as I never tried any other formulations. FWIW, I'm also not hyperactive.

Day One - yesterday 18 and I got sleepy as well. Felt like my eyelids had 50lb weights on them at hour two. At hour four I had "awake clarity" but was still tired.

Day Two - 18 not so tired most of the day until around 5:30 when it wore off. Fell into deep sleep on the couch

Skipping the coffee may have had something to do with being tired, but from what others here have told me, coffee and tea will reduce the effectiveness. I drank a cup of hot tea to make sure I didn't get a caffeine withdrawal headache

Concentration - MUCH improved. Motivation - better but not by much

Most positive aspect so far - experiencing a mind that was quiet. Sitting still and realizing that my body wasn't in constant motion! I think it shows promise, but too soon to tell.

Myself and the docs did not think I was the hyperactive component, but when the Concerta wears off my body is in constant motion.

Thanks for the replies!I would love to hear everyones experience!!

So, as soon as the concerta wore off last night, I was TOTALLY back to my old chatty, over-analyzing self and I realized that I like the way I feel undedicated!! The transition from concerta to normality was fine, it was amazing actually..I was tired, but then I woke right back up. I feel as if I came out of some drug induced coma...

Anyway, I fell asleep around midnight, but my sleep was restless. I had crazy dreams and kept waking up. At 8AM I was wide awake, I am NEVER awake at 8am. This freaked me out, so I forced myself to go back to sleep. I slept in until 10:30 am and debated taking the concerta again. I felt like TOTAL crap when I got up... Like a bad hang over (and I drank plenty of water yesterday and last night)... I felt so crappy, that I talked myself into taking the concerta.
So, I made some oatmeal, coffee and took the concerta along with my vitamins. It's now been an hour since I took it with my breakfast and coffee...I actually feel great! I think mixing conerta with caffeine is helping me with the tiredness (it did yesterday and felt fine, until the caffeine started to wear off)... We will see what happens later.
Right now, I am alert and focused (not necessarily motivated, but I don't feel tired and that is what I hated about the effects it had on my yesterday). I have a lazy day today and plan on reading a book poolside, spend time with friends, then going to a concert later. I will give and update tomorrow....
Anyone feel they need coffee or caffeine while on Ritalin or concerta (otherwise it makes you super tired..)?
Thanks again!
p.s. I will not continue to take concerta if it turns me into an exhausted zombie, as it did yesterday. I can not be like that at work!

Anyone feel they need coffee or caffeine while on Ritalin or concerta (otherwise it makes you super tired..)?

Again, yes yes yes! When I was on 18 mgs (the smallest dose you could be on), I was literally chugging coke to keep awake. 36 mg didn't make me feel like that (but didn't have all that much in the way of a benificial effect). When I went up to 54 mgs, I felt like I had too much caffeine (i.e. jittery and twitchy), and so stopped having any. So for me there was a very fine line between too little drug and too much with concerta.

I can connect with the hyperfocus effect, which is exactly what I did NOT want. I found myself hyperfocusing on Adderall, able to concentrate, but not making good decisions.

I have switched to Concerta and I think I have encountered the same thing.
I'm struggling with this. It's a difficult thing to figure out. For now, I have reduced my concerta dosage in order to think better.

Perhaps the hyperfocus would be good if I were in the middle of a good project. But maybe not. This could change with time as your common sense brain starts to reassert itself. As I said, I'm struggling with this, don't know what to do.

I was hoping for a med that would help me organize and execute. I didn't want one that would help me sink further into procrastination and internet addiction.

So, this morning I awake around 10:30, make some oatmeal and take my first dose of 36mg concerta.Did your doctor tell you to take Concerta with food? Regular Ritalin works better on an empty stomach.

My experience with Concerta, though only in its advent, is precisely the opposite of yours. I'm disheartened to hear all the negative feedback about this medicine, so here's my three cents.

I've been buggered around with Strattera for the last few months, a medicine which not only stunted my sex life but also succeeded in flattening me out to the point where I couldn't take an interest in anything. My conversational powers just about vanished and the positive effects on concentration/memory were short lived indeed. Depression and fatigue started setting in and that's when I decided to make the move to a stimulant.

I started Concerta today. 36mg. It is, so far, everything I had hoped for plus a little more. I feel new....is the only way to put it. Work today was such a breeze, I couldn't believe how much I'd been missing with all the crappy goings on in my head to which I'd previously paid all my mental energy. Instead of revisiting the same thoughts, today at work I mentally calculated and memorised the values of all fractions from 1/13-1/22 (a small step I know :) ) And holy crap I actually REMEMBER them.

The Strattera-induced depression vanished in an instant. I'm not TENSE anymore. I'm not dwelling on the same (and negative) thoughts anymore. Anxiety? Gone. The fact that I'm writing THIS right now is proof. Normally I'd be too preoccupied with inane crap to care for this forum (sorry guys :P) It's as though the shadows are receding all at once.

Lamictal, Zoloft, Strattera, they can all go and take a hike. I feel as though it's almost impossible that this is happening. I'm...fitting in....and I like it :) I identify with the idea of 'zombification' as I've been there and done that with Strattera. I know it's only day 1 but it's safe to say that there are now no zombies - I'm not one, and I don't see others as being them either. Right now anyone could call me anything and I wouldn't give two ****s. I feel...normal? Functional is probably the better word. To think that I used to resent 'functional' people....what a joke...

Hope things work out for you, by the way. Hang in there.

I'm right there with you Mroses.

I thought getting a 'trial coupon' would've made this stuff free for the first month like Adderall. But no, I ended up paying a crapload of money for a decrease in focus/energy and turn me into a depressed zombie all day.

My girlfriend instantly noticed it, it made her scared and worried.
As it did me really.

I can't find a reason in the world to actually want to take this medicine for the second day today.

But It sounds like you might be doing better on your second day, so I think I'm gonna try it again..

I plan on asking to have me put on something else regardless.
I can't handle meds that cause such bad reactions at even low doses.

Best of luck to you :D