I needed some additional advice...I was reading and I take 54mg of concerta in the am along with 2 cups of coffee..I feel alert but does the coffee take away from the medicine as in taking away the absorbtion?

I think this is an individual thing. You might wanna try the med with coffee and without ... do it a couple of days and see if you can tell a difference .... I don't think it interferes with the absorption of the stimulant. But I think some people find it gives them too much of a stimulant effect or it clutters the effect of the med for them.

The short time I was on Concerta, coffee would make me feel like I was going to explode. *shudder*

I agree that I don't think it affects the absorption but can be too stimulating for many.

I have noticed that I have sharply increased my coffee with concerta. I'm on 36mg but its dosen't seem to be working as well as the ritalin i was previously on. i don't know if it is because of the extra coffee but maybe i should cut that out and see.

Adderall plus caffeinated coffee likely contributed to my blood pressure hitting the stratosphere for a while (170/120). There were other factors, too, but be very careful with it.

From what Daniel Amen says, caffeine "stimulates" us by constricting blood vessels and thus RESTRICTING blood flow to the brain, which your body then interprets as a crisis. Your adrenal glands dump out adrenaline in response, and blood pressure, heart rate, etc. all go up to compensate for the decreased blood flow. In the end, then, it seems to me that caffeine works AGAINST the stimulant medications, which work in part by increasing blood flow to the brain.

I rarely use the stimulant medications anymore, but I've switched to decaf. anyway. Sigh. I love good coffee and decaf. always tastes a little watered down, but I get fewer withdrawal headaches that way.

I previous took concerta and am now on ritalin sr but I have never noticed coffee to take away from the effects of the meds. Instead it had a weird synergistic effect physically until my body got used to it. So I would feel like caffeine overdose physically when i took the coffee with the concerta (heart rate increase, feelings of anxiety etc). Now this doesn't happen anymore because my body is used to it. But it took a couple of months for my body to adjust.

Perhaps if the coffee plus concerta caused anxiety that might make it harder for some people to focus and thus it may seem like the meds are not working as well? Or if the coffee plus concerta causes insomnia resulting in even less sleep and that interferes with daily functioning? These things didn't happen to me but my doctor did tell me that many people have to quit taking caffeine when they start ritalin. It is all very individual I guess.

Are you noticing any decrease in your functioning when you take both?

Yeah I notice I am up for a bit and crash hard....but now...I am on straight ritalin and it wears off fast...I take it twice a day 20mg each but now it seems like that is nothing...should I try a 3rd dose? I am currently on lithium too...maybe that is messing me up...I hate being like this though>>>