Hi, I am male 38 and was diagnosed with ADHD, my therapist prescribed me 72mg of Concerta. I have been on it since Tuesday and I'm not sure what everyone feels like on this so I'd appreciate some feedback. For me its almost like I'm lightheaded most of the day and I have mild headache and my neck and shoulders tense up where its painful at times. The plus sides are I have better concentration, chatty at times, able to hold conversations without always wanting to get out of them. Much more focused and less anxious. Since today is Saturday I decided to only take one pill (36mg) to see how my neck and shoulders felt and it is a bit better and I'm less lightheaded however its early so we'll see about the concentration, talking etc later.

I see my Dr in one week but I was thinking maybe I need a smaller dose, maybe 54 versus 72..

From what I hear and what I have read, normally we are supposed to start at a low dose and increase gradually. For me it was like this: 2 weeks at 18 mg, 5 months at 36 and the last 3 weeks at 54 mg. At each dosage increase, I got side effects like the one you describe that got away after about a week.

From my experience, and the observed effects on my boy, it take some time to get use to it.

Thanks, thats what i've read. Not sure why they gave me such a high dose to start but the side effect diminish a bit each day. Happy days ahead.. I hope

Productions, I hate to be tough, but your therapist is really unusual to prescribe 72mg to start off. Most would start at 18 and move up. Have you been taking adderall? ... If you were on an amphetamine, then yes, the doctor would keep the same relative dose if you then switched to methyphenidate.

But as a first drug, 72 is way too high--usually! ...

I see my doctor on Monday but now on 72mg I feel nothing.. overnight all side affects went away. I've never been on adderall or anything. Now that the side affects wore away I'm not sure its doing anything? I dont feel any more focused or relaxed.. Confused now..

I guess I'll talk to my therapist.

Wow and I thought my doctor was crazy for starting me on 54mg. 72 is alot!

I had a VERY similar experience with my 54mg prescription though. The only thing that you have that I didn't is the headache/muscle tension.

For the first 2-3 days I felt very energetic, hyper (unusual for me), talkative, able to multi-task, able to read (very hard w/o meds), able to stay engaged in conversation. All that went away after the first week. Now I can't tell the difference when I am on or off the meds. The only benefit I notice is my reading is slightly better on the meds than off now.

I've been on 72mg for nearly a month now, Negatives are the lack of appetite and craving for caffeine. The positives are that I think it helps me complete tasks once I start them but getting started is still a problem. I find that I think about things in my head in more detail that are work related but thats about it. Do I have too many expectations? If its main goal is to decrease my anxiety then I guess its working, I used to react without thinking whereas now I tend to put more thought into it.