I have been taking 18mg of Concerta for about 2 weeks. It's summer time and I am more active and want to feel OK through the day. If I take it at 9:00 AM, it starts losing its effectiveness around 3:00 and I feel myself getting a bit more irritable, sluggish and less focused. Now, I find myself trying hard not to take it until like noon because I want the effects to last past 3:00 or 4:00PM.

I'm thinking I should call my doctor and inquire about upping to 27mg. Or, maybe taking a Ritalin boost but, I don't like the free fall crash from it.

Does anyone stagger their Concerta dosages? In other words, take a dose in the morning and then another in the early afternoon? Not sure if this is a regular usage of Concerta as opposed to full dosage once in the morning.

Thanks in advance for your comments.

Mine lasts me a very long time. I took it in the morning an was fine all day. Everyone metabolises things differently. Maybe try Focalin XR to see if you break that down differently.

Depends if I just came from a concerta break (weekend) it can last for around 10 hours, usually it's an 8-9 hour thing. You can ask your doctor to get ridalin dose also, it helped my those long hard 10 hour study days in college. But now i'm just on concerta 54 / 72 (depends on mood)

Hope that helped :)

It used to work 12 hours on the dot for me.

I find it works for about 9 hours at the most. My pdoc told me that it does NOT last for 12 hours for a lot of people and he often has to add more to make sure his patients get its benefits right through their day. He told me he does it by giving either the regular Ritalin or sometimes by adding a smaller dose of Concerta when the first one runs out.

You mentioned you were only taking an 18mg dose. That is a pretty low one for most adults but maybe it's just the basic start level (or tritation dose) that your doctor intends to change. Talk to him about what you're experiencing.

I started on the 18mg and was moved up to the 36. I feel the effects more strongly, but it wears off too soon for me too. I work in the mornings and have school in the afternoons, so I really need to figure out how to focus all day. I take mine at about 6 or 7 in the morning, and by noon I'm starting to get tired and by 2 or 3 the effects are completely gone and my hyperactivity sets back in again...my first class starts at 2 and I don't get out until 7 or 8 in the evenings. I'm thinking about asking my doctor for an extra dose of Ritalin to take as needed for my long days, though I could easily see myself re-taking the Concerta at around noon and it still wearing off by the time I need to sleep.

I take 72mg a day lasts around 12 hours for me

I began taking 18mg. It worked very well for me. However, I take it at about 8.30am, and it was all gone and I got the "yawns" by about 1pm-2pm.

They switched me to 36mg. Worked slightly better, but lasts no longer. All done and dusted by 2pm. This is problematic for my work schedule as I tend to work 6 hour sin the morning, break for family, then resume work at 7pm after dinner. My 7pm- work sessions are, if anything, less productive and full of more attention nonsense than before.