hiya!

:confused: im so confused as to why between after 3+ hours after taking my dose i want to sleep - and i do. :confused:

im on 54mgs and have been for about 3 weeks now and really think that its bizarre that a stimulant can make u sleep.

my main issue was the day time tiredness and the need to nap at sometime during the day pre meds so is it a habit ive formed or is it the med?

help!

Sometimes I get tired around that time too. I think it might be the initial dose wearing off. Have you tried drinking water throughout the day? Concerta is activated/released by "osmotic pressure" (water). Even after 3 months of taking it I am trying to figure out all of the small changes and what contributes to them each day. Some days it works better than others - I take mine on an empty stomach which seems to be beneficial. I think it basically releases in three distinctive steps through out the day.

Maybe you should discuss adding a small dose of ritalin IR at some point in your day? I sometimes take a 5mg IR in the evening if I need it. Sometimes I get sleepy at 8pm and sometimes I don't. If I need to function after 8pm I can take the IR as needed and its effects are rather predictable. I also take 100mg of wellbutrin daily which seems to smooth out the peaks and valleys of concerta/ritalin. For the first month I would get very tired when the concerta pooped out - now I rarely notice it.

Overall, concerta is working for me but 100% consistent it is not. When you get sleepy are your ADD symptoms still being managed? Something you could try is taking concerta in the from of 2 pills. This is not common practice but you could take one and then take the next maybe 2 hours in or so, which might help to overlap the peaks of the medication. I would discuss this possibility with your doctor as well. I would think the IR supplementation would be a more popular idea, not to mention more predictable and probably much cheaper. Also you might want to keep track of foods you eat when and start logging how you feel on an hourly basis. In general the first month is touch and go before things smooth out.

Some times over stimulation can cause that. Have you tried a lower dose?

If we're talking about Concerta- there's 0% chance that the problem is the medication is wearing off. It's the stimulant/hyperactivity effect. I have the same problem- I get drowsy when my meds hit their peak.

One thing that helps is ensuring you're getting enough sleep at night- something that isn't very easy with ADHD (though a low dose of stimulant may be the answer for you if you're struggling with this).

Also watch your diet- often the drowsiness gets worse with lack of nutrition from the stimulant appetite suppression. Keep high carb (no processed sugars!) snacks on your person for when the drowsiness hits.

Finally, if it gets to be too much you can try switching medication. You may find Dexedrine to be less prone to drowsiness for you- it tends to be a bit less effective for hyperactivity.

hi, wondering about this same sleepy problem!!!!! my md just gave me ir ritalin to supplement my 36mg concerta daily dose. I havent tried it yet, im always nervous trying new meds.Does anyone find this combo effective? Any feedback is appreciated.Thanks a bunch!

hiya!

:confused: im so confused as to why between after 3+ hours after taking my dose i want to sleep - and i do. :confused:

im on 54mgs and have been for about 3 weeks now and really think that its bizarre that a stimulant can make u sleep.

my main issue was the day time tiredness and the need to nap at sometime during the day pre meds so is it a habit ive formed or is it the med?

help!

Maybe the dose is too high for you. Sometimes I accidentally take my medication twice and the result is sleepiness. You could try a lower dose and see how that works.

My pdoc just called me to discuss my new dosage and how it was going and I mentioned that I sometimes feel like I could take a nap in the afternoon, but don't. (That's because I NEVER can sleep at night and a daytime nap wouldn't help that problem out at all.)

He said that usually some people will notice that effect (sleepiness) about an hour after taking it, not when I was noticing it. Not that I find it really a problem, it was more of a general comment to him of what I HAVE noticed. Sleepiness I can easily ignore, something like a headache for a side effect would bother me more. Just me I guess. Yes, all my other side effects seem to have vanished today on this new, higher dose. Nausea, dizziness, and headache! Poof, all gone! Concentration? Good!

Yeah, I just moved up to 54 and I am definitely sleepy...I'm thinking about moving back down to 36 mg because I hope will have more energy.... I feel like its not the same as amps where you take more and definitely dont get sleepy. I am thinking about boosting the 36mg with some wellbutrin too to get a lil more phisical energy (since I have daydreamy/inattentive add). Or maybe take the 54 and boost with wellbutrin (jsut a small dose)....This is also my first day on Concerta for awile (switched from vyvanse) so I gotta see if the energy levels come back in a couple weeks

I'm nearly a week into 18 mg of Concerta. The first few days were wonderful (minus headaches). Now the headaches are gone but I was so tired that I couldn't stay awake to do anything (though my ADHD symptoms were practically gone, though that might have just been being TIRED)! I spent most of the day asleep. I'm supposed to go up to 36 mg on Monday and thought that going up would help, but after reading this I'm kind of scared. Is it going to make me even more tired?