I've been on 18mg Concerta for 3 days and got a headache the evening of the first day. The second day I got a headache in the afternoon that turned into a migraine. I'm already migraine prone and just came off an episode this weekend and thought it was just a coincidence. Today I've got a headache again, though it's not quite as bad. I'm supposed to be upping to the 36 mg at the end of the week. I keep taking the Concerta because I really do feel a difference in my ADHD symptoms and was thinking that the headaches might go away after my body adjusts to it. Is this true? Should I hang in there? Or should I try to see my doctor for something different? Are there medications out there that don't have such high rates of headaches?

All stimulants(and Wellbutrin, though not as notoriously) can cause headaches, unfortunately.

I usually will get headaches at the end of the day/evening after a dose increase. They go away in 3-5 days, generally getting a little more tolerable each day. They should go away after a few days.

I didn't notice it until my mom said something, but a lot of times the headaches are tension headaches, or at least made worse from tension. I try to pay attention to my shoulders and facial muscles, as well as teeth clenching, 'cause I've had to let my shoulders drop, my mouth open, my neck loosen, and arms dangle without knowing exactly how I got cramped into such an awkward position. I imagine I look kind of like a crouching lion with a nut cracker mouth. Anyways, lol, if you notice throughout the course of the day that you're tensing your muscles more than you remember, it may help the headaches if yu address that. Personally, naproxen(Aleve) works very well for my tension headaches, but I know different people have different preferences.

I hope your headaches do go away, because it sounds like you're happy with Concerta so far, minus the headaches.

I had a bit of problem when I first started on Concerta recently at 36mg. (18mg was tried a few months ago with my GP and did NOTHING). My new doctor (an ADULT specialist!) restarted me on Concerta at the dose of 36 mg. I had a bit of headache/dizziness/nausea the first 3 days. Three days ago, the dose was raised to 54mg. Yes, all the same symptoms again but worse for the first 2 days. Today is the 3rd day on the higher dose and I feel great! Mind you, by yesterday I was ready to quit but I knew I had to give it time to see if I would adjust to it.

Sometimes, the side effects are worse than the cure but if we don't give it a fair trial, we'll never find out. My pdoc just called to see how the new dose was coming along and to see if I needed any changes. I told him let's leave it as it is right now and see how it goes. I have sleep issues where I have trouble sleeping but they are NO DIFFERENT than before I went on meds. I've NEVER had a good night's sleep. This doc wants to address that issue, too and was about to try me on something for that today. I told him I want to wait and get this one all worked out first since not sleeping now isn't a big issue for me since I'm on vacation for another 4 weeks. No rush! I think I've found a gem of a doctor! It took a long time to find him but it was worth the looking.