I'm curious about how much Concerta adults are taking. I myself just went up to 36mg/day yesterday after doing 18mg/day for a week with no good or bad effects. I do realize everyone is chemically different and that there is no set dose for everyone that has maximum improvement with no major bad side effects.

Also, please note on how you knew you reached the appropriate dose and, if you were ever taking more that that dose, how did you know you were taking more than your body/mind needed?

Warning...this will be a run on sentence lol

Well let's see...I started off a couple of years ago on 18 mgs...was doing ok....doc uped it to 36....that was working well... tried strattera for a bit, ack didn't work, went back to concerta 36....was wondering if more would help more...tried 54....started having a tic of teeth grinding and clenching....it was driving me nuts and starting to bother my jaw...went back down to 36 and have stayed there for over a year now...

I find the 36 to be perfect for me....in fact, I will skip one a week...like maybe on a sunday...or one every 2 weeks. I find it helps keep tolerance at bay, for when I start up again, it feels fresh. heh

Just my 2 cents

i started with 18 mg on march 28 this year. after two weeks, my doctor and i decided to up the dosage to 36 mg. after yet another two weeks, we upped the dosage to 54 mg, which has been the dosage for me since then. it works *great* for me, but when i see my doctor next week, i'm going to discuss trying short-acting ritalina as well.
:)

Note: Concerta is also available in 27 mg.

I am taking 54 mg

Ok, had to come back and change my answer. I stopped taking my concerta altogether last week when I ran out. So, now officially, I take 0 MGs a day :D

For anyone wondering, with the help of learning other coping skills, the forums, good friends, a patient husband, better eatting and exercise habits, and God's presence in my life, I am now free of needing the meds. :D

that's *great*, j - congratulations!
:)

I started on 18 mg as have most of us I assume. I found almost no change with that dosage and my Dr. put me on the 36mg. The higher dosage was only slightly noticeable after a month so we went to the 54 mg.

What a difference! The first day on this dosage I several hours sorting through paperwork and paid a month's worth of bills without wanting to explode. I have NEVER been able to do anything remotely close to that before. The next day I cleaned and reorganized a very dirty and unorganized garage.

My wife said she was scared about the effects I was experiencing and asked me repeatedly if I was alright and asked me to slow down. Honestly I felt so good I was enjoying myself! She is not used to seeing me that focused and energetic.

It is now five days later and I still feel great and have much more capacity for concentration but not as much as the first two days. Hopefully this will continue....

Anyone else experience this kind of change with a certain dosage?

Also, I'm very curious how caffeine affects all of you on Concerta. I'm currently off caffeine altogether until at least 4:00 pm. - makes me too jumpy in the morning and I think counteraffects the meds.

At the outset I had great sucess with 32mg progressed up to 54mg with limited to no effect anf finally to 72mg with no effect...currently still on the 72mg with some Prozac, but frustration is mounting as there is no, nada, nothing anymore....

wow MJM, yours is the situation i am trying to avoid. I was taking 27mg for about a 1.5 weeks but today my doc put me on 2 18mgs pills in the morning for the first day and to try three if the two does not have any effect. I really dont want to keep trying higher and higher dosages , i really wish he would offer me somehting else like Adderall or Dextrostat or someithing like that, it seems that many who take those definetly feel a benefit.

Also, everyone who feels a difference can you explain the difference you feel, are you more motivated? more focus ? what exactly changes? i only feel more awake that is all.

Well i am taking three 18mg pills now and all i feel is that I am very awake and maybe a little high but not in a good way. I dunno what to say. Hope i get some motivation or something positive out of this.

I take between 36 and 72mg/day, most days it's 2 36 mg tablets with about 6 hours between them, which lasts nicely until about 11pm :)

For days where I don't need as much I either take just one dose or I replace one or both doses with 18mg.

My girly cycle really screws with how much meds I need in a day so I am glad to have that flexibility.

I started out on Ritalin but even on 60mg I got little coverage and it was just way too harsh, like trying to do the job of a mallet with an axe. I'm much happier on Concerta!

I tried Concerta for a month and may go back to it. I found 36 mg to be about right. I believe this form of methylphenidate is the type where the inert part of the molecule has been eliminated, like Focacil. So 36 mg is really the equivalent of around 60 mg of regular Ritalin. But it's truly unique because of its "osmotic" controlled release capsule. There's nothing else like it. It's very smooth. Right now I'm taking the Mallinkrodt generic version of Ritalin, which to me is the only good generic company out there. They make a good version of dexedrine, too. Both are indistinguishable from the brand names. I take 40 mg a day, sometimes a little more. There is something convenient though about Concerta. It's truly a 12 hour pill. Right now I "task" at different times of the day, and prefer the 20 mg hit that goes away in 4 hours.

I believe this form of methylphenidate is the type where the inert part of the molecule has been eliminated, like Focacil
No, Concerta contains Methylphenidate (both isomers), just like Ritalin.

It is only Focalin (I am not aware of any generics as this is arelatively new drug) that contains d-Methylphenidate alone, and is therefore more "concentrated" with less side effects. 5mg Focalin tablets have the same amount of the active (d) isomer in them as a 10mg Ritalin tablet, but only give half the side effects (as both the levo- and dextro- isomers produce side effects, but only the dextro- isomer has an effect on ADHD).

well i am uptp 3 18mg pills now and i get sleepy about two hours into it. its weird. i was kinda energetic the first day i took the three pills but two days in a row, sleepy. may be i need 4 18mg pills a day?? what the hell , why cant this do anything for me?

I stand corrected scatterbrain. It's funny though, I remember Concerta being a little more potent feeling. Perhaps the sideeffects were simply more obvious at the higher doses. I had a bottle of the 18 mg caps. I took five of them once just to see what it would feel like, being the experimental, self-guineau pigging type that I am. Felt a little trippy, but otherwise no big deal. Like my initial post indicated, I arrived at 36 mg as the dose that worked without leaving fingerprints, so to speak. That is to say, a dose that makes me feel like what I think "normal" is without calling attention to itself. Talk about shifting sands of subjective reality...

Yeah I definitely need less Concerta to cover the same amount of time, and the Concerta is much smoother than the Ritalin, but then I metabolise it fast (Ritalin worked around 2hrs, 3 max). I now take 2x 36 mg, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Each lasts about 5-8 hours, whereas before I was taking around 60mg Ritalin to cover the working day and had no benefit from about 5pm onwards.

I know exactly what you mean about the "making me feel normal without calling attention to itself", because with Ritalin, even 5mg I felt (lasted only 30mins though), and anything more I had a constant reminder that I was on meds.

With the Concerta 36mg on the other hand, I can tell it works because I get on with what needs doing, my anxiety is gone and don't spend most of the day catching up with my own thoughts (also I don't do loads of silly stuff like blabbing out or singing phrases to myself etc.), BUT unless I am having a sensitive day I don't feel "drugged".

I tried 54mg but this is too much at once, for me. I sometimes overlap 2 18mg tablets if I am feeling particularly sensitive though. (Blinking hormones! Somehow I get side effects from the meds for a few days during "that" time of the month!)

Blinking hormones? Hah. Love Britishisms. Bloody this, blinking that, **** off, and the use of "brilliant" as affirmation or acknowlegement, like saying "Great" or "Good" in the States. Speaking of hormones, I've been meaning to check my sex hormone levels, since I'm over 50. Sometimes the slow drop off of testosterone can cause ADD level personality problems by itself. Ever notice men in their late 50s and mid-60s tend to become more sluggish and addlepated? I mean, the aging process is basically the process of dying, so we're going there. But I read this interesting book about male menopause by a urologist, who began treating patients by looking for ways to increase their testorone level, whereas normally be given an antidepressent or something to treat the symptom. When their testosterone was pushed up a bit, their mental problems went away. I think this could stave off a lot of health problems well into one's 70s.

so your saying that taking less is working better than taking more?? please explain.

Sometimes the slow drop off of testosterone can cause ADD level personality problems by itself.
That certainly makes sense! Sounds interesting :)

Okay. This is going to make some people squirm but I'll say it anyway. I take 72mg Concerta & Adderall XR 50mg everyday.

I'll try to give the short version of this but short versions are NOT my strong point.

Dx'd 3months ago. I'm an ADHD female, 28 yrs old. 4th yr medical student. Sought help b/c I was having IMMENSE trouble studying for my licensing exams. Always had problems studying and could get by but these were no joke. No cramming, no looking at other's notes, no last minute goal. You have to be able to sit for 9 hours straight with all the mental energy and attention you ever had and apply everything you were ever taught in med school. F***. Also, I knew (and so did everyone else that spent 5min with me) that I was hyperactive and talk A LOT. Never knew I had problems with impulsivity until I started seeing what behaviors fell into that group. Then I thought, "Holy crap!" I couldn't be more impulsive. Funny, I just thought I was entertaining and active.

Had a full eval and Dr started me on Adderall XR 10mg QAM upping it by 10mg/wk until I was at 40mg Qday. I had zero help or side effects on 10-20mg. On 30mg I had a twinge of better focus but not hyper help. 40mg helped even a little more with attention and a little motivation (more of I could remember WHAT I was even suppossed to be doing). Only side effects were a little dry mouth and a very slight jumpy feeling lasting about 1/2 hour.

Went back and told doctor this. My main complaint was that it took 1hr to work on empty stomach and effects last 6-6 1/2hrs MAX. Upped me to 50mg Adderall XR. This is the max he would prescribe. I asked if I could take my dose in the evening b/c I could cope at work but it was the studying and home life that was in shambles. He said no but would try adding Concerta trying to get a longer effect and maybe a better effect.

Started that with the standard 18mg Qday/wk then tappering up by 18mg until at 72mg. Of course, stop/call if problems. No problems. Not much of side effects to speak of. A little increased jittery feeling, no worse than I might be if I was revved up without meds. Little decrease appetitte but I still eat even though I eat less now b/c I'm actually full. Big thing is that I have NO trouble sleeping. I even can take a nap at the peak of my dose if I have the chance. In fact, I did just that Sunday b/c I was feeling a little too jittery trying to sit still and study. My brain was not magically producing the right answers so I took an hour nap for a break and when I got up all was well. Very nice. My only complaint is that I seem to have less motivation in the evening now and I can hyperfocus too much on something while I'm supossed to be studying. I know this may mean that my dose is a little too high at that point but it is only when I'm trying to sit down and study for hours at a time (with appropriate breaks). Might have something to do with the fact that it's not what I actually want to be doing. At least now it's somewhat easier to FORCE myself to do these things.

Ha! I just looked back up and this is anything but short. I hate to say it but this is probably the "short version" for me. I stopped telling people that I'll try and give you the short version b/c I never am able to. Maybe I should call it the "Less than Longest" version!

I'm not squirming. I'm ADD without the H, and a little dysthymia. I have a liberal doctor, actually an intern at this cool clinic that's part of the UC of San Diego and it's very cheap. Refills don't involve an office fee if you don't need to talk to your psyche. I switched from Methylin to Dexedrine. I take 20 mg a day but my sister gave me a bottle of Adderall XR, 30 mg, that my nephew doesn't like. I think 30 mg of dex would be more like it, or even two 30 mg of the XR Adderall. The Adderall is not bad. I found Ritalin in straight form very buzzy compared to Dexedrine. I think Adderall for me is best as XR, and Dexedrine in 10 mg doses for "tasking" on three hour spans. I take trazodone occasionally at night if my sleep pattern starts to shift too late.

Tell me. How do you feel on those dose levels? Is it working?

I'm 16, so I dunno how useful that is for adults, but I take 54 mgs/day. I started at 18 and have worked up from there. I like 54. 72 seemed like a bit too much, I ground my teeth and had wicked headaches (more than normal).

54 is good. I can concentrate, stay still, think, function properly...very good.

I've bounced between 36 mg and 54 mg a few times. Right now I take 36 mg plus 60 mg of Strattera. I might go back up to 54 when school starts up again, I was also thinking about asking my doc for the short term ritalin instead.

54mg seemed to exagerate my tics though. So, I dunno what I'm going to do.

Cyndi

54 mg was right for me, but I only took it for a couple months. I like juggling 5mg doses of Dexedrine better. Something about methylphenidate, kind of a cold-hearted feeling. Dexedrines are shaped like little hearts. Is that the difference?

Hello FocusPocus...I can really relate to what you wrote! I started out on 36mg of Concerta several years ago. My daugther Susie also has ADD and was taking the same dose, then she went off for over a year. When she went back on, the doctor started her on 36mg, then a few weeks later she suggested we increase Susie's dosage to 54mg.
Wow! It was like a 180-degree difference in her behavior. I was so amazed, I wondered if that might happen to me. So, last May I got a new prescription for 54mg and, again, wow! I felt a definite difference--but not so much in terms of focus as in my creativity! I was coming up with all these incredibly good ideas at work. I also didn't feel as anxious/fearful about certain social situations (especially confrontational).
However, the higher dose made me a little too energetic (someone said it was acting like an "accelerant" with me), and it really killed my appetite, which was already half dead before. I didn't really know what to do. Then, just last month I found out that Concerta's also available in 27mg (it wasn't when I started taking it several years ago). So, I got a new Rx for 45mg (I take 1 27mg and 1 18mg a day, same time in am).
I think this is just about right for me: I don't feel overly energetic, but my focus and increased creativity are still the same.
No more caffein--it keeps me up, and I don't really need it, anyway. Just have one cup of decaf in the am.

:) kudos to those of you who have contributed to this thread, you are all skilled writers! personally, i didn't flip out at all upon hearing about the adderall xr and concerta combination. i found the idea fascinating, actually. while i am not on concerta at all at this point, i am on a fairly high dose of adderall xr....90mg. it does nothing but help me. i have discussed this on the forum before and i think a few kind folks were alarmed and concerned for my cardiac health, but honestly, it is just the right dose for me and changing it at this point is not an option!

my 12 year old nephew is on 72 mgs of concerta and has been for nearly 2 years. that may seem like a high dose as well, but it works and he's functioning so my sister and her doctor are in agreement to leave it alone.

i am really curious about the combination of two extended release meds taken together. my doc actually prefers concerta to adderall xr, but i have yet to try it. interestingly, he's not at all into the idea of prescribing a combination of xr and instant release because his feeling is that if you need a booster, you aren't on the right dose. i don't necessarily agree with that theory, but at this point haven't needed it anyway. my doc is a phenomenal dude and i respect his opinion a great deal. he is extremely open to my suggestions and warned me from the very beginning that adhd meds have to be experimented with in order to find what works. that said, i could probably talk him into the xr/ir combo if i really needed it. as a fellow member of "guinnea pigs annonymous" i have to say i appreciate this about him becauase it eliminates the need to tell him anything but the absolute truth on every subject .;) i can't wait to see him again to pick his brain about this concerta/adderall xr combo. very, very interesting indeed.

and hey, i hope you passed your exams. i dreamed of going to medical school in another life!!!

OH, and i very rarely have a short version either.....i go by the theory that people can either read it or weep, or read it AND weep, depending on their concentration level at the moment!!!

I have been on concerta for 8 days now, after a less than ideal experience with Adderall XR, and bad experiences years ago with regular Ritalin and Dexedrine before the extended releases existed.
Started at 18 mg with little effect, went up to 36 mg per doc instructions after 3 days. This is where I am now. 36 mg is pretty good, but I also get tired about 2.5 hours into it; this lasts for @3 hrs, then my energy/focus/concentration levels gradually increase to a decent level and stay there for 4 more hours or so. I think the tiredness is coming from the initial dose (which apparently is in is the pill coating) wearing off. According to the dosing info on the makers site (site reference thanks to somebody on these forums) at 36 mg, the initial dose is 8 mg. This may not be enough for me. I go back to the doc next week, and want to discuss whether adding in an IR dose of Ritalin to fill in the gap makes sense, or just to up the dosage to either 45 or 54 mg. My only concern about upping the concerta dose is at 36 mg I must take it really early to avoid affecting my sleep. It really does last 12 hours, at least right now.

Just started on 18 mg and difference was immediate. I wasn't spacey, anxious, or irritable. Still not very organized or focused. Would like to take it twice a day, because it peters out between 2 and 4 in the afternoon and that leaves getting supper and kids to bed without any medication on board -- not fun for me. I may need a bit higher dose too.

Scattered

I would not suggest dosing Concerta twice a day. Maybe a 27mg or 36mg is what you need, this might leave you feeling the medication a couple hours longer. It's worth a shot anyway.

Why is taking Concerta twice a day a bad idea. It doesn't cause me any sleep problems (makes me a bit sleepy actually). It hasn't effected my appetite. I have a rough time with irritability during the rebound -- I really could use coverage for 16 hours and since it doens't work for longer than 8 hours (if that -- starts falling off at 6 hours) for me, why is twice a bad idea. I've seen a couple of people who are doing that. Any feedback would be appreciated, since I'm going in to talk to my doctor about it. Thanks!

Scattered

Its not. I was on concerta twice a day, as are many people. Just depends on how the person metabolizes the drug.

You may want to consider Metadate CD for twice a day use. It has a slightly different release profile than Concerta and a shorter time (6-8 hours). It is available as 10, 20, or 30 mg capsules.

I prefer it over Concerta. You will need to decide which is best for you.

once in early am.



so far 2-3 months.



keep ya posted.


54


P :)

My doctor just told me today to take a second concerta around 11:00 AM and it worked great. I felt very relaxed, but energized and focused and got a lot done on cleaning my house and laundry (which is a real toughy for me). Felt great too! Happy me!:) Kind of nice to find out life doesn't have to be quite so hard.:p

Scattered

54, about to try 72.

I'm currently taking 36mg of concerta and this really does nothing for me. last month I was on 40 mg of Ritalin on that worked really well 2-3 hrs twice a day. But I wanted something that would last longer and here I am now. I'm not sure if I should ask my Dr to keep uping the dose or advocate for a buster later in the day.

Hello Captain, I've been taking Concerta for 5+ years, in different doses. It covers my symptoms well for a full 12 hours. I started out on 36mg once a day, and that was fine for several years.
Two years ago I tried Strattera, but it didn't work for me at all. It was like I wasn't taking anything, and all my symptoms came back. Scary!
Sok went back to Concerta 36mg, and I'd still be there if not for what happened with my daughter a year ago. She had been on Concerta before and stopped, but she needed to start taking it again. The doc put her on 36mg as well (she's big, weighs more than me). We noticed an improvement, but she wasn't quite "there," so after a week the doc increased her dose to 54mg. I was a little concerned, but agreed to at least try it.
Wow, what a change! My daughter was like a different person: incredibly focused, could remember things, etc. Her response made me wonder, would that happen to ME if I upped my dose? Well, I did. Man, what a difference it made for me! I made a quantum leap forward in my cognitive skills; even more surprising, I was a lot more creative than before.
However, after several months I realized 54mg was too much for me. It was acting like an "accelerant," plus it seriously affected my appetite (the biggest side effect, by far). So, 6 months ago I reduced the dose to 45mg a day (1 27mg + 1 18mg). That's been just right for me: appetite's a little better, and I'm not "accelerated" anymore. Plus, I still have the improved creativty and cognitive abilities.
I've never needed to take Concerta more than once a day, like others have. But I doubt I could (it would definitely affect my sleep).
Anyway, by all means experiment with your dose! Try going up to 45 mg; if you don't notice much change after a few weeks, then try 54mg. You may also want to try taking some short-acting stuff (Ritalin) once or twice a day along with the Concerta, instead of taking 2 Concertas a day. The important thing is to work with your doc; if he/she's experienced at treating ADD, they'll be able to pinpoint what's right for you.
Good luck, let us know how you make out!

Potuncle, there's also a 27mg dose of Concerta; you should include that in your poll.
You should also add an "other" category; I myself take 45mg a day (1 27mg + 1 18mg).