My Change from Adderall to Concerta

[Feuerfaust]

I was recently on Adderall XR and me and my doctor decided to try out Concerta. There were several reasons - I wanted to see if Concerta would last longer and I wanted to try a more dopaminurgic medication to better emulate the effects that I've had with Wellbutrin.

So far, I'm on my second day - but last night (after day 1) was hell! I couldn't sleep even though I had already "crashed" at around 7pm! I'm not too worried about this particular side effect though, as in my experience sleep problems (for me at least) go away within a couple days. My question is: If I decide that I should start taking a late afternoon "booster," what medication would I be taking? Standard Ritalin? On average how long does that last (both the theraputic and insomnolent effects)?

Anyway, so far during the day and late afternoon the Concerta provides more desirable treatment than the Adderall - I get less of a "buzz" and more of a relaxed self-control executive functioning improvement. I'm going to see if upping the dose will give me a couple hours extended coverage like it did with the Adderall, in which case I may have finally found a medication that I don't need to take more than once a day!

Thanks for reading/replying/caring!

[hopefulwithadhd]

i am considering the same move from adderall to concerta....did you have weight loss with adderall? notice any change with concerta regarding appetite?

[Scattered]

Since Concerta is methanphenidate (sp?) as is Ritalin, I've heard that Ritalin can be used for that late boost. My doctor gave me Concerta twice a day. 27 mg in the AM and 18 at noon which worked pretty well and gave me coverage until later in the day. I still had some irritability when the first med fell off around 5ish in the afternoon but a bit of caffeine got me over that. Best talk to your doctor about it.

Scattered

[Scattered]

PS: When I was having trouble with extreme irritability as my medication wore off, my psychologist said I might talk to my doctor about taking Strattera and if I needed more focus Concerta on top of that. I don't know if anybody here has tried that or not, but he said that worked for some of his clients.

Scattered

[hopefulwithadhd]

who the heck can keep up with all the meds...the warnings alone on the px bag are enough to make me skiddish about the lot of it...second full day on Concerta...36mg 2x per day....