Has Concerta done this to you..?

[I'm Tired]

I just started taking Concerta (18 mg) on Saturday, and its initial effect was simply amazing. I don't know if this is just the "placebo effect" - just that I feel more confident knowing I took the medication - but in school my confidence (recklessness?) skyrocketed for a few days. Suddenly I was able to make complete and natural eye contact with no effort at all (something I've had trouble with before), I was able to put my words into thoughts easily and have engaging conversations (another thing I was awkward with), and suddenly people started becoming much more friendly towards me... and this is all in 3 to 4 days! I also found myself wide awake and much much MUCH more inclined to turn around to chat with people, call up friends, go to people's houses, etc.

But... today I've felt myself going somewhat back to normal... My concentration in class isn't as good as it was a few days earlier, and I'm finding myself a little awkward with eye contact and conversation again... So my question to any fellow Concerta users/ADDers is have any of you experienced this with Concerta, and do any of you find yourself being completely aware of proper social skills, but failing to act upon them most of the time?

I just got diagnosed a few weeks ago (and my parents still dont understand sh*t about ADD... but I'll ask about that in another post), so I'm both apprehensive and excited! Thanks for reading if you got this far (literally... I can't read long boring passages)!

[Adamant1988]

Barb explained to me that on my Adderall XR, after a few days the euphoria would wear off as my body adjusted and "evened out". The medicine is still working (I think), you should be able to focus and things, but you're not going to feel that strange feeling anymore... at least this is my understanding of it.

Barb will probably explain it better to both you and I in this thread.

[I'm Tired]

I've been on this forum for all of 15 minutes, and it's nice to know there's at least one helpful person here

Whoever Barb is, I can't wait to read what she has to say! I'm not usually an angry person (at least not on the outside), but I can't help feel a little bitter that pretty much every problem or fault that I've had or been blamed for has come from an invisible condition I have that no one in my life recognized (including my parents), and that all my information on ADD comes from places like this.

Well.. I'll save the story (aka rant) of my life for later.. thanks again.

[Adamant1988]

Originally Posted by I'm Tired

I've been on this forum for all of 15 minutes, and it's nice to know there's at least one helpful person here

Whoever Barb is, I can't wait to read what she has to say! I'm not usually an angry person (at least not on the outside), but I can't help feel a little bitter that pretty much every problem or fault that I've had or been blamed for has come from an invisible condition I have that no one in my life recognized (including my parents), and that all my information on ADD comes from places like this.

Well.. I'll save the story (aka rant) of my life for later.. thanks again.

I felt the exact same way when I realized I had ADHD. As for Barb, she's a very nice, patient, and informative person, who's helped me a lot in my time here

I've been using this place as my "support group". I can't afford therapy, so this is the next best thing.

[lostinlspace]

I'm on my second day of concerta 18mg. It is noticeably less effective than yesterday's.

I do feel better though, less racing mind, a lot calmer in a very nice, "from the inside" kind of way. I understand perfectly a lot of the stuff you mention in your first post so no, it is not a placebo effect.

It's almost as though every single muscle in my body is acknowledging that this is something new and that it is working, because they are kind of tired. This is a side effect that will go, according to everything I've read.

I am absolutely amazed at how subtle the difference is but how incredibly effective it is too. Again, even thought today it isn't as powerful as yesterday.

It isn't doing much for my concentration though.

My doctor wants me to go on 36mg a day, at the very least, but since I've never taken stimulant meds (legal or illegal) she wants me to be on 18mg a day for a week. That's fine with me.

If you do a search on this site, you'll notice many people reach a point where their stimulants seem to stop working, I am concerned about this too, and other than try and come up with the right dose, I don't know what to tell you.

My only complaint about concerta is that I paid 23 euros for the little plastic bottle of 30 pills.

[moe.ron]

I had the same problem when i started with 18 mg. My doctor told me that the effect wore off after a couple of days was because you need a higher dose. Makes perfect sense. At 54 mg now the results are noticable and magnificant.

[tristan k]

My thought is that possibly your body is adjusting to having the med at all after the initial doses. Then, it may take some time to figure out what a therapeutic dose will be for you, at what dosage will you respond the best to.

I guess I've been taking concerta about 4-5 months now. I did notice great results when I first started it. It was summertime and there weren't so many demands on my concentration, focus, etc., so my initial dose was enough (I started at 36mg). When I had to start teaching again in the fall, I noticed that I wasn't able to do as well. I think the increased demands on my thinking/planning skills were too much. I increased to 54mg. Still, as has been indicated, the effects weren't as noticable as when I first took concerta in the summer.

Even with the concerta, some of the ADD is still present. But I am much better able to access my thoughts. I can at least separate my thoughts or prioritize what needs to get done, then actually accomplish some of it while planning. I take in information and react to situations much more effectively as well.
When I forget to take it, however, everything is chaos all day long. I can't separate one thought or task from another I go from thing to thing to thing without ever getting just one thing done fully. My co-workers often get a good laugh out of my disorganization. And my students think I'm a little "off", I'm sure.
So even now, I'm thinking that maybe the dosage needs adjusting, or maybe a different med will work better.

Be patient (I know how hard that is) and be observant so that you can tell if you're getting some benefit even if it isn't as strong. And communicate with your doctor about it all so he has all the information he can to help you.

be well,
tristan

[steven d]

No the things you have experienced are not strange to me. You see, I have been battleing this ADD for years and I learned from it. Finally I found out this disorder for me is a very bad thing and it has a huge impact on my life. You see, I read about inhibition theory which explains every mental activity is actually a flow of alternating periods of attention and distraction. This explaines my slow work pace and bad memory and stuff... Shortly, I really found that ADD impacted me large, because my brain percieves the world differently from "normal". You see people didn't become more friendly to you. You became more interactive to them... and they reacted with friendlyness... Yes the world is a BIGGER mystery then you think.

What you experienced is the real, normal world...

If the same effects are more difficult to get you are developing a tolerance. That's normal. Perhaps your dosage is too low.

Also, let me tell you I have been in your situation before.

@tristan K:

You feel you have more access to your thoughts because you think longer about one thing.