Sorry, it's a litttle long, but I don't know how to explain my problem quicker...
I was taking Concerta for about a month or a month and a half. Started on Ritalin first, then switched to Concerta 27 and then to 36.
On 27, I didn't feel any bad effects, but I wasn't sure it was doing much either, and the psychiatrist switched me to 36. My blood pressure started going up pretty soon after, I think I felt some palpitations, and I was feeling pretty anxious and very uncomfortable in my skin.
I was going to have some minor surgery a week ago, so two weeks ago during a pre-op visit, my family doctor measured my BP at 145/85 (it's usually 100/60) and told me to get off Concerta until after the surgery, so my blood pressure can come down. It took almost that long, but by surgery time it was back to 90-100/50-60. I started taking Concerta again 2 days after the surgery (the 36 dose) and all this feeling of having the heart in your throat, blood pressure climbing etc. came back right away. I quit for 2-3 days until I met with the Psychiatrist, and we decided to go with the 18 dose, lower than I ever took. Today I took Concerta 18, was fine for about 3 hours, and then - palpitation, anxiety, high pulse, blood pressure 135/95.
I am totally at a loss. My FP mentioned that I can take beta-blockers to counteract this effect, but this just seems like an endless cycle. Beta-blockers might necessitate some other medication etc...
Mostly though, I was only recently diagnosed and felt a huge diffrence with a stimulant when it worked, so I really don't want to quit it all together, but I don't want to get a heart attack either. Thanks.
You may need to try a few different forms of stims before you find one that works best for you. Focalin is the dex isomer of methylphenidate and may affect the blood pressure less than other forms. There is a coupon on the focalin site for a free month of pills: