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Deleted for confidentiality. All apologies.

one9tek39357.2195486111Deleted for confidentiality. All apologies.one9tek39357.2202314815every single medication effects every single person differently. Both in effect and side effects. There are also several non stimulant choices. The most common being Stratterra. My daughter does NOT tolerate stimulants well at all.  Once she is out of school we are switching to a tricyclic antidepressant called Desipramine. We've done this in the past using Nortryptiline (caused her too much tiredness). This is till using medication however. Just letting you know there are many, many options. ADHD has been around longer than stimulants have. The tricylcic antidepressant was the pre stimulant choice of treatment. Hope this helps and doesnt confuse you more. Symptoms the next day are not 'coming off the med'. concerta is out of your system within 12-14 hours of taking it, it is not a blood level med......so the next day there is none left from the day before....maybe you have a stomach bug....

I agree that if the med is causing you to feel depressed then another med is in order, or you need to decide to deal with the symptoms without medication helping. It seems though, that that method was not doing the trick, or you would not have sought out medical help to begin with?

Perhaps some therapy, or an ADHD coach would help you to learn coping strategies to use instead of meds. Sometimes adults can get by with just that....

And to answer your question about the different meds affecting one in different ways, the answer is that they do! My son would not eat on concerta and was angry/aggressive, but once switched to ritalin LA, same drug, different delivery method, he is happy and eating and doing well in school and otherwise. It is well worth your time to try out the other meds. One of them may well be the perfect one for you. First of all.. Concerta is just long acting Ritalin and it's been used for many years and many studies done. However everyone reacts differently to each med, and dosages. You're on the lowest dosage that Concerta comes in.

If you're battling yourself over if it's worth it to you to continue, only you can answer that question. ADHD is a REAL Diagnosis, and can be disabling as you have noticed in the areas in which the medication is improving. If you had Diabetes would you be feeling this way about having to take medication for it? Honestly it's NO different. You have a legitimate medical diagnosis, you know this is true by the extensive testing that was done.

As for your friends... no disrespect but most people are ignorant as to what ADHD really is, only that most medications for it is a stimulant. You're not a speed freak, quite the opposite.. if they were to take it then yes.. they'd be speeding...you're not, you're able to do things you were not able to control before.

It's your choice, we all face this challenge of if we need medication or not. Also, Concerta is not the only medication available, if it's causing you to have this mental anguish then you can see if another med is better for you... or stop meds all together and deal with it yourself. You may want to check out the Alternative medication board for a more natural approach. (However personally those scare me more then pharmacy meds since they're not regulated at all).
Deleted for confidentiality. All apologies.one9tek39357.2204513889stimulants can increase anxiety, it may not all be worrying on your part.Ask your Dr for an EKG.. that should rest your mind about that. I know they told me not to take med breaks either.. but you know what? I know my body better than they do! So far I'm not having any problems taking the breaks.  I'm sorry I did not clarify myself better. I did not mean for the diabetes statement to be taken quite that literally...not about life and death, or what it actually is compared to ADHD. More of how you'd not think twice about taking a med for diabetes and for instance (I know the diabetes meds aren't stimulants..) but say they were, would you have a hard time taking it for that medical condition? By the way I am on diabetes medication as well for Impaired Glucose Tolerance.

It sounds as if you're not accepting ADHD as a true medical diagnosis.

Not all ADHD meds are stimulants. Click here for a list of other options

When you're dealing with the Brain it is a lot of trial and error and since everyone is different there is no "One Miracle Pill" to suit everyone. It's the same with Epilepsy... I have two daughters that both have Epilepsy and one is currently on meds for it, my youngest tried Topamax and she had a severe reaction to it and we decided to wait to try another med if she needs it. There are a lot of people that take Topamax very successfully.

Also my oldest daughter has ADHD and takes Short acting Ritalin 5mgs twice a day. She started out on Strattera... could not tolerate that as it caused her to have severe meltdowns and Aggression issues. Then on to Metadate CD (which is like Concerta, but it was a 10mg dose.) She could not tolerate that either as it caused fast heart rate and hard pounding palpitations. But switching to short acting is working wonderfully for her with the only side effect being that she doesn't want to eat much when she's on it, but as soon as it wears off for lunch she's able to eat. (I feed her breakfast before she takes her meds) so she's not missing any meals because of it.

I also started on Strattera.. for 12 long weeks with no benefits. Now I'm on Focalin and trying to get the dosage right.

 I understand not wanting to become addicted.. I don't either. This is why I take med breaks on the weekends to allow my body time to be w/o meds and hope I don't build up a tolerance to it by doing this.

Like chasesmom said.. what you've experienced today was not coming down from Concerta.. it's out of your system in 12-14 hours. The mind is a very powerful thing.. perhaps you were waiting for some side effects from it, and took those symptoms as being from the Concerta?

I have a headache today too, and a few other symptoms but I know it's not from my Focalin XR... it's because of the Pollen count being through the roof here. (and staring at the computer screen all day!)

About your friends or others that would take Concerta...I thought you just said that it calms you down and helps you focus correct? If someone that does not have ADHD they're more likely to not focus or calm down like you... they'd be more hyped up and wired feeling like they've taken speed. It works the opposite in ADHD folks. (Yes, some of the stimulant meds do give us more energy and I am quite thankful for that because even though I do have ADHD w/hyperactivity my energy levels are through the floor I don't have much energy at all so that helps)

Meds do not make your life 100% better.. it's just there to help you.

Sorry for the rambling on... my meds are wearing off now