Medications are strange things!!!
We have increased my son's concerta to 72mg plus and added 15 mg quick release ritalin and are very uneasy about this increase. Our alternative was to give him meds every 3 hours. On quick release ritalin, he is great on 15 mg four times a day. This makes 60 mg. So now on the concerta we have at least 87mg. He has just been on camp for 5 days and I gave him another dose so he could cope with the night time activities. So that was a whooping 103mg!!!
Although he is 14 is is very small and just started his puberty growth. Talking to the doctor we felt we had no alternative because on the low doses, it just didn't work for his hyperactivity and focus.
Now camp is over we have to re-assess things because it seems that his body does not absorb the concerta as well as the quick release medication.
Our daughter has been on a 54mg for 4 years and now we have just changed her to quick release. Always great for her learning it seemed to cause anxiety and brain fog after all this time. A change to quick release saw her change - now a happy and functioning 16 year old A+ student. We picked it up because at recent interviews all the teachers had negative comments about her attention and work. So unlike her. Things just seemed to have changed.
We have tried many medications and always come back to the ritalin as it seems to be very effective for both the kids.
Good luck in your search for the right meds.
thanks to everyone that gave me feedback!
i went back to my dr and he switched me to 20 mg adderall xr. so today was my first time taking it. i feel sooooo much better! no more anxiety, mood swings, irritability and irregular heartbeat since i'm off the concerta. my experience w/ concerta was a nightmare cuz it made my adhd symptoms much worse. i dont know if the adderall xr is working yet since it takes up to 5 days but i was told by 2 friends i seem calmer. so far i like the adderall xr alot better than the concerta and i'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will work. at the moment i'm just glad that i'm not taking concerta and dealing w/ the adverse effects i had from it. thats a relief in itself!
great news Diane. It's such a dice roll on what will work for which person. It will never cease to amaze me how varied it is.hi. i'm new to this site and was diagnosed w/ adhd 6 wks ago. my 8 yr old son was diagnosed w/ adhd 9 months ago and that's when i realized i've had the same symptoms as him since i was a child. the concerta works great for him but i havent seen any difference at all in me. other than the nasty side effects such as irritability, stomach ache, jaw clenching, rapid heart beat and sweaty palms. i'm still hyper, impulsive and can't focus! i've had my dose raised twice already and am on 54 mgs. i don't know whether to ask my dr to increase my dose again, ask him to keep me on concerta and add another medication, or just put me on something completely different altogether. i was thinking about adderall xr since it's stronger but i don't know how to bring this up to my dr w/out him getting suspicious. has anyone had experience w/ concerta or adderall that can give me advice? is it possible that the concerta is making me feel depressed? it seems like one minute i'm ok then i feel sad. i'm starting to lose hope in anything helping me cuz my dr told me i have every single symptom that goes w/ adhd. how will i even know when my meds start helping me and when to increase or decrease my dose? any advice would be appreciated.
Welcome Diane. to me it sounds like the Concerta is not the right choice for you. I would not increase the dose. You want symptom relief with little/no side effects. You are seeing side effects. If you increase they will get worse. Adderall is not a stronger med it a totally different med. I would call your doctor and tell him what is going on and ask what else you can try. Read about the other meds and mention them to him. Most doctrs want to use what they are most comfortable prescribing. Who is prescribing for you? A psychiatrist? A lot of people are now trying the brand new med out Vyvnase with seeming success. Research it some. It is in the Adderall family, but a totally different delivery. So there is that or the Adderall XR. Also in the methyphedinate family (like concerta) there are other long actings like Ritalin LA, Focalin XR. It is all about trial and error and if your doc is experienced with ADHD he/she will know this. Do not settle for something that casues you those side effects. thanku diane v! i really thought that those nasty side effects were common for everyone taking adhd meds. so, its good to know that when i do find the right medication for me that i wont feel like this. my gut feeling was that maybe i should switch to something else. i actually got my prescription for concerta from my family dr. even though ritalin la is in the same class as concerta could that possibly work for me or should i stay away from the methylphenidate class altogether? what type of add meds do u take, if u dont mind me asking and how long did u take it before seeing a difference?I do not take meds, but my daughter has taken most all the stimulants. You should see a difference that day. Side effects can subside oer time so you could wait it out, but if you're getting side effects without symptom relief I would probably not wait too long.
The side effects from Concerta do not mean you will see side effects form another drug in the methyphediante family at all. It's amazing that changing the delivery system can make such a differnce, but it does. Some people just need to do regular acting Ritalin a couple of times a day. It is really all about trial and error. You may want to get a referral to a psychiatrist unless your family doc is very experienced with ADHD and meds.