Switching from Concerta to Adderall | ADHD Information
Might I ask how long she took it? Straterra is a blood-level drug (or so I've read on one of the boards) so it may take a long time to do anything. (or I'm wrong and you should just skip to the bottom )I used to take Lexapro for anxiety disorder and it took a few weeks to notice results, although I thought it didn't do much since you get used to feeling good, which the doctor told me and I noticed that although I hadn't noticed it, I was living a much better life, although at first it made me break out (much like Straterra does)
I can't say for sure that is why straterra doesn't work for everyone, I know that everyone is different, but it seems odd that SO MANY people say it's a placebo, when it's still being used to treat ADD/ADHD.
Hope all is well with the new medication!
redlight38435.5871064815Just be aware when she starts Adderall, she might get irritated at first, but give it time to set in. Also, depending on what you get, XR or instant release, the crash feeling you get when the medicine works out is very tiring.We tried the Strattera for almost a year. Back tothe Concerta, she has asked to try Adderall. So I am thinking over April vacation in case she has a problem with it. Redlight, do you take any meds now? 
I'd say a very good two weeks or so.
[QUOTE=janz]Thank you. How long after you started it were you aggitated? Days? [/QUOTE]
Johnnyboi38437.8129050926Thank you. How long after you started it were you aggitated? Days? Just to throw this out, When I first began meds, I was prescribed Short actin 20 mg Ritilin twice a day, 4 hrs. apart.I took it for 2 weeks before i noticed any affect at all. But one afternoon i opened a drawer in the bathroom, i saw that it could use a touch up of organization. I systematically went from 1 drawer to the next, then on to the door part.
!/2 way through all of this, i noticed that one, i had given a fat rats about touching up a drawer now that was not even like me...,touching up... right! When things would get cluttered, then I would have spent the afternoon on it with only linited success.
That day was the first time in my entire life that I systematically approached a dippin thing. It was like I had been miss happy homemakker all my life.
If I hadn't been so afaid of a reversal of my fortune, I would have cried tears of joy.
What was that movie where a retarded guy is given a med that allowed him to become pretty normal and then the med stopped working and he goes back to his retarded norm?
I'm on Adderall 30 mg. mow, and I like it better
Hi, I tried Concerta for a week after my government in all its wisdom banned Adderall a month after I started taking it. By the way, the Adderall changed my life ( 1x10mg a day) so it is a tough act to follow. I was taking 1 18mg Concerta a day. I stopped because there was really nothing happening and I am now taking Dexetrine. I wonder if I should try taking Concerta at a higher dose. My doctor is trying to keep my doses low I guess and will only raise them if I really want to. He also has me taking a day off every week so I don’t have to keep increasing the dosage. Any thought on the Concerta? Thanks
[QUOTE=Johnnyboi]Adderall XR works for about 12hrs like Concerta. Regular Adderall - instant release only works for about 4-6hrs, then another afternoon dose should be administered. I have been on Adderall 20mg instant release for the last 4 months, and started my first dose of XR 20mg yesterday. I'm satisfied by XR's results, however it's holidays now, and I'll have to wait til tuesday to see how it works for me further. I did feel very irritated, but the same happened when I first started adderall, and it wore off. Without medicine, I'm usually a very laid back individual, with a high tolerance for mostly anything. With the medicine on the first few days, things such as a person next to me taping their pencil will just aggravate me, and cause me to tell them to STOP! I can't imagine what the irritation would be like for somebody with anger problems on no medicine at all, that starts taking it. I wish you luck though! It would help to tell your daughter when she starts it that she might get angry at first, and to try to avoid bursting out. I'm not sure about Concerta, but Adderall seems to rid a lot of your anxiety, and XR just seemed to do an even better job at that. As a result, I can be myself, ask questions without actually caring what somebody else might say.[/QUOTE]Ha, Karen, great post. Yes when my daughter "started Ritalin", way back, I could get her to really "get into" organizing her room. I would love to see her like that aagin. She wants to go 3 hours from home to school in two years and I want her to be able to. (not a college) I would hate to open her locker at school now..lolThank you for your replys. She did try Strattera last year and it did nothing for her.
I agree it is a try and see with everyone. My son just made this exact switch between meds. Concerta was working, but just barely and we had problems with Ritalin causing seizures. We have been very happy with Adderall. Here are the problems we have had with it. 1) His appetite is decreased significantly and as a result we have to supplement his diet with whey protein to keep his weight up. 2) At first he had some difficulty sleeping, it's not as bad now, but it can sometimes still be a problem (he's been taking Adderall for about 3 mos. now) 3) Recently he has complained pretty regularly about headaches, I haven't been able to get into his psychiatrist to check if that is related to the Adderall. I have tried various different medications to help with my ADHD, concerta included. I currently take adderall and adderall xr and find that they work pretty well (I've taken them for a few years now.) Every person is different, so it's pretty much a try-and-see situation. I wish you the best of luck!My daughter has been taking Conterta for awhils and it seems that it is not working as well anymore. She is asking to try Adderall. She has trouble getting to sleep at night also. Has anyone done this? We are hopefull she will be able to do better in school. Thanks, JanIf concerta doesn't work Adderall might, but it's very possible it will affect her the same way as concerta. The good thing is you can break up adderall to avoid insomnia, which you can't do with concerta due to its different time-release design.
If Concerta doesn't work Straterra has proved to be an excellent alternative to Adderall and Concerta, as it really calms me down and doesn't overwhelm my body. Hope all works out well.Interesting, thank you. After seeing her doctor yesterday we are going to try 72mg of Concerta first since she tolerates it well. She has been on 54 for awhile. Yesterday, she took two before she went to school. Forgot she took the first one! Thats 108mg of Concerta. The school nurse called to tell me she came down to her ffth a stomach ache. Needless to say I picked her right up and off to her doc we went. He took her BP wich was fine and told us what to look for later in the day as far as overdose. She ended up with a headache and stayed on the couch all day. Scary,
but because she has been on it for awhile, she did not get very ill from the extra, thank goodness. Geez, they take the meds to help them not forget and then she forgets she aready took one! For anyone who takes Concerta or Adderall and loses their appetite and then experiences headaches, my suggestion would be to try to eat several small meals during the day, whether hungry or not. I know it may be difficult to get a child to do this, but it will help with the headaches.
Shellr,
I started Concerta at 18mg, nothing. Raised me to 36, nothing. I'm now at 72mg (max), and it seems to be working for me. I also take an antidepressant and mood stabilizer. So I guess everyone will have different results, depending on other meds and the person themself.
I do know for me, it was a matter of hanging in there and waiting for the right dosage that worked for me. And as my body acclimated to even the low dosage, all side effects disappeared. I even began sleeping well at 18 mg.
janz, I also have difficulty remembering if I took the correct amount of pills...I've begun using a 2-week pill holder. It is nice to only take Concerta once a day, so if the pill holder is empty for that day, I know I'm okay.
I do wish you all good luck in finding the med that works for each of you and/or your child.
Oh, great. I was on Adderall (not sure which one) and I found that I was very emotional (and I'm not really an overly emotional person), I mean crying to a sad song emotional - which I thought was really really weird. Also, I went from being really happy to really sad within minutes and my appetite totally disappeared- i lost 10 lbs in two weeks. Did anybody else get this? I don't remember how long I was on Adderall, but I was not a big fan at all.
My daughter is currently on Adderall, but was on Concerta and before that Adderall. It seems that as my daughter is growing up, hormones change and the meds work differently. Also, it wouldn't surprise me that she got more tolerant of it. I will say that she is emotional when we first change, but settles down within the week. We seem to have to switch back and forth every 12-18 months.