do you feel odd when stims wear off? | ADHD Information

Hi Envision! What does the 'crash' feel like at the end of the day? I still don't believe I've ever experienced it while taking Concerta.

Hi Jamie!!! You still switching? I'll email ya soon, 'k?

But first I really need to know what it's like to crash? I really don't think I do. Am I weird? No, don't answer that, please.
I don't crash, and frankly I hope I never do. When the meds WERE working, I'd take one at 8:00am, and by 11:00 or 11:30 I'd notice I was "wandering" again. But there was no "crash".

They say that crash helps lead to addiction - you take another pill so that you don't have the "comedown" feeling.

I would think your dose is too high if you feel you are crashing.
bcgirl...is that 11:30 pm?

Concerta supposedly works up to 12 hours, which I think it may for me. I don't crash, I just get tired and go to sleep. I don't take my first (and only) Concerta until 8:30 - 9:00 am some mornings.

But I agree with you, the dosage may well be too high if crashing.Sorry.... 11am. I'm not on the time release!

I crash after lack of caffeine & take so much caffeine every day that it causes me to be sleepy instead of awake.

The crash feels mostly like a head cold..all fuzzy-headed.

no, no, no, i am NOT talking about crashing!!!!  re-read my post to see what it says, doh, lol...no where does it mention  "crashing".

i am talking about feeling so ditzy without it versus with it and now it is worse when i dont take it for what ever reason, to sleep or take a day off it, etc....

when i dont take it, i am so gone feeling that i wonder if this is how i was BEFORE i ever started these meds and if so how on earth did i ever function and if NOT then why is it so much worse now compared to before i took the meds?

am i making myself clear?  maybe i should ask this question when i am taking it instead of after it wearing off, lol, then i can make myself clear but hey this is an example of what i mean!

if i take it i can think clear when it wears off i am a blank mind, before i ever in my life started this med i wonder if i was THIS bad or if the meds have made it worse?  make sense yet?  lol...

gypsywoman...i have found what works for me now is to take concerta for a couple days so i have to only take it once a day then after 2-3 days the insomnia starts in again so i switch to the ritalin 20 mgs two times a day then i can sleep....still on the celexa though, yeaaaah!  this is working for me and the doc says if it works then it is ok...my medicine cabinet looks like the pharmacy!  heheheee...

i was just wondering how others feel when their stims wear off, like concerta or ritalin?

i take either 27 of concerta or 20 of ritalin twice a day depending on my mood and how much sleep i am getting from the concerta cause the concerta causes me great insomnia i have to switch back and fourth.

some days i dont take anything just to give my body and mind a rest and on those days i go around in a total fog and wonder how on earth i ever survived without these meds.

i am wondering if i was this bad before but just so use to it that it was a way of life or if these stims do something to alter your mind when you come off of them so that you are worse then before EVER starting them!!!?  any thoughts on this? i am not talking about crashing here!

jamieileana38502.9008564815I know what you mean I take 54mg concerta and although I don't have the insomina very bad. I can definately feel a difference when I get the crash at the end of the day. I normally never go without the medication unless I forget. I honestly don't like my self when I'm not medicated. I'm tired, hungary, depressed, and let's not forget just utterly and totally useless in accomplishing even the simplest of tasks. in the evenings I do some real stupid things and can't rember a single thing. My Girlfrien asked me to get her some ice water and I managed to get as far as getting ice in her cup and then I came back with a bowl of ice cream for my self. the cup of ice still sitting next to the refrig. it's things like that, that make me agitated at myself for not being able to remember a simple task.I don't think you'll have any permanent effects, if I were you, I'd stop for a while and see if things stay as bad or if it really is the 'crashing' people are talking about.Caffeine is a stimulant albeit an over the counter non-prescription one that I can buy in the form of No Doz. Do I feel odd when caffeine wears off? Yes. I crash. I get fuzzy headed. That's what feels odd for me.Jamie, for one day every once in a while, I forget to take my Concerta. I don't think I feel any different than when on it, to be honest. So I, personally, can't really give you an answer to what you're looking for.

I believe we've been replying about 'crashing' because the very first sentence in your very first post asked:

"I was just wondering how others feel when their stims wear off -- like concerta or ritilan?"

So that's the particular question we've been replying to. Sorry, hon, but you know how us ADHDers sometimes have difficulty reading beyond the initial point read.

Jamie..  You're a crasher, just admit it.

You probably started as a teen, just to be cool..  "Hey guys!!   My parents are away, let's CRASH!!!"

Then you got addicted to it..  Before you knew it, all of your hard earned money went towards crashing.  Then you started crashing in the bathroom at work and that's where things really went down hill...

I'll bet it wasn't long after then that you started selling yourself for crash...  And now here you are..   Homeless, dirty, toothless and posting messages on a ADHD board from the public library..

Damn CRASHER!

(My feeble attempt at humor..  Not meant to offend.)

Evvy38503.9859027778

I know when my Dexedrine has worn off simply because I get totally scatterbrained again, start daydreaming, and can't get my act together or complete one little thing like I could 2 hours before. When I can't keep all my thoughts etc so to speak in line is when I know it is time for my next dose. Sometimes that is 4 hours later, and sometimes that is 6 hours later, for some reason it varies from day to day.

HTH!

Would be awesome if there was a 24 hour adderall


Ok that's all I have to say

I agree with dvirgo421.

I can always feel my adderall (instant release) wearing off.  And though there's a tendency for me to be a little agitated during the process, I just remind myself that it's time to go back to reality for the night.  And for me that's exactly how it feels; like I'm slowly gaining back the adhd symptoms that Adderall helps me combat throughout the day.  It's actually happening to me as I type this! 

I try to use it as an opportunity to examine myself and compare how my mind works both on and off meds in any given situation.  Maybe over time I will train my mind to work well without meds.  I honestly beleive that this may be possible when I look at examples of how much power the human mind has over the physical body.  I believe that people can literally 'worry themselves sick', for example..

Just today it struck me that though many adhd'ers may see stimulants as a sort of day-to-day cure for ADD, to me it really is more of a tool.  A tool that gives me the chance to see how well my mind really can work.  A learning tool that allows me to examine myself in ways I've never been able to do before.  I'm no 'holistic guru' but I do really think that the mind is a lot more powerful than most realize.  I read somewhere that like 60% of ADD/ADHD children no longer need meds after adolescence.  I wonder why?

Personally, I'd love my meds to work 24/7 but someone, somewhere decided that humans will need sleep to survive..   Ah well.

Yup it's wearing off!  I just skewed waaaay off the subject!  Ah well, I'll leave it as it may help others see things in a different way!

As far as the oddness of stims wearing off, I've just trained myself to expect it in the evening and now it's a part of my routine.  And sometimes I use it to learn...  The End

Evvy38504.7594328704

It's funny I noticed this post today, because I was just talking about it w/my fiance.

However to try and answer your question directly, I don't think the effect you're talking about is a long term effect of taking the meds or that it's "damaging" your brain.  I think what may be happening is that you have become so used to functioning at a higher level that when the meds wear off (or miss a dose) you go back to being like you were before ever taking the meds.   

I have often wondered how I never got hit by a bus or something before being medicated.  Makes ya wonder how you survived, doesn't it?

Jamie, I know exactly how you feel.  I took my "medication vacation" last August, which, because of some other stuff going on, extended through the end of September.  The day that I ran out of gas and had to cross a busy highway with my 4-year-old and forgot to pick my 9-year-old up from school (yep, same day) was the day I decided I was better off on some - any! - kind of medication than off.  The other telling clue was between August and September, I forgot to write down something like 15 purchases in my checkbook, totaling well over 0!  Ouch!!  Most months (on medication), I maybe forget to write 2 things in my checkbook.  Anyway, I found myself thinking that I was never this bad before I started taking meds - I hadn't run out of gas since high school!  I really do wonder if being on the meds makes my unmedicated self worse, but NOT being on meds certainly isn't the answer for me, either.  I just can't seem to hit the right balance between functioning really well or being a kind person to my children.  Concerta is a godsend for functionality, it just turns me into a REALLY irritable, impatient mommy, as opposed to a slightly irritable, impatient, but incredibly unorganized one who forgets to pick them up from school!

  As for short term effects, I definitely get hungry at the end of the day when the meds wear off.

I AM NOT TALKING ABOUT CRASHING HERE!  PLEASE RE-READ MY POST AS I WANT SOME ANSWERS FROM OTHERS ON WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT NOT WHAT SOMEONE ELSE CHANGED THE SUBJECT TOO WHICH IS CRASHING AND THAT IS NOT WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT!

I KINOWW ALL TOO WELL ABOUT CRASHING VERSUS THIS OTHER THAT I AM TALKING ABOUT..

hellllllllllllllllllllo nigga's!  I think I just mighhht have a soulotion for alll you concerta crashers! (no im not tom cruise, i dont know everything) but... i used to crash hard on concerta.. ok here is what you do to prevent or ease crashing.

step 1- when you wake up in the morning put your clohtes on. haha this is a dumb step.

step 2- go find your concerta bottle that is  scattered amongst many useless vitamens

step 3- take your pill with a full glass of wa-wa.

step 4. look at mr. clock and see what time it is. let's say it's 8:15

around 6 or whenever you usually crash you might fstep 5- go take a shower or whatever. just kill time until about 8:30

step 6- eat breakfast, preferably something kind of healthy. i dunno why but rice or wheat chex do the charm nicely. cereal is awlays good.

at eel a little tired but nothing compared to usual. but the upside is you will get this crazy euphoria at the end of the day instead of depression at night so you can go be a party person. ( i  get the little euphoria thing anyway)

you're probably wondering how the hell i came up with this simple but super system.  here's what happened. I was crashing like a mo-fo and couldnt take it anymore so I went to Barnes and Noble. ( for no reason) there i saw a book on all perscription medications. I looked up concerta. there I saw what my doc never told me "MEDICEINE SHOULD BE TAKEN ON A EMPTY STOMACH"

i tried that sh*t the next day and by the time i ususally crash i was running around my house with naked with happyness.  hmmmmm. coincedence? I think not! Now keep in mind you problably won do the same stupid sh*t as me if you try it. that was what i was like b4 meds and it's nice to be yourself again. 

I hope this works for the rest of you concerta crashers! PEACE out!

I CAN DEFINTELY RELATE TO YOU.  I WAS ACTUALLY LOOKING FOR SOMEONE TO SHARE THE SAME EXPERIENCE WITH. 

I TOO, COME DOWN OFF CONCERTA AT THE END OF THE DAY.  MY BOYFRIEND ALWAYS ASKS ME WHAT'S WRONG, BUT NOTHING IS WRONG.  I JUST FEEL "HO-HUM" LIKE NOTHING REALLY MATTERS ANYMORE.  ALMOST EMOTIONLESS.

BUT WHILE I'M ON THE CONCERTA, LIFE COULDN'T BE BETTER!  I HAVE DRIVE AND MOTIVATION AND GET SO MANY THINGS ACCOMPLISHED.  SOMETIMES I DON'T TAKE IT AND I REALLY FEEL LIKE JUNK.  I AM UNMOTIVATED, TIRED, LAZY, ETC.  AND I HATE IT.

I FEEL LIKE I HAVE TO RELY ON THESE DRUGS THE REST OF MY LIFE SO I CAN CONTINUE TO ENJOY LIFE!  I GET SO SICK OF BUYING MORE DRUGS AND MORE DRUGS AND MORE DRUGS.  I HATE FEELING DEPENDENT ON SOMETHING ELSE FOR MY HAPPINESS.

IS THERE ANYONE OUT THERE WHO CAN HELP ENLIGHTEN ME OR HAS ANY ADVICE?

Well, I don't take Concerta anymore but now I take Strattera and there are times when it wears off. When it wears off I can get kind of hyper, or sometimes it takes a little while longer to work, it all depends.