Concerta and Adult ADD | ADHD Information
[QUOTE=Johnnyboi]The only way to find out if he's addicted is to try it out herself, and if she has such a "TERRIBLY BAD REACTION" to it, then she can rule Concerta out as one of her options. Are you trying to say sample versions of medications are also a "TERRIBLY BAD IDEA?" [/QUOTE]
This statement makes absolutely no sense and has no factual basis behind it.
Sample medications are the same as perscription..given to you by a DOCTOR.
SD197538591.378900463The only way to find out if he's addicted is to try it out herself, and if she has such a "TERRIBLY BAD REACTION" to it, then she can rule Concerta out as one of her options. Are you trying to say sample versions of medications are also a "TERRIBLY BAD IDEA?"[QUOTE=Johnnyboi]The only way to find out if he's addicted is to try it out herself, and if she has such a "TERRIBLY BAD REACTION" to it, then she can rule Concerta out as one of her options. Are you trying to say sample versions of medications are also a "TERRIBLY BAD IDEA?" [/QUOTE]
How could HER reaction to concerta possibly give her any insight into how her HUSBAND reacts to it? They're two different people and thus may have completely different reactions. Your logic makes absolutely no sense.
First, please take care of yourself. If what ever antianxiety med you had been on didn't work, get with your doctor to try another one, perhaps an antidepressant. I don't know how much weight you have to lose but if it is a significant amount it is very difficult to lose weight when under stress;especially if you are doing it on your own. I was extremely obese and had a gastric bypass (RNY) health reasons several years ago. The husband seems to have more problems than just the aadd.
I have been on Concerta (18mg) since April this year and it seems to have helped. However it was recently increased to 27mg. I take both Zoloft and Concerta and am doing better with these meds.
From what I have been told is that a Concerta prescription cannot be called in or faxed or mailed, no refills, and has to be filled and picked up within seven days of the RX date or it is void. I have to go to my doctor's office each month to get it whether I see her or not.
No! Don't do it! Don't EVER try pills that are not perscribed to you! Theres no guarantee you will react the same way as your husband does, so why even bother in the first place (Plus its illegal!). Its possible he may be addicted, but just because your appear lazy to him don't mean you have ADD, so I wouldn't just go running to the doctor right away. Be careful of the advice you are given on this board.[QUOTE=Johnnyboi]Maybe you should try one of your husbands Concerta pills just to see how he feels on a daily basis, maybe he's addicted! I really shouldn't say this, but if you are really bothered by his comments about your laziness, then maybe you should convince the doctor you also have ADD and get Concerta prescribed for yourself.[/QUOTE]
WTH?! I sincerely hope you're joking. That's the worst advice I've ever heard. 
Its the wrong medication if its not doing what its supposed to do..if there is little or no change in ADD Symptoms and the side effects have become overbearing then Its my opinion that Concerta is the right medication.
I went on Concerta 5 weeks ago and its worked wonders for me. The only side effects I've had is loss of appetite and a bit more boost of energy (But not to the point where I'm going out of my skull). I've had no trouble whatsoever sleeping on Concerta (27 mg) and it has opened me up to a whole other world..my mind don't flutter all over the place, and I can concentrate on the task at hand, and I've felt more motivation to do things. Concerta is a miracle for me...but its not for everyone. I tried Strattera before Concerta, and Strattera was a nightmare (Laziness, mood swings, lethargy, sleeplessness etc..).
You might want to ask your husband to go to counseling with you. It sounds like he is saying things that are hurtful to you, no matter the situation with the ADD meds.
If he won't go, you can go to counseling to help you cope with someone who is verbally abusive to you.
[QUOTE=BigTex]Hi, I'm just about at the end of my rope and I'm hoping someone else has experienced this and can give me some guidance. My husband was dx'ed with adult ADD by a psychologist a few months ago (she gave him the standard survey that anyone can take online, and if it's taken incorrectly just about anyone can "discover" that they are ADD). The psychologist had him talk to our primary care physician about being placed on medications, which our dr was reluctant to do because my husband had never displayed any ADD traits in his childhood. However, at the insistance of my hubby and the psychologist, our dr put him on Concerta, starting with the smallest dose possible. He doesn't even give him refills, he makes him come in every month to be monitored because my hubby has other health issues that make Concerta kind of a risk. (I'm grateful for that, anyway.) Well, at every psych. appointment, my hubby complains that the current dose isn't "working" for him, that he still procrastinates, still forgets things, etc. He's currently at 36 mg. every morning, along with medications he takes for diabetes and high blood pressure, and - to make a long story short, he has become quite irritable and downright mean. For a while, the Concerta was working well, or at least it had a pleasant effect, but now he just sits around the house watching television. As to being mean, when he was diagnosed he weighed around 300 lbs., I'm overweight as well, mostly my fault although I was taking an antianxiety medication that wasn't helping matters so I got off of that. Well, with the combination of Concerta (which is just speed, really) and the 1500 mg of metformin he takes every day, he has dropped a LOT of weight without any effort. Of course, I haven't had the artifical help that he has, so I haven't dropped 75 lbs in 4 months - and now, he rides me mercilessly about my weight, my appearance, the fact that I don't do enough housework because I'm "lazy" ( I also work 50 hours a week outside in 100 degree weather as a cable installer...)
Anyway - he's still after our dr. to "up" his dosage, still thinks Concerta is some magic pill if only he takes enough of it. And I've had enough of it, from this end, to know that something isn't right. So - am I overreacting? Is meanness and lethargic behavior a side effect of Concerta, or should we find another psych, or dr. or both?
[/QUOTE]
Anyone who is doing 50 hrs work outside the home, like u are, it would be automatic that the person in the home most, would be responsible enough to do what needs doing chore wise. If the behaviour of your husband is only since he was prescribed Concerta then the Doc needs to know. By meanness do you mean aggression. If that is the case it is a concern to be raised with Doc also. As with others i will say No, No, to trying meds to see what it is like. Read the warnings about Concerta. Please Take Care of U. as your No.1 priority. Nowhere in the story of life is it expected that any mature adult should allow another person to dominate them in order that the other person can feel better about themselves. Good Luck! BigTex.
First, I'd like to say that people who lose weight on Concerta (and Ritalin) who have AD/HD do so usually because they have no appetite ... and DON'T EAT! This is not good. When I was on Concerta, I was told by pharmacist to eas several little meals a day...even if I was not hungry...grazing, so to speak. If your husband is losing weight because he's not eating at all or until it wears off at night..this is unhealthy for him...he may be 'starving' his body.Also, IMO (in my opinion), those who actually have AD/HD are most apt to NOT become addicted. Those who become addicted are usually those that get a 'buzz' from the adhd stims...and are most like not ad/hd. One with AD/HD can benefit from the stims by focusing better, being more motivated (but not because they are 'speedy') and hopefully slowing down the constantly 'spinning' mind/thoughts.
As most of you probably already know, stimulants have the opposite effect on people with AD/HD...hey, I actually occasionally drink a cup of coffee to help me get to sleep at night.
As for trying your husband's medication...yes, absolutely a BAD idea. Everyone reacts differently to these meds, even those WITH AD/HD. I got unsatisfactory effects from Concerta. Yet on a low dosage of Ritalin (same medication in both), I'm doing better...even better than on a higher dosage of Ritalin. If you are not AD/HD, most likely you will become 'speedy' on these stimulants. So, please don't go that route, it will not tell you anything about how your husband feels on Concerta.
May I make a suggestion, please...let's not get into name-calling or being rude to someone we don't even know. We're here to help people here and offer advice, not to judge them or their family members.
Thanks!GypsyWomyn38606.4247453704
I feel utterly terrible for this poor woman.
Push hubby out the door and tell him to mow the grass, wash the car, and wash the windows.
See if his medicine is working by seeing if he can remember 3 little things to do.
Talk to his doctor....I am saying a prayer for you. I am greatly disturbed by his attitude. Maybe he doesn't need Concerta but something else.
You don't deserve this.
Best of luck to you
it sounds like this is DEFINITELY NOT the medication for your husband. if he does have add, he needs to try a different med.
when i was dxed, i had to go through like 2 hrs of tests, and the doc asked a lot of questions about and wanted examples of the symptoms being present in childhood. my understanding is that it is VERY important that symptoms were present in childhood, otherwise it is most likely something else that is causing some of the same symptoms.
concerta/ritalin is not known to be addictive even though it is a controlled substance because the period between taking the medication and feeling it's effect is too long. with concerta/ritalin, it takes about 30 to 60 minutes to start noticing an effect. with addictive drugs, the effect is instantaneous. it's not likely that he is addicted to the med., but he might really want to keep taking it because he can sit around and watch tv and still loose weight. he might feel like he "needs" it in that sense.
i know when i took concerta, i DIDN'T sit around watching tv... i didn't want to... i was a lot more motivated to do all of the things i needed to get done... like cleaning, washing clothes, etc. i felt a lot more alert. i didn't feel like i was in a fog all the time. i felt "normal".
i can't remember for sure, but i think that irritibility is a side effect of taking too high a dose of a stimulant. has anyone else heard this?
anyway, maybe you could try to talk to your husband's doc about the effects you're seeing from the med?? maybe if his doc tells him it's not working he'd be a little more willing to try something else??
Hi, I'm just about at the end of my rope and I'm hoping someone else has experienced this and can give me some guidance. My husband was dx'ed with adult ADD by a psychologist a few months ago (she gave him the standard survey that anyone can take online, and if it's taken incorrectly just about anyone can "discover" that they are ADD). The psychologist had him talk to our primary care physician about being placed on medications, which our dr was reluctant to do because my husband had never displayed any ADD traits in his childhood. However, at the insistance of my hubby and the psychologist, our dr put him on Concerta, starting with the smallest dose possible. He doesn't even give him refills, he makes him come in every month to be monitored because my hubby has other health issues that make Concerta kind of a risk. (I'm grateful for that, anyway.) Well, at every psych. appointment, my hubby complains that the current dose isn't "working" for him, that he still procrastinates, still forgets things, etc. He's currently at 36 mg. every morning, along with medications he takes for diabetes and high blood pressure, and - to make a long story short, he has become quite irritable and downright mean. For a while, the Concerta was working well, or at least it had a pleasant effect, but now he just sits around the house watching television. As to being mean, when he was diagnosed he weighed around 300 lbs., I'm overweight as well, mostly my fault although I was taking an antianxiety medication that wasn't helping matters so I got off of that. Well, with the combination of Concerta (which is just speed, really) and the 1500 mg of metformin he takes every day, he has dropped a LOT of weight without any effort. Of course, I haven't had the artifical help that he has, so I haven't dropped 75 lbs in 4 months - and now, he rides me mercilessly about my weight, my appearance, the fact that I don't do enough housework because I'm "lazy" ( I also work 50 hours a week outside in 100 degree weather as a cable installer...)Anyway - he's still after our dr. to "up" his dosage, still thinks Concerta is some magic pill if only he takes enough of it. And I've had enough of it, from this end, to know that something isn't right. So - am I overreacting? Is meanness and lethargic behavior a side effect of Concerta, or should we find another psych, or dr. or both?
Well if he lost the weight he may no longer be such a health risk. See if they can prescribe adderall to him. It will get him up and moving as well as suppress appetite and he will get over the laziness. Just be ready for him to start working his tail off. Maybe the suppressant effect will also help other med problems and maybe they can prescribe clonidine,, anti anger meds.... best of luck and keep on researching... I think the difference is adderrall is 4 salts and concerta is 1 or 2. One of them salt compounds in adderall is bound to work right.
bugzappers38605.393125
[QUOTE=BigTex]Johhnyboi - that's about the most assinine suggestion I have ever heard of. What an idiot. Maybe, while I'm at it, I should try out a testosterone patch or a sample pack of Viagra, too. Prescriptions are for the people they're prescribed for. Period. Especially Concerta, which is an amphetimine and a controlled substance. [/QUOTE]
Only Concerta is not an amphetimine, but it still is a controlled substance.
If I was you I would talk to your husbands doctors about his behavior. My son was just placed on concerta to treat him for his ADD and aggression disorder and refuses to take it because he read what side affects it can have. The aggressiveness is one of them. I have found that some of the meds that may work in some don't work for all. If the dose that your husband is on does not work for him after he has been on it for a few days That is a sign of addiction. Keep in mind Concerta is a form of speed with it you get the same behavior changes you would get in a speed addict along with a cocaine addict once a person is addicted to it. Meanness and Ten Feet Tall Bullet Proof are the main side affects with those addictions PLUS THEY NEED MORE OF THE DRUG TO DUPLICATE THE FIRST HIGH.
angeleyes_2160138611.258275463[QUOTE=paritthead]Huh? Where'd you hear that? How long it takes something to 'kick in' has nothing to do with whether something is addictive or not. [/QUOTE]Many addictive drugs, including cocaine, alcohol and amphetamines also increase dopamine levels. The key difference between methylphenidate (ritalin/concerta) and addictive drugs is the length of time which it takes for the drug to reach the brain. Methylphenidate takes about an hour to raise dopamine levels whereas inhaled or injected cocaine hits the brain in seconds.
from http://www.adders.org/info27.htm
Methylphenidate is absorbed into the brain much more slowly than a compound like cocaine. This is why methylphenidate does not produce the high experienced in drugs of abuse. A study published in Pediatrics in 1999, (3) showed that individuals with AD/HD who were treated with stimulant medication had a lower risk of drug abuse than AD/HD individuals who had not taken medication.
from http://www.ncpamd.com/Stimulants.htm
Yeah, I'd pretty much have to agree with ya' there, lilo. I think anyone can be addicted to anything--even the anticipation of waiting for something to "kick in". I also think that without meds, I'd be far more tempted to try something--anything--that would help my energy, willpower to not over-eat, focus & stamina, so in that way, I think that meds can be a true preventative to many of the/our darker sides.[QUOTE=lilo]
concerta/ritalin is not known to be addictive even though it is a controlled substance because the period between taking the medication and feeling it's effect is too long. with concerta/ritalin, it takes about 30 to 60 minutes to start noticing an effect. with addictive drugs, the effect is instantaneous. it's not likely that he is addicted to the med., but he might really want to keep taking it because he can sit around and watch tv and still loose weight. he might feel like he "needs" it in that sense.[/QUOTE]
Huh? Where'd you hear that? How long it takes something to 'kick in' has nothing to do with whether something is addictive or not. It takes about an hour for Adderall to kick in for me. Ritalin has been around as medication for ADD much longer than Adderall has, which has given people (doctors mainly) time to accept it as such. Once Adderall has been in use AS TREATMENT FOR ADD longer, people will get over this fear of 'addiction' and just accept it as a treatment THAT WORKS. The dosages that are prescribed for people who actually have ADD are not enough to make an addict out of anybody.
i agree that anyone can be addicted to anything... i just think there are basically two categories... a physical addiction... a person's body physically NEEDING a substance and depending on it to the extent that ... well, like an alcoholic having DTs.... and then there's the mental kind where a person convinces him/herself that he/she "needs" something to achieve a desired result...i don't know if i'm explaining myself very well... i didn't mean to imply that bigtex's husband is PHYSICALLY addicted to ritalin. i don't believe ritalin IS physically addictive... i know how much it helped me when i took it... i hope someday i can have health ins. so i can take it again... i just meant that from what she's told us, he's seeing some kind of benefit.... he takes concerta -> he's not hungry -> he looses weight without any effort. even though it's not helping him the way it is supposed to, he wants to keep taking it to loose weight and may feel that he can't loose weight without it.
lilo38601.7132638889Yeah--who wouldn't want that? I mean, really . . . I think he sounds like he's addicted to being a big spoiled baby. And not being very fair to his wife--I mean those who once had a rock garden sure as hel* shouldn't throw craters! Especially now that he's the Queen Green Thumb of losing weight without effort. Maybe someone should throw a laptop on his now smaller lap & force his eyes downward to this message board . . . hint, hint.
yeah, it sounds like he doesn't want to have to work for
anything... like he just wants to take a magic pill that will
turn him into superman. concerta was great for me, but it didn't
make everything magically go away... it just made it easier to work on
the things i need to work on.
Precisely. I think she should hide his meds.
Have to take off or they'll lock me in this office. See everyone tomorrow!