Why did you switch from Ritalin if it was working for you? I had good luck with the first medication my doctor tried, so I can't say this from experience...but I've read about a lot of people here who had problems with one medication, but found another medication in the same class (like ritalin and concerta) to be perfect. If Ritalin worked...why not go back to it?

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The Ritalin did not work for long enough, so she wanted to use the same meds, but increase it. I am hoping these side effects go away, if i don't start feeling like myself but better and more focused I just may give up on these meds. The cure can not be worse than the disease

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I'm on the short acting version of Ritalin, so I take a dose in the morning and again at lunch. Sometimes I take my third dose at 5pm, other times I skip it. My doc said I could take less than the prescribed dose...just not more, which makes perfect sense to me.

The Ritalin wasn't lasting long enough - does that mean you were doing just one dose in the morning? Or were you doing the longer acting stuff and found that it didn't last all day? I've heard of people taking the long acting med in the morning followed by a short acting one in the late afternoon, when the first med has worn off.

Ultimately, if the anxiety doesn't start to go away within a week or so, go back to your doctor and ask for an adjustment - either different meds, schedules, or doses...or all three. There's a lot of tweaking to get the meds just right...

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I started on the lowest concerta dose. I was also taking 10 mg of prozac previously for anxiety. The Concerta I find has a much different effect than the Ritalin. After taking the concerta every day, for a week or two, then skipping a day or two, I can feel when I take it again.

I started getting chest pains. This turned out to be due to anxiety. Concerta can increase anxiety as a side effect. I was also complaining of feeling it when the COncerta started to wear off. I was given some short acting ritalin to take when I felt the concerta wearing off.

Still chest pains.

My doctor has me on 36mg of Concerta and 30mg of Prozac. No more chest pains, no more anxiety. More focus. I still take the short acting ritalin when I have those 12+ hour days, but maybe only like once or twice a month,

Keep a daily journal of how long your day is and what time your taking your doses.

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Due to side effects and the fact i felt more tired than focused or i would become hyper focused, i went to a Psychiatrist who put me of different meds, and i had to note the effects. Dexedrine worked the best for me, in terms of side effects and how it made me feel. I just felt like myself, but was only on it for 3 days. Today he put me on Vyvanse in the hopes this will be it. I go back in a week or so to see how i am doing. Point is this: you should not have to take drugs to eliminate side effects of other drugs. Most likely, ritalin based drugs are going to give you side effects. You should feel "awake" and focused not sitting down and hyper focused. After a lot of research i just learned you should feel like yourself, BUT BETTER.... ask your doctor to try you on dexedrine, focalin (which is similar to concerta) or even adderall (which i know gets rave reviews but made me very irratable) and see how you do on those.... You would be amazed what the RIGHT medication can do

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ritalin, short acting helped with focusing, but did not help with shifting focus (hyperfocus) overlapping doses by 15mins helped avoid the "crash" in between doses end of dose was not bad, compared to concerta

dexedrine, short acting lack of appetite (in combination with imiprimine, for anxiety/depression) was SEVERE to the point that I had to ask to discontinue, I was under 100Lbs and had lost 10+ Lbs, had dizzy spells at work due to lack of appetite helped with TIME AWARENESS, but not with focus

dexedrine, slow-release gave me piercing headaches when it was wearing off appetite was non-existant

ritalin (short) and dexedrine (short) worked well once I found a good balance of the meds (higher dose of R than D)

adderall (tried it, as Dr. said it was a combo of R and Dex...) foggybrain on low dose discontinued it, but then Dr. told me that the foggybrain meant the dose was TOO LOW - I can't afford to experiment with foggybrain b/c of my work demands

concerta (Dr. wanted to put me on something that lastted longer than Rit, b/c the numerous doses wasn't good for my heart/brain) one pill: lack of appetite -> ended up feeling gross b/c dehydrated and not getting enough to eat split doses in two -> works much better headachey --> spacey feeling when it wears off

also taking effexor for social anxiety; thyroid supressant medication

*please get checked for thyroid conditions: I didn't realize my thyroid was messed up, I thought my sweating and shakiness was due to my anxiety medication; I thought my eye irritation was pinkeye/allergies; I thought my heart palipitations was due to anxiety issues everything was so subtle, but once my thryroid hormone levels were under control, it all cleared up.

at the moment, I'm not completely satisfied with the concerta, as my time awareness still is not good as it was

I wanted to wait until my thyroid condition is under control before I change anything else.

the most annoying issue is how my medication is not effective during certain times of my menstrual cycle. I used to get a slight case of depression, which I have learned to recognize and separate it from "how I REALLY feel". At the moment it is the back muscle cramps that are very difficult and the sleep pattern disturbances.

Anyway, we shall all plug on. My situation is MUCH better than it was before, so I know I'm on the right track!

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I'm 34 and I've been on concerta for the last 5 years. I find it to be very very very useful however there are certain things to mention. 1. I was originally on 18mg, and went up to 36 and feel great now. 2. you must take it everyday. and if you need to stop you must do it the "right way" and follow your doctor's instructions on how to do it. you can't just stop taking it, as I found out the hard way. Turns out if you suddenly stop your meds your ADD, no matter how mild, will feel as though it is an extreme case and may mess up your life. Driving, remembering things, everything becomes a bit hard to do. Also if I don't take my medicine for 2 days straight, I tend to crush. I feel very tired and unwilling to do anything. 3. When I take my concerta I make sure to not take any other medicine. I used to be on YAZ birthcontrol and it somehow the two of them together gave me the worse type of migranes, and I barely ever get headaches. 4. I was diagnosed with ADD only, and not depression so I cannot tell how it affects those with depression. Good luck :)

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