# Concerta - feeling like crap after 5-6 hours?



## Sedated (Mar 1, 2011)

I haven't been using it too much, but thus far this seems to be what happens:

Feel alright for 5-6 hours, more determined than usual I think, self confidence perhaps a bit higher - but then I start feeling like crap. I get a mild headache that lasts and lasts and lasts and don't feel like concentrating on anything/reading anything or whatever. I just feel like sitting around/sleeping perhaps. 

I was wondering whether this might be the "crash" or is this just an effect of Concerta that randomly appears after 5 or so hours of working? 

The other day I felt like crap, even more so than now, powerless/without energy on top of feeling like complete and utter **** - but I didn't get that powerless feeling/dizziness today, just the feeling like crap part. 

Trying to keep this thread very brief and to the point, would appreciate any input.


----------



## Noca (Jun 24, 2005)

It's called "the crash". Concerta in its brand name form is supposed to last 6 hours of useable time, 2 hours of crash then 2 more hours of residual stimulation (in which you arent really prosocial, and the only thing you feel like doing is reading).


----------



## dudinator (Mar 10, 2011)

For me, Adderall XR worked as its supposed to for the first 4-6 hours, then when the "XR" effects came in I just felt like an energetic robot without personality. Horrible for SAD!

After much reading, I learned that the "trickle" release of the XR can be less effective for some people than an equivalent IR dose.. Amphetamines phamracodynamics can be a bit tricky.

I would suggest trying an equivalent IR.


----------



## Noca (Jun 24, 2005)

dudinator said:


> For me, Adderall XR worked as its supposed to for the first 4-6 hours, then when the "XR" effects came in I just felt like an energetic robot without personality. Horrible for SAD!
> 
> After much reading, I learned that the "trickle" release of the XR can be less effective for some people than an equivalent IR dose.. Amphetamines phamracodynamics can be a bit tricky.
> 
> I would suggest trying an equivalent IR.


Well i agree that the pharmacodynamics of amph is tricky but I personally prefer Adderall XR over any IR stimulants. Too long and too late in the night to explain why.


----------



## Sedated (Mar 1, 2011)

Dr House said:


> It's called "the crash". Concerta in its brand name form is supposed to last 6 hours of useable time, 2 hours of crash then 2 more hours of residual stimulation (in which you arent really prosocial, and the only thing you feel like doing is reading).


Ahh. That makes sense/applies to me definitely.

The dosing schedule I tried when this happened was just 54mg in the morning and then nothing. I'm supposed to take 54mg in the morning and 18mg at 2 PM. Perhaps that would keep the crash away until around 8-ish. I'd still rather take it so that it lasts until around 10 PM but I don't want it to keep me awake all night either.

And to dudinator: I did have Ritalin IR but for some reason felt very little from it. They were 10mg tablets. I didn't use it extensively but when I did I either felt a bit more energetic/alert/awake and perhaps somewhat more anxious than usual or nothing at all. I also tried Ritalin XR, and while I did feel something the extra anxiety I got made it not worth it. So I'm trying this out now.

Cheers for both of your replies btw.


----------



## hanzsolo (Jan 2, 2011)

Of course this is subjective - but I tried concerta and personally didn't like it at all. I found the delivery mechanism uneven and didn't like the overall affect after 1 week. 

Ritalin IR was a total nightmare roller coaster, 1 hour up, then dazed, spaced and anxious for hours. 

Vyvanse was not bad, but again I am not a fan of the meds timing my doses for me.. Sometimes I like to take less at night, sometimes I take more in the morning, some days I skip doses altogether. You don't have that luxury with XR meds. Then again, XR meds are supposedly smoother for some people, but I haven't found that to be the case (for me)...

Adderall XR better, but still leaves me anxious at times and timing the XR doses is never easy. 

Dexedrine IR rules for me - 9am, 1pm and 5pm. Very little drop off, even delivery, not over stimulating, works great !! Then again I am on my cocktail and need a benzo or some kind of downer with any stimulant after 1-2 weeks of usage so YMMV - - - but I encourage you to try all stimulants before deciding which one is best for you. Everyone reacts differently to them, and you never know which one will work best for you..

Best of luck


----------



## Sedated (Mar 1, 2011)

hanzsolo said:


> Of course this is subjective - but I tried concerta and personally didn't like it at all. I found the delivery mechanism uneven and didn't like the overall affect after 1 week.


So far I think Concerta is okay for those 5-6 hours that I can feel it working. No extra anxiety as far as I can gather and some effectiveness, which already beats both Ritalin IR and XR for me.



hanzsolo said:


> Ritalin IR was a total nightmare roller coaster, 1 hour up, then dazed, spaced and anxious for hours.


Yeah, I didn't like that one at all. I may have failed at using it correctly though as I didn't like the general effect it gave me even if it was working. And when it wasn't, well, I wasn't really sure whether it was or wasn't so I didn't know when I should take the second dose.



hanzsolo said:


> Vyvanse was not bad, but again I am not a fan of the meds timing my doses for me.. Sometimes I like to take less at night, sometimes I take more in the morning, some days I skip doses altogether. You don't have that luxury with XR meds. Then again, XR meds are supposedly smoother for some people, but I haven't found that to be the case (for me)...


Yeah. What I dislike about the XR meds is that when you try them, you have no way to stop the ride if you decide that you don't like the feeling it gives you. Which was the case with Ritalin XR for me, even though I took it several times.



hanzsolo said:


> Dexedrine IR rules for me - 9am, 1pm and 5pm. Very little drop off, even delivery, not over stimulating, works great !! Then again I am on my cocktail and need a benzo or some kind of downer with any stimulant after 1-2 weeks of usage so YMMV - - - but I encourage you to try all stimulants before deciding which one is best for you. Everyone reacts differently to them, and you never know which one will work best for you.


It's the same with me and Ritalin at least, I'd need something to control the anxiety for it to be effective in any way. I don't feel the same way about Concerta though but I haven't used it enough to really say. As for trying every stimulant out there, I wish that were an option. I have basically tried every stimulant available in my country and those are: Ritalin IR, Ritalin XR and Concerta. Concerta seems to be the smoothest of them all in my opinion.

I'll definitely keep looking forward to the day when they decide to make Adderall and Dexedrine available to us, but until then, this one seems to be the best even if I only get it to work for a few hours.

Thank you for your reply though!


----------



## hanzsolo (Jan 2, 2011)

Sorry I was not aware that you didn't have access to trying all the stimulants.. Again I am not a huge fan of concerta or Ritalin, but then again maybe I didn't give concerta enough of a chance since I knew there were others to try waiting around the corner. Classic ADHD, chomping at the bit to try the next best thing, no patience.. My bad, and something I'm working on.. Anyways enough about me...

In your case, taking a booster dose like 18mg in the afternoon before the first dose wears off may help somewhat. I used to do that with adderall and once I got the timing and dosage down pat, it worked somewhat... Granted this wasn't with concerta, but I know some people do take methylphenidate products such a Ritalin and concerta and are very satisfied with them...

Take the time to experiment with the second dosage, and try to time it properly --- take your second dose a little before the crash fully kicks in and see if that helps. Also play with the dosage amount, as 18 may or may not be enough to cover the drop off from a much higher dose.. It's different for everyone and requires some trial / error.

As for why you felt good the first few days and then not good, it may be related to tolerance.. Most feel good at first.. And then unfortunately there are many people who cannot take stimulants for more than a few days in a row without getting brain fog, burnout, etc.. Especially when not combined with a benzo of some sort to balance things out. And even then, it occurs... Best things for that are magnesium, NMDA antagonists, DXM, taking days off every week, proper diet, exercise, vitamins, and getting enough sleep. And much more I prob haven't mentioned.. Again trial error...

It seems to happen more with people that are ADHD PI (primary inattentive) then hyperactive, since the stimulants are actually "stimulating" us versus calming us down.. 

Another thing I have learnt with meds in general is --- less is more. Try to get by on the lowest dose possible for effective symptom relief, since what goes up, must come down. So you don't want to over stimulate yourself either..

Btw I went over my logs and Ritalin IR was actually very effective for the first 2 weeks that I used it, I took it every 2 hours and it was fantastic.. But then once I passed the 2 week mark more or less, only my first dose would work.. Then I got very anxious and brain fog on subsequent doses. So a more balanced delivery system from XR like concerta may help you here.. 

Do you have bifentin by any chance ? It's similar to concerta but releases more up front... Just curious, sometimes initial and ongoing dosages make a difference in the overall effectiveness. 

Hope that helps and best of luck


----------



## Arisa1536 (Dec 8, 2009)

Concerta is a nightmare, i do not know anyone can tolerate it
you have done well to cope with 5-6 hours on it
i was positively manic on this stuff. my anxiety was at an all time high, i had the jitters, muscle spasms and severe insomnia and nothing could calm me down, not benzos or sleeping meds and i was skeptical of taking an antipsychotic while on this stuff :afr 
overall i felt it lasted way to long and did nothing for concentration or awareness, unless by awareness you mean being able to hear every voice, sound, rustling of the trees or sounds of the birds outside, its awful

other people on this forum seem to prefer Dexedrine or Vvynase 
are you able to try one of those?


----------



## Bacon (Jul 4, 2010)

Vyvanse works great but if i forget to take it i get lazy and depressed and sleep for days =\


----------



## Valtron (Jul 6, 2013)

Sorry for bumping up an old thread, but I actually found this on thread on a Google search!

I started taking Concerta about a month ago for my ADHD (inattentiveness)/ADD. I started with a low 18mg pill for the first week and it didn't have any side effects. I then bumped it up to 27mg for two weeks. Last Thursday I decided to take take two 18mg pills (36mg; I was given permission to by my psychiatrist). I took them around 10:00 am and they seemed to help, but as I was sitting in my class at around 2:30, I got really jittery and anxious. It became so uncomfortable that I decided to leave early. As I was walking to my car, I got incredibly dizzy and weak. My fingers were tingly, I felt a little nauseous, my heart rate went up, and I felt tingly all around my nose and mouth. I had the same situation happen on Monday in the middle of my chemistry lab and, again, I had to leave early because I was panicking so much! :?

I'm going to talk to my psychiatrist, but does anyone know how to handle these little episodes? I don't want to keep having to leave my classes. I try deep breathing, eating a snack, drinking water ....nothing helps!


----------



## Inshallah (May 11, 2011)

I have some tips:

- Concerta is supposed to last 12h, but it doesn't come close to that at all

- so dose more frequently, of course 18 mg is the lowest dosage available so you'll be be limited. But should you want to go that high, taking an 18 mg 3-4 times a day will work better

- switch to dextroamphetamine which is smoother in both the up and down phase

- acknowledge that part of it may be because of the depression stimulants can quickly induce. Even on the first day or even hours of using it.


----------



## jim_morrison (Aug 17, 2008)

Gatorade and a high protein snack usually help me, I think it's easy to neglect nutrition without realizing it when on stimulants. That said I would get resting blood pressure and heart rate measured just to double check nothings going on, although stimulants are more likely to increase than to decrease these.


----------

