Re: Concerta XL « Reply #16 on Oct 28, 2009, 9:36am »
Update, i saw Dr Bolea yest. I'm now in 72mg in the morning, for a week, upping to 72mg am, another 18mg during afternoon, for 6 weeks trial. So i'll see if that helps?? X
Joined: May 2009 Gender: Female Posts: 679 Location: la la land
Re: Concerta XL « Reply #17 on Oct 29, 2009, 7:20pm »
crikey simone thats a jump and a half. does that mean you'll be on 90mg a day next week?
how have you found the 72? you posted yesterday so i am guessing you had yesterday and today so far, or did you start on 72mg today?
i can say that since being on the 36mg, my sleeping is much better. i am getting to bed before midnight and wonders will never cease, i am getting up without spending an hour snoozing my alarms and feeling much less groggy than i normally do first thing........now that cant be coincidence! although the jurys still out on that one after spending all of my life struggling to 'wake up' without the aid of a zillion coffees, it doesnt feel real somehow
i even got a few chores done this morning
and still got out for work early
late evenings have been a real bitch though and i am hoping that will level off a bit
Re: Concerta XL « Reply #19 on Oct 31, 2009, 9:03am »
Hiya boo! Yes i'll be on 90mg next week. I'm on day 3; 72mg, & feeling sooooo much better! 2 great nights asleep!!! Feeling more focused & calm than before... I'm still a tad woosy in the afternoons, could easily nap (in my dreams) but not quite so fuzzy. I'm thinking the top-up 18mg will help that??
Its a great test for the drug this week as its half term lol. I cannot begin to tell you the episodes i have in the hols with my dd who has adhd, i go to hell & back.. BUT!!! I'm more in control, carrying through the calm discipline & not being as shouty.
She was a nightmare yesterday & i found my husband was the one who couldn't cope, which really annoyed me as he only has to be patient & calm 3 hrs a day after work grrr...
Well done on the chores BOO!! I'm not that good yet but working on it!!!!
I'm glad you're sleeping better too, amazingly the highter doses do work better & get you to work on time!!! Yay! x
Re: Concerta XL « Reply #20 on Nov 1, 2009, 6:57pm »
i've been on and off concerta 72mg. I'm lucky enought (or was) to have a really good doctor who "believed" in adult adhd. my problems is that i can go several months straight doing absoloutley fine before everything falls apart. In that time i convince myself that its all ok and stop the medications. in the year i've been on (and off) concerta i've found it usefull but i've also found it has some nastly side effects, especially when you go on and off and that it has a steadily decreasing usefullness. If it could work like it does for the first fortnight for the entire period then i'd be laughing but eventually i always find its a bit harsh and that usually coincides with me feeling better and i stop.
thats about the same time i stop doing things i'm supposed to.
Re: Concerta XL « Reply #21 on Nov 2, 2009, 5:55pm »
Hiya Steve, would you mind listing your nasty 'sides' on Concerta?? I'm interested in anything abou itatm!! I'm feeling like i could murder an innocent passer-by today. I'm taking myself off to a dark room now!!
Re: Concerta XL « Reply #23 on Nov 4, 2009, 8:43pm »
I'd be interested as well, Simone! ALso - I assume the 18mg in the afternoon are immediate release?
Just as an update, my main issues are still with sleeping (but then I can't sleep without Concerta either, so not much difference there) and some allergic reactions, like rashes. I hope that is going to stop.
I have noticed that just as I can focus better on the things I ought to do on Concerta XL, I can now also focus better on negative thoughts My usual distraction methods at night when that happens (playing computer games while watching Jeeves&Wooster for example) don't work anymore. I guess there's a certain amount of irony in that... it just makes me a bit anxious at times. But the benefits still outweigh the negatives for me.
I am considering setting one alarm really early, taking the full dose and then going to sleep again for a couple of hours - has anyone tried that? It would be so nice to have a normal sleep cycle...and not be constantly sleep deprived...
Re: Concerta XL « Reply #24 on Nov 5, 2009, 4:51pm »
Hi Heifa, i'm not taking the 18mg in the afternoon this last few days..I've been feeling a bit crappy. I was great at 1st on larger dose, sleeping great etc, but i'm a bit worrid about my BP. It had gone up a bit last time it was taken, & Dr bolea wasn't too concerned, but i have the feeling its been higher the last 2-3 days, i'm not enjoying this feeling at all..Which is outweighing the good.. not sure what to do? I'm paranoid of giving myself heart problems now!!!!
Re: Concerta XL « Reply #25 on Nov 5, 2009, 4:53pm »
Sorry the 18mg is slow release too..I did ask her is i would be better with ritalin in hte afternoon & she agreed but i have to get the dose right forst before i change meds??
I'm going to see how i feel tomorrow, & play it by ear..x
Joined: May 2009 Gender: Female Posts: 679 Location: la la land
Re: Concerta XL « Reply #26 on Nov 6, 2009, 7:26pm »
well, just a quick update from me.
sleeping, still quite good, but not quite as easy dropping off and getting back to head jam the minute i hit the pillow
getting up, slipping slightly, but still way better
evenings still struggling with, just feel zonked out but not in a must get to sleep way
the one thing i am very pleased with is my dining room which doubles as a second tv room. it has been a disaster zone for such a long time. y'know the sort of room where you REALLY dont know where to start. havent seen my dining table for, well, wasnt sure i actually had one tbh. and the only free space was the sofa and the area around the tv screen
i am sitting in here now, candles lit books and dvd's all away, dining table totally clear off everything!
I started saturday, did a bit more tuesday and finished last night.
my OH came in and said
'wow, this looks nice, those pills must be kicking in, this time last year you would have given up half way through, actually five weeks ago you would have given up half way through'
although, he is wrong, 'five weeks ago', i kept looking at it all and really and truly didnt even know where to start!
i dont think the 36 is optimal though, for other reasons but i have a review appt on 16th and will have a chat then about it all.
Joined: May 2009 Gender: Female Posts: 679 Location: la la land
Re: Concerta XL « Reply #27 on Nov 6, 2009, 9:06pm »
ps, sorry, i meant to ask simone, how are you feeling today?
heifa are you on 54mg, sorry i couldnt remember, i had a few days like you mention and i did worry that i was going to get even more hyperfocussed on loop the loop negative thinking, (touch wood) i havent had that in the past week or so though but its all still early days and i am sure there will be plenty of ups and downs yet before things settle down properly x
Re: Concerta XL « Reply #28 on Nov 7, 2009, 4:41pm »
Horray for tidiness!!
Well done BOo! can you come & help me now?!!
I dont know whats going on with me & the meds atm..I've just had a really bad bout of pmt which i think made thigns worse. I'm still feeling wierd, i can't explain it...i'm sleeping better than ever but feel really foggy/odd.
I'm still good in the 1st half of the day, so i tried the 18mg after lunch to see if that helped but i'm not feeling much benefit. I've been so busy tho, spent hrs sanding glosswork then home to very hyper arguing kids, which isn't helping the b/p!!! I'm off to fireworks in a mo, so no time to really stop & see how i feel?!!
I think i'd prefer to try ritalin? Isn't that supposed to be less of a 'foggy' effect med?
I'll keep you posted but i'm getting to the end of the road with concerta unfortunately, not sure about it..x
Joined: May 2009 Gender: Female Posts: 679 Location: la la land
Re: Concerta XL « Reply #29 on Nov 17, 2009, 6:44am »
i went for a review yesterday and saw a new psych. he took my blood pressure and pulse rate, which hadnt been done before.
Although my blood pressure was slightly elevated on the lower rate, he said he was ok with that, but he took my pulse rate twice and said it was quite high. He wants me to get a weekly check of this at my GP's over the next month to monitor it.
He has increased my dose to 54mg, he said if I wanted to split the dose, i could take the 36mg in the morning and then the 18mg at night, which i dont think i will do, he said this would give me 24 hour cover. He admitted to being much more knowledgeable about strattera and spent quite a bit of time checking through the concerta facts on the NICE guidelines, before prescribing and advising on the 54mg dose.
Anyway, sorry, my question is about the heart rate.
I dont feel like i get palpatations or anything, but does anybody else have raised BPM on their resting heart rate while on MPH? If so, did anyone have to stop because of it, or is it monitored more closely? any words of wisdom would be appreciated
He is also arranging for an ECG and was quite sursprised that none of this had been done to start with.
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My usual distraction methods at night when that happens (playing computer games while watching Jeeves&Wooster for example) don't work anymore. I guess there's a certain amount of irony in that... it just makes me a bit anxious at times. But the benefits still outweigh the negatives for me. 
