I've been on Concerta for a year now and not had any serious recurrences of depression.
It was also my understanding that anit-depressants and methylphenidate were contra indicative?
Just my opinion, but until you are on a stable dose of Concerta you just don't know how you are going to be long-term. Mind you, the only time I ever took anti-depressants was the only time in my life that I seriously gave any thought to committing suicide - I am (and always have been) staunchly against it on principle (for me at least - I wouldn't presume to impose that view on anyone else).
I couldn't understand why something that was supposed to make me feel better actually made me feel worse. I know that people say that they can cause these effects for a few weeks, but I wasn't prepared to go through it so I just had some vallium and that seem to take enough of the edge off to let my normal self bounce back (from the suicidal thoughts at least).
Have you tried boosting your seretonin levels with a SAD light? Do you exercise, do you eat healthily? All of things make a HUGE difference to how helpful concerta is, but even so, on it's own, it only removes some of the stumbling blocks you are used to - you still have to do the things to make your life a better place to be.
The only actual advice I can give you is to not change two things at once, otherwise you will never know what is causing the reactions you are having. I went through a major roller-coaster during tritation before settling on 54mg. Whilst you are free of the anti-depressants and on concerta you should see it through to a stable dose, and *then* decide what you feel is right. Doing so now risks you making a decision based on incomplete information.
Of course, you should talk this through with your medical advisor, I just wanted to offer a different point of view.
Depression is an illness just like ADHD, but like ADHD it can be resisted with a strong will (up to a point obviously). Every persons situation is different and unique, but when I tried to get to the root of my depressive states they usually centered around my feelings of inadequacy and failure (comparing what I actually achieved vs. what I thought I should be able to achieve). The bigger the difference between the two, the more I was depressed (regardless of the fact that I was actually more accomplished and capable than any person I knew).
Since getting used to Concerta and re-igniting my drive to try new things (since they don't self destruct after 4 weeks) I have experienced a huge upwsing in my general mood. I've been struggling at work recently, and in similar situations pre-diagnosis this job would be over and I would be looking for a new one, but not now.
In the last 6 months I have learnt to play Golf, have started (and continue) to play the guitar, given up computer games (which were my life), appreciate my wife more (who should have been my life when I was playing computer games), learnt how to trade the markets, learnt how not to trade the markets
, and now I'm about to embark on creating my own steam-punk inspired clothing and accessories (including welding, making things from leather hides etc.)
All of this, and I don't feel overwhelmed, I feel like I'm just getting started.
I'm not trying to be braggy or anything, in fact although my moods have leveled out quite a bit they aren't exactly tip-top (I'm not a happy-go-lucky kind of person). All I'm trying to say is that you don't know what's ahead of you, and that should be something to be considered as a plus point, not something to dread.
grim, how long were you taking them for? I remember at the start I would get a tummy tingling 'hit' after taking the meds, and in the evenings I was totally wiped out after they wore off, but a couple of months into my stable dose that started tailing off and it's been pretty decent since then.
The main things I have noticed is that although it doesn't stop the 'down' cycle, it slows the process down so much that I have time to realise what's going on and take steps to correct it. So rather than feeling like shit and throwing my life down the toilet in the space of a week, the process drags out over a couple of months, so I have time to hit an 'up' cycle before everything is flushed
If that makes sense!
Apologies for the ramble, it's been a long day and I've just had a beer
Here's a **<<HUG>>** for
scatterbrain, and a **<<HUG>>** for
grim (just keep your hands where I can see them
)