Generic Name: Methylphenidate Extended-Release Tablets
Brand Name: Concerta
Concerta Drug and Medication User Reviews
Got the depression diagnosis at 30, then ADHD at 34. It's not fun to look back and see how long I've lived so passively in my own life, but I don't wallow in it. Between Concerta and my depression meds, I feel like I'm finally awake. I got a raise at work since starting this drug. I've started going to the gym. I cook more regularly. It's not a monumental task to remember and then push myself into doing things like getting dressed or defrosting some chicken for dinner. I generally feel connected, engaged and on the right track at last.
made me suicidal
I was diagnosed with ADHD at 8 years old and have been on many different medications through the years to try and find something that worked for me. Concerta started out fine, I was put on the minimum starting dose to ensure I didn't have any adverse reactions. Everything was fine, so my dosage was increased. A few weeks later I start having little twitches, nothing too serious but still concerning to me as I have never really twitched before. Another week goes by and the twitches get worse, my eyes roll back, my neck gets locked into one position, etc. After two months of this worsening to the point of testing to rule out seizures, I get told that I developed a motor/vocal tic disorder as a side effect of Concerta. I was immediately taken off the medication but the tics never stopped. I've been off of Concerta for a year and a half now and learning to cope with my tics and how they will permanently impact my life. It had no impact on my ADHD symptoms either. I had no family history of tic disorders. Please seek medical advice as soon as possible if you notice any tic disorder symptoms at all while on this medication. I was only on this medication for 5 months and it will impact the rest of my life.
I'm a kid so when I took this medication 3-4 years ago I didn't care but to be honest even with higher and lower doses I didn't see a change. It was used for school but in the state I am right now (puberty) I really don't care about anything and leave school work undone and when I actually try i give up. Virtual school is the hardest time which I'm doing at the moment but even face to face school still was bad. There is 0 purpose at the moment for me to even take it since I'm calm on and off the pills. Advice from me (could be absolutely wrong) maybe not take these when you are going through puberty. I have built multiple addictions, isolation from COVID and starting to think I build up depression right at this moment nothing is helping me. I don't know if the mental state I am is from the pills or maybe a mix of isolation and pills but I know for a fact it's not helping me. I feel drowsy always headaches no appetite and I feel like s***. To sum up the rambling I made don't use these when going through puberty and maybe actually see if the pills are doing you good or not. I am currently thinking about going on a new medication or not even having meds and getting a therapist ad well as more of a social life due to me only knowing people my age from school which I do online. If I do quit the meds I will definitely try to improve my life so as therapy and have care from my family if worse depression or suicidal thoughts occur. Thanks for atleast making me a slight bit sane during childhood. To clear things up I suffer from ADD and not ADHD.
My heart always beats extremely fast, but at least I’m not dependent on it..?
although i can focus better im having a tough time in the bedroom with getting it up and when i do, i dont go very long.
I am so glad that I finally found a treatment for my ADD that helps me get up from bed in a normal mood and gives me the energy to start my day. I'm thankful to my doctor who prescribed this medication for me.
This medication enables me to focus on specific activities and complete tasks. I have terrible trouble following through on tasks to completion without being distracted by other stimulus.
The first couple years were fine. I could focus and concentration but coming into my teen years it has completed ruined me. When I started I was on the 26mg, and I grew tolerance for it so I'm 6th grade we upped it to the 36mg which worked everything was ok. But going into middle school (granted I had demons then and now) it just made me feel all around sad and just stopped working so I assumed that I had grew tolerance for it again so we upped it to 54mg. I'm in 9th grade now and some days I don't have an appetite at all and I honestly feel depressed. When I forget to take it I feel nervous and jittery, I don't feel addicted to it, and when I do remember to take it it works for the first few hours but it wares off around 1-3pm and leaves me feeling nervous and jittery. It has messed me up so bad. Before I was on it I didn't have to remind myself to smile everyday. I'm so messed up that I've starting self harming. Before I was on this med I was happy and didn't have a care in the world about anything it was great. But being on it now has honestly just screwed me up so much. Please don't put your children on this! It's not worth it in the long run, trust me. And if you are having the same troubles as me please speak up to your parents and doctor.
sure it works very well, but long breaks from the medication can make your symptoms worse. I use the medication for ADHD not to get high, and that’s how i feel if i take long breaks. Always talk to your doctor if you want to take a break or discontinue the medication because you could make it worse.
I'm a 35 year old male and started this about two months ago. I am taking 27 mg and my experience... well I don't think I've had an "experience" yet. I still get easily distracted while working and still find myself to be inattentive when engaging in conversations. I thought that it would likely take some time to actually kick in, but going on three months and I haven't felt or seen an improvement. I do have a distaste for food now, I never "want" to eat in the sense that I've lost cravings for food; but then this was already starting to occur slightly before I started this medication. I don't see any benefit to continue taking it currently, but will try for another month or so in the event I am able to notice any positive change.
i used to take this when i was little and it worked it got me to shut up and calm down and actually do what i was told at home and in school. but it took away from my childhood it gave me extreme mental problems where i was thinking about suicide at the age of around 8, it would make my appetite go away. it would make me feel drowsy all day but at bed time i couldnt fall asleep and would stay up super late. one day i forgot to take my medicine and in school i couldn’t stop crying, but i was crying for literally nothing the only thing i could think of was my medicine i didn’t take my medicine. i don’t know if my body became a type of addicted to it but it stressed my system out not taking it i haven’t heard anyone else with this problem. oh i was on concerta-36 i don’t know what dosage that is but that’s the one i was taking. they even tried giving me the concerta-18 to take after school so i could get homework done instead of shutdown like usual.
I am diagnosed ADD and these don’t work for me at all. I’m on 18mg and I may either need to up my dose or switch meds because I still feel spacey and unable to focus. I might as well not take anything at all.
I had been taking this stuff since I was 9. Doc said 72 mg should be good for 100 pound 9 year old(45kg). And I stayed on 72 mg until I was a sophomore in highschool. Mom never asked me how I felt though. She was just proud I was an all A student. My Dad asked though, amd I told him that it felt like I was dead or dying. I felt achey all the time, cotton mouth, sweating while I’m wearing shorts and a T-shirt in a freezing classroom, always agitated, always had a headache, and I always had a stomach ache but trying to eat would make me throw up if I ate the normal amount. But that went away after two years. I had finally gotten used to just feeling like death. I didn’t realize how bad it was until I started it up again in College. Its my junior year and I can’t afford to mess it up so I started taking it again my sophomore year. And I honestly felt worse than I have felt when I’m hungover, but hey my grades rose up. Looking back I’d of rather taken the Cs and had more friends. Because if anyone interrupts you while you are doing your work. It’s Game Over. You will absolutely blow your stack on them even if they are asking if you want some cookies or money. The fact that they interrupted you makes you just pop. Oh, and not to mention the depression you get when you stop taking it. But hey it works right?
Yeah, it is pretty great being able to focus, but I feel slightly sick all the time, don't enjoy anything anymore, and am tired of having to swallow pills that give me anxiety. I went off the pills for a few months after taking them for over 10 years. I didn't know it wasn't normal to hate how food tastes, constantly feel sweaty, have a dry mouth, and feel absolutely terrible, among other things. I went back on them recently for school, and I hate it. I am getting better grades now, but for dinner tonight I ate only a quarter of an apple and I think I am getting underweight again. Food tastes terrible. I feel terrible. The anxiety and other side effects this gives me make me want to self harm. I am extremely sleep deprived, as I have not slept anywhere near enough since I restarted the medicine. It was ok as a kid because I had been taking it for so long that I had forgotten life wasn't supposed to be like this. But after taking a break, I hate feeling like this. But if I don't take it, I will do badly at uni, so I am ignoring this horribleness. I can't enjoy being alive. I just want to be able to stop taking this medicine without failing uni. Other than that, the medicine works well. It is easy to use, improves my focus, and makes me less hyper. And to the parents I see leaving reviews here, obviously your grade school children can not leave reviews online, but please do ask them how they are feeling, you may find that have a different perspective on the medicine than you do because you are not experiencing the side effects personally. My parents understand the side effects, but they do not understand how terrible it truly is. My doctor has said that I am unusually sensitive to the side effects, but I am not the only one who feels like this, I have seen, on reddit, plenty of people who also feel terrible with the medicine
I am a 16 year old trans male. I started concerta in primary school and switched after 3 year due to severe depression and suicidal thoughts. I just re started it near the end of my junior year in high school. Its been working okay so far, but these comments kind of irk me. I can see how from a parents point of view this medication is working, but a good amount of these reviews I've seen have been from parents or caregivers. If you want a good review don't listen to the parents. As a person who has been on this drug before, be careful and pay attention to your feelings. If you aren't a person with ADHD or ADD that has been on this drug, please don't say how it works to others. Check in with the people on concerta. Though I respect the intention behind the reviews, let the kids speak for themselves. Ask if they're struggling with anything and how you can SUPPORT them. I would also recommend talking to the schools or talking to your primary about accommodations in the school system. At the beginning of the school year I email all of my teachers to inform them that I have a 504 and I carry a copy with me at all times. Just because you don't see them struggling, doesn't mean they arent.
I was diagnosed with narcolepsy , always tired falling asleep at any time ,from the first day taking concerta I felt. Normal , no longer tired , able to function normally during the day and much more productive at work…. Now taking 18mg daily for 3 weeks , a life changing experience
It angers me when people say that Concerta etc.. is just for lazy parenting. I speak from personal experience and medical experience as a paramedic and now a nurse. My two boys are ADHD, both with different symptoms as well as I am too. I was diagnosed later in life as its very difficult to diagnose in girls especially when young. My whole life I have struggled with depression, anxiety, learning difficulty, relationships, brain fog, focus the list goes on I have them all. From all my own experience and seeing what my boys go through its not fair for people to judge and make negative comments on something they obviously don't know anything about or they would not judge. people should educate themselves about the topic 1st or you really don't have any business opening your mouth. Rant over!
I have ADHD (inattentive/impulsive) with compulsive symptoms (related to anxiety) but my experience with this medication was mixed. On one hand, I saw improvement with this medication when I was taking 36mg maximum. I was doing my work and paying attention in class more than usual. I noticed I was socializing more often and found myself being productive rather than procrastinating through the whole day like I would. But when I started taking 54 mg (like I was told based on my body), I saw my attention improving more for a little while. Then my compulsion symptoms worsened drastically. I would usually be anxious and spend 1 hour on my compulsions, but this medication made me restless/anxious to the point I was spending 4-5 hours on my compulsions in a rapid pace. It was disturbing me to the point I would always feel horrible and exhausted and felt I was going uncontrollable. My compulsions and anxiety was still active while I was taking 18mg and 36mg, but 54mg was when these things happened. All I would say is be careful and if you’ve obsessive compulsive symptoms, make sure you get it treated along with the ADHD.
I’ve made a previous description of my experience but I forgot to mention that I can barely remember anything from yesterday and all the days before that and I stopped taking it for just the summer and gained sooo much weight then lost a ton when school came back around and was on the medicine