u/anonister

I’ve been on 54mg of branded Concerta XL for a week (titrated up from 18mg) So far and I’ve noticed massive improvements in my anxiety, emotional regulation, concentration, but not executive functioning and task initiation.

Obviously the medication can’t make me do things, but it’s still hard, or even harder to get up and do things I need to do because I’m so used to relying on panic, shame, and general negative self talk.

I’m finding it more difficult to do mundane daily tasks, or tasks that only impact myself like studying or chores, but it doesn’t impact my work because it’s a non negotiable obligation. Although work has always been a consistent thing I’m able to do even before medication, I’m just more functional and reliable at work than I was before.

Is anyone in the same boat or can share some of their advice/ personal experience with concerta or other medications.

Thanks!

I’ve been on 54mg of branded Concerta XL for a week (titrated up from 18mg) So far and I’ve noticed massive improvements in my anxiety, emotional regulation, concentration, but not executive functioning and task initiation.

Obviously the medication can’t make me do things, but it’s still hard, or even harder to get up and do things I need to do because I’m so used to relying on panic, shame, and general negative self talk.

I’m finding it more difficult to do mundane daily tasks, or tasks that only impact myself like studying or chores, but it doesn’t impact my work because it’s a non negotiable obligation. Although work has always been a consistent thing I’m able to do even before medication, I’m just more functional and reliable at work than I was before.

Is anyone in the same boat or can share some of their advice/ personal experience with concerta or other medications.

Thanks!

I titrated up from 18mg then 36mg, and now 54mg. I’m only 5 days in and know I still need to adjust to this dose, however this is what I’ve found so far. Any thoughts or personal experiences would be really helpful.

Positive effects so far:

1. Concentration during peak is really good. Easier to follow conversations/ talking. Easier to concentrate on a podcast whilst I’m doing something else. I can just read a book and not feel like I’m suffering through it.

2. My anxiety and internal negative dialogue has drastically reduced. Overall a massive help with my RSD and emotional regulation. BETTER SELF IMAGE is another one. I just feel like I’m not constantly caring about what I look like and happy to just exist as I am. Also more introspective than before and conscious of myself and others.

3. Less general impulsivity. Less likely to reach for snacks/ sugar. I can just have a piece of chocolate and not feel the need to eat the whole bar. More likely to wait before I purchase something. Less likely to interrupt people/ get overexcited.

4. More likely to stay on one task if I’ve started already and easier to get back to the same task after distractions.

5. Panicking less and more likely to find solutions in the moment e.g. instead of booking an uber I’ll run for the bus/train or find alternative routes, or instead of asking for help at work I’ll figure it out myself first if I can.

6. Better working memory

7. Better relationship with time.

8. side effects like headaches, jitteriness, raised heart rate, dry mouth, and jaw clenching have mostly subsided. I only have dry mouth during peak now and just chew gum and drink water to deal with it. Vivid dreams have also subsided and I actually think that I dream less than before meds. I find that I’m waking up earlier than usual which is not an issue as long as I go to bed on time.

But I’m also experiencing:

1. Really calm when it’s peaking and kinda just want to stay as I am and exist in this new calm. Feeling really slow and just wanting to do things slowly and in my own pace. If I’m sat in bed, I just want to stay there because I feel so calm and I’m not worried about mundane tasks like cleaning or laundry. The 3 hour peak feels like 5 hours without the meds.

2. Finding it really difficult to initiate tasks I need to complete and it seems harder because I’m so used to doing things out of negative self talk, anxiety, and shame.

3. Not sure how well it’s helping with the rest of my executive dysfunction. This and emotional regulation are some of my biggest issues

4. Finding that I also have reduced facial expressions and body language during the peak so I’ve also observed other people don’t realise I’m still talking or want to talk because I’m a more toned down version of myself. This only lasts for around 4 hours I think.

5. I feel like the dose doesn’t kick in until 2-3 hours after I take it and doesn’t peak until midday if I take it at 8am. I also feel like it doesn’t cover my evenings (effects fade around 6pm) and I can see myself starting to stutter and become scatterbrained later on in the day. I think discussing an IR booster would be helpful. I think the release mechanism doesn’t work well with my current lifestyle.

6. Reduced appetite obviously. Finding it difficult to enjoy food like before once the medication is active. I tend to either eat parts of the same meal throughout the day and then a big dinner, or breakfast with a snack midday and then dinner later. I’m still eating a reasonable amount though by the end of the day.

I decided to wash my trainers today in the washing machine and I didn’t think to check the cycle length and degrees, and only realised an hour later when the washing machine was still on that my trainers had been on the cotton cycle on 60 degrees Celsius.

It would never cross my mind to check the details when I know that I always wash my clothes on the same setting and know it’ll stay on this preset.

Someone was staying at my place and washed their clothes in the washing and had changed the setting to the one they wanted. I feel so enraged that they did that, and I know I shouldn’t be because it’s such a stupid non issue and that’s what the settings are for, but as a result of being so routine driven and not checking, I’ve now ruined two pairs of trainers that I paid a lot of money for and need for work.

I feel the same way about other things too. Like the fact that I arrange my crockery in the exact same order every single time I wash my dishes. Or that my laundry basket is in the exact same place, my keys are always in the exact same place, chargers, shoes, kitchen tools, bathroom supplies, bags, everything.

The moment things start going out of place because someone else moved them is when my life starts to fall apart, and I feel so possessive over my environment and how I do things that I hate having people around who mess with it.

I just needed to get this off my chest because I feel like no one I know would understand the mental and financial tax with having ADHD.

I don’t know if I’m just being silly and I genuinely don’t have a clue about how any of this works or what I did, but I’ve been looking for a job for the last 3 months. I’d wake up every single day and my morning routine was browsing on linkedin, applying to between 5-20 jobs per day. For three full months I’d wake up to multiple job rejections and complete silence.

I got to the point of desperation, where I felt like no matter what I did I couldn’t get a job. I’ve never done witchcraft before and have been hesitant to.

Here’s the strange part:

I had a look on this subreddit for a job spell, found one that looked promising, and watched the YouTube video for instructions but I didn’t have some of the ingredients. I had my piece of paper ready to describe the job I wanted as part of the spell, but I wasn’t sure what my ideal job would be. I called one of my close friends to cry about how dire my job-seeking situation was.

Around 15 minutes after this:

1. I get a call from a recruiter about a job I was sent a rejection email for asking if I was still interested. The hours I wanted were an issue but said I was a really good candidate and wants to send my profile to other stores who have the hours I wanted.
2. I went to the store to buy the ingredients and just as I was about to checkout, I get a message from an agency I used to work for asking if I was interested in doing some freelance work with them over the weekend.
3. The next day I get invited to an interview
4. The following day I get invited to another interview
5. The same day I get invited to a third interview by a company who also sent me a rejection email.

All of these interviews are on 3 consecutive days.

Months of complete silence and all of a sudden I have all these interviews and work for this weekend. I don’t know if I manifested this or if I’m noticing patterns where there aren’t any.

Any thoughts on this?