adderall vs concerta for adult add

I have been taking adderall for a couple of years 5mg in the am. In the afternoon I am edgy. Should I consider using concerta?

lynn wrote:

I have been taking adderall for a couple of years 5mg in the am. In the afternoon I am edgy. Should I consider using concerta?

I am not ADD or ADHD, just a highschooler who wanted to try using one of these style pills to see if it could help me focus and finish a big paper. Not gonna use them again, not gonna get addicted to them and don't need any advice, just trying to help you out.

Never taken any drugs in my life, don't drink, and don't smoke. High metabolism. Keep this in mind when reading my answer. Also, never done Adderall and only done Concerta once, so my answer maybe of no help at all, but I hope it helps at least slightly.

I took a Concerta at around 7 PM tonight. I sat down to start my paper at 9 or so and felt it helped me concentrate a lot. It was a 54 mg pill however, and I feel like the fact that it was such a large dosage is what lead to my side effects. I experience the three major ones that they describe on their website. Very elevated heartbeat within an hour, lasting the whole time, even now at 3:20 in the morning, 8 hours after having taken it. Pretty bad nervousness and jittery feeling, thought I was going to get caught out of bed earlier when I was playing a video game. Got so worried that I went back into my room. An extremely accelerated heart beat. My normal is 75-80ish, and right now I just counted 110 bpm, completely at rest. I also have not felt tired yet. I haven't tried to fall asleep yet, i.e. lay down and relax, but I feel like if I did, I wouldn't be able to.

In regards to your question on edgy-ness, I felt on edge only in regards to jittery/nervousness. Was not in the least bit short or curt with people, and did not feel any different in conversation, even after about 6 or 7 hours of it being in my system (is proclaimed to be slow release, 12 hours).

Hopes this helps, Lynn. I'll definitely be praying for you.

Like anti-depressants, Concerta takes weeks of continuous use to have an effect. What you experienced is known as "the placebo effect." Ever heard of wikipedia? Try looking drugs up before you attempt to get high.

I was diagnosed adhd at the early age of 9. i have taken ri and adderall, I may ask my prescriber about concerta, but still like adderall. has anyone made the switch from add to concerta? To Lynn I never really felt edgy on 5mg of adderall so maybe a switch would help. i currently on 20mg a day

Guest wrote:

I was diagnosed adhd at the early age of 9. i have taken ri and adderall, I may ask my prescriber about concerta, but still like adderall. has anyone made the switch from add to concerta? To Lynn I never really felt edgy on 5mg of adderall so maybe a switch would help. i currently on 20mg a day

I think that it might be a good idea for you to consider concerta because I know that it's not quite as intense as adderall at least in terms of symptoms so I think it might be worth your while. If you do make the switch, please let us know about it because I think a lot of people on the forums would like to hear about how it works compared to adderall. Thanks again!