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!

Adderall is a lot stronger especially the ir or instant release tabs in 30 mg form which I have been prescribed. I also have experience with time release 54mg concerta which to me are not even close to adderall. Although it helps to break the pill or wet the outer coating to get rid of the time release outer coating or shell of the pill. I still find I have way more energy and focus w adderall and am up for a day or two on one pill 30mg. Where as the conceeta is way more mellow and I still have an appetite or more of one vs vertually appetiteless and literally shedding pounds w add. I am already petite 100 5'1" female so I have gotten wo even trying down to 86 pounds taking these w in a very short period of time. Its all personall preferance but I thk of all the add/adhd meds wo question adderall is the most intense w the most side effects and not so pretty comme down. That's just me tho.

O

k I have been prescribed adderall and by a cook wack pscychiatrist although currently get it from a regular doctor which is much more affordable. I was diagnosed add or adhd don't even know which to be honest by this wack psychiatrist guy n I also know now that I am bi polar. He prescribed me the 30 mg adderrall and a script for 90 per month as to take 3 per day. That is a rediculously high amount. I take one 30 mg and I am up for 2 days and lose weight like crazy. No appetite. The generic name is amphetamine salt so it comes up as if you are taking illegal street amphetamines. I had a cop swear I was on meth and I swore to him I was not because I wasn't and told him it was adderall. They apparently aren't informed its basically the same f@#$^&* thg. Anyway I also have taken and been prescribed concerta 54mg which are a lot different from instant release 30 mg add as these are time released unless you break it or wet the pill washing off the time release outer coating making it no longer an extended release t tab

Hi everyone, thanks for all your experiences. I have had ADHD for a very long time and have taken every medication that they make -

first, there is a huge difference between concerta/ritalin/metadate and adderall/dexedrine/vyvanse.

Concerta, ritalin and metadate are all the CNS stimulant "methylphenidate". Someone with ADHD should start on one of those 3- Ritalin is meant for younger people and children, concerta is for adolescents and adults. Extended release formulas are always better, making absorption smoother and mitigating negative effects (i.e. mood swings, crashing/tiredness). And yes, like antidepressants, methylphenidate must be taken every day for a few weeks before enough of the medication had built up to be optimally effective. Personally, i've found that tolerance to methylphenidate develops much faster than to amphetamines.

adderall, vyvanse and dexedrine aren't as simple as methylphenidate - they are all amphetamines. Adderall is a compound of 4 different apmhetamine salts, 75% of which are d-amphetamines and 25% of which are l-amphetamines. The "d" is dextro or dexa or something, meaning "right" and "l" is lis or levo, meaning "left". in general, the brain shows a preference (i.e. more reaction) to d-amphetamines. Vyvanse is a lisamphetamine, which is not as harsh as adderall or dexedrine. Dexedrine is comprised only of d-amphetamines, and from personal experience, i feel that this is the harshest (which may be why it comes in lower dosages than adderall and vyvanse) again, the extended release formulations mitigate the negative effects (mood swings, crash, irritability, anxiety).

switching from an amphetamine to methylphenidate is uncomfortable and will definitely take about a month to get used to. in the long run, it is probably better to switch sooner than later, as the longer one takes amphetamines the more difficult getting off them will be. it's all about your own preference. i've heard that long term amphetamine usage at higher doses can cause brain damage, but it might've been referring to abusing the meds.

years ago, i started taking a middle dosage of concerta. it helped my hyperactivity but even after a couple of months i was still having trouble focusing. my doctor switched me to 10mg of adderall. after about six months, i was getting tired in the afternoon, and i started taking 20mg (instant release). somewhere in there, i tried metadate for a month, and it helped, but wasn't as effective as the adderall. then, i took 40mg/day of amphetamine salts compound (same thing as adderall) for a very long time. i switched to dexedrine (15mg in the morning and 5mg in afternoon), which had a lot more UMPH than adderall, but left me emotionally drained at the end of the day or when i didn't take all 20mg. then i needed 30mg, and 40....etc. when i tried to get off of the amphetamines entirely because i had been on them for so long, i was SO tired and cranky and unmotivated that i was completely miserable! my doctor prescribed me 10mg of lexapro, which helped, and after slowly decreasing my dosage over 2-3 months, i was off of amphetamines. unfortunately, i started grad school at this time, which was very demanding. halfway through the semester i started taking 10mg adderall XR. this was my first time taking the extended release and i liked it so much more. MUCH SMOOTHER! 10mg, 20mg, 40mg...and when school ended, i tried to get off of them again. i slept for 3 days, then realized i needed something for the transition. my doctor tried 36mg concerta. concerta didn't work as well as the metadate, but my insurance only covered concerta. 2 months on 36 mg, 1 month on 27mg, 1 month on 18mg...which didn't do anything to me. I couldn't even tell if i had taken my concerta or not, and i was very tired, unfocused and moody. i went back up to 36mg for 2 months. i was more focused, but still getting moody and depressed sometimes. i've struggled with depression my whole life, so most people wouldn't have to go back on amphetamines here. (they are also prescribed for long term depression and narcolepsy).


last month, my doctor prescribed me a free trial of vyvanse, which is a happy, happy medium between over-effective adderall and ineffective concerta. vyvanse is VERY smooth and is the most helpful out of everything i've taken. unfortunately, it's a new medication and my insurance won't cover it. i'm going to talk to my doctor about a middle, extended release dosage of adderall, which my insurance will cover. hopefully, vyvanse will become more common in the years to come.

SO, to make a very long story short, amphetamines and methylphenidate are VERY different classes of medications. amphetamines relieve ADD/ADHD symptoms much better than methylphenidate, but when taken for long periods of time cause dependence and agitation. before beginning amphetamines, i'd try methylphenidate to see if that works. once you take adderall, concerta is not as effective. time-release = awesome. also, ritalin is meant for children! adults' brains are wired differently...it makes me mad when adults are on ritalin. everybody reacts to medications differently. if you've found something that works for you, for the love of god, stay on it! if it ain't broke, don't fix it. the more often you switch meds, the more ineffective/overeffective they will be.

also, there is another class of ADHD medication: strattera, which is not a cns stimulant but acts on norepinephrine instead.

to minimize over-medicating, your doctor should try medications in this order: 1. strattera, 2. methylphenidate, 3. amphetamines. of course, i'm not a doctor, but these are just my suggestions from experience and research.

good luck everyone!