Concerta for ADD... Made me feel like a zombie exhausted and emotionless... wtf??

[Prettylittleliar]

First of all I just want to say hello I have been a lurker on this site for quite some time and found it very helpful in many situations. I'm kind of long-winded so I'm going to try to make this as short and sweet as possible. I am a recovered heroin addict...I took the box an I took Suboxine for two years and decided enough was enough went to detox and have been clean sense. My problem has always lied with my deep depression and chronic fatigue syndrome . I saw my new psychiatrist yesterday and I was so excited because she believed much of my problems stemmed from my ADD which I never treated, she decided to put me on Concerta... I thought this was going to be the answer I was going to have the amazing energy I never had be able to clean the house do the dishes make dinner. Let me just tell you none of that happened. First day I took my Concerta I felt like a complete zombie I was exhausted, hopeless, depressed, confused, And very sad. Mind you I also take Zoloft for depression. That was probably one of the worst days of my life so then came day to today, I decided I would try it once again and had the same effects I felt even more zombielike then I had the previous day my voice was shaky, my body was cold and clammy well it's 90° outside And I honestly just didn't know what the hell it was I was feeling at all if anything. A friend suggested I take a Xanax and try to relax, so that's what I did fell asleep for about an hour and a half and woke up feeling just as bad . Anyway I'm so sorry for the long post the point is after two days of feeling like an emotionless zombie I decided I would try A small piece of the Suboxone to see if that could make me feel any better. This was not an easy decision as getting off of Suboxone was one of the hardest things I have ever gone through in my entire life and I was so proud of myself for being completely opiate and Suboxone free !!! But I tell you if you can understand I felt bad enough that I just wanted some relief from this Concerta induced nightmare. I do not plan on taking Concerta ever again as well as Suboxone and yes I have a call into my doctor just waiting to hear back. Being that I'm new to this site please be gentle with me this is my very first post and I have no idea if I'm doing this right my question is this has anyone had any similar reactions to Concerta? I was under the impression that Concerta was supposed to give you Energy not take you down to the depths of hell. Any other input into the mixing it with the Xanax or the sub are welcome too.... I'm just looking for any kind of personal experience such as mine, advice, and anything else that comes my way I guess . If you actually got thru that whole post I commend you!!! Thank you for reading.... Hope I did this right!! ??

 

[badanga]

You sure you weren't just having a panic attack? If your dose of concerta was too much or too strong it could of induced symptoms that would make you feel uneasy like a panic attack. I take concerta and experience nothing like this before this I was prescribed ritalin which is the same drug, methylphenidate. suggest other stimulants at low doses and if it keeps occuring then they just aren't for you

 

[badanga]

i experience slight anxiety from taking mine though and am also prescribed klonopins which i take that help

 

[TPfisher83]

I was on this combo as well for a couple months a couple years back. I never liked any of the methylphenidate based products. Didn't think they helped me concentrate at all. the up side was that they didn't cause me any of the customary side effects like depression, anxiety or irritability. They basically did nothing. Trouble was, the amphetamines like addys and dexidrine did help me focus, but they also caused intense anxiety, extreme fatigue when they wore off and increased mood swings. I've been taking Vyvanse for almost 10 months and I love it! I can honestly say I have 0 side effects from it and was able to get off of my klonopins completely. I take a 40 MG Vyvanse every morning and it works wonders. For me it lasts about 8-9 hours. I don't really feel it kick in at all, I just start to notice that I'm working at a faster clip with greatly increased attention to detail. I don't experience any crash either. Hope this info helps

 

[Prettylittleliar]

Thank you!!! I'm definitely trying Vyvanse

My girlfriend's been telling me for months that she is on Vyvanse and that it has been amazing for her I don't know why I didn't ask for that when I saw my doctor but she suggested Concerta and I just went with it. I'm going to be giving her a call in the morning and switching over. Thank you for your post. Fingers crossed tomorrow's a better day!!

 

[bdomihizayka]

It's hard to differentiate therapeutic effects from our addict's POV. We want the ADD medicine to give us a boost in the butt and get us all energized and going. It doesn't work like that. I used Adderall many times to get high when I was younger and I thought that's what it was suppose to be like. But I don't abuse stimulants anymore, and when I take my therapeutic dose, I don't get a kick in the butt, any extra motivation, etc. it just helps me focus, and yea, it is almost zombifying.

Maybe your expectations of what the medicine is suppose to be doing, and what it actually does therapeutically, are different. The main purpose of ADD medication is to enhance FOCUS. Chase that euphoric energy and stimulation and get burned...

 

[RDP89]

Personally I hated methylphenidate. I was put on it the form of ritalin at 8 years old, and while it did help me concentrate on school, it also made me completely antisocial and robot like, somewhat emotionless I guess. Then the crash every night made me feel like dying. I would actually pretend to take it and then spit it out lol. Other people claim it works great for them without much detrimental effect. Just depends on each individuals specific nuerochemistry and body chemistry.

If it makes you feel terrible I would try somethng else. Beleiving something will be a wonder drug for yoy before you even try it is something I was guilty of in the past and thus learned to never do. Even if something does work great for somone, that doesn't mean it will always continue to do so.