After an 18 month wait I was diagnosed with ADHD in May 2012 though it makes me wonder with how I reacted if it was a wrong diagnosis and instead I have something very similar to it but not that. I haven't heard of people on Concerta react in this way. If so it proves psychiatry is not an exact science and makes you wonder how many people out there are drugged up after being wrongly diagnosed with something today, and on meds have that caused them to be psychotic, have breakdowns, kill themselves, made them depressed or reclusive or this to happen to them?
I started talking Strattera first of all in June 2012. I can't recall the precise date, but it didn't really help me or cause any bad side effects. I read it can cause an increased heart rate and high blood pressure, and I was horrified when in 2017 I obtained and printed off my resting heart rates and blood pressure readings of the last ten years, to learn that my heart rate, which was 79 on 21st February 2012 was 101, 106 and 110 in October, November and December 2012, and my blood pressure was 144/99. 149/97 but then a very acceptable 127/85. That said I had high blood pressure at times before then. So it probably didn’t cause it.
In 2013 I discontinued it and started taking Equasym XL until October 2014. At this time I was a well, fit and fairly active person. Strattera and Equasym gave me no bad side effects yet I read that Equasym and Concerta are very similar so why this should happen is baffling
Foolishly and out of desperation, I asked to try Concerta XL which is a stimulant on 11th November 2014. I now wish I had done my research more and homework on that medication. I certainly would have gone nowhere near it had I known what was to follow. If I had a time machine I wouldn't have taken any of them.
I started taking 36mg on 12th November and had no side effects but again it didn't improve my ADHD hugely apart from a bit more silence inside my head. If I had stuck to that or quit on 16th November perhaps what was to follow would have been avoided. I probably wouldn’t be writing to you now. On the afternoon of Monday 17th November 2014, at about 3pm, I took another 36mg. I felt extremely dizzy. I have never felt anything like that in my life, before or since. It was sheer hell and awful. I remember writing notes down, convinced I was about to collapse and die. But I survived. The dizziness ended after eight hours. I carried on taking the medication at 36mg and nothing else occurred until 5th December. I was pretty much as I was before from 20th November to 4th December. I had a dizzy spell on 5th December.
Then nothing else happened until 18th December. I felt fine in the following 11 days. Then that day I got a mixture of dizziness and pain in the back of my head. I got a headache on 20th December, and this lasted intermittently until the 23rd December. Then I was fine until the 28th December when I had another headache. Then one on 30th December and 31st December.
I was fine and well from 1st to 4th January 2015. Then at 8.30pm on the night of 5th January 2015 I had a severe headache and felt dizzy. I felt pain at the back of my head at 10.05pm. I felt lightheaded at 10.50pm but the headache wore off at 11.20pm.
Nothing was recorded until the night of 9th January 2015 when I felt dizzy. Nothing was recorded until 28th January 2015. I had a bad night’s sleep and had a headache. I presume I was fine in that time.
I had my blood pressure taken three times whilst on it. I was 148/98 on 30th December 2014, 133/93 on 19th January 2015 and 141/97 on 3rd February. I then made my next foolish mistake. I quit using it on 4th February without telling anybody or seeking advice about how to go about it. The headaches, dizziness and blood pressure were the reason why, along with the fact that I felt it wasn't working as well as I would have liked. I vowed that I would never take any medication for ADHD and would fight it via strategies. I haven’t touched anything since that day.
29th January 2015. Fine until 2.40pm. Headache and dizziness from then on.
30th January 2015. Headache. Can’t sleep 2.40am. Didn’t sleep well.
2nd February 2015. Felt fine until 11.15pm. Headache and dizziness. Splitting headache on top of head. Carried on until 12.50am on 3rd February.
4th February 2015 stopped taking Concerta.
Naively I thought this would stop once I had stopped taking it, but obviously through my recklessness on 17th November 2014 I brought about permanent damage to my brain, or my hypothalamus or Adrenal Glands or perhaps all three. They didn't stop. In fact they got worse.
5th February 2015 – fine all day until 9.30pm. Dull headache on top and front of head 10pm. 10.20pm headache, dizzy, took paracetomal. 10.35pm pain at back of head right hand side. 10.55pm – felt dizzy. 11.10pm – pain at front of head. 11.35pm – headache dizzy.
6th February 2015 – Fine until 10.45pm. Dizziness afterwards.
9th February 2015 – Felt ok until 2pm. Headache started and got worse. Felt dizzy. Headache at front of head. Felt like this all day.
10th February 2015 – Dizziness. Pain in eyes. Headache front of head. Severe pain forehead in evening. Dizzy.
11th February 2015 – Felt well all day apart from feeling dizzy after 10.35pm.
12th February 2015 – Woke up with a bit of a headache but fine until 9pm. No dizzy spells. Pain right hand side of rear temple at 10pm.
16th February 2015 – Felt fine until 6pm then dizziness until bed.
20th February 2015 – Felt well until 4pm. Started feeling dizzy. Headache on and off front and top of head rest of night.
21st February 2015 – Woke up coughing 3.40am. Felt well 10am to 6pm. Started feeling a bit dizzy. Mild headache this evening front of head.
22nd February 2015 – Felt fine until 8pm. Headache. Front of head. No dizziness.
23rd February 2015 – Fine until 6pm. Felt a bit dizzy. Headache at front of head. Wore off 10pm. Fine afterwards.
4th March 2015 – Felt fine until 4pm. Then headache front of head and then temples.
5th March 2015 – Headache but faded after 10am. Fine then on. Started feeling dizzy a bit after. 9.40pm. Pain side of temples and head.
6th March 2015 – Headache on both sides of head – 12.10am
And so on this continued throughout the rest of the year. I was from memory, fine and had no symptoms from 16th October to the 24th November. I thought then that the symptoms had gone away. How wrong was I? What I found baffling and paradoxical was that the symptoms weren't present all the time. I wish they were in one sense so a cure could be found. I thought I was suffering from Sinusitis but an MRI scan on 20th October found nothing. On 26th May 2016 I was told I had vestibular migraines in Endicrinology. I hadn’t told anybody about the disastrous, impulsive and reckless decision I made on 17th November 2014.
Despite the symptoms I was quite fit and active and could exercise without any problems for the rest of 2015 and much of 2016. My blood pressure was 138/92 on 16th March, when feeling well, 136/86 on 8th June, when feeling well, 132/97 on 26th October when feeling well. I had no other symptoms apart from the headache and dizziness on and off.
Then something strange happened. The symptoms completely stopped. I was well and normal until late September 2016. I had no problems at all in May, June, July, August and much of September. In August I had an ear infection but was ok for a few weeks after that. My blood pressure was 126/83 on 24th June and my pulse 68. My best blood pressure in fact since 2011 and best pulse since 2009. I now realise it was the calm before the storm.
Then since October 2016 my symptoms have been
1) Palpitations on and off. Not common now.
2) Dizzy spells on and off.
3) Flutters in chest on and off. Not common now.
4) Permanent fatigue.
5) Erratic heart rate at times.
6) Unpredictable heart rate at times.
7) Heart rate (When my heart or hormones or system is in a bad mood) taking a long time to return to normal after exercise. When it isn’t in a bad mood it does return to normal.
8) Heart rate staying high just after walking.
9) Heart rate good, even normal some days.
10) Sharp stabbing pains in heart area (Some days).
11) Sharp stabbing pains center of chest. (Some days)
12) Strange and random adrenaline rushes which can send my resting heart rate high, in the 100-140 range. This can last up to two days.
13) Sleeping well some nights and not others. However, I was generally sleeping well until about the 20thNovember. Since then the quality of my sleep has been variable.
14) My feel feeling cold at times (This only started about the 21st November – I’ve never had this before). Not as common recently.
15) When I have these adrenaline rushes/high heart rate episodes I find that I am urinating a lot.
16) Jolts when asleep. Not as common recently.
17) Having full night’s sleep but feeling tired the following day.
18) Dark circles under eyes on and off.
19) Sudden intolerance to alcohol. When I drink it my face goes red, my heart races and I urinate a lot. This never happened until November 2016.
20) Weight loss, rapid since November 2016. I was 103kg or 16st 3 pounds on 26th August 2016. I was 99kg on 17th October 2016 and 94kg on 5th December 2016. It has been mainly muscle loss.
21) Headaches on and off. Mainly at the top of my head.
22) When I went to the dentist in February my heart rate hit 135 after a filling. When I went on 24th June and 28th October last year nothing happened after having a filling in. I’ve never had that problem before ever.
23) Muscle loss but not fat loss. Notably in my calves.
24) Pains in legs and arms.
25) Temperature dysregulation. This started about March 2017. Feeling cold and warm at random times. Never had this before.
As a result of my foolish and reckless actions, I have a too active sympathetic nervous system. I ruined my life through what I did from about August 2012 and February 2015.
That said since about 2010 I had been sleeping and not feeling refreshed the morning after. And on Sunday's used to enjoy unwinding because it was a rest day. I think something had been building and the Concerta and other stuff brought it out. In 2010 there are references to groggyiness, not sleeping well or not being refreshed after sleep.
What do you think? Do you think it is very possible I have permanently damaged my autonomic nervous system. If so has it been building up? And why didn't Equasym produce this?
I think everybody should be DNA tested in future to see what drugs agree or don't agree with them. If I had my time again I'd have not gone near any of those three.
I started talking Strattera first of all in June 2012. I can't recall the precise date, but it didn't really help me or cause any bad side effects. I read it can cause an increased heart rate and high blood pressure, and I was horrified when in 2017 I obtained and printed off my resting heart rates and blood pressure readings of the last ten years, to learn that my heart rate, which was 79 on 21st February 2012 was 101, 106 and 110 in October, November and December 2012, and my blood pressure was 144/99. 149/97 but then a very acceptable 127/85. That said I had high blood pressure at times before then. So it probably didn’t cause it.
In 2013 I discontinued it and started taking Equasym XL until October 2014. At this time I was a well, fit and fairly active person. Strattera and Equasym gave me no bad side effects yet I read that Equasym and Concerta are very similar so why this should happen is baffling
Foolishly and out of desperation, I asked to try Concerta XL which is a stimulant on 11th November 2014. I now wish I had done my research more and homework on that medication. I certainly would have gone nowhere near it had I known what was to follow. If I had a time machine I wouldn't have taken any of them.
I started taking 36mg on 12th November and had no side effects but again it didn't improve my ADHD hugely apart from a bit more silence inside my head. If I had stuck to that or quit on 16th November perhaps what was to follow would have been avoided. I probably wouldn’t be writing to you now. On the afternoon of Monday 17th November 2014, at about 3pm, I took another 36mg. I felt extremely dizzy. I have never felt anything like that in my life, before or since. It was sheer hell and awful. I remember writing notes down, convinced I was about to collapse and die. But I survived. The dizziness ended after eight hours. I carried on taking the medication at 36mg and nothing else occurred until 5th December. I was pretty much as I was before from 20th November to 4th December. I had a dizzy spell on 5th December.
Then nothing else happened until 18th December. I felt fine in the following 11 days. Then that day I got a mixture of dizziness and pain in the back of my head. I got a headache on 20th December, and this lasted intermittently until the 23rd December. Then I was fine until the 28th December when I had another headache. Then one on 30th December and 31st December.
I was fine and well from 1st to 4th January 2015. Then at 8.30pm on the night of 5th January 2015 I had a severe headache and felt dizzy. I felt pain at the back of my head at 10.05pm. I felt lightheaded at 10.50pm but the headache wore off at 11.20pm.
Nothing was recorded until the night of 9th January 2015 when I felt dizzy. Nothing was recorded until 28th January 2015. I had a bad night’s sleep and had a headache. I presume I was fine in that time.
I had my blood pressure taken three times whilst on it. I was 148/98 on 30th December 2014, 133/93 on 19th January 2015 and 141/97 on 3rd February. I then made my next foolish mistake. I quit using it on 4th February without telling anybody or seeking advice about how to go about it. The headaches, dizziness and blood pressure were the reason why, along with the fact that I felt it wasn't working as well as I would have liked. I vowed that I would never take any medication for ADHD and would fight it via strategies. I haven’t touched anything since that day.
29th January 2015. Fine until 2.40pm. Headache and dizziness from then on.
30th January 2015. Headache. Can’t sleep 2.40am. Didn’t sleep well.
2nd February 2015. Felt fine until 11.15pm. Headache and dizziness. Splitting headache on top of head. Carried on until 12.50am on 3rd February.
4th February 2015 stopped taking Concerta.
Naively I thought this would stop once I had stopped taking it, but obviously through my recklessness on 17th November 2014 I brought about permanent damage to my brain, or my hypothalamus or Adrenal Glands or perhaps all three. They didn't stop. In fact they got worse.
5th February 2015 – fine all day until 9.30pm. Dull headache on top and front of head 10pm. 10.20pm headache, dizzy, took paracetomal. 10.35pm pain at back of head right hand side. 10.55pm – felt dizzy. 11.10pm – pain at front of head. 11.35pm – headache dizzy.
6th February 2015 – Fine until 10.45pm. Dizziness afterwards.
9th February 2015 – Felt ok until 2pm. Headache started and got worse. Felt dizzy. Headache at front of head. Felt like this all day.
10th February 2015 – Dizziness. Pain in eyes. Headache front of head. Severe pain forehead in evening. Dizzy.
11th February 2015 – Felt well all day apart from feeling dizzy after 10.35pm.
12th February 2015 – Woke up with a bit of a headache but fine until 9pm. No dizzy spells. Pain right hand side of rear temple at 10pm.
16th February 2015 – Felt fine until 6pm then dizziness until bed.
20th February 2015 – Felt well until 4pm. Started feeling dizzy. Headache on and off front and top of head rest of night.
21st February 2015 – Woke up coughing 3.40am. Felt well 10am to 6pm. Started feeling a bit dizzy. Mild headache this evening front of head.
22nd February 2015 – Felt fine until 8pm. Headache. Front of head. No dizziness.
23rd February 2015 – Fine until 6pm. Felt a bit dizzy. Headache at front of head. Wore off 10pm. Fine afterwards.
4th March 2015 – Felt fine until 4pm. Then headache front of head and then temples.
5th March 2015 – Headache but faded after 10am. Fine then on. Started feeling dizzy a bit after. 9.40pm. Pain side of temples and head.
6th March 2015 – Headache on both sides of head – 12.10am
And so on this continued throughout the rest of the year. I was from memory, fine and had no symptoms from 16th October to the 24th November. I thought then that the symptoms had gone away. How wrong was I? What I found baffling and paradoxical was that the symptoms weren't present all the time. I wish they were in one sense so a cure could be found. I thought I was suffering from Sinusitis but an MRI scan on 20th October found nothing. On 26th May 2016 I was told I had vestibular migraines in Endicrinology. I hadn’t told anybody about the disastrous, impulsive and reckless decision I made on 17th November 2014.
Despite the symptoms I was quite fit and active and could exercise without any problems for the rest of 2015 and much of 2016. My blood pressure was 138/92 on 16th March, when feeling well, 136/86 on 8th June, when feeling well, 132/97 on 26th October when feeling well. I had no other symptoms apart from the headache and dizziness on and off.
Then something strange happened. The symptoms completely stopped. I was well and normal until late September 2016. I had no problems at all in May, June, July, August and much of September. In August I had an ear infection but was ok for a few weeks after that. My blood pressure was 126/83 on 24th June and my pulse 68. My best blood pressure in fact since 2011 and best pulse since 2009. I now realise it was the calm before the storm.
Then since October 2016 my symptoms have been
1) Palpitations on and off. Not common now.
2) Dizzy spells on and off.
3) Flutters in chest on and off. Not common now.
4) Permanent fatigue.
5) Erratic heart rate at times.
6) Unpredictable heart rate at times.
7) Heart rate (When my heart or hormones or system is in a bad mood) taking a long time to return to normal after exercise. When it isn’t in a bad mood it does return to normal.
8) Heart rate staying high just after walking.
9) Heart rate good, even normal some days.
10) Sharp stabbing pains in heart area (Some days).
11) Sharp stabbing pains center of chest. (Some days)
12) Strange and random adrenaline rushes which can send my resting heart rate high, in the 100-140 range. This can last up to two days.
13) Sleeping well some nights and not others. However, I was generally sleeping well until about the 20thNovember. Since then the quality of my sleep has been variable.
14) My feel feeling cold at times (This only started about the 21st November – I’ve never had this before). Not as common recently.
15) When I have these adrenaline rushes/high heart rate episodes I find that I am urinating a lot.
16) Jolts when asleep. Not as common recently.
17) Having full night’s sleep but feeling tired the following day.
18) Dark circles under eyes on and off.
19) Sudden intolerance to alcohol. When I drink it my face goes red, my heart races and I urinate a lot. This never happened until November 2016.
20) Weight loss, rapid since November 2016. I was 103kg or 16st 3 pounds on 26th August 2016. I was 99kg on 17th October 2016 and 94kg on 5th December 2016. It has been mainly muscle loss.
21) Headaches on and off. Mainly at the top of my head.
22) When I went to the dentist in February my heart rate hit 135 after a filling. When I went on 24th June and 28th October last year nothing happened after having a filling in. I’ve never had that problem before ever.
23) Muscle loss but not fat loss. Notably in my calves.
24) Pains in legs and arms.
25) Temperature dysregulation. This started about March 2017. Feeling cold and warm at random times. Never had this before.
As a result of my foolish and reckless actions, I have a too active sympathetic nervous system. I ruined my life through what I did from about August 2012 and February 2015.
That said since about 2010 I had been sleeping and not feeling refreshed the morning after. And on Sunday's used to enjoy unwinding because it was a rest day. I think something had been building and the Concerta and other stuff brought it out. In 2010 there are references to groggyiness, not sleeping well or not being refreshed after sleep.
What do you think? Do you think it is very possible I have permanently damaged my autonomic nervous system. If so has it been building up? And why didn't Equasym produce this?
I think everybody should be DNA tested in future to see what drugs agree or don't agree with them. If I had my time again I'd have not gone near any of those three.
