Gah I feel horrid (Concerta + Caffeine)

[catalyst37]

Ok this is about day 5 on Concerta and it seems to be doing a subtle good. Enough to take the edge off anyway at 18mg/day. Now today I didn't sleep very well last night and I had two cups of coffee today, one in the morning one in the afternoon. I feel soooo fraking horrid, my chest is tight, very anxious, jitter bugged, and inconsistent speech.

Comments

[emily_says_this]

Stimulants (like caffeine and in allergy decongestant medicine) can definitely interract with Concerta.

And the 18mg of Concerta should be lasting all day, not just in the morning.

I am on 54 mgs of Concerta that I take at 7am every morning. I notice it starts to wear off around 4 or 5. I used to experience a huge rebound - not so much anymore.

I take 10mgs of Ritalin at 4 or 5 if I have to study or go somewhere in the evening. It is short acting, and does not keep me awake.

It is best to tell your prescribing doctor the reactions you are having and see if you feel better by eliminating coffee.

[akaleia]

oh,yeah.avoid coricidin, any dxm product (people tend to abuse dextromethorphan -mild hallucinogen, when taken in cough syrup/pilld in high amounts it will speed up your heart rate and make you trip - many people are addicted b/c it's OTC and have died from it.)

also, by all means..avoid sudafed, people extract that stuff to make meth

why all this stuff is available OTC is beyond me. How many more people are going to get addicted and die before the government wises up.

People (old ass folks) say it's mostly teens abusing it..far from it. They need to research their statistics better.

`

[creativecstasy]

I absolutely cannot handle any caffeine in my system when I'm on stimulants. They both do they same thing, so it's like an overdoes.

This is not uncommon. Tell your doctor, and cut down/out the coffee.

[shoesandships]

I had only one cup of coffee a day, and I had to quit it on Concerta. The drug made me anxious, but the drug + coffee made me REALLY anxious.

Concerta should last about ten hours in the body. My one dose began keeping me up at night after about two weeks. Taper down the coffee, to nothing at all if you have to, and see how you feel.

[tigergal05]

When I was on Concerta (18 mg), I had to make sure to have my coffee hours before taking the medication-otherwise I'd experience those exact symptoms you listed. And as previous posters have stated, your Concerta should be lasting for the majority of the day. The only difference in my mood: I would get headaches and be somewhat irritated when I knew the medication was wearing off, but that was about it.

[akaleia]

First time reading this post before you edited it. I am glad you are okay. I have found the klonopin (a mild benzo) helps with the jittery associated with the first few weeks getting used to concerta..and by all means, avoid caffeine, even soda and nicotine! even sugar! good luck and glad you took action instead of waiting it out and feeling miserable, like I tend to do.