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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 7 of 7. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Stewart on January 16, 2002, at 16:29:26
I am on multiple meds for depression and various mood disorders. I am taking 72 MG of Concerta twice a day. I need to stop. The medication is too much for me. I don't trust my present doctor. How can I safely wean myself off WITHOUT the use of additional meds like sedatives and minimizing withdrawal and mood shifts. Would Neurontin be helpful? This stuff is awful for me and I must stop taking it. any relevant experience or suggestions would be apreciated.
Posted by TSA West on January 16, 2002, at 21:56:44
In reply to Stopping Concerta _ Side effects, posted by Stewart on January 16, 2002, at 16:29:26
What are your other meds that you take?
Posted by fachad on January 17, 2002, at 8:12:14
In reply to Stopping Concerta _ Side effects, posted by Stewart on January 16, 2002, at 16:29:26
First, you are taking an extremely high dose of Concerta! Whoa, 72mg 2X day= 144mg/day.
Are you taking two 36 mg pills in the morning and then two in the afternoon?
(FYI, my insurance BC/BS will only pay for ONE Concerta tablet per day, regardless of how the doc writes the script. Arrgh.)
Anyway, Concerta, which is methylphenidate is not physically addicting like SSRIs or benzos. You will not have horrible miserable "discontinuation symptoms" like the flu or shocks like you get when you stop SSRIs.
You will not have convulsions like if you stop benzos. You may feel somewhat down and lethargic, but it is nowhere near as serious as stopping something like Effexor or Paxil.
I know this from first hand experience of abruptly quitting Concerta (54mg/day) several times and from quitting Effexor, Zoloft, and others.
Because you dose is so high, you would probably do better to taper. Gradually reduce your dose and see how you do at each step down, and use that info to determine when and how much your next step down is.
If you are taking 2 36mg tabs twice a day, you could start taking 2 36mg tabs in the morning and just one 36mg tab in the afternoon.
Try that for a week and if you are doing OK, then start taking one 36mg in the morning and one 36mg in the afternoon. Do that for a week. Then just one in the morning for a week, then none.
Or you may find that the medication is helpful, without oppressive side effects, at at lower dose.
I'm NOT a Breggan disciple, but his book Your Drug May be Your Problem has good advice on how to reduce dosages or quit psych drugs with minimal suffering.
> I am on multiple meds for depression and various mood disorders. I am taking 72 MG of Concerta twice a day. I need to stop. The medication is too much for me. I don't trust my present doctor. How can I safely wean myself off WITHOUT the use of additional meds like sedatives and minimizing withdrawal and mood shifts. Would Neurontin be helpful? This stuff is awful for me and I must stop taking it. any relevant experience or suggestions would be apreciated.
Posted by Stewart on January 17, 2002, at 16:18:48
In reply to Stopping Concerta _ Side effects, posted by Stewart on January 16, 2002, at 16:29:26
I am new to this site. thanks for the helpful responses. How do I respond privately to a particular individual who posted a response to me?
Thanks
Posted by mr.scott on January 17, 2002, at 17:00:51
In reply to Stopping Concerta _ Side effects, posted by Stewart on January 16, 2002, at 16:29:26
Just take it nice and slow..
Posted by Bekka H. on January 18, 2002, at 22:29:59
In reply to Re: Stopping Concerta _ Side effects » Stewart, posted by mr.scott on January 17, 2002, at 17:00:51
> Just take it nice and slow..
I am not a Breggin follower either; however, he does offer some good advice for tapering off meds: He says to withdraw by NOT MORE THAN 10% per week. When you get to the last taper (from the smallest number of milligrams to nothing), take it even slower than that. Draw that last increment out as long as possible, even if it means just taking smaller and smaller chips of the medicine. Of course, with Concerta, you can't cut the pills into chips, so you might want to talk to your doctor about taking another form of methylphenidate that you can cut or break into tiny chips when you finally reach that low dose.
Posted by Rainbow on November 12, 2002, at 23:05:45
In reply to Re: Stopping Concerta _ Side effects, posted by Bekka H. on January 18, 2002, at 22:29:59
>
> I am not a Breggin follower either; however, he does offer some good advice for tapering off meds: He says to withdraw by NOT MORE THAN 10% per week. When you get to the last taper (from the smallest number of milligrams to nothing), take it even slower than that. Draw that last increment out as long as possible, even if it means just taking smaller and smaller chips of the medicine. Of course, with Concerta, you can't cut the pills into chips, so you might want to talk to your doctor about taking another form of methylphenidate that you can cut or break into tiny chips when you finally reach that low dose.
I take a varied amount of Concerta each day. My prescription is 54mg, but I take 162mg or higher on a regular basis. I do not take it on the weekends and i have had no withdrawl or side effects from not taking the medicine. When I stop taking it for about a day I regain my appitite and my stomach does not hurt any more, though I still continue to take huge doses of it. The most i have ever taken at one time is 270mg(before school.) it takes away all your self conciousness when you have that much in your system, but when it wheres off (VERY late that night) you feel SLIGHTLY disoriented. As with any dose you lose your appitite. I have muscle spazms and twitches, greatly increased persperation. I swim everyday and I feel awful for the first 20 minutes of practice, after that, unless I have been taking a lot for an extended period of time, I feel great. Will Concerta increase/decrease acne, and what are the effects on your heart? I do not think that the extreme weaning that the other posters have suggested is really needed. I would cut back to 72mg a day, then, after 2-3 days go back to your prescribed dose. If you want to quit completely stop taking any dose after 1-2 days on your prescribed dose. This is not to day that the other posts were wrong, this is simply what I, myself, would do. Different people under different circumstances require different things.
Thank you for your feedback.
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