so i've never officially been diagnosed with ADD or ADHD. my original/old doc prescribed me concerta when i mentioned that i can't concentrate in school, am having trouble keeping up, and sometimes would leave because i would get so frustrated that i can't concentrate or focus. i had lost my insurance at the end of 2011 and had to seek help with the county's urgent mental health center.
apparently the county's mental health unit (at least the urgent one) is very against prescribing stimulants, even if the patient had already been prescribed the medication before. even though the doc was very against it, i got her to prescribe me the concerta since i proved to her that i need it in order to survive my classes.
i was started on 18 mg when i first started the med with my old doc and she increased me to 36 mg after i had a base dose in my body and i started crashing.
well after being on the 36 mg for about 2-3 months now, i'm having the horrible concerta crashes again. extremely fatigued, really bad headaches (almost migraines), extremely irritable, etc. etc.
now if the concerta was able to last for at least 8-10 hrs like it's supposed to,

i wouldn't complain, but i'm one of those (unfortunate) people who metabolize medications quickly so an "extended release" medication would last the same as a "instant release" medication would last in an "average" person. my physician and i had this same problem with pain medication when i had injuries. i brought this up to the new doc i'm seeing and her response seemed like she was implying that i'm addicted and made me feel like some sort of junkie which of course did not make me happy at all.. THANK GOD she was only a temporary...
so until i get a new (permanent) doc, i'm stuck with the same 36 mg and same negative side effects. i really would just not take it if it wasn't so detrimental to my schooling, but that's not really an option right now...

has anyone experienced these negative effects and if so how did/do you deal with them??