I always get agitation when my Concerta wears off. So my psychiatrist says that Concerta lasts around 14 hours so he increased it from 54mg to 63mg to 72mg and the agitation was delayed by 1-2 hours. But the dose can't go any higher.

What do I do? Increase the abilify 4mg? (8-10mg with 80mg Prozac) or switch from risperidone to seroquel to sedate me when it wears off? because risperidone is just.. Nasty..

Maybe a mood stabilizer? Different stimulant?

If I am to put ritalin at the end of the day I might as well switch to ritalin which isn't good where I live because.. It's "Ritalin"...

Maybe vyvanse.. My cousin is on that and she has bipolar with ADHD

Oh ya I forgot he was going to put me on Latuda if his other patients do well on it. It's more stimulating than abilify isn't it? My cousin is on Latuda as well.

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The most effective means of ameliorating the changes in mood due to a stimulant wearing off is, in my experience, to discontinue it. I had become exhausted by the up and down yoyo from my Vyvanse and tapering off was sweet relief. Not sure what I'll do after I've recovered from withdrawal symptoms, whether or not I'll go back on it eventually or just get by with green tea. Going to sleep is also now much easier, pleasantly so at times, while morning are perversely easier to rise to than when I was taking the vyvanse at high dosages.

0.o

I'm very dependent on Concerta.

When I don't take it I sleep all the time.

A lot of problems happen when I don't take it. I smoke, I drink excessively, I become unstable and wreck my life

No one understands that sleep has nothing to do with being hyper. I sleep right when my head hits the pillow

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Tapering off gradually helped me mitigate withdrawal symptoms. While getting off of it I have noticed I need to exercise more restraint when it comes to impulse control, but after all I've been through that's relatively easy by comparison.

To be honest, I would suggest building better habits and control over behaviors while on Concerta, then gradually tapering off. Personal discipline is developed over time, takes effort, and requires acknowledging one can influence how one responds even under the most difficult circumstances. Long-term use of amphetamines can cause seriously dibilitating problems, especially at high dosages. As such I believe developing coping mechanisms essential to managing issues with impulse control. Maybe go to an AA meeting and listen in on how people with extreme impulse issues successfully cope - just an idea I'm throwing out there.

Sounds like a good idea. It sounds super hard but I'm willing to give it a try.

Oh ya I forgot about my focus and concentration.. I feel like if I learn impulse control and stability on concerta, and then taper down and stop for a while, I would know how to do it off the concerta and then stay off it for a long time to make sure, then go back on it for focus so when it wears off it will just be my focus that is gone out the window but I won't be so agitated and out of control.

Edit: But right now I'll enjoy a nice amphetamine induced sleep lol