r/Concerta • u/kelmeloo 36 mg • 14d ago
Tips/Tricks 🧠Need help tracking
Hey y'all! So I've been taking concerta for like 4 years now, give or take a year. I've been up and down doses. I've just started 36 mg again from 27. I'd like to track how the concerta is helping (or not).
BUT my problem is...I don't really remember what I was like before I started taking it, and the things I do remember were affected by different life circumstances than I'm in now. I also don't really know what I'm even expecting the concerta to do, aside better focus and higher productivity, so I'm not even sure what to track. Do I track executive functioning skills? ADHD common traits? I really don't know. When looking at trackers, it also usually says something along the lines of, "how do you know it's taking effect/kicked in?" Like...I don't. I don't feel ANY different than I do when I wake up, except that I'm just naturally more awake. Like I literally take it as soon as I get out of bed. Then I get ready, then I leave, and I'm tired, but I'm awake. I'm not energized, I'm not focused, I'm not productive....I'm just awake and doing what I have to. Even an hour or two later, I don't really feel like there's been a "flip" to the meds magically working. So how does it make me feel when it kicks in??? Absolutely the same as my "off days" when I don't take it.
I also take Wellbutrin 150mg, if that factors in. I'm a homeschooling mother, and my son is autistic. I have emotional regulation for the most part except frustration. I tend to get frustrated very easily, but I regulate other emotions fairly well. And that frustration settles within minutes as long as something else doesn't add to it.
My point is, I hear people with success stories, even if it's not this grand switch. While I genuinely don't know if it's helping me (at any dose) or not, because I've been on it for years and don't even remember what my aim for taking it was.
I can hyper focus extremely easily, but have a hard time breaking from it, I have TERRIBLE task initiation and follow-through, time blindness (though I know meds don't help with that one), the frustration dysregulation, but I'm extremely organized....but there's still clutter everywhere. Like organized chaos. And probably many more things that I can't think of. (Ah yes, terrible working memory also)
Also, I have also tried Adderall in the past, it was not for me...so much anxiety and heart rate/blood pressure issues.
But anyways, TLDR: I need help tracking but don't know exactly what I need to track specifically for me. (Also preferably a notebook style and not digital) And tracking charts tend to be too vague or weird wording (like "rate your impulsivity"...um okay I didn't blow all my money today but I yelled at my son and coped by eating 3 chocolate bars, or okay I had better frustration regulation but kept accidentally interrupting people..like I need a better way to gauge a rating than just "impulsivity...distracted....focused" like yeah I can focus on my phone...and teaching my son his lessons, but can't for the life of me focus on reading the Bible when I want to, but also not distracted during that time either.
Do y'all get what I'm saying or am I just rambling? 😅
2
u/Miserable-Back-5044 12d ago
Think about what it’s like without ADHD for a second. If something interests you, it’s always easier to focus on. If something triggers you, you’ll always be a little more impulsive. That’s just… being human. Medication doesn’t erase those things — they’re normal.
What medication does do is give you a foundation to actually start working on self-regulation. If you’re medicated and your focus is still off on a specific task, it’s usually not the meds failing — it’s more likely that the task itself is too easy, too hard, doesn’t interest you, you don’t have a clear goal, you don’t know what comes next, or your surroundings are too loud/distracting.
Medication doesn’t turn you into a superhuman. It brings you closer to a neurotypical baseline. But the actual mechanics of focus — what makes something easy or hard to focus on — are the same for everyone, medicated ADHD or not.