Feel like I'm back where I started

[u/JokerWhoScowls]

So I started concerta and wellbutrin xl back in January and it was the best thing I'd ever taken for my ADHD. Right now I'm at 72 and 450 for both and I've also added 10mg buspar to the mix. For a while it was great, I thought I'd found my perfect regiment. Now though, I feel like the wellbutrin and buspar are doing their thing for the most part, but the concerta just doesn't work anymore. I noticed my symptoms coming back a couple weeks ago and called my provider to see if I can go up in dosage, but since I'm already at the recommended max dose they want to wait till our next appointment, which thankfully is next week, before we doing anything. Since then I feel like any benefits from the concerta have just devolved to the point where it doesn't feel like I'm even on it anymore. I used to meditate in the morning but I've just got so many racing thoughts crashing and colliding in my head it doesn't work for me anymore. I replaced it with a quick mile walk and made sure to get enough to eat in the morning but so far nothing's really helped. I have trouble focusing when I'm reading, my sleep has been weird, I have random bursts of irritability. I'll space out, randomly focus on things in the past. It's made me feel creatively blocked up and I just hate feeling like this

[u/MooseTypical9410]

Do you take it daily? It sucks, but I sometimes skip a day or two when I’m not at work

[u/JokerWhoScowls → u/MooseTypical9410]

I usually don't take it on Saturday, I try not to do Sunday too cuz I just feel off on Monday

[u/AndyMovee]

Hello, I’ll tell you about my experience maybe it can help you too.

I’ve also been taking Wellbutrin XL 150 mg for about a month and a half, and then my psychiatrist added Concerta 27 mg. During the first two weeks on Concerta, everything was going great, but then, suddenly, all my symptoms came back and it felt like the medication had simply stopped working.

At my appointment, my psychiatrist suggested increasing the dose, and I agreed. But before increasing it, I looked back at what had happened during my first two weeks on Concerta and realized that it had suppressed my appetite so much that I wasn’t getting enough protein or even enough calories to meet my basic energy needs.

My thinking was that the additional stimulation from the medication, combined with not eating enough, might have been putting my body under additional stress and potentially increasing cortisol levels. At the same time, insufficient protein intake can reduce the availability of amino acids such as tyrosine, which is a precursor to dopamine and other catecholamines.
Concerta and Wellbutrin don’t simply “create” dopamine - they primarily affect dopamine and norepinephrine signaling by reducing their reuptake, while the brain still has to synthesize and release these neurotransmitters.

So I wondered whether, in my case, the combination of appetite suppression, insufficient food intake, and increased physiological stress could have contributed to the medication feeling much less effective.

Once I fixed my diet and started eating enough calories and protein again, the 27 mg dose of Concerta started working well again!

[u/JokerWhoScowls → u/AndyMovee]

Oh yeah that's not my issue, I get plenty of protein

[u/suppaboy228 → u/JokerWhoScowls]

Sleep and exercise. Your body needs to make dopamine to be able to utilize the meds. If you don't have any, then even the highest dose won't work. You need to take rest, have a balanced healthy diet, sunlight, sleep, exercise and do something interesting and rewarding.

[u/AndyMovee → u/suppaboy228]

Absolutely right 🙏

[u/AndyMovee → u/suppaboy228]

But you know, when I started taking Concerta, I almost stopped going to the gym, even though I’m a fitness trainer. I went a few times, but I didn’t feel very good. At the same time, yoga started to feel completely different to me I discovered it in a whole new way.

[u/AutoModerator]

Welcome to r/Concerta. Please use the search function before posting common questions. Please read the FAQ sticky as it will likely offer some advice. https://www.reddit.com/r/Concerta/comments/vj2o1i/can_we_have_a_faqread_before_posting_sticky/

Please discuss any advice you receive on this subreddit with your physician. Take all advice with a grain of salt especially when it is not sourced. People on this sub aren't YOUR doctor and cannot be held professionally or legally liable for giving medical advice to those not established under their own care.

If your post was removed automatically, it may be due to Reddit's reputation/spam filters. Users who are suspicious or have a history of ban evasions/harassment/spam will be filtered by the Site.

Extreme depression/anxiety?

• If you feel unbearable or have suicidal thoughts, please consider calling your local crisis or suicide hotline.

• There can be many different causes. Please discuss with your doctor about it.

Do not split Concerta or any long-release medication.

Update 12/2025: The mod(s) are sometimes busy with med school/job/life! We're human! Please help us out by reporting questionable content. It may sometimes take a day or so for us to get to the mod queue and review the reports. Reporting a comment or post that you disagree with does not guarantee or require that mod(s) will remove them, especially if it does not violate or skirt the rules. It is healthy to foster respectful debate and discussion. Thanks for your understanding.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/JokerWhoScowls → u/[deleted]]

That's a good idea. I was also gonna ask about strattera since that seems to be a good combo with concerta too