Concerta - Day 1

This morning, I started Concerta, 18mg, at 7am. It takes around an hour to kick in. I found this fascinating explanation of how this complicated, extended-release pill works. You might need to read it a few times. Brilliant!

I haven't felt much of anything yet. I might be feeling more focused; I'm not sure. Of course, last night was one of the worst nights of sleep I've had in a while. Before bed, I drank more than 8oz of water mixed with casein protein to help rebuild muscle after last night's workout. Bad idea. I woke up three times to pee, from 2-4am. I tend not to sleep well, anyway, when I'm nervous about something, as I was last night about starting Concerta, so I don't expect to see much benefit from Concerta today.

Oh, I decided to take a low 1g dose of piracetam around 8:30am, as a precautionary measure. I've read that suddenly stopping piracetam can lead to headaches. And, as a rule, I think it's best to stop anything gradually but also as quickly as possible. Also, again, Medscape shows no adverse effects of combining piracetam with Concerta. Yes, I realize that I have not attended med school and that self-treatment can be harmful, but I have also taken a lot of time to educate myself about both substances and I am doing what I think and feel is best for my body and brain and emotional stability on a Friday with poor sleep.

I will continue to post any observations I have about the effects of Concerta today. My guess is that I won't feel much, but who knows? It might just work!

Update at 11:17am
So far, I've noticed:

• More attention to background noise
• Slightly less focus
• More sensitivity to sound

My guess is that the first two are symptoms of poor sleep. I could use a nap. But I suspect that I might feel even more tired without Concerta. I feel somewhat more alert than I would expect to be.

Sensitivity to sound is unexpected, although this could also be an effect of poor sleep that I've never noticed before.