I've just returned from my second appointment, it was with a Specialist Nurse and she explained that the appointments will be roughly every six weeks with her and the consultant alternately.
As expected in my previous post, which I note was written longer ago than I thought, the effects of the Concerta XL continued to be less obvious. I still didn't nap in the middle of the day but everything else had come back pretty much to how I was before by this last weekend. I was feeling stressed at little things, disorganised, weary and irritable, I haven't been to the gym in two weeks, I forgot to order my tax disc until the middle of last night, I was snacking constantly and not eating lunch properly, I'm completely addicted to flapjacks, lots of things that just feel like normal and is very disappointing.
However...
It turns out that my experience is extremely common with this medication and it's actually very good news. The fact is that the Concerta XL worked, it helped me function and be a better parent. The nurse said that the dose of 34mg is just too low for an adult with my height and weight and now it's all a matter of trial and error. My dose starting tomorrow will be 52mg and I will continue with that until my next appointment in six weeks time. If the same thing happens, if I'm great for a few weeks and then feel it's not working by the end the dose will go up again, if it works and stays working it will stay there and if there's any weird side effects we'll cut it back down and think again about treatment but I should in no way be disheartened. She was very positive that once the dose is right, it will work effectively.
So if anyone out there is like me, has started a few weeks ago and feels like it's stopped working after it was going great don't give up, just keep going and be honest when you have your next appointment.
Monday 27 February 2012
Tuesday 14 February 2012
Higher Dose?
I'm just back from a lovely holiday in York where we had lots of fun at the National Railway Museum during Wizard Week, riding on the Hogwarts Express and all that and I have to say I feel quite weary today! I've felt over the last few days that the effects of the Concerta XL have been less than in the initial few weeks. I'm not falling asleep in the middle of the day or anything, but my 'can't be bothered' feelings are seeming ever more prevalent and I feel like I'm slipping into old ways.
Today in particular has been very up and down. Some moments I just want to sit with a cup of tea and eat crisps and then I seem to be getting bursts of energy to put the washing on, tidy a corner or do something else vaguely useful, but it is a bit odd. I'm quite achey as well, which may be down to sleeping on a different bed or general aches and pains after an unusual schedule over the holiday but even now when I'm typing my left hand has already started to ache after just these couple of paragraphs, it's like a general lethargy.
I'm having a review soon, I think it's next week, and if things continue to be up and down I'll definitely discuss it with the doctor. I know that the 'honeymoon' period is over and in all fairness you'd probably pop if you stayed at that level of energy and enthusiasm but if this is the level now that my body is used to it I wonder if I need a higher dose.
I've just noticed I'm a little shaky too and I was last night so it could also be that I'm coming down with a bug, my daughter was off school just before the holiday with 'flu' symptoms but it only last a couple of days so with any luck that's what's going on now and the Concerta is masking the full impact of it. I guess I'll find out tonight, but seeing as my parents have my three little ones for Valentine's Day I still intend to enjoy it!
Right, time to get back to my latest hobby, learning to use a sewing machine! No sofa is safe from additional cushions at the moment and sadly my spending is still evident in the crazy amount of random fabric lying around, ho hum, can't have everything!
Today in particular has been very up and down. Some moments I just want to sit with a cup of tea and eat crisps and then I seem to be getting bursts of energy to put the washing on, tidy a corner or do something else vaguely useful, but it is a bit odd. I'm quite achey as well, which may be down to sleeping on a different bed or general aches and pains after an unusual schedule over the holiday but even now when I'm typing my left hand has already started to ache after just these couple of paragraphs, it's like a general lethargy.
I'm having a review soon, I think it's next week, and if things continue to be up and down I'll definitely discuss it with the doctor. I know that the 'honeymoon' period is over and in all fairness you'd probably pop if you stayed at that level of energy and enthusiasm but if this is the level now that my body is used to it I wonder if I need a higher dose.
I've just noticed I'm a little shaky too and I was last night so it could also be that I'm coming down with a bug, my daughter was off school just before the holiday with 'flu' symptoms but it only last a couple of days so with any luck that's what's going on now and the Concerta is masking the full impact of it. I guess I'll find out tonight, but seeing as my parents have my three little ones for Valentine's Day I still intend to enjoy it!
Right, time to get back to my latest hobby, learning to use a sewing machine! No sofa is safe from additional cushions at the moment and sadly my spending is still evident in the crazy amount of random fabric lying around, ho hum, can't have everything!
Tuesday 7 February 2012
Settled down
I would say everything has settled down nicely but there have been a couple of mornings where I forgot to take the tablets first thing and it definitely affects my ability to sleep. It's was 12 o'clock before I took them one morning and I was up until around 2.30am completely awake and busy messing around on the computer.
Not sure how to get around the remembering to take them problem, once they've kicked in my mind is clear and my memory is much better but it doesn't help the morning problem! I might try having them by the bed with a glass of water to take as soon as I wake up, at the moment they're in a cupboard above the kettle and if I'm in a rush I don't necessarily have a cup of tea.
I found my mood was a little off as well on the days where I took them late, and again a little headachy so consistency is clearly important to my body.
I hope someone out there is finding this useful, and if there's someone just starting down the same road I hope you find it helps you the way it's helping me. My house actually looks very different, it's not that I'm tidier necessarily, it's that I've tackled big jobs that have been bugging me for ages, there are some fairly dramatic changes in the lounge, bathroom, playroom and the kids rooms have been sorted, clothes taken to the charity shop etc, it's pretty cool. I think soon I'll be at the point where I can look at the day to day tidying and then we'll see what kind of difference it makes. It would be lovely if a month or two from now I'm actually happy to invite people over!
I'm off now as it's my 8th Wedding Anniversary and we're going to go out for the afternoon! Until next time...
Not sure how to get around the remembering to take them problem, once they've kicked in my mind is clear and my memory is much better but it doesn't help the morning problem! I might try having them by the bed with a glass of water to take as soon as I wake up, at the moment they're in a cupboard above the kettle and if I'm in a rush I don't necessarily have a cup of tea.
I found my mood was a little off as well on the days where I took them late, and again a little headachy so consistency is clearly important to my body.
I hope someone out there is finding this useful, and if there's someone just starting down the same road I hope you find it helps you the way it's helping me. My house actually looks very different, it's not that I'm tidier necessarily, it's that I've tackled big jobs that have been bugging me for ages, there are some fairly dramatic changes in the lounge, bathroom, playroom and the kids rooms have been sorted, clothes taken to the charity shop etc, it's pretty cool. I think soon I'll be at the point where I can look at the day to day tidying and then we'll see what kind of difference it makes. It would be lovely if a month or two from now I'm actually happy to invite people over!
I'm off now as it's my 8th Wedding Anniversary and we're going to go out for the afternoon! Until next time...
Wednesday 1 February 2012
Joined a gym and everything!
Checking in again today, I'd say any negative side effects have completely gone now so I'm very pleased, I've got an appointment for review in a couple of weeks but I'll need to request a repeat prescription before then so I'm hoping my GP won't have an issue with that. The dose seems okay, I don't feel particularly different but I'm still managing to achieve more than usual so I think that's a good thing!
I joined a gym over the weekend after a free day on Friday and so far I managed to go on Monday afternoon and this morning and still have time to get the other things on my To Do list. I find I'm making a list every day, usually the night before and it really takes the pressure off. I'm also able to cope with the idea that there may be something I need to do that can wait a couple of days until it's a sensible time to do it, whereas usually I'd just have to get it done even if it was way out of my way, or would make me late for something.
The gym is great, I've got a little 20 minute playlist on my iPod shuffle which is perfect for the treadmill and stops me pushing things to far too fast as my level of fitness is not great. I tried a Pilates class this morning and it wasn't the beginner one, I feel perhaps that may have been too ambitious and I clearly need to try much harder at getting my stomach muscles to work!
The housework is coming on too, still just little changes in most cases but I have plans which is a good start and there are subtle differences around the house that join with the big occasional changes. I'm also enjoying playing with the kids more, and I'm not stressing about school assemblies and other random things that come up as I am remembering things much better.
I will keep posting here to update you all but there's no need to do it daily unless anything happens, what was important was to give an honest overview of starting medication which I hope I've done. We're only two weeks in so there's plenty of time to find that it stops working or that I need a higher dose etc but for now, I'm feeling very positive about the experience.
I joined a gym over the weekend after a free day on Friday and so far I managed to go on Monday afternoon and this morning and still have time to get the other things on my To Do list. I find I'm making a list every day, usually the night before and it really takes the pressure off. I'm also able to cope with the idea that there may be something I need to do that can wait a couple of days until it's a sensible time to do it, whereas usually I'd just have to get it done even if it was way out of my way, or would make me late for something.
The gym is great, I've got a little 20 minute playlist on my iPod shuffle which is perfect for the treadmill and stops me pushing things to far too fast as my level of fitness is not great. I tried a Pilates class this morning and it wasn't the beginner one, I feel perhaps that may have been too ambitious and I clearly need to try much harder at getting my stomach muscles to work!
The housework is coming on too, still just little changes in most cases but I have plans which is a good start and there are subtle differences around the house that join with the big occasional changes. I'm also enjoying playing with the kids more, and I'm not stressing about school assemblies and other random things that come up as I am remembering things much better.
I will keep posting here to update you all but there's no need to do it daily unless anything happens, what was important was to give an honest overview of starting medication which I hope I've done. We're only two weeks in so there's plenty of time to find that it stops working or that I need a higher dose etc but for now, I'm feeling very positive about the experience.
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