This morning I picked up my first prescription for concerta. I ate a somewhat balanced breakfast of cereal with peanut butter (for a protein boost) and held myself to only one cup of coffee. Picking up the prescription the before insurance price for 30 days was $257(surprise!), but the “after insurance” price was only $15 ( also a surprise!)
I didn’t plan it this way but I’m glad I started the medication on a Saturday. I didn’t do any work related things today but my life still has plenty of executive function tests on a weekend. I’m not sure what I expected for day one on Concerta, but I’ll tell you what I felt. Monday will be an equally important test though.
Things I’ve noticed – Day one on Concerta:
I am way more patient with boring tasks. They don’t physically feel painful/irritating.
It’s easier for me to stay on task, and it feels like there are fewer simultaneous trains of thought. This has two side effects. It helps me be more present while doing any one task, and it helps me line up all of the tasks in a row to complete something. Previously it felt like as soon as I did one task I would then have to consider all potential possibilities in the world with equal weight and I would usually not select the second half of whatever I did first.
There’s something to be said about a lower level of pleasure from scrolling Reddit or Instagram. That feels like a dopamine hole I was trying to fill before, and now the hole is either already full, or it just isn’t providing the same dopamine boost. I think it requires more consideration.
I’m not sure if my memory is better. Being more singleminded sure helps with that. Ie if I am standing in the kitchen cooking dinner then it is easy to remember to turn the stove off. Previously I would be in the kitchen cooking dinner scrolling on my phone and thinking about work projects. Things would burn occasionally.
I don’t feel like it has reduced my anxiety that much. The one area where it has helped is that I am more confident that I didn’t skip or forget something, so that takes a little energy back from the constant worry of “am I about to realize I forgot something?”
I had good energy all day long. I usually drink around three glasses of iced coffee, but I read about caffeine blocking dopamine receptors and was also worried about possibly feeling jittery. I only drank one cup of coffee and didn’t feel sleepy. I did crave the taste of coffee all day long though!
All in all I feel like the concerta did it’s job today. I hope it continues to do so, and I hope it helps me do my job come monday.