I’m not looking for anyone to condone drug abuse by posting this and I know my choices are not justifiable. But here we go.

A few times (maybe 2-3) in the past four months, I have taken Concerta that was left over from an old Rx (not mine). Yeah, it came with a buzz as expected and that was fun and all, but what I really noticed was that it completely diminished my depression and anxiety symptoms. I was confident, energetic, experienced pleasure doing things that haven’t brought me joy in a long time. I wanted to leave the house and enjoy life. I didn’t want to bury my sadness in food and alcohol. Even when the buzz wore off, I had no crash, I remained upbeat. It was a small, ordinary dose the times I took it. One 36mg pill. Nothing more. Nowhere near OD territory, which I know would seriously skew the effects and not give me a real idea of how a normal dose of Concerta would work. 

Is Concerta ever prescribed for depression and anxiety? It completely took the edge off. I don’t even know if it worked so well because it was a one-off thing that I did and if, with prolonged use, the effects would diminish. I want to do a bit of research before asking a doctor about this, mainly because I don’t want to look like a drug chaser. I just really want to know if it is ever prescribed to treat depression and anxiety. 

Current treatment: I take Lamotrigine and Citalopram, both for depression, and Gabapentin for insomnia. My regular doctor doesn’t know anything about treating mental health and will basically leave it up to me to figure out what drugs might work. I do have an eval scheduled with a specialist to help figure out my meds. Citalopram I take because I’ve been on it for 23 years and don’t even know if it works anymore. Lamotrigine I take because my sister recommended it because it works for her and I told my doctor that. Gabapentin I take because my doctor prescribed Ambien and it didn’t work, even in high doses, so we needed an alternative. Doctor has yet to prescribe anxiety meds because he wants to get me sleeping first to determine if the anxiety goes away when sleep is achieved (PS It hasn’t).