First week on meds I felt like I was playing a calm person. When did it start feeling like you?

Feeling in the first week as if you are playing a calm person is a sense-of-self question, not a clock that reaches this is you on a fixed day. There is no universal week count for when medication starts feeling like yourself, and some people never like the calm. The NHS notes that methylphenidate can take a few weeks to work fully, that finding the right type and dose takes time, and that once the medicine is right it usually starts working within 30 to 60 minutes of a dose. If the change is persistent, distressing, or affecting daily functioning, bring a brief timeline to the prescribing clinician rather than changing the dose independently. References: https://www.nhs.uk/medicines/methylphenidate-adults/about-methylphenidate-for-adults/ https://www.nhs.uk/medicines/methylphenidate-adults/side-effects-of-methylphenidate-for-adults/ https://www.caddra.ca/wp-content/uploads/Canadian-ADHD-Practice-Guidelines-4.1-January-6-2021.pdf https://www.camh.ca/en/professionals/treating-conditions-and-disorders/adult-adhd/adult-adhd---treatment/adult-adhd---pharmacotherapy

First week I felt like I was acting calm in a play. It did not flip to this is me on a calendar date I would hand to anyone else. After the type and dose were adjusted over follow-ups, the calm felt less costume-like for me, but that was my timeline, not a rule. I told my prescriber when it still felt put on. Some people in my group never liked the quiet. Only my experience. I did not change the dose myself to speed it up.

I never got to feeling like myself on that calm. I felt polite and distant, like I was playing a person I did not recognise, and waiting more weeks did not fix it. I contacted my prescriber and said I did not feel like myself rather than assuming it would become me later. They did not promise a week when it would click. Just what happened to me. I did not stop the medicine on my own.