Hello,

I'm 22, and in good health. I'm not sure if this has been happening the entire time I've been taking Concerta, but at the very least, I just started to notice this. I am on 36mg/day and have been on this med for the past 2 months. I may just be anxious, but it seems that my heart is beating real fast while I'm on my medication. It is usually around 120BPM until my dose wears off. Is this dangerous? I will talk to my doctor about this, but my appointment isn't for more than a month. I just wanted to hear your opinions on this. I haven't tried exercising while my resting/walking around heart rate is 120bpm. My blood pressure is in the "Normal High" range. Thanks!

I'm not a medical person, but that seems pretty high for someone your age. I'd recommend you call your doctor and get his opinion before your next appointment. You don't want to mess around with your health.

Scattered

A higher HR isn't harmfull in and of itself - as long as it isn't tachycardia - a racing heart. The CNS effects of Ritalin do wane somewhat with time, as your body gets used to it. What are you comparing your heart rate to? What is your normal resting HR? HR will depend very much on what you are doing at the time, so if you are going to compare (HR on ritalin and without), make sure the circumstances are the same. 120 isn't necessarily that high - depending on what you are doing when you take it.
In my own case, I estimate that stimulants increase my resting HR by about 20 BPM. I don't think it makes a difference to my excersizing heart rate - that seems pretty similar for similar activity levels with or without stimulants. I keep track of this stuff with a HR monitor that I use when I excersize - it's great for tracking the frequency and intensity of my workouts, which I download to my computer.

Mine's noticeably higher, I'm on 54 and starting 72 in 2 days.

The first day I took 54, I was at the end of an edge-of-your-seat project deadline (the kind ADDers are supposed to love) and already stressed. I swore my heart was going to jump out of my mouth that day.

Stimulants increase blood pressure and resting heart rate slightly, but 120 bpm is too high. 120bpm is considered tachycardia range. Keep an eye on things for the next couple weeks, and if the heart rate does not calm, you may need to switch medications.

When I first started taking the stims my HR was around 90 bpm and bp was 160/100. After around a month though, the HR dropped to 70-80 bpm and bp around 125/80. These sympathetic effects should be transient, but if they are not, the long term effects can be damaging, and you will need to address it.