Okay, so I'm fairly newly diagnosed and taking 5mg tablets of Ritalin. I started on 5mg a day and have been increasing the dose relatively slowly...probably not as slowly as the psychologist I saw would have liked, but it's slow enough for me! (I'm in a real pressure-cooker situation at school.) I took 5mg a day for a few, and then increased it to 10mgs a day for a few, then 20mgs for a few, 25mgs briefly, and tried 30mgs for the first time today.

And if you want to know why I keep going up, it's because: no noticable benefit at all. Still have immense trouble starting things (my biggest downfall) and somewhat better focus, but not enough to be worth taking the pills. I also have been tolerating it very well so far - I seem to have insomnia if I take it too late, so I'm going to be careful about that, but otherwise, NO side effects. No bad reactions whatsoever, not even loss of appetite. I feel great! So I haven't been concerned.

I took my last dose (15mgs, I took one dose that size this morning) 3 1/2 hours ago. Everything was fine, I think, up until about 20-30 minutes ago, and I started noticing that if I even stand up with any speed I get a really heaving, pounding pulse. Not really fast, but I can feel it through my whole body, and am somewhat dizzy/breathless. My throat feels slightly clogged/sore, but that's been going on for a while now...probably before I started taking Ritalin, so I'm not sure it's related.

How worried should I be? I don't exactly feel like I'm going to drop dead, but it just feels weird, so I'm a little scared. The sheet that came with my prescription said "contact your doctor immediately if you get [any of the symptoms I described above]," but I don't know what it means by immediately. Does that mean go to the hospital? Or does it mean call my doctor in the morning and ask what to do with my meds?

Or what?

Help?

:confused:

Call your doctor in the morning. You might also want to have your blood pressure checked.


ME :D

It means you should call your doc.

It depends on how severe it is and how worried you are how fast you need to take care of it.

Heart racing and the like is common, but the sore throat (as far as I know) isn't a side effect. Could you be coming down with a cold or flu? The heart pounding could be related to that.

I've had severe sinus problems all week and it sure feels like Adderall is screwing me up, but it isn't Adderall's fault. It's my allergies.

I'd call your doc & get some advice. If they want you to come in immediately, do that. If they think it can wait, make an appointment....

Well, whatever this bout is, it doesn't seem as bad as it was twenty minutes or so ago.

Sore/clogged throat is not a side effect per se, but it could be an infection (for the first) or an allergic reaction (for the second), according to the sheet I have. But then, I do think it's just a persistant bug, as you said, Barb. Paranoia, though!

My doctor's office will be closed at this hour, and over the weekend, but I suppose I will call on Monday.

Thanks, guys!

>I started noticing that if I even stand up with any speed I get a really heaving, pounding pulse. Not really fast, but I can feel it through my whole body, and am somewhat dizzy/breathless.

I got something rather like that after I suddenly quit a strong hayfever medication with either (I forget) epinephrine or norepinephrine (adrenaline or noradrenaline).

I eventually decided it was orthostatic intolerance caused by adrenocortical insufficency, that is (I think) the medication had stopped me producing my own adrenaline.

Now I'm not a doc, and I might have misremembered something here, and I do recall I ended up passing out in the corridor of an NHS hospital (who couldn't find anything wrong with me but never checked for adrenocortical insufficiency).

When I looked it up later I recall finding out they should probably have given me a shot of adrenaline. If I am right about what I had, it should have been considered such an emergency that a shot should have been given while I was still in triage. Its serious.

When you doc tests your heart rate and blood pressure, they do it with you sitting down. Let them do that. Then stand up right away and make them check again. They don't do it here, but with your symptoms I would consider it essential. I would also consider it essential you get medically assessed this instant.

Seeing as Ritalin has adrenaline like effects, I think its unlikely you have what I had - in fact the exact opposite would seem reasonable, but still, I'm uneasy about it all.

I think you may have taken an overdose, and I think this is an emergency.

Hmmm.

I still feel sort of "fuzzy" inside, but I just checked my pulse after sitting calmly for a bit and then standing up very fast....I get a brief, slight increase in pulse rate (which seems normal to me) and no heavy pounding now.

So I think I'm okay...

Since my mother has the car out somewhere tonight, the only way I could get immediate medical attention is if I call an ambulance to come get me. I'm not really sure I want to do that when it seems "over." But I will continue to monitor things.

I should think you are OK now then, but I wouldn't do 30mg again! Also don't eat anything for a while. If you do, it will kickstart your digestion and any medication sat in your stomach doing nothing will end up in your bloodstream fast.

*hair twirl* Okay, new question! Should I just discontinue taking it at all, or drop the dose to what was a non-issue before?

Hi,

I've seen a few similar stories -- usually accompanied by anxiety too, in that period.

Pretty much all of the cases that I have seen, were solved by trialling dexedrine/adderall.

Just a suggestion ... difficult to offer any solid advice.

The time-period that you are quoting is the point at which standard formulation dexedrine and ritalin begin to lose effectiveness ... from my experience I experience around approx 30 mins more 'on-time' with dexedrine ie 3 1/4 hrs with ritalin and 3 3/4 hrs with dexedrine.

If you're describing an issue with rebound (the drug winding down its efficacy) - there's always the longer acting formulations; personally, my answer was spacing D. at 3 1/2 hr intervals, as not only did this kill the rebound period -- but also, my feelings on rebound on D. vs rebound from R. -- is that D. rebound is less harsh ... smoother ... less noticeable.

Also -- my response to ritalin involved problems with rebound, problems sleeping and problems with efficacy -- these issues were eradicated completely with dexedrine, which I do like.
Anyhow ... here's a thread where I first addressed these observations ...

Ritalin-ADHD vs Dexedrine-ADD Inattentive?
http://www.addforums.com/forums/showthread.php?p=146463

PS. D. is $c-h-e-a-p$ :-) !!!

SA.