Did this happen to anyone while taking ritalin? I know that one of the side effects is aneroxia but for me its just the opposite. I constantly want to eat and I can't stop! I hope this goes away with time because I don't want to gain weight while taking my medication.

Did this happen to anyone while taking ritalin? I know that one of the side effects is aneroxia but for me its just the opposite. I constantly want to eat and I can't stop! I hope this goes away with time because I don't want to gain weight while taking my medication.I believe one of the side effects they ask you to watch out for while taking any stimulant is loss of appetite. Loss of appetite is not the same as anorexia, ok?

I would believe its possible to eat more on the proper ADD meds, stimulant or not, if you had actually been forgetting to eat, or were too distracted, or were procrastinating and never got around to eating.

I am not one of the members here with pharmacological knowledge of ADD meds, but there are many here who may be able to shed more light on this question. Speaking strictly for myself, a person recovered from true anorexia? I find that the proper dose of my meds does not effect my appetite at all.

You would probably do best to ask your psydoc about this.

Anorexia is a loss of apetite that can lead to severe emaciation. I lookd up ritalin in my drug book I have for school and one of the side effects is anorexia. Im in nursing school and the term anorexia is used to describe loss of apetite. Not trying to offend you or anything

Eating disorder - anorexia

Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by refusal to maintain a minimally accepted body weight, intense fear of weight gain, and distorted body image. Inadequate calorie intake or excessive energy expenditure results in severe weight loss (see also bulimia and intentionalweight loss).

Causes, incidence, and risk factors

The exact cause of anorexia nervosa is not known, but social attitudes towards body appearance and family factors are believed to play a role in its development. The condition usually occurs in adolescence or young adulthood. It is more common in women, affecting 1-2% of the female population and only 0.1-0.2% of males.

Anorexia nervosa is seen mainly in Caucasian women who are high academic achievers and have a goal-oriented family or personality. Some experts have suggested that conflicts within a family may contribute to this eating disorder. It is thought that anorexia is a way for a child to draw attention away from marital problems, for example, and bring the family back together.

Other psychologists have suggested that anorexia may be an attempt by young women to gain control and separate from their mothers. The causes, however, are still not well understood.

Symptoms




weight loss of 15% or greater below the expected weight
inappropriate use of laxatives, enemas, or diuretics (water pills) in an effort to lose weight
self-imposed food intake restrictions, often hidden
absence of menstruation
skeletal muscle atrophy
loss of fatty tissue
low blood pressure
dental cavities may be present with self-induced vomiting
blotchy or yellow skin
depression may be present in addition to the eating disorder
most individuals with anorexia nervosa refuse to recognize that they have an eating disorder (denial)
Signs and tests

Diagnosis is based upon ruling out other causes of endocrine, metabolic, digestive, and central nervous system abnormalities to explain the weight loss. This could include celiac disease, inflammatory bowel disease, Addison's disease, and many other possible conditions.

Tests that may be used to assess cause of or damage from weight loss include:



chem-20
urinalysis
thyroid function tests
other blood and urine tests
ECG
This disease may also alter the results of the LH response to GnRH test.

I suppose it might be possible for Ritalin to induce an anorectic state. I myself used no drugs to maintain an abnormally low body weight while anorectic.

If one is using a stimulant properly to treat ADD, then one is not attempting to lose weight and while a great loss of weight may be considered anorexia? I believe to consider an eating disorder to be a side effect is a tad bit over the top. Might develop as one goes through treatment, treatment may uncover a previously anorexic behavior desire, I do not know.

I would talk to your doctor about both issues, the increase in appetite and the fear of gaining weight.

I think different fields of study use terminology slightly differently. I especially noticed that in my recent criminal justice classes. sometimes it is just the particular author and how they word things. It is very annoying and I have even written notes in the margins pointing out the discrepancy so that the next person that buys the text book will see it. I brought it up to the professor and he dismissed it saying that medical stuff doesn't really fall under a sociological perspective.

If you have had a history of eating disorders then supposedly you aren't supposed to be prescribed wellbutrin because it can cause anorexia. That is how I have seen it worded too. Now I think that is asnine but what do I know?

What I know about having the opposite side effect - if you had anxiety about getting fat and the medication relieves anxiety for you then you are going to give into eating when you wouldn't before. That is what happened to me with prozac. The other thing that I have noticed with myself totally unrelated to medication is that if I have an upset stomach I tend to process it as being hungry or I try to make it go away with food. This I know from seven pregnancies. I always envied those people that would lose weight the first three months cause I weren't one of 'em.:p

Hmm well regardless of the drugs side effect that is supposed to decrease hunger its having the opposite effect with me. I seem to find though that if I eat while taking the ritalin it doesn't make me as hungry. I just started taking ritalin last weekend and it was my time of the month this week so that may have had something to do with the increased eating lol. I'll see how I am with eating this week.

I don't really have anxiety about gaining weight. I weigh 138 and I really like how I look and I don't starve myself at all. I eat very unhealthy but I have a high metabolism. The thing that will make me upset though is if I gain weight then I won't fit into my jeans that I bought this year that all cost over 100 dollars (crazy I know, but I was going through my expensive jeans phase). I just like how I Look and I don't want it to change... I dont want to have the effect of not eating from meds, or from eating more from meds.

But anyways... we'll see how this week goes I Guess

well if the drug increases your metabolism at all then your body might be compensating by being hungry. I know that if I managed to lose any weight it doesn't take long for my body to figure it out and the fat cells start screaming to be refilled.

when I first started taking adderal and wellbutrin I had been pretty strict with my eating and managing to slowly take off accumulated baby weight. I discovered that while on that medication I could cheat and not gain. I think there was a month that I ate mostly chocolate covered cherries and vanilla coke. It would have been a perfect opportunity for me to reach my goal even faster but I'm rebellious. At some point it hit a wall and the weight started creeping back on. I'm stable now and only eat garbage like that during the pms time but it doesn't matter if my meds are increased it doesn't affect my weight anymore.

i am new to ritalin. once i start eating i do feel like i cant stop. then other days i dont feel hungry at all. havent noticed weight change (yet).

Today was my first day on Ritalin.

I actually found myself feeling more hungry during the day too, although at the same time I didn't really feel like eating. Strange, I know. We'll see how it goes tomorrow.

Oh, and as far as the terminology goes...:
anorexia = loss of appetite
anorexia nervosa = eating disorder

Did this happen to anyone while taking ritalin? I know that one of the side effects is aneroxia but for me its just the opposite. I constantly want to eat and I can't stop! I hope this goes away with time because I don't want to gain weight while taking my medication.OMG! I have gained about 5 kgs this year! The medication certainly deminishes my appetite, so I eat like a sparrow during the day, but when it wears off, OMG, I am ravenous...I need to eat better :(

I'm on day 4 of Ritalin and have gained 2 lbs already ... I don't like this at all esp since I'm suddenly hungry all the time

Hi Suzz- when you are hungry what do you eat?

I am a past binger on anything sweet, but now on Ritalin when I am hungry I want cans of chix., hard boiled eggs and fiber cereal. Weird huh:confused:

Maybe your body is trying to adjust to the decrease of Adderall and addition of Ritalin to your system. Are you eating before or after you take your doses?

I do better with the appetite suppression if I take my dose on an empty stomach and then eat protein an hour or more later. I do this for all 3 doses, it tends to help.

Hang in there;)

There is anorexia, and then there is anorexia nervosa. Anorexia is a commonly-used medical term for loss of appetite, not necessarily intentional or related to a behavioral disorder.

I am currently taking Ritalin for ADHD, and I also have BPII, of which I also take other meds as well. In lew of things, of my past, for years I struggled with an eating disorder- both bulimia and anorexia nervosa.

When I was anorexic I had a huge fear of gaining weight and wanted to be 'emaculantely thin'- and thought that being that thin, was acutally normal. Though it is not. However, now that I'm in recovery, I know the difference.

I gained 35 pounds from one of the other meds I take for BPII. It messed up my metabolism and if I looked at food- I gained a pound! It would be nice to lose some weight, but if I don't, at least I am not how I used to be of when I looked like I did years ago and I am fine with where I am right now today. Still healthy.

So, here I sit, taking Ritalin now, and the medication has me with no appetite whatsoever. However, I am not trying to starve myself. Just eat right and very healthy. And, due to the other medication, which must be intereacting, I have not lost any weight which must mean my metabolism is really messed up.

Other than today, of which I had a emotionally bad day with my kids, and 'ate chocolate due to being stressed', I have not even wanted to eat chocolate. No desire period. That is odd since I love chocolate and junk food.

Bettyboop92

There is anorexia, and then there is anorexia nervosa. Anorexia is a commonly-used medical term for loss of appetite, not necessarily intentional or related to a behavioral disorder.Actually the term "anorexia" is frequently used in medicine to refer to "anorexia nervosa" intentionally: http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=2268

I've often heard the term "anorectic" used in medicine to refer to things like medications for example that curb the appetite.
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