has anyone noticed a difference with your tolerance since being on ritalin?

i find mine has gone up a whole bunch. i feel like i could just keep going and going compared to the amount i would before, but i also found i want to stop sooner than i normally would. it all seems like a good thing so far!!!

on an unrelated subject... since starting ritalin, (considering you take your dose well before bedtime) do you find you sleep better? i have been sleeping like a baby.

thnks

Mixing alcohol and stimulants is not recommended, because as you say, you feel you can drink more. The trouble is though, while you're not feeling the effects, it is there, so when the stimulants wear off, you suddenly feel the effects of the alcohol. If you're not careful, you risk alcohol poisoning by consuming far too much alcohol than you normally would to feel something.

And yes, stimulants can help people sleep better: it quietens the thoughts.

I skip ritalin in the afternoon if I know I am going out drinking, for the reasons Driver stated.

driver thanks for the advice.

i am quite careful when it comes to "mixing" drugs ( whether it be alcohol or others, and by others i mean only ritalin because i am not the type to want to abuse drugs!) i tend to stop my ritalin at least 6 hours before going to bed, or having alcohol. and yes there is a possibility the meds are still in my system after 6 hours. but i feel the need to have less wine than i normally would if i chose to at the 6 hour period.

i was just wondering what others physical experiences were.

Both are stimulants. And when I recently quit Ritalin, I had an almost overwhelming urge to get drunk. I've never been drunk and don't drink anymore. (!?!)

Both are stimulants. And when I recently quit Ritalin, I had an almost overwhelming urge to get drunk. I've never been drunk and don't drink anymore. (!?!)

Alcohol is primarily a CNS depressant, but at low doses it acts as a GABA agonist (akin to benzos).

Alcohol is primarily a CNS depressant, but at low doses it acts as a GABA agonist (akin to benzos). Double thanks to you Driver, last 2 posts excellent very informative:)

I've never been a big drinker, meaning I've never been a daily drinker. When I do/did drink it's usually around the weekend with friends when I'm out at a pub. It used to be around 10 - 12 drinks in a week.
Before Ritalin I would drink a lot more in one seating, and at a faster pace. I would easily knock back a couple of pints in an hour. Now, I find that my desire to drink is greatly reduced and I often find myself forgetting that I have a drink in front of me. I become engaged in conversation and lose track of time and an hour later I suddenly realise that I have half a pint sitting in front of me.
My rate of consumption in a week has easily been cut in half, if not more. I find that I'm saying "enough" to myself at a much earlier point and I've even begun substituting a glass of water for every second drink.
I think my impaired judgement resulted in my always ordering another round, when asked, before. I find that I'm feeling the affects of alcohol more acutely after medication. I don't withhold the timing of medication either, I take it as I would whether drinking or not.
So far, I'm not alarmed by doing this. In fact I feel a lot better for it. If some sort of evidence of a problem comes to light (like a study or something) then I would have to reconsider my timing...

Ethanol + Methylphenidate => Ethylphenidate:
Enantiomeric (dl)-threo-Ethylphenidate is a potent psychostimulant that acts as both a dopamine reuptake inhibitor and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor, meaning it effectively boosts the levels of the norepinephrine and dopamine neurotransmitters in the brain, by binding to, and partially blocking the transporter proteins that normally remove those monoamines from the synaptic cleft. It is formed when ethanol and methylphenidate are coingested, via hepatic transesterification. Ethylphenidate formation appears to be more common when large quantities of methylphenidate and alcohol are consumed at the same time, such as in non-medical use or overdose scenarios.

my doctor said that i really shouldnt drink alcohol with ritalin, for the reasons the others stated already.

he said, however, that while i am on a normal (non-retard) form of ritalin, i may drink alcohol if at least five hours have passed since i took the last pill.

Alcohol (for me!) deactivates Ritalin.