Metadate causing extreme fatigue

[Chuck Connors]

My nurse practitioner prescribed Vyvanse for me after I was diagnosed with ADHD about 4 months ago. I had very negative side effects with Vyvanse, including insomnia, extreme irritability, hyper-focus, dry mouth, loss of appetite, etc.. He then switched me over to Ritalin, which worked fairly well. He had a problem with my insurance company with approval on the Ritalin dosage, so while he was working with the insurance company on that issue, he switched me from Ritalin to Metadate CD. He explained that Ritalin and Metadate is the same medicine, just a different delivery system. As I've found out from a pharmacist, Ritalin releases quicker initially whereas Metadate releases slower. The Metadate has caused extreme fatigue and tiredness in me. Even though I was getting 7 to 8 hours of sleep every night, I could barely stay awake during daytime meetings. Coffee (yes, w/ caffeine) didn't help one bit in combating the fatigue the Metadate seemed to be causing. I had suspected that the pharmacist may have made a mistake and possibly gave me a sedative instead. I had 2 pharmacists at 2 different pharmacies confirm that the Metadate capsules given to me were in fact Metadate. It wasn't until I googled the words Metadate and fatigue did I find out that fatigue is a side effect of Metadate in about 5% of patients. I just find it interesting that 4 medical professionals (nurse practitioner and 3 pharmacists) were not aware that fatigue and tiredness is one of the possible side effects of Metadate in a small percentage of patients.

[sarahly818]

Hi there,

I actually am new to Metadate CD as well this will be my third month on it. My DR started me at 20 mg a day but by about 1 I couldn't even keep my eyes open it was awful! Although I was sleeping way better at night which made me want to keep trying the CD version. To help with the fatigue he added a 10 mg instant release Ritalin in the morning with my Metadate, but that didn't really help. Since he has started me on Metadate 20mg in the AM and then a second dose at around noon to try and kill the fatigue. Since I have a really hard time sleeping (tried sleeping pills, sleep therapy, ect with no improvement) and the Metadate seem to help my sleeping we are trying to find a solution to the fatigue side effect, but so far nothing has really helped. Even with the second dose, I feel like I am dragging butt around 2-3PM now. Good luck and keep me updated if you find a solution! I need one too!