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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 9 of 9. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by loolot on October 9, 2003, at 17:58:22
I am on my first day of ritalin. I have taken 5 mg in the morning, then another 5 around an hour after, then another 5 in the afternoon. I havent really felt so great on this drug. My ears are really stuffed up and I am very dehydrated.
The wors part, though, is that after about 30 minutes I already feel like I am crashing.
I am so depressed right now, worse than ever.
I am really starting to lose hope about these meds. I didnt like adderall either, ssri's are out, wellbutrin is pooping out. Hated effexor. What the @#^ is next??
I keep telling my doc to put me on Parnate or Deprenyl (selegiline) but he wants to try everything else first.
I am on supplements, cytomel,
I dont know. Does this every end? My life and relationship are falling apart.
Posted by Searchlight on October 9, 2003, at 18:52:42
In reply to first day of ritalin-constantly coming down, posted by loolot on October 9, 2003, at 17:58:22
Hi Loolot
I am sorry you are feeling so badly. I too am trying to get my pdoc to give me Parnate after years on many tricyclics and the SSRIs, including Celexa which is what I am on now. I have tried Provigil because I have zero energy with my depression, but I was on Prozac at the time and after 10 years (which is the only SSRI that I really responded reasonably to) it was pooping out on me and the Provigil just couldn't pick up the slack. I thought about asking for Ritalin this next Wednesday from my pdoc, but now after your post I am not so sure I will do that. My pdoc won't prescribe MAOIs anymore, he thinks they are dangerous. I live in a city of over a million and only a small handful of pdocs will prescribe them here. My Mom is on Nardil and has been for 15+ years, and it has done wonders for her depression (my depression is much worse than hers). I hope you find something soon. I hope I do too.
Please keep us posted, I wish the best for you.
Searchlight
Posted by loolot on October 9, 2003, at 20:15:26
In reply to Re: first day of ritalin-constantly coming down, posted by Searchlight on October 9, 2003, at 18:52:42
> Hi Loolot
> I am sorry you are feeling so badly. I too am trying to get my pdoc to give me Parnate after years on many tricyclics and the SSRIs, including Celexa which is what I am on now. I have tried Provigil because I have zero energy with my depression, but I was on Prozac at the time and after 10 years (which is the only SSRI that I really responded reasonably to)>>Hi Searchlight. Thanks for the kind words.
I took provigil too, it worked great the first day or so but I had a lot of nausea with it. However I like to keep it around in case I work all night and have to be up early! Strange drug.Why do you want to switch from the celexa? No good?
Sounds like we have similar depression situations-are you an atypical? Sleeping and eating a lot when depressed? I am . It stinks.
Ritalin would def. help you not eat, but thats about it, at least for me. It just feels like a "dirty" drug to me.
Have you ever tried Wellbutrin? That is the only AD I have liked. It really worked so well for me. You should give it a try and enjoy some years of happiness before it poops out!!! You have probably tried it already.
I am interested in Parnate and also Deprenyl, and at this point I am just going to order the darn deprenyl and try some low (non dangerous) doses to get a feel for it. If you really felt hopeless you could order an MAOI on the internet but you would have to get the blood tests and watch the diet pretty carefully.
I am surprised that a doc wont give you an MAOI when your mom did so well on one. Did you tell your doc that? They pay attention to that stuff.
Why does your doc think MAOIs are dangerous?
One thing about ritalin, it pretty much works right away so you could try it and you would know after a day or two if it had any potential for you. It might be worth a try.
Sorry this is so long.
I will definitely keep in touch about all of this.
Good luck! Hope we both find something to help!
Posted by Searchlight on October 9, 2003, at 20:48:20
In reply to Re: first day of ritalin-constantly coming down » Searchlight, posted by loolot on October 9, 2003, at 20:15:26
Hi Loolot
Yes! I have had terrible episodes of atypical depression for 25+ years now. You hit the nail on the head! No one else talks much about atypical depression, and I have been furiously researching it on the web with not many results. I have read all of Elizabeth Wurtzel's books- she suffers from terrible atypical depression. While she is very different from me in many way- esp. in her behavior- she is brave to tell her story, and I commend her for that. I have tried to tell many pdocs that I have somewhat bad atypical depression and would like to try an MAOI. Guess I will keep pushing. Celexa does help some, and it is the best I can do at the moment. Prozac was the best so far. Yes, I have tried Wellbutrin, but it (as with Lexapro) nausiated me so badly I had to stop taking it. Loolot we will prevail- I know it. We are strong and on a quest! Thank you so much for the support!
Best, Searchlight
Posted by loolot on October 9, 2003, at 20:54:44
In reply to Re: first day of ritalin-constantly coming down, posted by Searchlight on October 9, 2003, at 20:48:20
Posted by Ame Sans Vie on October 10, 2003, at 0:12:20
In reply to first day of ritalin-constantly coming down, posted by loolot on October 9, 2003, at 17:58:22
Just a thought, but perhaps Concerta, a smooth and long-acting form of methylphenidate, the active chemical in Ritalin, is worth a shot? You'd be able to avoid those "crashes", and perhaps a little clonidine before bed (note: not "Klonopin" -- "clonidine"; just wanted to emphasize this, as even many pharmacists get the two mixed up :-) would help you wind down and avoid that crash?
Posted by skyler on October 10, 2003, at 0:57:04
In reply to Re: first day of ritalin-constantly coming down » Searchlight, posted by loolot on October 9, 2003, at 20:15:26
Hi-- I've tried ritalin as an augmenting agent as well to my antidepressant. I experienced symptoms somewhat similiar to you -- basically little to no benefit in fact many times it made me drowsy and I'd have to rest. It also was a rather uncomfortable feeling-- anxiety seemed to be a prominent aspect any time I took a dose 5mg or 10 mg . In addition I just plain felt poorly on it - the legs seem to feel rather weak for some odd reason and I felt various degrees of achiness. I noticed also from the very start also that upon awakening the following morning I was exceptionally down in spirit and felt exhausted. ................. My doc upped my dosage to 60 mg /day still no benefit, finally I said , it's simply no helping and the side-effects are rather hard to endure. .... ok-- now the good part-- yea you bet there's a good part in this post :) I said well perhaps I could give give dexedrine a trial -sighing -- I though ritalin would have definitely helped - and with that disaster --- which I was extremely hopeful would have really helped , I was pretty sure that dexedrine would also result in a poor outcome . To my surprise it worked beautifully. From the very first dose 5mg I felt better-- no side effects whatsoever just plain felt better- felt totally straight too - not drugged -- I have no let down latter in the day whatsover, no exhausted wornout feeling the next morning . In fact I slept better - and during the day the dexedrine had a very pleasant anti-anxiety effect , relaxed confident but ambitious . On ritalin I always had that pressed feeling -- yea pressednot a typo-- I mean by that -- a subjective feeling of mental restlessness , a mental underpressure feeling which was very uncomfortable . Dexedrine was just the opposite -- I felt very at ease-- and it in combination with my anti-depressant it lifted my mood considerably , whereas the anti-depressant itself helped depression in that it relieved the emotional and physical sensation of depression it wasn't helping to any extend in other areas --- motivation-- outlook--- desire---ambition -- energy-- level . The addition of the dexedrine changed my life --- I take 30 mg/day in divided doses --5 mg tablets immediate release throughout the day . I tried the sustained " spansulated " version it didn't work worth a hoot-- In fact -- it either did nothing or caused a sense of nervousness . The immediate release version """I""""" have the control -- I control the sustained even dosage--- I'm not at the mercy of the controlled release mechanism . I've been taken 30 mg's/day for several yrs now it still works like a charm . Moral of story if you try ritalin and it just doesn't seem to work worth a darn and you experience all the side-effects I did - don't assume that dexedrine would also be problematic as well . Dexedrine with it's more prominent norepinephrine effects which of course ritalin lacks being a medication which derives it's main effect from dopamine reuptake inhibition . Which if you think about it-- is quite similiar to wellbutrin . I'm not saying ritalin is wellbutrin because it obviously isn't , but the side-effect profile was certainly very reminescent of an earlier trial on wellbutrin - anxiety-- tension-- aggitated --- and not much in positive area . Btw -- nadh -enada -- I've tried that -- I was very impressed -- it's the real deal . it's otc - over the counter -but don't discount it just because it's not a prescription medication -- "nadh " it works -- and can be safely added to any regiment . The effects on me were unmistakeable---and prominent -- not just a minor effect but I rather robust effect.
Posted by loolot on October 10, 2003, at 6:08:51
In reply to Re: first day of ritalin-constantly coming down » loolot, posted by skyler on October 10, 2003, at 0:57:04
> Hi-- I've tried ritalin as an augmenting agent as well to my antidepressant. I experienced symptoms somewhat similiar to you -- basically little to no benefit in fact many times it made me drowsy and I'd have to rest. It also was a rather uncomfortable feeling-- anxiety seemed to be a prominent aspect any time I took a dose 5mg or 10 mg . In addition I just plain felt poorly on it - the legs seem to feel rather weak for some odd reason and I felt various degrees of achiness.>>
Thanks. It does sound similar
<< I noticed also from the very start also that upon awakening the following morning I was exceptionally down in spirit and felt exhausted. .................>>
yeah. Its 6 am and I am up crying and writing on the board. Ugh.
<< I said well perhaps I could give give dexedrine a trial -sighing -- I though ritalin would have definitely helped - and with that disaster --- which I was extremely hopeful would have really helped , I was pretty sure that dexedrine would also result in a poor outcome . To my surprise it worked beautifully. From the very first dose 5mg I felt better-- no side effects whatsoever just plain felt better- felt totally straight too - not drugged -- >>
Thats great news. I was surprised that ritalin didnt work because it is dopaminergic, I thought that was my problem. I tried adderall too and it didnt do much except give me a rash. Did you try any other stims? Also, what other meds are you on? What are you augmenting? What are your general symptoms while depressed?
<< I'm not saying ritalin is wellbutrin because it obviously isn't , but the side-effect profile was certainly very reminescent of an earlier trial on wellbutrin - anxiety-- tension-- aggitated --- and not much in positive area >>
The funny thing is that I really did well on Wellbutrin, kind of like how you are on the dex. It just worked nicely, so I though ritalin would work. Maybe dopamine isnt the problem.
<< Btw -- nadh -enada -- I've tried that -- I was very impressed -- it's the real deal . it's otc - over the counter -but don't discount it just because it's not a prescription medication -- "nadh " it works -- and can be safely added to any regiment . The effects on me were unmistakeable---and prominent -- not just a minor effect but I rather robust effect. >>
I havent heard of this. Where do I get it? What did it do for you?
Thanks!
Posted by loolot on October 10, 2003, at 6:11:48
In reply to Re: first day of ritalin-constantly coming down » loolot, posted by Ame Sans Vie on October 10, 2003, at 0:12:20
> Just a thought, but perhaps Concerta, a smooth and long-acting form of methylphenidate, the active chemical in Ritalin, is worth a shot? You'd be able to avoid those "crashes", and perhaps a little clonidine before bed (note: not "Klonopin" -- "clonidine"; just wanted to emphasize this, as even many pharmacists get the two mixed up :-) would help you wind down and avoid that crash?>>
Thanks ASV. I think the short acting version scared the heck out of me, so I dont even want to try concerta.
I wonder if I should try strattera or something. Have you ever tried that?
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