[Rose76]

Not too long ago, I was put on methylphenidate (generic for Ritalin) 20 mg at 8AM and 20 mg at 12 noon. In my case, it is being prescribed for depression, not for ADD.

I've never been on a stimulant drug before. If anyone out there has been on this for depression, I would love some feedback.

I also wonder if this is hard to get off of.

Since being on this, I don't seem to cry as much.

[spunkygirl]

Originally Posted by Rose76

Not too long ago, I was put on methylphenidate (generic for Ritalin) 20 mg at 8AM and 20 mg at 12 noon. In my case, it is being prescribed for depression, not for ADD.

I've never been on a stimulant drug before. If anyone out there has been on this for depression, I would love some feedback.

I also wonder if this is hard to get off of.

Since being on this, I don't seem to cry as much.

I too was just put on Ritalin for depression. I am alittle confused though as I am bipolar. I was afraid maybe it would trigger a manic eposide(hasn't so far). I was also wondering if anyone here has experience with it.

[BethD1980]

I have taken ritalin before and i am bipolar and it makes me manic, non stop talking yet my brain feels so calm and happy. if that makes sense.

[Rose76]

BethD1980

Thanks. My mind goes into overdrive. Like you, I find it calming. I talk a lot, but just to myself. It's like I can sit and just talk to myself all day. Instead of being all depressed doing nothing, now I can feel relaxed doing nothing.

It does help me wake up in the morning. If I get going on something, I think it helps me keep going . . . if I can get out of the house.

[BethD1980]

Does it keep you up at night? keeps me up ALL night, and im an insomniac to begin with, i take xanax at night to help me sleep, when I take ritalin( or any other stimulant) i dont get an ounce of sleep no matter how many xanax i take. thats my only drawback, is that I can expect to not get any sleep that night, so I dont take it often. But I know when I do take it, its gonna be a good day.

[Rose76]

No, I sleep okay. But, that is thanks to my bedtime meds, which I believe override the Ritalin. I take Nortriptyline and Restoril in pretty high doses. They do their job very well.

Here's another thing I've noticed. I just about don't even care if I eat. (Unusual for me.) Since being on the stimulant, Ritalin, I have to remind myself to eat.

[egoalien]

I've been on Ritalin for years for (unipolar) depression. I take the long acting (LA) version. It helps a lot and I can feel when it wears off in the late afternoon. The immediate release was a bit rough on me but this one I had a little bit difficulty in the beginning with heart racing in the AM. That leveled out fairly quickly.

It does not ruin my sleeping but then again I have hypersomnia, so that's not surprising. I do have issues if I stop taking Ritalin abruptly. Always need to taper down carefully if taking a break. If I stop I get absolutely terrible rebound-depression.

It does not take my depression away (and fails when things get really rough) but it has a definite positive effect that antidepressants alone do not seem to have on me - and I do not have side-effects from it.

[Rose76]

Many thanks egoalien for your feedback. Especially, thank you for cautioning me about the rebound-depression. That might be very dangerous for me, because I have a history of suicidal ideation, (but no history of any attempt.) You've motivated me to keep my prescription current and not run out. If that happened, I might be too depressed to get out of the house and get the prescription and the drug. That's why I posted here. When something seems a little extra good, I gotta ask myself what's the hidden price. This drug does not take my depression away - as you say is the case with yourself. But, exactly as you say, "it has a definite positive effect that antidepressants alone do not seem to have on me." And, yes, it fails when things get rough. Still, right now I'm grateful for it. I am getting up in the morning better now. It can be calming, even though I know it is categorized as a stimulant. My depression is unipolar. My pdoc says we may go to the long-acting version down the line. I've said that I want to just keep it the way it is for now. He is also interested in upping the dose. Now I take 30mg at 8am and 30mg at 12 noon. He is quite enthused about upping it even further. After years of experience with meds, I say lets stick to what we'er doing now for awhile longer, before making another change. I haven't had any heart racing, which he has asked me about. It is interesting to me that it was the LA version that caused your heart racing, though I'm glad that leveled out. Short acting compared to long acting is interesting, because there can be relative downsides to both. LA isn't always better than SA, but certainly more convenient - and sometimes better all in all. I too have tended to be hypersomnic when very depressed. But the Ritalin has normalized that out a good bit.

Thank you again for important feedback.

[egoalien]

If you don't mind I am going to sneak in a additional question here:

Has anyone particular experience with Ritalin SR vs Ritalin LA? (Or anyone who has been on IR and SR and has experience to share, I'd like to hear that too).

I just noticed that SR would be way cheaper for me than LA, and as I am thinking that I need to increase and add an afternoon dose I'd like to change. Has anyone been on both and noticed any difference as to how they function/side-effects?

I've only been on the immediate release and LA and I certainly notice difference between those two. I'd like to know if changing to SR would be an unnecessary detour when (expensive) LA is working for me.

[Jerrypharmstudent]

Originally Posted by Rose76

Not too long ago, I was put on methylphenidate (generic for Ritalin) 20 mg at 8AM and 20 mg at 12 noon. In my case, it is being prescribed for depression, not for ADD.

I've never been on a stimulant drug before. If anyone out there has been on this for depression, I would love some feedback.

I also wonder if this is hard to get off of.

Since being on this, I don't seem to cry as much.

Doctors use stimulants (Ritalin, Concerta, Vyvanse, Adderall, Dexedrine, amphetamines, etc) for adjunct treatments for depression still to this day. Especially for melancholic depression and treatments resistant depression. Ritalin does have a slight abuse potential so I'd watch yourself especially if you've ever had a substance abuse problem in the past with alcohol or other drugs. For some people, to retain the positive effect they get from stimulants they must continue to increase the dosage. However, for many this doesn't happen (and unknown to as why). I've been on Adderall for depression for about 10 years and never have had to raise the dosage.

IF it helps, I wouldn't worry about it's abuse potential, etc. However if you feel you are needing more and more of the med to keep the positive effects talk to your doctor asap.

Jerry

[Rose76]

I am amazed at how little I care about eating since being on Ritalin. A little weight loss, gradually, would be nice. This is excessive.

I will eat pretty well if I make it a point to, or if someone cooks for me. Now, I am taking supplement shakes like "Boost" when I am too unmotivated to cook or prepare something.

Some of my weight loss could be due to worsening depression, thought rarely is that one of my symptoms. (More often, I eat too much.) But, I am becoming severely depressed at times.

[nicoleb2]

Ritalin SR and it's generic are very difficult to find right now. A new manufacturer is supposed to be making it soon, but I also had a pharmacist today tell me that it's going to be discontinued

[Rose76]

All, I ate today was an 8 ounce container of Boost. I am not in the least bit anorexic. I generally love good food. It just doesn't seem to matter to me. In 2002, after a job loss, I had no appetite when I was grieving the loss of my job. But this is beyond that.

I think I will try to cook a hot dog. My boyfriend likes to cook. In the past, like when I was sick for a month with pneumonia, he cooked me all kinds of comfort food.

But, I am plenty healthy enough, physically, to fix something in the kitchen. I would like to ask him to help me care for myself for awhile. He can be good at that. But he is volatile and sometimes gets mad that I am this much emotionally stressed.

I feel like there is not anyone who will ever really care for me. He is undependable. I think, sometimes, I am just giving up. But then I turn and fight hard for a day, or a few hours, of an afternoon.

Me being a little crazy like I have been for awhile is . . . people are getting sick of me. Except the good people here who are so kind. So I just stay on the computer too long.
I don't feel alone when I am here, even if I am just writing a post. I feel like I am talking to someone.

I changed to a cheaper TV package. If my boyfriend came to my house, he would get mad because he could not see his favorite shows. I wish he could love me better than that to where me getting better would be more important that TV shows. I remind him that he was very sick and needed lots of care. I would sit in his hospital room and do all his care: bathing, shaving, everything he was too weak to do. I would bring in special things for him to eat cause he didn't like the hospital food. I bought a toaster for the community room on his rehab unit, so he could toast the bagels I brought him and put in the patient refrigerator. He has an excellent memory. But he was physically sick. Mental sickness doesn't count the same.

[Jerrypharmstudent]

Originally Posted by Rose76

Not too long ago, I was put on methylphenidate (generic for Ritalin) 20 mg at 8AM and 20 mg at 12 noon. In my case, it is being prescribed for depression, not for ADD.

I've never been on a stimulant drug before. If anyone out there has been on this for depression, I would love some feedback.

I also wonder if this is hard to get off of.

Since being on this, I don't seem to cry as much.

Stimulants are used by experienced doctors in pharmacology to help treat severe cases of depression. They are used in adjunct to other AD meds. Ritalin, Dexedrine (d-amphetamine) and Adderall (amphetamine salts) all act somewhat similar by telling your neurons to release their stores of the stimulant/"good feeling" neurotransmitters norepinephrine and dopamine and cause reuptake like SSRIs in a way. Ritalin also releases serotonin too.

For many people, myself included, stimulants help tremendously with depression and have been a apart of my treatment regimen for at least 10 years now. I have not had any issues with tolerance and I have never abused the stimulant (Adderall) I am on. However, these meds can be very addictive. You can become mentally dependent on them and physically dependent on them. For some people they do grow tolerant to the dose they are on and then either keep increasing it themselves or keep asking their doctor to increase it. This is a sign that a stimulant is not right for you. Also, if you have had a substance abuse problem in the past, you and your doctor may want to steer clear from these medications.

But, like I said, they are still used to today in common psychiatric practice and benefit many, many severely depressed people - especially those with TRD (treatment-resistant depression).

Hope this helps

Jerry

Hope this helps.

[Rose76]

Well, I am back on this thread because I think Ritalin is a mixed blessing for me. I missed some doses of it and woke up today feeling calmer than I've been, lately. It seemed to me that I might be better off without it. In the afternoon, I decided to take one pill, which is 20 mg. Within less than a few hours, I was jittery. I still feel that way. It doesn't seem like it is due to any unusual anxiety.

In the past, I've run to the Psych Emerg, before changing anything on my drugs. I don't want to get into "self-medicating." However, my pdoc did say it would be okay for me to use some initiative, within limits. The Psych Emerg people are good, but no there can figure out everything, either.

My plan right now is to do this: I'm not going to take any Ritalin tomorrow, or the next day, and see if that calm feeling comes back. Maybe, it will come back sooner. Then, when, and if, the "calm feeling" comes back, I will take a tablet and see if it brings on these kind of jitters, again. If that does happen, then I can give my pdoc some meaningful feedback.

[rockgal]

If 20 mg makes you jittery, why don't you try a lower dose? Chop up the tablets and try 10 mg or 5 mg.

I was jittery from a low dose of Ritalin, but do better with Focalin, which is chemically related to Ritalin (one of the isomers). It might be worth a try.

Rockgal

[Rose76]

I just went to the Urgent Care section of the pscych hospital and got told to go ahead and stop taking the Ritalin and see if I feel better. So that's what I'm doing. Thanks everyone, for the replies. It takes awhile, I'm discovering, to find out what does what.

[rockgal]

Good luck and I hope you feel better. That is good that you got medical advice.

One point I'd like to reiterate is that it seems that sometimes doctors and patients discontinue a med for undesirable effects without really titrating the dose and starting with something super low. Some people really just need a tiny amount to reap benefits.

With some drugs, I've taken a tenth the dose of an adult dose. With Focalin, I take just 1.25 mg (a tiny dose) and I feel it - it's just about right.

So this might be something to ask about at your next appointment, especially if you and your doctor think a stimulant might have a place in your regimen.

[Rose76]

Thanks, rockgal, you have a good point. I was maintaining on just 45mg of amitriptyline for years. That dose dramatically improved my life.

[Rose76]

rockgal, I've gotten calmed down since getting off the Ritalin. But, it was kind of helping me. Especially, it helped me wake up in the morning. So I'm trying to start off with just 10 mg when I wake up. I started that today. I will go very slow on any increases. Next week I can talk to my pdoc about this.

Also, I'll keep in mind that there are other stimulant drugs and there might be an alternative that might be less anxiety provoking for me.

Thanks to all for feedback.