Posted by Ritch on April 19, 2002, at 10:19:10
In reply to switch from ritalin to ? for add, opinions?, posted by katekite on April 18, 2002, at 19:31:13
> Hi,
>
> I started ritalin about a week ago and love the calming effect and ability to think.
>
> Went camping, hiking, this week and found that my low starter dose of 5 mg every 3-4 hrs gave me chest pain. Now I'm home and went and checked my blood pressure and its way too high, just under the line for normal a person but higher than its ever been for me -- 144/71 and that was 2.5 hours into the dose. And here I'd been hoping to up the dose! No wonder I feel a little sick at the peak of it.
>
> So what are my options?
>
> Something to control the blood pressure/heart rate? Is anyone on something for this, in combo with a stimulant?
>
> Other stimulants? How many mgs of Adderall or dexedrine would I try if I was doing ok with 5 of ritalin?
>
> thanks,
> kateKate,
You may need to release the medication more slowly. Ask your doctor about 18mg tabs of Concerta (take 1/day). That might fix it. That BP you gave really isn't that bad. Interestingly, that is similar to mine when I am taking a lot of AD's or stimulants. I don't know if Adderall (regular version) would be helpful or not. I had some nasty headaches from it (and increased BP). The XR version (10mg) might be smooth enough. Dexedrine has less pressor effects than Ritalin or Adderall, but it might not work as well for you. I would give the Concerta a whirl. I am going to be trying Focalin probably next week as an experiment. I will let you know what happens.
Mitch
poster:Ritch
thread:103464
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020416/msgs/103528.html