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Stimulant Side Effects: The Definitive Thread

Posted by AC75 on April 29, 2005, at 18:51:42

Folks, I'm no conspiracy theorist; I believe in the system. But increasingly I believe the medical community just isn't focusing on side effects of stimulants, they don't fully know what's going on, and that's kind of scary. I'd like us to list and discuss, if possible, our experiences.

I have spent the last 3 years on Ritalin and Concerta (my experience extends only to these two). The stuff is generally efficacious; yet at the same time, I am only 30, and sometimes I really feel as if physically I'm 15 years older than that! So here's been my experience. Please tell me if your experience backs it up.

(1) LOSS OF APPETITE. A no-brainer. They told us this would happen. I went from 185 to 150 lbs. in 8 months, and I'm struggling to keep it now at 155. I'm over 6' tall.

(2) FREQUENT URINATION. This is the one no doctor can figure out. Okay, so I believe them: Ritalin is not a diuretic. But that doesn't mean at peak dosage it can't speed your system up (ever felt your heart beat fast when you're on a stim?) to the extent that everything, including the passage of fluid through the body, isn't working overtime. I try to drink water to offset it; what I drink is immediately flushed out as clear urine and then some. Even when I haven't had any water for a day or two, when the Concerta dosage hits peak level in me, clear urine! Can't be the stim, you say? Then please tell me why the problem disappears 100% a day or two after I stop taking Concerta.

(3) DEHYDRATION and associated side effects. *Amphetamines* are known to cause severe dehydration; why do doctors find it so hard to believe stimulants could too? The urination thing leaves me with constant dry mouth, no matter how much water I drink. Increasingly my knees snap, crackle, and pop, which for a fit 30-year-old with no family history of arthritis really should not happen. Recently my general physician said she couldn't even get a blood pressure reading on me, it was so low -- despite being on Concerta at that moment (it's supposed to increase it, right?), and despite ALWAYS having had perfectly normal readings all my life! She later told me dehydration links directly to low BP. When I mentioned the Concerta & urination link, she looked at me blankly. Just didn't know how this could happen.

(4) BLURRY VISION. This one's in the prescribing information, and it's true. Really weird. When the Concerta hits its second chamber in the latter half of the day, releasing a higher concentration of methylphenidate, it actually becomes harder to focus on signs farther away. Not a big deal in the short run. But does anyone know WHY this happens? Is pressure in the eye being increased by the rise in pulse/BP thanks to the stim? Some other explanation? I'd like to get to the fundamentals of this so I can figure out whether I face a longer term problem.

To wrap up, these questions are only my own, and I'm sure you all have your own. It's important. Kids typically get on it for several years and are off by adulthood. What about those of us on it as adults? I started at 27. I'm taking it at 30. Is this going to go on until I retire at 70? Will I even reach that age hale and hearty? The doctors uniformly say yup, no problem. How can they sound so sure? Either it's because I have problems no one else does, or because this drug is so old no one studies it anymore, and so really no one knows jack. That's why I thought I'd ask all of you.

Many thanks in advance.


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poster:AC75 thread:491641
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050428/msgs/491641.html