Ritalin and Caffiene

[lasciviouslizzy]

Hi

Ive been diagnosed recently with ADHD and they have put me on 10mg of Ritalin, but it doesnt appear to be doing an awful lot.

Does anyone know if taking caffiene tablets with this might increase the effect a little?

Thanks

L

[Lehendakari]

Caffeine only worsens methylphenidate side effects on SWIM. Not recommended IMO.

10 mg is a low dose indeed, SWIM takes them as needed and 20 mg twice a day works fine for him

[Psych0naut]

I always used to love 2 cups of strong coffee in the morning, but when I started on ritalin(methylphenidate), which I was prescribed for ADD, I always got very jittery and nauseous, it didn't combine very well for me, but it might be different for you.

[cyndi]

Swim would be a shaking worse than Elvis with her java and that stuff.

[hh339]

I don't know. Sometimes SWiM has had really nice and energetic experiences mixing the two.

[RoboJesus]

My garden gnome was diagnosed with ADD about three years ago and has worked with his doctor to find the most effective dose of methylphenidate to treat the ADD without causing tons of unpleasant side effects.

Regarding the question about caffeine, my gnome agrees with the previous responses and urges L to reduce caffeine intake while taking methylphenidate. I remember far too many times when my poor gnome was obviously jittery, anxious, and sleepless after carelessly consuming too much coffee or soda while taking methylphenidate.

My gnome also thinks he can provide some helpful information about your clearly insufficient dose of methylphenidate.

According to him, it is common practice for doctors to prescribe very low doses of methylphenidate to newly diagnosed patients who have no experience with the medication. Often, the dosage originally prescribed is well below the amount that most ADD patients would find useful. This is done intentionally because a small number of individuals are hypersensitive to methylphenidate and could potentially face serious health risks if given a dose within the normal therapeutic range.

The best advice my gnome has is for you to tell your doctor 10 mg is not enough to treat your symptoms, they will almost certainly increase the dose.

[lasciviouslizzy]

Thank you peeps most helpful
x

Dunno if its related or not but i ran out of tablets and due to lifestlye i havent managed to get my repeat prescription and the past few days ive become very dizzy when i bend over or even turn over in bed? Do you think this could be anything to do with it?

Suffice to say i'll be off to the docs anyway.

x

[cyndi]

Swiy needs to avoid caffine while taking her script for add purposes. Also it can suppress your appetite so make sure swiy eats and drinks plenty of water. Also vitamins are good. If swiy failed to do those things, her bloodsugar will be off and she will get the dizzys. At a low dose that shouldn't happen if taken in the prescribed manner.

[seeingred]

By blocking the removal of the enzyme cAMP, caffeine intensifies and prolongs the effects of epinephrine and epinephrine-like drugs such as amphetamine, methamphetamine, or methylphenidate. That would mean that drinking coffee would increase ritalin's effects. Swim isnt sure if this means that it increases what the ritalin does but probably. Swim has observed that caffeine causes Ritalin to work much better. This also causes some problems but after awhile you build tolerance to the caffeine. Hope this was helpful.