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Anyone else taking Ritalin??
When I went to see the MS Specialist in January, he gave me Ritalin for my memory/focus and it's also supposed to help with fatigue, giving me more energy. I am thinking it must take a while for it to kick in. After taking it in the mornings I feel a bit dizzy and "out of it" and then I feel better about an hour or two later. Still very fatigued and focus is about the same, a bit better I guess.
I will say that the Baclofen has really been helping my spasticity at night which helps me sleep a bit better.
I would like to know if anyone else is taking Ritalin and how your body has responded. Thanks friends!
Blessings to you all :)
Stacie
I will say that the Baclofen has really been helping my spasticity at night which helps me sleep a bit better.
I would like to know if anyone else is taking Ritalin and how your body has responded. Thanks friends!
Blessings to you all :)
Stacie
Thanks Nancy, I will definitely be letting the Neuro know when I go see him in March. I am not diagnosed with MS either. The MS Specialist believes I am in the beginning stages, so until more solid proof presents itself he is trying hard to help me treat symptoms. So often it's all about trial and error.
Thanks again for sharing your experiences!
Have a great night!
Stacie
Thanks again for sharing your experiences!
Have a great night!
Stacie
Yes, I am taking 10 mg once a day and I am not seeing the effect you are describing at all! :( Did your doctor tell you to take 5 days and not to take it 2 days each week? I don't take it on Sat and Sun. b/c I felt I needed it more during the work week. I am a director and teacher of a preschool in my church, so I need that focus and energy. I have felt more out of it than anything. I have noticed a few times that I felt I had a bit more energy, but I would like that to be the norm.
Thank you for responding!! Many blessings to you!
Stacie
Thank you for responding!! Many blessings to you!
Stacie
Ritalin should work quickly; for me it started working in 20-40 minutes with full effect at maybe 2 hours.
What dose are you taking? I took 10 mg once or twice a day, which is a fairly low dose. But it helped my brain fog hugely, and helped with fatigue too.
If you aren't noticing an immediate and noticeable effect, maybe you need a bit higher dose; or maybe this med just isn't going to help you.
Ritalin is not like the antidepressant meds that take weeks to kick in. It works immediately. It's essentially speed!
Nancy
What dose are you taking? I took 10 mg once or twice a day, which is a fairly low dose. But it helped my brain fog hugely, and helped with fatigue too.
If you aren't noticing an immediate and noticeable effect, maybe you need a bit higher dose; or maybe this med just isn't going to help you.
Ritalin is not like the antidepressant meds that take weeks to kick in. It works immediately. It's essentially speed!
Nancy
I'm not sure if Concerta was one of the medications he talked about or not, but he told me the others would be expensive and not covered by insurance. I actually don't get shaky at all. I just feel those dizzy out of it feelings for a bit like i need to lay down. Again I haven;t really noticed a big difference in my fatigue or focus. How long did it take you for your med. to start working?
Thank you for responding!!
Blessings
Thank you for responding!!
Blessings
I was given concerta for fatigue. It is also an ADHD med. It makes me a little shakey like I drank too much caffeen for a little while, but it works. If I take it first thing in the AM, it si wearing off by 3 or 4 pm when I really need it. I had to stop taking it for a while because it is making the acid reflux worse.
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Anyway, it could be that you need to try a higher dose. Or it could be that Ritalin just won't work for you.
Provigil is great for fatigue but not always covered by insurance, and it's expensive.
Personally, I now use caffeine judiciously to help with fatigue, 300-400 mg in the mornings (combo of Diet Coke and No-Doz). As long as I don't go above that, I can still sleep just fine at night. It does not help as much as Provigil, say, but it's a cheap, non-Rx stimulant.
I used Ritalin as needed for a couple of years, but then it didn't seem to work so well. I then got on Strattera, which solved my fog/concentration problem but is also terribly expensive. (Fortunately my insurance pays.)
There are quite a few drugs to try for fatigue. Ask your doc about upping the Ritalin slightly or trying the related alternatives, Concerta (a slow-release form of Ritalin) or Adderall. These are both amphetamine-type drugs, like Ritalin.
Or ask him to try some other drug for fatigue. Keep at it til you find something that works, and good luck!
Nancy
(P.S. I don't have MS per the doctors, but I still have a lot of symptoms and no diagnosis of anything else.)