What does Ritalin do? Ritalin stimulates the mind and body in adults and can calm children down. It's used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children. However, it's not usually recommended for children younger than 6 years old.
How does it make you feel? As stimulant drugs, methylphenidate and the methylphenidate-based drugs can make you feel very 'up', awake, excited, alert and energised, but they can also make you feel agitated and aggressive. They may also stop you from feeling hungry.
Studies show that stimulants work well on ADHD symptoms for about 80% of people who take them. About half of those people get the same results from either Adderall or Ritalin. But for the other half, one drug works better than the other. This is because they work in different ways and can cause different side effects.
Children on stimulant medicines can also develop side effects that could look like changes in personality. They may behave more excitedly or become more withdrawn. They may act more inflexible or develop obsessive-compulsive behaviors. They may cry more.
Methylphenidate may cause dizziness, drowsiness, or changes in vision. Do not drive or do anything else that could be dangerous until you know how this medicine affects you. Methylphenidate may cause serious heart or blood vessel problems. This may be more likely in patients who have a family history of heart disease.
You should not use methylphenidate if you are allergic to it, or if you have: Stimulants have caused stroke, heart attack, and sudden death in certain people. Tell your doctor if you have: Becoming dependent on this medicine during pregnancy can cause premature birth or low birth weight.
In sufferers from ADHD this can help promote alertness. However, for anxiety-sufferers, it is more likely to have the effect of increasing anxiety.
It has been shown that acute administration of methylphenidate in adults reduces anxiety, in both animal models and humans. On the other hand, chronic treatment during early ages (postnatal and young subjects) results in higher anxiety in adults.
Your child may need to take methylphenidate for several months or even years. They will not usually need to take it for the rest of their life. Your child will have regular check-ups, usually every 6 months or so. Your doctor may recommend stopping methylphenidate for a while, or reducing the dose.
“Most ADHD meds aren't associated with a risk of irritability,” says Michael Bloch, MD, MS, Professor in the Yale Child Study Center, and senior author of the study. The team found that only amphetamine-derived medications were associated with an increase in irritability. Methylphenidates were not.
When misused, the drug can make people feel more alert or sleepier. Often they're more awake right after they take it, but then they get very tired. People who abuse Ritalin might have these physical effects: headache or feeling dizzy.
Ritalin works by increasing the amount of dopamine released in the striatum, a key region in the brain related to motivation, action and cognition.
Medications used to treat ADHD, such as Adderall or Methylphenidate, can be prescribed to patients with ADHD to calm these racing thoughts, most commonly in the morning when people wake up but just as well in the evening before sleep.
Ritalin Tablets: The average daily dose is 20 to 30 mg, given in 2 to 3 divided doses. Some patients may require 40 to 60 mg daily, while for others, 10 to 15 mg daily will be adequate.
Findings from a new study published by the Journal of Neural Transmission suggest that the use of Ritalin without a prescription can alter brain chemistry. These changes can affect risk-taking behavior, sleep disruption, and elicit other side effects.
Stimulants are the best and most common type of medication used to treat ADHD. There are only two stimulant medications, methylphenidate (the active ingredient in Ritalin, Concerta and other formulations) and amphetamine (the active ingredient in Adderall, Vyvanse and other formulations).
On the surface, ADHD and anxiety can look similar. It's not uncommon for people with anxiety to be misdiagnosed with ADHD, or vice versa. Take trouble with paying attention, for example. Both anxiety and ADHD can cause people to tune out and get caught up in their emotions — just for different reasons.
Nervousness, trouble sleeping, loss of appetite, weight loss, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, or headache may occur. If any of these effects last or get worse, tell your doctor or pharmacist promptly.
Drinks rich in ascorbic acid/vitamin C or citric acid (orange, grapefruit, and other drinks supplemented with vitamin C) may interfere with the absorption of Ritalin. Citric acid breaks down the medication before it has a chance to be absorbed by the body.
For adolescents and adults, whose attention and performance requirements remain constant through most of their waking hours, two or three daily doses are the norm. From a strictly physical standpoint, it appears Ritalin can be taken safely every day.
By their final weigh in, people treated with ADHD medication lost on average about 12% of their body weight (about 15kg), while the controls gained an average of about 3% of their body weight (about 3kg).
Ritalin is a Schedule II substance under the Controlled Substances Act. Schedule II drugs, which include cocaine and methamphet- amine, have a high potential for abuse. Abuse of these drugs may lead to severe psychological or physical dependence.