Blood pressure reading on Ritalin - Should I be worried?

[SilentRoller]

Hi all,

This is going to sound like a rather strange one but hear me out. I have always been one to have low blood pressure and a resting heart rate. However due to demands at work/work stress, I decided to use ritalin for a 2 days to get me focused... ( I had used dexdrine the week before that). Basically, I snorted 20mg ritalin this morning at around 8am. and happened to go and have my blood pressure checked at 5pm.

The second reading ended up being 155/106 with a HR of 91. She freaked out and told me to come back tomorrow afternoon to get it checked. I made up a story about how I had double dosed some pseudo-epehedrine tablets throughout the day due to sinus probs. My issue - will all be okay tomorrow if i cease taking ritalin? i didn't realize it raised bp that much.

Work is stressful at the moment, I just don't want the pharmacist freaking out tomorrow! I must say, I am shocked out how high my body was on Ritalin, even if I did have a fling on dexdrine the week before (only 10mg a day) and then I stopped cor a coupe of days.

Any advice would be appreciated!

 

[F.U.B.A.R.]

I think that the phenidate drugs have a greater effect on blood pressure than the amphetamines. If you lay off it between now and your meeting tomorrow things should have normalised somewhat. If not, then there could be an underlying medical condition which needs to be checked out. But I'm not qualified to comment really, I'm just trying to put your mind at rest because anxiety is a damn sight worse for your cardiovascular system than a few drugs IME.

Chill out, have a hot bath to dilate those blood vessels and get a good nights sleep.

Best wishes mate.

 

[SilentRoller]

Cheers for the info FUBAR. All was better today - they realised it was probably also the anti biotic I was on, as that was known for causing raised BP.

I have a slightly different question regarding Valium, as you are probably in the know with it.

How safe am I from withdrawal having taken 5-7mg valium a day for around a week? I'm stopping after today, it was simply super stressful work circumstances which caused me to decide to do so.

I used Valium in the same frequency and dose around a month ago, and then took 2 weeks off to ensure I was alright. I just don't want to develop a rattle! I'm just cautious due to the super long half life of it!

 

[F.U.B.A.R.]

Cheers for the info FUBAR. All was better today - they realised it was probably also the anti biotic I was on, as that was known for causing raised BP.

I have a slightly different question regarding Valium, as you are probably in the know with it.

How safe am I from withdrawal having taken 5-7mg valium a day for around a week? I'm stopping after today, it was simply super stressful work circumstances which caused me to decide to do so.

I used Valium in the same frequency and dose around a month ago, and then took 2 weeks off to ensure I was alright. I just don't want to develop a rattle! I'm just cautious due to the super long half life of it!

Good to know mate! Regarding the valium, there is no way you can have developed a physical dependence in such a short time frame. Dunner worry lad, you'll be fine....

 

[SilentRoller]

Cheers man! I know I probably sound like a right pussy sometimes with these questions - but a benzo rattle has always terrified me! I'm assuming I would have to take Valium for around a month straight to get issues?'

It's the long half life that gets me, I heard it's around 200 hours!! But I'm assuming that unless you are getting severe withdrawal anxiety by around day 4-5 after stopping you are are in the clear?

 

[Jackal]

I've taken 5mg of valium for three/four months daily on multiple ocasions and never noticed any kind of withdrawal or rattle.

In fact, I've taken 10mg for that length a few times and no issues.

But everybody has different tolerances, and I drink a lot of beer so YMMV.


And, unless I'm grossly mistaken, the halflife is 20 hours.

 

[F.U.B.A.R.]

Quick Google says 100 hours for its active metabolites. But that's by the by...

 

[SilentRoller]

So there is no need to taper or anything of the kind?

 

[F.U.B.A.R.]

I wouldn't have thought so mate. At the worst you might suffer a little rebound anxiety. I've abused benzos to a much greater degree for much longer periods and never noticed any withdrawals, but as Jackal said, everyone is different. This probably isn't the best advice in terms of HR, but if you do feel a on edge after stopping, try a bit of booze.

 

[BecomingJulie]

If you are worried about rebound effects, stash a few mg. at a friend's place in case of emergency. But at that sort of dosage, you probably will be fine, especially if you have ever had more than that in the past.