Cipralex and concerta

[flippinhippies]

This story will be nothing new to anyone whos visited the doc for there depression or anxiety; i was recently put on cipralex and nothing is wrong with it so far. However i take concerta for my ADD and I have yet to try taking the 2 at the same time. I find that smoking cigs feels slightly stronger when im on this medication (as it does with other antidepressants), and was wondering If anyone knows if the concerta will follow the same path as my next blues. should i be weary?

 

[nAON]

DO NOT MIX THESE DRUGS BEFORE TALKING TO YOUR DOCTOR

Mixing an SSRI and a stimulant can be very dangerous, due to risk of serotonin syndrome.

 

[flippinhippies]

he said it would be fine, I thought serotonin syndrome was stimulants and S N RI's. I was just wondering if I should expect my dose of concerta to impact me harder

 

[nAON]

That's.. odd. Can't comment on what the recreational effect of combining them would be, since I have never got further than SSRI + stimulant = no. Hopefully someone else on the forum can clarify.

 

[flippinhippies]

yea thats what I thought too.. A while back I remember I couldnt roll when taking Pristiq (which is an awful awful antidepressant), because of rick of serotinin syndrome, same was with demerol at the time. I dont take either of those anymore but cant understand why this combo is ok, maybe its the nature of the stimulant, it doesnt open the floodgate and release the wrath of serotonin in quite the same way as MDMA.
for the record im not taking either recreationally...

 

[effie]

This is what the online drug interactions checker has to say..

It is usually safe to take a combination that has been prescribed - not always, if the doctor has a poor knowledge of pharmacology, but generally speaking it should be okay. Was the doctor who started you on Cipralex aware about the Concerta? I would imagine that the doses you are on make serotonin syndrome unlikely.

SSRIs have a risk of serotonin syndrome in the same way that SNRIs do, and will also dampen the effects of serotinergic drugs such as MDMA. You should definitely avoid adding another serotinergic drug, especially something like MDMA.. amphetamines do have some serotinergic properties but they are pretty weak.

What exactly are you asking in your first post? Am a bit dozy today, sorry.. medical queries are best covered by your doctor, rather than people on a recreational drug HR forum

Glad you are getting on okay with the antidepressant

 

[flippinhippies]

yes he was well aware, I was not asking for a physician to tell me the interactions ahah I just wanted some real world input to how the two might synergize if that makes sense.
I believe this may be the right AD for me because I find it is helping with anxiety as well

 

[flippinhippies]

And I was not suggesting that I was gunna go nuts tonight and bomb 3 caps or something, I was just stating that I understand the nature of serotonin syndrome. I was more interested in the "buzz" I might get from the combination of only the cipralex and concerta.
thank you for the input!

 

[effie]

Haha okay cool, was just clarifying

That's excellent about it helping with your depression and your anxiety! I really wouldn't worry too much about the potential interaction - I don't have any first hand experience of the combination but methylphenidate has minimal serotinergic properties and I don't think it would cause problems at the sort of dose people are prescribed. I don't know this 100%, but if your doctor is happy I imagine it's okay

Definitely stay away from taking anything serotinergic on top of that combination though, including things like DXM and hallucinogens with serotinergic action (eg LSD), and phenethylamines which can have serotinergic and MAOI properties. A lot of recreational drugs are phenethylamines unfortunately, as you can see from the list I guess it's best off avoiding a lot of those drugs anyway, as they could exacerbate your anxiety and a come-down is never good on top of depression..

Methylphenidate is included in that list too but AFAIK it doesn't act as a MAOI and again, at the prescribed doses (and especially as your doctor was aware you were taking it) I imagine it is okay..