Horrible comedown from low dose of Ritalin (methylphenidate)

[Swimmingdancer]

Is it normal/common to have an awful comedown from just 5 or 10mg of oral IR methylphenidate? Like quite bad anxiety, depression, bad back pain, jitteriness/restlessness, abdominal cramps, grindy jaw, tongue wanting to move around, feeling antisocial, etc, general sort of tweaked out unpleasant feeling. Like all the negative effects of a cocaine or meth comedown, but this happens after just a single dose that was so low it didn't even seem to do very much (just felt slightly more energetic, slight mood lift).

Should I just never try this drug again? (it was for therapeutic use for ADD btw)

 

[Pill2Chill]

No, it's not common. I remember not liking methylphenidate because it turned me into a vegetable while I was on them. (ADD aswell) but I never experienced a comedown from methylphenidate in a therapeutic dose. (I've taken the 10mg IR tabs for a while 2/day, and also the 20mg XR 1/day.) I didn't take them for very long though because, as I said, I disliked their general effects.

I'd bring this up with your psych/doc. Doesn't sound like a normal reaction to me.

 

[Swimmingdancer]

Yeah, I will, and I don't intend to take it again, I tried it a few times spaced out by a few days just in case it was a one-time reaction but it just got worse each time. It's tough cuz almost every other ADD med here is extended release, even the IR methylphenidate lasted a lot longer than the 3-4 hrs my psych said it should. I don't want something that lasts 12 hrs+ and I don't want to take something every day. Ugh. Guess I will cross this one off the list.

What exactly do you mean about it turning you into a vegetable? What kind of side effects did you get?

 

[shreddedlettuce]

I used to be on Ritalin IR for ADD, and it does have a nasty comedown (with your low tolerence a therapeutic dose must've caused that reaction).

Possibly the Ritalin-LA version would be a lot smoother. Don't shy away because of the "LA" in the name thinking that it is Long Acting, it is actually extended release in the following way - it provides two standard doses – half the total dose being released immediately and the other half released four hours later, making it much "smoother".

I would at least give it a try before moving on to the other ADD meds.

 

[Pill2Chill]

Yeah, I will, and I don't intend to take it again, I tried it a few times spaced out by a few days just in case it was a one-time reaction but it just got worse each time. It's tough cuz almost every other ADD med here is extended release, even the IR methylphenidate lasted a lot longer than the 3-4 hrs my psych said it should. I don't want something that lasts 12 hrs+ and I don't want to take something every day. Ugh. Guess I will cross this one off the list.

What exactly do you mean about it turning you into a vegetable? What kind of side effects did you get?

It's been 6 years since I was on them so bear with me. I remember it made me alot calmer and in class I would often get very sleepy up to the point of actually falling asleep! Outside of class it caused me to behave very introvert while I was normally very extrovert. I hardly spoke and didn't feel like myself at all! Very annoying and it wasn't worth it for me, I've hated the drug ever since then.

I used to be on Ritalin IR for ADD, and it does have a nasty comedown (with your low tolerence a therapeutic dose must've caused that reaction).

Possibly the Ritalin-LA version would be a lot smoother. Don't shy away because of the "LA" in the name thinking that it is Long Acting, it is actually extended release in the following way - it provides two standard doses – half the total dose being released immediately and the other half released four hours later, making it much "smoother".

I would at least give it a try before moving on to the other ADD meds.

From 10 or even 5mg? No way the comedown is normally that severe, even with 0 tolerance.

 

[Doctor_Ew420]

Ritalin made you sleepy and anti-social?

Wow, I got lucky with this drug.

Same for me, it has been about 6 years since I took any, and to be honest, the only way I ever took it was nasally, but in therapeutic amounts (if that makes sense)

I would snort a single 10mg pill or just 5mg if I had to share with someone before first period in the 10th grade. I would get an immediate rush of wakefulness and clarity, this would last probably 5 minutes until I am left with a mild, and calm stimulation (no jitters, ever) with an ability to focus more, whether it was on my actual work, a drawing, or an intrusive class time conversation.

The only comedown I experienced from this drug was feeling pretty sleepy at around 4 o'clock (just after I got home, but I also smoked pot 2-3 times a day during that time)

Sucks that you guys who feel you need a drug like im describing don't get what I get.

 

[shreddedlettuce]

From 10 or even 5mg? No way the comedown is normally that severe, even with 0 tolerance.

Yeah I know it shouldn't be that severe, but it happened after she took it, maybe it was a wierd reacion to the drug.
So, yeah, the answer to "Is it normal/common to have an awful comedown from just 5 or 10mg of oral IR methylphenidate? ", would be no, it's not normal/common at that dose I agree.
But something caused those side effects (which are common at higher doses).

Swimmingdancer is highly intelligent and I actually just wanted to mention the other formulation of the drug to see if she could benefit from methylphenidate before ditching the idea.

 

[Jabberwocky]

Yes this can happen. Did you redose? Have you been using other stimulants? We're you sleep deprived when you took it?

Ritalin is a perculiar drug. For me it's useless for my ADHD. But it's extremely euphoric when I find the correct dosage - but the comedown is a very nasty beast. I use 5-htp to counteract it along with chelated magnesium, for me it removes all the comedown effects and actually enhances and continues the high I was having from MPH to start with. I do however take exceptionally large doses of the stuff when I use it recreationally (which is very rarely.)

It was the first ADHD med I was tried on. I took the same - 10mg and suffered from a pretty bad comedown. I then scrapped it and was put on dexamphetamine which for me is much more helpful. However, I found ritalin euphoric (more so than dex) and wanted to try it again. I found those drugs really helped me out with the comedown along with promethazine in order to get to sleep.

I would never recommend it for ADHD though. It felt like a cocaine high but more stable. It produces harsh side effects in me though. What other meds do you have available to test? Have you tried dexedrine IR - 5mg tablets?

 

[Swimmingdancer]

Did you redose?
No, this happened to me just taking a single dose of 5-10mg (the 10mg being the worst) spaced out by a few days. I gave it a few tries just to make sure it wasn't a weird one-time reaction.
Have you been using other stimulants?
None at all in a long time aside from cigarettes, which are not stimulating for me as I'm dependent on them.
We're you sleep deprived when you took it?
I wasn't going on no sleep or anything but I haven't been sleeping well at all for about a month, so that may have been a factor.

What other meds do you have available to test? Have you tried dexedrine IR - 5mg tablets?

I didn't think they were available here in Canada but upon further research they may in fact be available. I will try them next I think (maybe after I am sleeping better) because IR Adderall worked pretty well for me when I tried it in the past but there is no IR Adderall in Canada. One would think the pure dextroamphetamine would be even better than Adderall. There are no other IR ADD meds here aside from methylphenidate, all the rest are extended release (Adderall XR, which did not work for me, Vyvanse, and a bunch of kinds of methylphenidate).

I used to be on Ritalin IR for ADD, and it does have a nasty comedown (with your low tolerence a therapeutic dose must've caused that reaction).

Possibly the Ritalin-LA version would be a lot smoother. Don't shy away because of the "LA" in the name thinking that it is Long Acting, it is actually extended release in the following way - it provides two standard doses – half the total dose being released immediately and the other half released four hours later, making it much "smoother".

I would at least give it a try before moving on to the other ADD meds.

I don't think there is Ritalin-LA here. I'm scared to try any more methylphenidate though. For ER methylphenidate there is Concerta, a generic version of Concerta, and Biphentin - I'm not sure how the release mechanisms on those work or how long they're supposed to last, but I wanted something shorter-acting so as not to interfere with sleep.

 

[Jabberwocky]

Smoking with ritalin potentiates the high and actually taints it for me. I'm dependant on cigarettes too - and it did taint the high to a pretty nasty degree.

I'd go for the dex - it's smoother and easier to handle than adderall and doesn't produce such a harsh come down. Have you tried vynase? It's essentially the same as dex it just has to be processed by the liver first and as such takes a bit longer to take effect.

Dexedrine for me actually helps me sleep at night after I've taken it during the day. It's a very good ADHD med.

I think ritalin isn't for you - and frankly not for many. It's not a very good ADD/ADHD drug IMO in comparison to dexedrine. The side effect profile and cardiovascular problems it causes are awful. Definitely don't try the extended release ritalin if you had that experience with the 10m IR. All it does is produce a harsher comedown and is very unpleasant.

 

[EEhouseEE]

Bro methylphenidate is known is one of the stimulants that cause the worst comedown...so no its not really a surprise but normal, althought at only 5-10mg it is kinda of a surprise i shud say.
But whenever i did 50mg or so the comedown at the end of the night was fucking unbareable...

 

[Swimmingdancer]

^Yeah I think I'm just super-sensitive (especially right now) and got all the negatives and the comedown most people would get with a much higher dose.

Smoking with ritalin potentiates the high and actually taints it for me. I'm dependant on cigarettes too - and it did taint the high to a pretty nasty degree.

That's interesting.

I'd go for the dex - it's smoother and easier to handle than adderall and doesn't produce such a harsh come down. Have you tried vynase? It's essentially the same as dex it just has to be processed by the liver first and as such takes a bit longer to take effect.

No I haven't, but I don't want to have to wait so long for it to kick in as I don't have a normal wake-up time, plus Vyvanse has a longer duration of action, I just think a faster-acting med would be best for my situation. Will try the IR Dexedrine first.

 

[Jabberwocky]

Scrap the ritalin. It's an outdated, intolerable and useless medication in my opinion. I had no benefit toward my ADHD symptoms when i took it, all it did was give me intense euphoria and a disgustingly large crash that was worth dying on.

Thats a good idea if you can get ahold of the dexedrine. It's definitely (for me anyway) the best ADHD medication out there to help me with my problem. Once you become accustomed to it - usually takes about 2-3 weeks to find an optimal dose you'll notice most of the side effects (if you even get any) will disappear completely and you'll be left with a very useful medication.

Vynase actually only takes around an hour to start to take effect - so if you took it first thing in the morning you could have a meal with no problems, i find i have some real appetite problems on dexedrine sometimes, and usually have to eat right before i take it so that i'm not lacking food which again aggravates side effects. Make sure you get food down you, as that is a real problem with dex, and try to maintain a constant blood sugar level (i'm sure you know all of this, but just trying to help from my experience).

In the evenings I suggest you look into a ZMA supplement. Amphetamines tend to deplete your magnesium and zinc levels quite a lot which can also cause further implications to side effects. I take fish oils daily, and have found they are a god-send in helping me in all senses actually. I think they improve my concentration further (ontop of the dex) and they also help my cardiovascular system, i can genuinely feel it working, if i feel over stimulated I take fish oil and the effects fade away. It's great stuff.