Side effects?

[Carrie]

Currently I am on Ritalin SR 20mg once a day, plus Ritalin 10mg twice a day. I wake up, take SR, plus 5mg ritalin, at lunch I take another 5mg, and then around 4-5 take another 15mg. I need 15mg x3 a day… I wanted long acting so I wouldnt be so confused, I always forget when I take my first dose so wanted longer acting and now I have this mess!! Will be asking for Concerta in a month!

Heres my question. I no longer feel any different when on the meds, but I do however feel them wear off. I get a slight headache, and then “on edge”. I can hear every little sound, and then I can’t think or focus. Is this normal? Maybe this is what I was like before meds but didnt realize until I got used to being on them, and then when off its terrible! Just like now! I need to take my 5mg and I can hear every little sound my brother is making while eating! AND OH MY!! Im keeping myself from ripping his head off!! I dont know why he has to eat so loud and so gross! hahaha HELP!

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[Anonymous]

I have the same problem, I cannot stand noises and especially eating sounds! I used to think that perhaps it was because I was tortured in a previous lifetime, tied to a chair or wall and forced to listen to others eat while I starved, or perhaps I was hiding in the wilderness and heard my colleagues being eaten by animals ….

I quit my last job as an accounting supervisor and I really think it was because I couldn’t focus at all in the open office environment we were in, we went from low-rise cubicles in a long row, with one cubicle on one side, to a “bull-pen” style of low-rise cubicles, where there were four of us facing outwards – this amplified the sounds of people working behind me (I have extremely sensitive hearing) .

One of my co-workers used to slam a file drawer in her desk and it shook all of our cubicles because it was overloaded – I asked her not to slam it and perhaps take some files out as it was so heavy. The response came through my supervisor – she thought I was treating her like a child! She also used to leave the radio volume on her deskphone slightly on and I couldn’t stand the noise of it, so whenever she left for the day (and I was working overtime because it was the only quiet time I could get to concentrate), I would turn it off!

I am on a trial of ritalin at the moment (taking my husband’s meds) and the one test we haven’t done is for me to sit at my computer (next to the kitchen) while my husband chops vegetables and chews the crunchy ones while he’s working – that is usually enough to send me WAAAAAAAY ’round the bend. I prefer to eat meals while watching tv (drowns out the sounds of others eating).

I am guessing that our awareness is increasing of how things can be more normal when we’re on meds, and that could be heightening our awareness of them when we’re not on meds (did that make sense?)

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[Carrie]

Yeah that makes sense. A few days ago my husband said that I have been more irritable (these last 2 months) more than my normal once a month. He said now it seems whenever he sees me after work im always irritable and angry about any little thing or nothing at all. We were talking about it yesterday trying to figure out if its because I have been working so much now and am just always tired, or if its the meds.

Yesterday I was happy all day (didnt take meds) and then around 3:30pm took 20mg to aid me with getting groceries, and around 4:30 was very anxious and snippy. A lot of things played in to that little panic attack, stupid things such as my kids faces being dirty, a little garbage in my car, my pants had a tiny hole in them. hahaha But after I realized I was being an idiot I calmed down and was ok. Around 8:30pm I started to get a headache and became tired. I knew the meds were wearing off. I told my husband about the head ache and then it dawned on him! He sees me after im done work and I take my meds for work and they wear off when I get home. Once they wear off im tired, have a headache, and once again, super tired! So hes right, I have been more irritable, but thats due to the meds wearing off. I am going to talk to my doctor about how to ease myself off of them. Its no fun for him when he gets to see me a few hours at the end of the day and im an irritable wench! hahaha

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[Anonymous]

i am on ritalin sr

i am experienceing migrane and nausia and i am going back to my doctor i have flu like symptoms everyday i am going to trake it with food today it does not seem to be as bad does any one know about this i am irritated by life a little or allot and i keep throwing the pagehtti against the wall only to wonder when it will fall off

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[Bill]

We live near a highway. When we first moved in, we could hear the sound of the traffic, even at night when the baby would wake up. There were certain times in the day when it got particularly annoying. Over time, though, we got used to it and stopped noticing it. When we finally put the house on the market, a real estate agent asked about the highway noise as we toured the house. It was only then that I realized that I hadn’t heard the traffic sounds for years!

A friend once told me that we condition ourselves to be annoyed. We decide that a sound is annoying, and every time we hear it again, we notice it and say to ourselves, “how annoying!” thus reinforcing the feeling. Instead of getting used to it, we actually become more sensitive. I know that in this case, the heightened sensitivity is due to coming down off the medication, but is there any way to tell yourself that it’s OK, the noise is really background noise, not worth your attention?

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[Carrie]

I dont know if I could. The sound of someone chewing is quite disgusting hahaha I could try it though thats for sure!

Im no longer on Ritalin due to the moodiness that comes from the down. Im moody enough once a month and thats more than enough for anyone (including myself) to handle.

Im now on Adderall XR. My dose is too low but they wanted to make sure I wouldnt have a bad reaction. Im on 10mg which is doing nothing but giving me a dry mouth for the first couple hours of day. While on the Ritalin (besides the down) PMS was alright. It wasnt too bad. But I also noticed it took away my ups, not only my downs. Ah well. Thus is life.

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[Geoduck]

I posted this same weird feeling in response to another topic in this forum somebody labeled “Jolt,” but it was about something else, and I thought he meant this kind of “jolt.”

Instead of feeling it when I wore off my medication, I felt it when it kicked in. Yesterday, after 20 min. of taking my first ever ritalin pill, I was extremely sensitive to light sound and touch. I laid down for a few minutes and it wore off. I took it again today and did not feel it again, neither after I took it nor when it was wearing off.

Glad I found your post. Guess it wasn’t the kids working my last nerve. LOL!

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[Anonymous]

I’m sure you’ve read about how 1 in 6 will experience this side effect or 1 in 10 will experience that one. I am always the 1. It doesn’t matter if I know of the effects beforehand or not – they hit me and sometimes hit me very hard. I’m beginning to think that I need a medication free approach, which annoys me as stimulants have had some effect on my ADHD, but not enough. Though my doctor is reluctant to increase the dosage from the minimal amounts we’re using.

I’m finally taking note of how and when the Ritalin is wearing off, as I seem to hit a “wall” where I get very anxious, irritable and confused about 2-3 hours after I take it. I had always assumed it would last longer and attributed those effects to something else. It is definitely something I’ll be discussing with my doctor when I see him.

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