Posted by fachad on April 19, 2002, at 13:18:27
In reply to switch from ritalin to ? for add, opinions?, posted by katekite on April 18, 2002, at 19:31:13
Kate,
For me Ritalin had the least effect on blood pressure of all the stimulants. Adderall had the most effects by far. It increased my BP, pulse, gave me nervousness and such. Dexedrine was somewhere in the middle. It caused more increase in BP than Ritalin, but not as much as Adderall.
However, with both Ritalin and Dexedrine the increase in BP was transient and it went away after about a month. You may want to wait and see if yours goes away too. The BP you reported is not medically dangerous unless you had it every day for 20 yrs.
Foculin is supposed to have less effect on BP than Ritalin; it is dextro form of Ritalin only.
As far as dosage conversions go, it varies from person to person, but I think the rule of thumb is 30 mg Ritalin = 20 mg Adderall = 15 mg Dexedrine = 15 mg Focalin.
I still think you should wait out the BP as it will likely go away and will most likely be worse with Adderall or Dexedrine. Also, as someone else mentioned, Concerta is an excellent, very smooth slow release form of Ritalin. You would most likely have less side effects from Concerta, plus the convenience of only taking it once per day.
-fachad
> Hi,
>
> I started ritalin about a week ago and love the calming effect and ability to think.
>
> Went camping, hiking, this week and found that my low starter dose of 5 mg every 3-4 hrs gave me chest pain. Now I'm home and went and checked my blood pressure and its way too high, just under the line for normal a person but higher than its ever been for me -- 144/71 and that was 2.5 hours into the dose. And here I'd been hoping to up the dose! No wonder I feel a little sick at the peak of it.
>
> So what are my options?
>
> Something to control the blood pressure/heart rate? Is anyone on something for this, in combo with a stimulant?
>
> Other stimulants? How many mgs of Adderall or dexedrine would I try if I was doing ok with 5 of ritalin?
>
> thanks,
> kate
poster:fachad
thread:103464
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020416/msgs/103549.html