Posted by Caper on May 18, 2004, at 17:37:36
In reply to Focalin and all-over itchiness??, posted by University on May 18, 2004, at 12:40:43
My experience may be completely different from yours, but for what it's worth.....
I suddenly started to get an all over itchiness like you described when I was taking Ritalin, after being on it for a long time. It wasn't all the time, just occassionally. I thought really hard about what was different about the times I did get the itchies and what I came up with was lack of sleep.
In grad school I got terrible itchiness when I sacrificed sleep for studying while taking a stimulant (Adderall or Ritalin). First time it ever happened to me was during exams that took place at the same time my father was having surgery for cancer. I just couldn't sleep, and I have to admit I may have over-used the Ritalin a little since I figured if I can't sleep anyway I may as well study! I'm not talking about restless sleep, I mean practically NO sleep at all. I was up for several days in a row, except for a few brief naps when I fell asleep over my law books.
Maybe this is the problem for you if you haven't been getting proper rest? It's the only thing I can think of, unless maybe your Focalin dose is too high?
Keep the Focalin updates coming please, I'm interested in trying it myself so I appreciate you sharing your experiences.
Caper
P.S. A small dose of Benadryl or Claritin helped my itchiness a little without dampening the effect of the Ritalin very much. Also, making sure I was well hydrated helped too- drink lots of water.
> Started Focalin the other day, and I'm having some urticaria--all over body itchiness without hives or lesions of any kind. I'm not alarmed that it's a dangerous allergic reaction, but wonder if anyone else has experienced this.
>
> I took Ritalin for over a year without this, which makes me think it might be unrelated...
poster:Caper
thread:348189
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040515/msgs/348310.html