Posted by Merge on July 4, 2008, at 13:58:19
In reply to What's an average dosage of Ritalin for depression » Molybdenum, posted by IAMtheWalrus on June 26, 2008, at 11:27:14
I am taking 20 mg, twice a day, for depression. I have treatment resistant depression and the Ritalin is augmenting the 40 mg of Lexapro that I take every day.
I've done a lot of reading and it's hard to say that there's an "average" dose of Ritalin for depression, but that's what I'm taking.
I've only been taking Ritalin for about 3 weeks - and my doctor said that I'm the first patient he's tried this with. Is it helping? It's hard to say. During the first 2 weeks, I felt great! The last week, I haven't felt so great. But, if I take the last 3 weeks and compare to them the last few months, when I was severely depressed, I would say yeah, it's helping.
I don't know if this will be a long term solution for me or not. I think it's too early to tell. I have been on a number of antidepressants/combinations of antidepressants since I was 19 (I'm 36 now) and to be honest, none of them have ever made my depression go away...but at times, it's much more manageable.
From what I've read, treating depression by augmenting with a stimulant is a rather new thing, but I am glad that my doctor and I decided to try it. I need to make a lot of changes in my life (lose weight, fix my finances, get a new job, etc) and while those tasks are daunting, with the Ritalin, I am starting to get my energy back so that I can actually imagine making some of those changes.
Treatment resistant depression is horrible and there is some evidence that augmenting with Ritalin does help some people. I think it's worth a try.
Hope this helps, and good luck to you. I'd be happy to answer any questions about my experience with Ritalin so far.
poster:Merge
thread:836237
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20080626/msgs/838009.html