Ritalin for ADHD User Reviews (Page 4)

• liz
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• December 7, 2023

"26 (f) I was diagnosed with ADHD-inattentive since young. Over time, I finally decided to try Vyvanse and it completely changed my life. I went from special Ed to all honors classes/AP classes and graduated among the top in my class. I got a full ride to college, perfect GPA, learned a foreign language, and now live abroad where there is no Vyvanse. So the country I live in now only has Ritalin and Strattera. I have been taking Ritalin for 3 years now and some things are similar to Vyvanse (the loss of appetite, ability to sit still for 3-hour lectures, hyperfocus). So at first, I was optimistic, but over time, I realized I can't focus at all in class or on my readings or anything. I'm not doing great in my master's at all, which hurts my pride a little. :/ The Ritalin feels very rough compared to Vyvanse, like I drank 5 coffees but am drowsy too. I can't remember anything, still doze off. Everyone is different. I'm gonna try Strattera and see if it can help me."

• Eddie
• July 11, 2015

"Helped me a lot. Been using it for 8 months and now I'm on a 20 mg 2 times a day. I never had the power to just sit still and stay on one task. Now I'm able to actually sit down and focus on one task. I'm 16 and was diagnosed at 15. Ritalin doesn't last long enough though which is the only down side. Only lasts for 3 hours but it's good because you could get your appetite back. No side effects just a little nervous at times and head aches which are rare. Also suppressed appetite the first hour you take it."

• Anonymous
• September 26, 2010

"My son was diagnosed with ADHD last week he has always been super hyper, climbs on furniture, spins, sticks tongue out and can't look anyone in the eyes without fidgeting around. I didn't want to believe it but when my parents and my grandparents, also the dentist asked about him...I knew things were getting worse. He was seen by 3 specialists in NH and was given 5mg of Ritalin 1/2 morning 1/2 afternoon, he has already had a profound change in his behavior. He doesn't stick his tongue out of his mouth at all and makes crazy noises, he can sit calmly now and concentrate, he actually played with some of his toy which he didn't really do before, only con so far..after 4 hours he has aggressive behavior and crying over nothing. Just started maybe that's why."

• o4marie
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• July 23, 2018

"I’ve been on Ritalin for almost a year now, and it hasn’t been great, but at the same time it hasn’t been bad. It helps me study and focus, but once it wears off it leaves you feeling like you were a zombie the whole day. All in all, it’s okay, but it does have some side effects you should be aware of."

• RPano
• Taken for less than 1 month
• March 14, 2018

"30 year old male. Recently diagnosed with ADHD. Been taking 10mg x3 times a day. 8am (with breaky) 12pm (with lunch) 4pm (with snack) I realised after a week that I can NOT mix it with coffee, if I do, it makes me feel very anxious and "Jittery" however I don't find the side effects that bad at all without coffee. I do want to keep playing with the doses to tweak it but off to a good start. Glad I realised it was the coffee making me feel like rubbish before I gave up on the drug."

• Anonymous
• February 15, 2010

"my 8 year old DAUGHTER is on ritalin at the moment we find she is getting migrane headaches, she hast lost 3kgs due to lack of appetite and she is very emotonal coming off it and she doesnt sleep much. On the other side of things she has shown a large improvement at school with her concerntration going from the bottom of the class to the top of the class in just 3 months"

• littl...
• January 22, 2012

"This medicine made me feel zombie like. I had hopes of focus and alertness and I know achieving the level of focus intended for the medicine does take a couple of weeks to take effect. But I do not think I can tolerate the restlessness feeling to achieve the intended effect. Just my opinion."

• Ashle...
• November 15, 2016

"I wanted to update about my medication. I am now 20 mg. of Ritalin twice daily and 50 mg. of Zoloft generic once daily. Having suffered bipolar depression, PTSD, ADD/ADHD throughout different periods throughout my life. I also Borderline/Mild General Learning Disability a labeling in terms that is least offensive to Mild Mental Retardation or Borderline/Mild Intellectual Disability. In my case the GLD is extremely least severe in slightest degree. Ritalin actually works very well for me while Zoloft treats the anxiety, depression, and some mild obsessive compulsive behavioral thoughts but nothing extreme severe or seriousness. In some people depending DNA, generics how medication effects the individual might be very different, etc."

• Rose
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• January 15, 2021

"I am a 20 yo women 145 pounds and have been diagnosed with ADD since I was 8. I had tried numerous medications to try and help over the last 12 years but it always seemed the side effects outweighed the good it was doing. I wouldn’t eat and felt depressed/zombie like on other medications. I take Ritalin 10mg twice daily. It usually lasts around 3-4 hours. I have to stop and tell myself to eat something sometimes and my heart rate becomes faster, but other than that those are my only side effects. I feel great at the end of the day and am very productive during those hours. Ritalin is the first one that works for me and the side effects don’t outweigh the good it’s doing for me."

• Anonymous
• April 13, 2009

"I used Ritalin when I was in 1st grade. Until I was in 6th grade these tablets helped me a lot with ADHD. But I outgrew the hyperactivity. The reason I rated it a 9/10 was because in 6th grade the medicine was working well but I was on 200mg of it so the doctor had to take me off of it fast. Then I had a Ritalin crash in a overnight hospital. But other than that it is a great drug for treating ADHD. It helped me pay attention and not to jump off my mom's dresser (the dresser story is true about me)."

• Sarare
• Taken for 10 years or more
• March 17, 2016

"I was first given Ritalin at 6 years old. Ritalin made it hard for me to sleep. Being on Ritalin made me feel nauseous. Ritalin caused tremors in my arms. Being forced to take Ritalin made me self-conscious. Ritalin increased my anxiety. My anxiety turned into panic attacks so I was prescribed with antidepressants like Zoloft, Wellbutrin and Effexor. I was also prescribed with Lamictal, an anti-convulsant. For me, Ritalin was the "gateway drug.""

• Anonymous
• October 18, 2009

"I felt very groggy and out of it for while on this drug, I felt like I could barely form a thought and had great difficulty interacting with people while on it. I had no feelings, no emotions it felt like if I had to choose an emotion it would be disoriented."

• Kaden
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• October 26, 2021

"I have taken Adderall for years and made the switch to Ritalin. Adderall just wasn’t cutting it for me and was actually affecting me negatively (it only lasted a couple of hours, and the comedown was terrible. It also affected my ability to think after the affects took place 30 minutes prior). Ritalin may not last as long, but splitting the dose into 3 different times lasts me 10-14 hours. With the Adderall, I would take 20mg twice daily, it affected my appetite which caused it effectiveness to perish. With Ritalin, I take it first thing in the morning, eat about 3 hours later, take the second dose, eat about 4-5 hours later, then take the third dose (I wake up at 7am). It starts to wear off around 6-7 pm, which I’ll then eat dinner and it kind of reactivates it, lasting until it’ll ready for bed (which would be after dinner or 1am, it doesn’t keep me awake like Adderall). Take it 10-15 mins before a meal for max effectiveness. I take 60mg a day, but 40mg is just as effective."

• anony...
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• September 12, 2021

"I struggled for years, doubting my mental capacity, while people around me described me as brilliant but apathetic, smart but utterly distracted. I behaved in erratic ways, dropped out from my academic path due to verbal violence, being unable to tolerate people and abusing substances, at this point I was 21, non diagnosed, and lost. My social relations were tense and my behaviour hurt everyone around me. I thought about rehab but I found something better, a good psychiatrist. He explained to me that the aggressive behaviours, self harm, research for substances were all signs of a severe dopamine deficiency. We started at 30 mg day and raised up to 60mg daily over three years. I am now 27 and a different person. I collected the pieces and started again, in one year I have the exams I missed, found the backbone to apologize to the ones I hurt. I never felt the urge to do drugs ever again. For me, It was and it is a life changer. For the ones around me, deserved peace."

• Pipw
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• April 29, 2022

"I'm a 42 year old male who has struggled over the years with anxiety and depression. Researching ADHD and ultimately having ritalin X 3 per day has been incredible. I feel calm, centred and focussed. I'm happy than I've ever been. I've had it for 5 months. I feel my functionality day to day has changed from about 45 to 60 percent to more like constant 70 or 80. I feel rather than bumbling along I am really getting traction in my life. Having this medication mixed with learning about ADHD and how it plays out has been a real game changer. It's strange to not be able to imagine not having it now. It's not like it's a high it's just that I feel like a solid high functioning individual for the first time. I will continue taking this medication. My work, my relationship s and overall well-being are better than they've ever been."

• Akiba...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• October 10, 2021

"38 years old male diagnosed with ADHD at age 37. Took Ritalin for the first time and it made me feel awful. At first I just felt like my blood circulation was weird but then I felt fatigued, anxious, and stressed. I had difficulty spelling correctly when typing. I had difficulty focusing both figuratively and literally, for about an hour I had to concentrate to focus my vision when I was reading something. It basically was a slightly less worse reaction than what I had to Straterra."

• Erinn
• October 27, 2011

"I found Ritalin increased my alertness and concentration. I rate Ritalin 2/10 as I find it increased my depression, from which point I stopped taking. Unsure whether the Ritalin interacted negatively with my usual small dose antidepressant Cymbalta or if increased depression is an unreported side effect."

• Student...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• February 1, 2016

"I started on 10mg short acting. I'm in the process of finding something different. I'm a student and in a competitive feild studying nursing . I'm a busy person and this didn't help me in any way except for test cramming and homework. It would last about 2 hours and if I wasn't done with my work I needed to take another. Doctor said use it on an as needed basis . But I want something that will help me through the day. Help me focus on everything I need to do in the day. I can't take this short acting stuff, because when it wears off I'm nervous and I feel cloudy minded and weird. I don't want to be around people at this time because I feel off. I'm going back to the doc on Monday. I heard adderal doesn't have the nervousness sideeffects"

• Mercu...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• May 27, 2016

"I was recently prescribed generic form of Ritalin for Aspergers/lack of focus issues. I am in my low 40s and used Meth recreationally for years, although I gave that up thankfully, a while back. This is the third pill I have taken and I assure you, the effects of this drug mimic, in many ways, taking a moderate amount of Meth, although not as strong. However, I realize that it affects different people, different ways based on their chemistry. I am not sure I will take it all the time but it does give me energy and new focus, I was lacking. I can see how this drug could be addictive to some people. But it is extremely expensive."

• JoA
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• September 4, 2023

"I am a 51 year old woman who struggled since university. Ritalin has given me my life back. I feel calm, focused, and just, me again. Mo more being overwhelmed constantly and anxious. The side effects were mild for me, a headache. But that has passed now and I feel like I can get my life back on track! I take Ritalin LA 10mg twice a day. It’s amazing!"

• Anonymous
• Taken for less than 1 month
• August 3, 2017

"I have only been on ritalin for a couple days now and the results are great. My concentration and focus has improved, I can get more things done and I feel more motivated and self assured. My social life is better and can keep a conversation going. The downsides for me where fast heart rate which made me feel anxious, a bad headache when I first took it and a decreased in appetite. Overall this is working for me so far and I would say to not abuse this drug, combine it with alcohol or anything else and to eat well before taking medicine. hope this helps"

• kcooper
• March 11, 2011

"Ritalin made me able to block out everything and focus on reading my boring, tedious nursing books. Take it at least 12 hours before you go to sleep, or else it will keep you up at night with thoughts racing. It suppresses appetite and makes most people lose weight- I actually gained weight because I would be starving and binge eat at the end of the night. I did like Ritalin, but it made me too irritable so I switched to Adderall. That is much more pleasant and even more effective. Focalin 10 mg is good for people with mild ADHD symptoms. "

• Anonymous
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• June 3, 2017

"There are some things I love about this medicine, like my ability to focus and get things done. But I really hate the side effect of having no appetite because I'm skinny to begin with. It also increases my heart rate which can make my feel anxious. It also gives me diarrhea which my doctor said does happen to some people. It's super effective, but I wish I could get rid of those side effects. may be better for people who do not need to focus 12 hours a day like I do because I require 3 doses a day."

• Miklos
• Taken for less than 1 month
• May 11, 2018

"I think it's a very good medication and it can helps a lot! I have been taking this drug when I was 14-15 years old and at the beginning it works well but then because I took a high dosage of Ritalin (around 60-80 mg daily) I experienced a few side effects (just like increased heart rate, weight loss and insomnia! So I stoped taking this drug and after that I have been taking Strattera (atomoxetin) for a year but that was terrible. I had insomnia so bad I couldn't sleep for 36-60 hours maybe twice a week and besides that I usually slept 3-4 hours), I also had increase hearth rate (maybe 100-130 in the morning, increase blood pressure(100/190), headache and stomach problem. So I stoped taking this medication too. Now I am 18 years old and I started to take Ritalin but not every day only when I have to learn a lot and just 10mg twice a day and I think it works very well and it has no any side effects. So I thing its a very good and useful medications just the "normal" dosage is very important!"

• Rae
• Taken for less than 1 month
• October 26, 2019

"I'm 19, female and i've been on this medication about 3 weeks and have slowly upped the dose from 10mg twice a day to 20mg and I feel like when I just started it it worked wonders but now I need more and more for it to help. My pyschiatrist told me to take it everyday. The last couple days I've been on 40mg a day and it doesn't do anything for me anymore, maybe my tolerance is high and I shouldn't be taking it everyday. But I'm still figuring out what works for me, I find I am quite resistant to most drugs like I need more than most people but I only weigh 40kg so I'm a little disappointed at the moment but I think it might just be a tolerance thing and maybe I should only take it when I need it like for university."