Methylphenidate and Weight Loss: What Users Say (Page 2)

• Jul...
• December 20, 2015

Methylphenidate for ADHD "I am in grade 12, and I have been on Concerta since grade 3. I have noticed I am underweight, and I have trouble sleeping at night. But Concerta has helped me focus in school, but I just wish it didn't come with some of the side effects."

• mik...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• August 30, 2017

Methylphenidate for ADHD "My son has severe ADHD and autism. My son was graduated to 36 mg time-release Concerta. His behavior did improve very slightly, however, he lost nearly 10% of his body weight in a short 3 months. We could hardly get him to eat. We started to supplement him with an immediate-release 10 mg Ritalin tablet before school, and it was an absolute miracle. We removed the Concerta and then increased his Ritalin to 10 mg three times a day, and it's like a new child. While it's the same drug, the delivery system is completely different. I firmly believe that the digestive system needs to be looked at for each individual taking Concerta. For my son, the delivery system of the Concerta did nothing positive."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• June 21, 2016

Methylphenidate for ADHD "I have been using Concerta for many years. It has helped so much, but the only downside to it is it makes me lose weight. I went off of my meds for about three months and gained 50 pounds. This was because I had the habit of eating whatever I wanted whenever I wanted and not gain any weight. I was an A student, and as soon as I went off my meds, I was getting Fs in all of my classes. I then went back on my meds, and within three weeks of me being back on Concerta, I lost all of the weight I had gained (because I had to make the habit of not eating so much within those three months), I raised some of my grades to As and some to Ds. I still passed 7th grade because of my circumstance. I have ADD, ADHD, and Cerebral Palsy."

• Ros...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• March 1, 2022

Methylphenidate for ADHD "I’m a 19-year-old. I have always been a straight A student in high school. During the pandemic, I started to have depressive thoughts, and I failed multiple classes. I have been taking Concerta for approximately 2 weeks now, and I feel motivated and focused. I am able to clear my thoughts and be more positive. I am slowly getting back on track with my studies. I don’t forget appointments and lose things anymore. I feel happier and more optimistic about the future. However, I experience small side effects, such as weight loss and trouble falling asleep."

• Myn...
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• May 1, 2013

Methylphenidate for ADHD "Even though Concerta has been helping me in school, I still get a lot of the side effects. The biggest one is that I am never hungry, and now I am underweight. I still recommend this medication because it has helped me improve my grades in school."

• Mik...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• May 11, 2018

Methylphenidate for ADHD "I think it's a very good medication, and it can help a lot! I have been taking this drug since I was 14-15 years old, and at the beginning it worked 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 stopped taking this drug, and after that, I took Strattera (atomoxetine) 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 increased heart rate (maybe 100-130 in the morning), increased blood pressure (100/190), headache, and stomach problems. So I stopped taking this medication too. Now I am 18 years old and started to take Ritalin, but not every day-only when I have to learn a lot, and just 10 mg twice a day. I think it works very well and has no side effects. So I think it's a very good and useful medication, just the 'normal' dosage is very important!"

• Anonymous
• November 27, 2011

Methylphenidate for ADHD "I'm eighteen, and I've had ADD all my life, though I'm only now trying medication for it. Daytrana helped me a little, but my dosage was too low. I started out on the 10 mg patch. The biggest issue with it was weight loss. Now, let me begin by saying that before the appointment where I was diagnosed, I had just eaten lunch. Shortly after starting Daytrana, I caught a cold that lasted about two weeks, recovered, then caught another two-week cold. I did notice that I was less hungry while using the patch. Didn't eat breakfast before my checkup. My weight went from 120 to 114 lbs. The doctor took me off Daytrana and switched me to Strattera, which has been a nightmare. While on Daytrana, I felt more awake, but not necessarily more focused."

• Mar...
• May 29, 2015

Methylphenidate for ADHD "I've started taking Concerta because of ADD when I was 21. I went to see my doctor, I was explaining to him that I had difficulty keeping up at school since I was a kid, but the only reason I'm in university was because I was in art school. He prescribed me Concerta. If anyone took speed before, it's exactly the same effect. You do get a down. You are more focused. You lose weight. However, you can go to sleep at night. The problem is, I don't take it every day, I think it's a little bit too harsh for me. I'll go see him again, maybe I have psychological issues. It did help with my sleeping: I always fell asleep in the afternoon, it took everything I had to stay awake (at school, at home, at a friend's house). I was known as the sleeper."

• Jen...
• July 13, 2011

Methylphenidate for ADHD "My 8-year-old daughter has been on Concerta for 2 years, and it has worked great for her. When she was 5, her teacher could not handle her, she was getting in trouble every day (literally). So I had her evaluated by her doctor, and she was diagnosed with ADHD. After she got put on this medicine, she started listening, sitting still, and was able to comprehend information. She was just a new child, and she was even able to get along with her siblings. Since then, she has been an honor student with straight A's. The only side effect we deal with is loss of weight due to lack of appetite. Mind you, she's 8 and wears size 5T clothes, so with this, it was recommended she not take her pill on weekends, holidays, and during summer break. This helps balance her weight."

• Lov...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• December 3, 2019

Methylphenidate for ADHD "This drug is atrocious, especially if you also suffer from bipolar disorder with psychotic features. I have increased anxiety, hallucinations, paranoia, and mood swings from this drug. In the meantime, it has done some things for my severe attention deficit disorder symptoms. Nevertheless, the side effects are horrible. I am cold, constipated, yet sweaty. I am in pain. I have extreme bloating whenever I am late by a few hours for my dose. The insomnia is unfathomably severe. I have undergone rapid weight loss on this drug. I have no appetite and must force-feed myself despite also being on antipsychotics. Do not even use methylphenidate stimulants if you have psychosis."

• Anonymous
• May 25, 2010

Methylphenidate for ADHD "My son is 7 and was diagnosed a few months ago. He started with the 27 mg Concerta, and that didn't seem to help at all. Moved him to 36 mg, and he's doing a little better. There are a few concerns, though. Around 5:30, 6:00 in the evening, he will have emotional meltdowns. Cries at the drop of a hat. Also, I pretty much have to bribe him to eat, and he has lost so much weight. I am thinking about trying to switch to something else, but not sure what to switch him to."

• Viv...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• March 6, 2018

Methylphenidate for ADHD "It did help me to calm my brain, but it gave me a very fast heart rate, anxiety, and caused me to lose weight. My normal weight is about 140, and at my lowest on Concerta, I weighed 123. It did help with the ADD, but didn't work completely, so I stopped taking it because the side effects outweighed the help."

• She...
• November 3, 2011

Methylphenidate for ADHD "My son (7 years old now) was diagnosed with ADHD last year and was started on 10 mg of Metadate. We've slowly progressed to 60 mg now, which I was told is the maximum dosage available for this medication. It seems to work fine on a new dosage for about a month, and then nothing. Our doctor is now talking about putting him on Adderall, which makes me a little nervous since he is already underweight (been reading all the side effects). He is only 49 lbs and 49 inches. We're feeding him Pediasures daily to help boost the weight, but still to no avail. Just want my son to be able to focus in school!"

• Ash...
• April 7, 2016

Methylphenidate for ADHD "I take the generic form of Ritalin. I have actually lost weight and appetite with this medication. I also have Bipolar Depression, PTSD, social anxiety, and Borderline/Mild General Learning Disability (formerly called or known as intellectual disability or mental retardation: I use a much more updated, suitable labeling of disability. I am actually too advanced and higher functioning. In some cases, GLD is more proper or acceptable for me.) My medication does, in fact, help. I also take Vistaril. I actually had ADD/ADHD symptoms as a child growing up that might have caused G.L.D., linking it to a chemical imbalance of the brain equals intellectual disturbance. So people may be undersigned for certain conditions."

• Int...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• July 15, 2018

For ADHD "It works for me, but it gives side effects. I can finally focus with 52 mg! Still, I am impulsive, but I don’t get distracted, and finally, I can get stuff done! But it took me weeks to get used to the doses until reaching 52 mg, and I still have side effects sometimes (especially if I haven’t slept well, for some reason). However, I am going through a lot of stress, and with the meds, sometimes I get nausea, palpitations, loss of appetite, and I am losing a lot of weight (I’m already very thin). I’ve been two weeks with this dose, and side effects are slowly disappearing, but I’m not sure if they will go for good. At least I focus finally, and that’s what I need to finish my master's in neuroscience."

• Ary...
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• March 23, 2016

For ADHD "I started taking methylphenidate six years ago, when I was eleven. I started at 20 MG a day in the morning, with food. When I started taking it, I was informed about the side effects, and I knew one of them was weight loss. When I was 11, I was about 5'6' and 125 pounds. I ended up losing about 20 pounds in the first 3 months of taking methylphenidate. The doctors tested my blood for celiac disease, which came back negative. (Turned positive three years later in my stomach.) The doctors came to their conclusion that my weight loss was a side effect of taking methylphenidate. That was the only bad experience taking methylphenidate, I'm still on it, now at 40 MG in the morning, with food."

• Anonymous
• August 5, 2008

Methylphenidate "My son was on Daytrana, it worked so well. He would still be on it if we could have gotten the dosage right. The 10 mg wasn't strong enough, the 15 mg affected his diet too much, and he lost weight. The only other problems we had out of it were the patch itself-sometimes the plastic back didn't want to peel off, and/or the patch wouldn't stick right."

• How...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• August 31, 2021

Methylphenidate for ADHD "This drug (and all drugs used to treat ADHD for that matter) is dangerous. I was on it for almost 12 months and ended up seriously underweight, depressed, and feeling like I was losing my mind. I lost all sense of my personality and basically became a ghost human. Tapering off was a whole other story that actually landed me in the emergency department, I was so mentally unstable. I’m not anti-medication at all, but these drugs are absolute band-aid cover-ups for something that can be managed in many other ways. A high-protein diet, proper cardio, routine, sleep, dietary supplements, THERAPY!! have all helped me learn to live and even excel without stimulant meds. Please educate yourself on the long-term effects of these drugs, and please, please, please don’t medicate little children with them. Stimulants change people's personalities, and you only start to realize once you're way down the rabbit hole of suffering."

• Aar...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• March 23, 2015

Methylphenidate for ADHD "Wow, I'm really surprised by the reviews of this drug. This drug should not be taken for ADHD. There are many (safer) alternatives. I don't know, maybe I was just unlucky... I was prescribed Ritalin at around the age of 5-6, and from day one, I had extreme fatigue, wasn't interested in any other activity but sleep. It made learning go from not interesting to impossible. After a couple of months of taking it, I had lost a lot of weight... by that time, the doctors had to take me off Ritalin. It has caused me to be underweight ever since (I'm 20 now). If your child(ren) are hyperactive, you should really consider cutting off the high amounts of sugar that they are exposed to in this day and age. Don't drug them, they will soon develop into a mature being."

• Aar...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• March 23, 2015

Methylphenidate for ADHD "Wow, I'm really surprised by the reviews of this drug. This drug should not be taken for ADHD. There are many (safer) alternatives. I don't know, maybe I was just unlucky... I was prescribed Ritalin at around the age of 5-6, and from day one, I had extreme fatigue, wasn't interested in any other activity but sleep. It made learning go from not interesting to impossible. After a couple of months of taking it, I had lost a lot of weight... by that time, the doctors had to take me off Ritalin. It has caused me to be underweight ever since (I'm 20 now). If your child(ren) are hyperactive, you should really consider cutting off the high amounts of sugar that they are exposed to in this day and age. Don't drug them, they will soon develop into a mature being."

• jea...
• December 27, 2009

Methylphenidate for ADHD "Very bad side effect: insomnia, depression, important weight loss..."