Posted by Racer on January 18, 2008, at 10:43:12
In reply to Pdoc started me on Ritalin for TR Depression, posted by SteelyDan on January 17, 2008, at 19:06:37
> is it possible to get a good result from such a low dose? This is my first time on a stimulant.
It's very possible -- first of all, everyone's different and so many things are possible. Secondly, that worked for me... :-D
I should say that it helped me a lot. I went from marginal to functional with the addition of methylphenidate. I started out with half a 5mg pill, then 5mg, then 10mg. 10mg -- 5mg at breakfast and another 5mg at noon -- seemed the best choice for me for a very long time. I finally switched to Concerta -- long action form of methylphenidate -- and went up a bit on dose, but the 10mgs of Ritalin was enough to keep me functional for about two years, I think.
I can't tell when the stimulant kicks in -- there's no feeling of speediness, nothing saying, "Wow, you just took a stimulant!" -- and that seems to be the trick for me with dosage. If I can feel the medication start acting, I'm taking too much. (That is, when I first started, I could really feel it -- once I was adjusted and had found a stable dose, I couldn't feel it start working.) What I can tell, though, is that if I stop taking it for some reason, I'm more depressed, and more anxious. Some may be discontinuation, but I think more is simply that the drug does a job for me, and that job isn't getting done otherwise.
Good luck with it. I'm restarting Concerta next week, and looking forward to it!
poster:Racer
thread:807304
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20080114/msgs/807395.html