Expert: Norm Bishop - 9/26/2010

Question
When I take Ritalin it feels as if my brain & thoughts are rushing very fast and it doesnt slow down. Its a terrible feeling and usually followed by pressure in ears, eyes and head. It feels as if one has taken too much medicine (you know that horrible feeling) Is dopamine released slowly into the brain on Ritalin IR because it feels as if my brain has too much dopamine and Ritalin makes too much. I dont know how else to explain this aweful side effect,

Answer
Ritalin is a stimulant drug.  It acts by causing the entire neurological system to become more hyper than it was prior to the taking of the drug.  What you are describing is an over stimulus of the Ritalin.  

You need to contact the doctor who prescribed the Ritalin and let them know what you are experiences.  The doctor will either need to try a different medication or decrease the dossage.  

It is believed that brains of persons with ADHD are responding to stimuli in a different manner than the normal brain, and there is research evidence to support this.  However, not all persons with ADHD respond to medication in the same way.  A normal brain would respond to Ritalin the way you have described it, so from my non-physician point of view, the medication is not working for you.

Doctors know medicines better than we who teach, contact one as soon as possible.  Adderal might be something that would work better, as it is a form of Ritalin that is time released into the blood stream, then it again, it could do the same thing.  Call the doctor!

Norm