PatientsLikeMe : Methylphenidate Treatment Report

You appear to have JavaScript disabled in your browser. PatientsLikeMe relies on JavaScript and Cookies to deliver the best possible experience to you. How do I enable JavaScript?

What is Methylphenidate?

Methylphenidate is a central nervous system stimulant used in the treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and for symptomatic management of narcolepsy. Off label it is used for depression, especially in the elderly or medically ill.

Reasons taken & Efficacy

Reasons and Efficacy
Reasons taken	# of patients	# of patients evaluated by
Fatigue	146	22
Other	37	8
Problems concentrating	30	9
Excessive daytime sleepiness (somnolence)	27	4
Treat my mood condition(s)	21	5
Brain fog	18	6
ADHD-Combined Type	15	3
Attention Deficit Hyperactivty Disorder ADHD/ADD	8	4
no energy	8	3
Cognition	8	1
Narcolepsy	6	1
General health	4	0
Multiple Sclerosis (MS)	4	1
lack of energy	3	1
I had NO energy,lack of concentration,most of all my energy level was GONE	3	1
unable to concentrate	3	2
ADHD-Inattentive Type	3	0
ADD	2	1
Poor Concentration	2	0
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome	2	0
Fatigue and sleepiness	2	0
Anxiety	2	0
lack of concentration	2	0
Pain	1	0
concentration	1	0
Depression	1	0
My concentration was off,not paying attention to nothing else	1	0
Treat mood	1	1
ms fatigue	1	0
(patch on skin) fatigue during day, daytime sleepiness, sleep disorder	1	0
bedre koncentration og hukommelse	1	1
better concentration and memory	1	1
Treat Parkinson's	1	0
Don't know	1	0
High Anxiety / Excessive Worry	1	0
Memory problems	1	0
Support another treatment	1	0
Lethargy	1	0
Loss of short term memory	1	0

See all 39 reasons taken ▼

See all 279 patients currently taking Methylphenidate

Mouse over the table for more information

Side Effects

Side effects as an overall problem

Severe	9	15%
Moderate	7	11%
Mild	17	27%
None	29	47%

Most commonly reported side effects

dry mouth	10	16%
Lightheadedness	5	8%
Racing Heart	5	8%
Irritability	5	8%
Dizziness/hypotension upon standing	4	6%
hostility	3	5%
weak legs	3	5%
tired but jittery	3	5%
Stomach ache	3	5%
Tremor, hands	2	3%
Malaise	2	3%
withdrawal effects	2	3%
Agitation/Irritability	2	3%
Muscle tension	2	3%
aneorexia	2	3%
Nausea	2	3%
Brain cloud	2	3%
eye pain	2	3%
shaking hands	1	2%
tremor	1	2%
Headaches	1	2%
Chest pain	1	2%
rash and itching from patch adhesive	1	2%
Drowsiness	1	2%
Addiction	1	2%
hairloss	1	2%
Diarrhea	1	2%
upset stomach	1	2%
Tachycardia	1	2%
Flush	1	2%
Shaking	1	2%
jittery, nervous, fearful, lonley, like I have crashed from a high	1	2%
Migraine Headaches	1	2%
Raised my blood pressure dangerously high	1	2%
Stomach problems and Nausea	1	2%

Mild
Moderate
Severe

See all 35 reported side effects ▼

Dosages

Top 10 dosages based on patients currently taking Methylphenidate. See all 49 dosages ►

10 mg as needed	10mg as needed	18mg/24hr as needed	18mg as needed	20mg as needed	36 mg/24 hr daily	5mg as needed	as needed	daily	1 mg daily	5 mg daily	10 mg/24 hr daily	10 mg daily	15 mg daily	18 mg/24 hr daily	18 mg daily	20 mg/24 hr daily	20 mg daily	2 x 10 mg/24 hr daily	2 x 10 mg/9 hr daily	25 mg daily	27 mg/24 hr daily	30 mg/24 hours daily	30 mg/9 hr daily	30 mg daily	2 x 18 mg/24 hr daily	36 mg/24 hr daily	36 mg daily	2 x 20 mg/24 hr daily	40 mg/24 hr daily	40 mg daily	45 mg daily	50 mg daily	54 mg/24 hr daily	54 mg daily	2 x 30 mg/24 hours daily	60 mg daily	70 mg daily	2 x 36 mg/24 hr daily	4 x 18 mg/24 hr daily	80 mg daily	90 mg daily	100 mg daily	108 mg daily	120 mg daily	140 mg daily	180 mg daily	200 mg daily	600 mg daily
1	4	1	1	3	1	4	1	5	2	17	1	47	3	11	1	7	42	2	1	1	3	3	1	16	6	5	3	1	2	27	1	6	13	1	3	17	1	4	1	9	2	3	1	1	1	1	1	1

Stop Reasons

Why Patients Stopped Taking Methylphenidate (multiple reasons could be selected)
Reason	# Patients	Percentage of patients
Did not seem to work	35	39%
Doctor's advice	27	30%
Side effects too severe	21	24%
Other	18	20%
Course of treatment ended	5	6%
Not indicated	5	6%
Expense	3	3%
Personal research	2	2%

See all 85 patients who’ve stopped taking Methylphenidate

Duration See details about how long patients take this treatment ▼

Currently Taking Methylphenidate

0-1 month	1-3 months	3-6 months	6 months-1year	1-2 years	2 years or more
5	14	23	40	34	52

Stopped Taking Methylphenidate

0-1 month	1-3 months	3-6 months	6 months-1year	1-2 years	2 years or more
21	20	16	13	9	11

Adherence, Burden & Cost See details from patient evaluations ▼

Adherence

Taking treatment as prescribed

Always	39	63%
Usually	17	27%
Sometimes	5	8%
Never	1	2%

Burden

Difficulty being on treatment

Very	3	5%
Somewhat	5	8%
A little	12	19%
Not at all	42	68%

Cost

Paid out of pocket

$200+	0	0%
$100-199	1	2%
$50-99	1	2%
$25-49	11	18%
< $25	26	42%

See more information, including instructions, precautions, side effects, and interactions.

Patient Evaluations

See all 62 patient evaluations

Flowers

Sex: F

Sensation: Severe

Overall: Moderate

Cognition: severe

Vision: moderate

Speech: moderate

Swallowing: moderate

Upper limb: moderate

Walking: moderate

See profile
Flowers

40 mg daily

since Dec 31, 2008
Efficacy Major for Brain fog
Side Effects None
Advice/Tips This med has made all the difference for me in being able to focus on what I'm doing and to be able to finish what I start. I was to the point that I'd start... See full evaluation

heidibug77

Sex: F

Sensation: Mild

Overall: None

Cognition: mild

Vision: none

Speech: mild

Swallowing: none

Upper limb: mild

Walking: none

See profile
heidibug77

5mg as needed

since Feb 12, 2009
Efficacy Major for Fatigue
Side Effects None
Advice/Tips I only take a half a 10mg pill, when I feel zapped. The whole thing, if I'm really exhausted. See full evaluation

heatheroh32

Sex: F

Flare-up: Severe

Sensation: Moderate

Overall: Mild

Cognition: moderate

Vision: moderate

Speech: mild

Swallowing: mild

Upper limb: mild

Walking: moderate

See profile
heatheroh32

10 mg daily

since Oct 31, 2008
Efficacy Moderate for Fatigue
Side Effects Mild
Advice/Tips have dr prescribe ambian or something to help with sleep while on it. See full evaluation