#daytrana

One of the most well known prescription drugs, I found methylphenidate to be extremely functional, with little recreational edge, but with an aftermath which wasn't too punishing. However, it comes with some serious potential side effects, so it is extremely important not to overdo it.

Turns out 15mg of Daytrana is ... too many Daytrana.

10mg is 👌 and I actually feel productive.

In mid-2015, the American FDA reported that Daytrana patches can sometimes cause a loss of skin pigmentation at the site where the patch is and rarely in other places far away from the patch site. The side effect seems to be slightly more common in people with vitiligo or people with a family history of vitiligo. However, the FDA did not recommend that people stop using the Daytrana patch, only that they monitor the area under the patch for pigmentation changes and call their doctors if they do lose pigment. The report does not mention whether skin pigmentation returned in patients after they stopped taking Daytrana, which is a big problem because I’m sure everyone really wants to know whether the side effect is permanent or not.

I’ll just say here that not only your family history but your skin tone will determine how much you want to worry about this side effect. Depigmentation is more obvious on dark-skinned people than on light-skinned people, so that’s something to consider. If depigmentation is something you really just don’t want to risk, call your doctor about switching to a daily methylphenidate pill or liquid instead.

Right now, I’ve got a 30mg Daytrana patch on.  I do have some 20mg Ritalin, so Imma take it. I may even take 1 1/2 pills, so 30mg.  I think I really need it, because I really don’t want to make meatloaf.  hahaha!

All happening at once right now:

Football game playing

My son calling me to play with him.

A very loud friend spewing a combination of political sense and political nonsense.

I’m taking some Ritalin, I’m drinking coffee, and I’m outta here!!!  WOOOOO!

I’m currently jobless, because I quit my job in July, so this means I’m at home all day and I have loads of things I should be doing.  My son still goes to daycare, because we don’t want to lose his spot because he loves it there. 

Each day starts with me feeling optimistic about all of things that I can get done during the day.  And each day ends with tremendous disappointment in myself, plus feelings of guilt and disgust for myself.

For most of last week, I fucked around and got next to nothing done.

I watched too many YouTube videos

I read way too many Huffington Post articles that started with “9 Celebrities who...” or “5 Things you must do...” - you know what I mean? And they always have those goddamn SLIDESHOWS which take too long to load yadyadayada I’m going off on a tangent...

And, I have no idea where the time went in between those things and it boggles my mind!  This, in turn, makes it just as difficult to explain to anyone what I did during the day.  UGH.

But FRIDAY, I got stuff done!  Why???

I used a Timer.  I would set it to go off in an amount of time that I thought the task should be done. Like, I gave myself 40 minutes to clean the kitchen.

I would repeat to myself the name of the task I was doing.  For example, if I was supposed to be doing laundry, I would say to myself, “I’m doing laundry.”  And if I strayed from that activity, which we ADHD’ers know is REALLY EASY, I would say something like, “I’m not doing laundry, I need to be doing laundry”!!

I am on medication.  DAYTRANA patch 30mg + Ritalin 20mg as need when the patch wears off later in the day.

So far, the meds have been working for me.  I started them in April of this year.  This method has worked for me before with great results.  It takes a tremendous amount of focus, and it’s really really easy to get off track, but using the timer really helps a lot to help with time management.  I think that the reason why I fall off the rails is when I FORGET to use this method.  Ahh, the whole FORGETTING thing is SO ANNOYING.

For choicethings:

This is just my personal experience with this drug. You should check with your doctor, obviously, but I hope this helps…

I was put on Ritalin recently. I normally use it to supplement the Daytrana patch which wears off at around 3pm. However, when I ran out of patches before the weekend, and couldn’t get an Rx, I took the Ritalin instead. I really noticed a difference in efficacy with the higher dose.

So, normally, this is what I do:

Daytrana dose is 1 x 30mg patch applied to the hip each morning. The box says it lasts 9 hours. So if I apply it at 7:00am, it wears off by 2:00-3:00pm. This is when I add the Ritalin, 1x 20mg tablet.

When I was out of patches, I did this:

7:00am – 1 x 20mg tablet of Ritalin 11:30am – 1 x 20mg tablet of Ritalin 4:00pm – ½ tablet (10mgs) of Ritalin

I don’t know how this compares in dose with the patch, but I felt really productive, more so than on the patch.

However, the effect that Ritalin has on me is that I feel “rough around the edges”. The onset of relief, and the wearing off are both much more harsh than the patch, which isn’t harsh at all. I feel that the harshness of the Ritalin, or it’s very quick response, lends itself to making me feeling a tad “addicted”, because there is such an immediate response. I can easily see why this drug is so abused.

That said, I’m back on the patch as of today, and I rather prefer the smoother transition that it offers. Today, I didn’t need it, but I still carry my Ritalin tablets in case I need them.