# Ritalin + Seroquel [Seroquel vs. Benzos?]



## Sedated (Mar 1, 2011)

I got a prescription for both of these today. I was on Ritalin XR (40mg, 1-2x per day) previously but I felt like I got too nervous on it. My psychiatrist wanted to prescribe Ritalin + Benzo but I asked him for something else and that is what I got. 

The Ritalin is IR, 10mg 2x per day and the Seroquel he wants me to take 1x per day in the morning, 25mg tablets I believe. 

The Ritalin I have no problem with taking, I took the XR everyday for more than a month and quit cold turkey without an issue. Seroquel on the other hand I don't know anything about so I have a few questions: 

1) First and foremost, does it work on anxiety? How well, what's your experience with it?
2) Is it addictive, would I have a hard time dropping 25mg 1x a day if used for an extended period of time?
3) Does your body build up tolerance against it?
4) How bad is the weight gain? How does it work? More cravings for unhealthy food --> Fat? 

And if the weight gain is bad, perhaps I can counter this by only using it PRN?

I would really appreciate some input on this. If it's bad for anxiety/bad for weight gain I'll go back and ask for a benzo. 

It should be noted that I've been on Xanax IR up to 1 mg PRN before and it was by no means a magic pill at all for me, I'd probably need to raise that dosage. I am somewhat scared of benzos as I found it hard to quit Xanax XR after 2-3 weeks of steady usage (which I won't repeat, but still). 

Anyhow, I'd appreciate any input whatsoever, cheers!


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## Duke of Prunes (Jul 20, 2009)

Ritalin + Seroquel sounds like the dumbest combination ever.

a. NE is what causes anxiety on Ritalin, Seroquel won't help there
b. Adding a D1/D2/D3/D4 antagonist counteracts the benefits of Ritalin as the dopaminergic effects are the only reason it's worth taking
c. 5-HT1A antagonist is stupid; agonism has actually been shown to have anxiolytic effects

Don't bother with benzos, they can't be sustained. Your best bet is to move on to a better stimulant like d-amphetamine, but don't just ask for it or you'll be labelled as a drug seeker and get all of your good prescriptions taken away.


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## Sedated (Mar 1, 2011)

Duke of Prunes said:


> Ritalin + Seroquel sounds like the dumbest combination ever.
> 
> a. NE is what causes anxiety on Ritalin, Seroquel won't help there
> b. Adding a D1/D2/D3/D4 antagonist counteracts the benefits of Ritalin as the dopaminergic effects are the only reason it's worth taking
> ...


Ahh. I've never actually tried either of these alone though. I just tried Ritalin XR, which I suppose should be similar but we'll see, I hope the IR somehow has a different/better effect on me.

As for Seroquel, I'm not really excited about that at all and even less after reading your post. What do you think about Benzos PRN + Ritalin? I'd have to be somewhat strict on how many times per week I can use them maximum though but it's just a thought. I was also thinking about Seroquel PRN + Ritalin but if it's going to work poorly overall I may as well just skip that.

Both of these drugs (Ritalin and Seroquel) I'm given to understand I will feel right away though so it can't hurt to try the combination at least once or twice.

As for getting a better stimulant, we really only have Ritalin/Ritalin XR/Concerta and something similar to these. We also have a medicine called simply "Amphetamine" but that's almost never given to anybody I believe.


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## Bacon (Jul 4, 2010)

Duke of Prunes said:


> Ritalin + Seroquel sounds like the dumbest combination ever.
> 
> a. NE is what causes anxiety on Ritalin, Seroquel won't help there
> b. Adding a D1/D2/D3/D4 antagonist counteracts the benefits of Ritalin as the dopaminergic effects are the only reason it's worth taking
> ...


Correct! The Antipychotic Lowers Dopamine and counteracts the ritalin. Iv stopped taking Seroquel since i started Vyvanse. I Take Xanax for emergencies now. Good for an occasional panic attack or bad anxiety. Using Benzos every day leads to tollerance, more and addiction. Used PRN is the best


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## Noca (Jun 24, 2005)

Antipsychotics do NOT cancel out amphetamines or methylphenidate, this is demonstrated by me in experience and demonstrated by crazymed in another thread through pharmacology.


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## michael10364 (Feb 4, 2011)

im gonna say... don't knock it til you try it. one effect of a med that can cause horrible anxiety in 1 person can have the exact opposite effect on another. just dont knock it til you try it.


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## rustybob (Nov 19, 2009)

Sedated said:


> I got a prescription for both of these today. I was on Ritalin XR (40mg, 1-2x per day) previously but I felt like I got too nervous on it. My psychiatrist wanted to prescribe Ritalin + Benzo but I asked him for something else and that is what I got.
> 
> The Ritalin is IR, 10mg 2x per day and the Seroquel he wants me to take 1x per day in the morning, 25mg tablets I believe.
> 
> ...


I would think the anxiety came from the high dose of Ritalin, 80mg is pretty high. I tend to stick to the 40mg/day range, which usually covers 12-14 hours of the day for me.

From my around 5 month experience with IR, and a week or so of SR, I've found the SR to cause some anxiety, but almost never on IR. The only time I seem to get anxiety on IR is when taking 20+mgs at a time. I'm pretty sure an XR pill of Ritalin would release 20mgs instantly, which would be anxiety inducing to me.

I found my ideal dosing on IR to be 15/10/10/5, split 3-3.5 hours apart. There was basically no stimulation (and hence, no anxiety), I slept great, and my mood much, much improved.

I'm going to be switching to a combo of SR and IR. Still working on finding an ideal dosing schedule, but I think I may end up taking 45mg/day total. I think my dosing will probably be 10/10 of IR in the morning, a 20mg SR in the afternoon, and 5mg IR before bed. So far I've found IR to be better for sleep, and SR better for keeping the fidgeting to a minimum from the afternoon until bed.


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## Noca (Jun 24, 2005)

rustybob said:


> I would think the anxiety came from the high dose of Ritalin, 80mg is pretty high. I tend to stick to the 40mg/day range, which usually covers 12-14 hours of the day for me.
> 
> From my around 5 month experience with IR, and a week or so of SR, I've found the SR to cause some anxiety, but almost never on IR. The only time I seem to get anxiety on IR is when taking 20+mgs at a time. I'm pretty sure an XR pill of Ritalin would release 20mgs instantly, which would be anxiety inducing to me.
> 
> ...


There is so many better options IMO than just raw Ritalin or Ritalin SR in Canada even if you just want to stick to methylphenidate based drugs. Concerta, methlyphenidate ER, Biphentin to name a few. Just taking IR drugs gives you peaks and valleys sending you on a rollercoaster if you want to treat your ADHD all day long.


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## rustybob (Nov 19, 2009)

Dr House said:


> There is so many better options IMO than just raw Ritalin or Ritalin SR in Canada even if you just want to stick to methylphenidate based drugs. Concerta, methlyphenidate ER, Biphentin to name a few. Just taking IR drugs gives you peaks and valleys sending you on a rollercoaster if you want to treat your ADHD all day long.


I only have a couple things covered by my insurance: Ritalin, Ritalin SR, and Dexedrine. I wouldn't mind trying Concerta, but that is only approved for people under 18 and with endless strings attached. I'm hoping that since a generic did get released that they may cover it some day.

Amphetamines don't work very well for me, except for focus. The fatigue is on par with SSRIs for me, except I can't sleep. Anxiety is increased probably 5-fold over the worst rise in anxiety over methylphenidate. Depending on the dose I take, I can also feel really, really sketchy.

I just looked up biphentin, that looks like it would have some potential. The price listed on addadhdblog.com has it pretty high, at over $100 for a 30 day supply of 60mg pills. That's quite a bit more than the $0 I pay right now (non-insured health benefits for status Indians).


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## Noca (Jun 24, 2005)

rustybob said:


> I only have a couple things covered by my insurance: Ritalin, Ritalin SR, and Dexedrine. I wouldn't mind trying Concerta, but that is only approved for people under 18 and with endless strings attached. I'm hoping that since a generic did get released that they may cover it some day.
> 
> Amphetamines don't work very well for me, except for focus. The fatigue is on par with SSRIs for me, except I can't sleep. Anxiety is increased probably 5-fold over the worst rise in anxiety over methylphenidate. Depending on the dose I take, I can also feel really, really sketchy.
> 
> I just looked up biphentin, that looks like it would have some potential. The price listed on addadhdblog.com has it pretty high, at over $100 for a 30 day supply of 60mg pills. That's quite a bit more than the $0 I pay right now (non-insured health benefits for status Indians).


Are you sure they don't cover Methylphenidate ER(the supposed generic for Concerta released in Canada in spring 2010)? Have you checked your insurance since then?


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## jim_morrison (Aug 17, 2008)

Duke of Prunes said:


> a. NE is what causes anxiety on Ritalin, Seroquel won't help there


Seroquel actually blocks NE pretty potently, but their are cleaner meds which will block NE selectively for this purpose (stimulant anxiety) ofcourse.


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## rustybob (Nov 19, 2009)

Dr House said:


> Are you sure they don't cover Methylphenidate ER(the supposed generic for Concerta released in Canada in spring 2010)? Have you checked your insurance since then?


There is a 20mg ER listed, but I don't think it's the Concerta-type one (DIN 
0226668). It is from the newest benefit list here: http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fniah-spnia/...arma-prod/med-list/list_drug_med_2010-eng.pdf

The Concerta-type ERs are covered for ages 6-18 in the latest addendum, but I'm obviously too old for that: http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fniah-spnia/...ed/2010-additions-fall-ajouts-automne-eng.pdf

I hope they change that soon, from what I've read Concerta is way better than Ritalin IR and SR. Once a day dosing would be nice too.


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## Sedated (Mar 1, 2011)

Dr House said:


> There is so many better options IMO than just raw Ritalin or Ritalin SR in Canada even if you just want to stick to methylphenidate based drugs. Concerta, methlyphenidate ER, Biphentin to name a few. Just taking IR drugs gives you peaks and valleys sending you on a rollercoaster if you want to treat your ADHD all day long.


I figured Concerta would be similar/the same as Ritalin XR? We have Ritalin IR, Ritalin XR, Concerta and Equasym (never heard of this) available in my country. You can also be treated with amphetamine but you'd need an exemption for that. Anyhow, seeing as it's Ascension day today I won't be trying the IR until tomorrow, maybe it will work well.



jim_morrison said:


> Seroquel actually blocks NE pretty potently, but their are cleaner meds which will block NE selectively for this purpose (stimulant anxiety) ofcourse.


Could you give me a few names? ^^

Oh, and thanks for all the replies.


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