# How strong is ritalin compared to wellbutrin?



## yay (Dec 31, 2012)

I've never taken ritalin but since it's a stimulant I imagine it be to totally strong and really have a noticable effect. How can one imagine the effect
of let's say 10mg ritalin instant release?
Does it automatically make your pulse and blood pressure go up or does it have any other noticable direct effects?

And is it possible to compare ritalin to wellbutrin? For example if a person takes 300mg wellbutrin xl and doesn't really get an effect from this drug then would this mean that ritalin probably also wouldn't have such a strong effect if 300mg wellbutrin xl didn't have a noticable effect either?

I assume one advantage of ritalin would be that the effects should be noticable right after the first dose and you wouldn't have to take it for months before you can even tell if it's working.


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## GotAnxiety (Oct 14, 2011)

Maybe in the increase comprehension comparable that way. 

Possible both boost DHEA. 

Both can raise blood pressure.

Ritalin may increase anxiety more.

Wellbutrin has long halflifes and metabolites. Ritalin has a 4-6 halflife. Not sure about it metabolites. 

id say no Ritalin in a different league.


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## GotAnxiety (Oct 14, 2011)

Ritalin used to shut adhd children up so it in a different league being more tightly controlled.

Compared to wellbutrin used as a anti depressants and for a quit smoking aid.


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## yay (Dec 31, 2012)

Hmm, so this means that ritalin could be considered more dangerous than
wellbutrin in terms of bodily side effects and also mental side effects?

Would an anxious person who takes ritalin directly become more anxious or would ritalin only increase anxiety in situations where the anxious person feels anxiety and then ritalin kicks in and boosts the anxiety?

Could this be countered by a benzo in case the anxiety becomes really strong?


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## GotAnxiety (Oct 14, 2011)

Well both drugs in high doses can be dangerous. But of course in low doses it will be considerablely safer.

It could be but it maybe not wise to fool around with gaba. 

First time i took ritalin at work i could't even put on my safety vest at work. The boss and the other guys were making fun of me. There like oh were gonna have to send this guy home he can't even put on his safety vest lolol.

That stuff can handicap ya and make your movement more nervous and cautious. Also it can cause cold hands and feet.


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## Mr Bacon (Mar 10, 2012)

Basically, ritalin is wellbutrin on steroids, with a shorter duration of action. Ritalin is also works instantly whereas wellbutrin takes a couple weeks.

The brain is weird, don't try to understand everything. Stimulants stimulate some people while it calm others and decreases their SA. Don't try to find the logic . THe only thing you can do is try these drugs to see their effect YOUR brain.

It's not like there's only one type of depression or one type of social anxiety...


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## GotAnxiety (Oct 14, 2011)

Ritalin not to bad in combination with an SSRI all i needed for the day was like 1mg of each it was so effective. That with Lex.


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## Inshallah (May 11, 2011)

I was also very clumsy in my movements when on Ritalin. Had all the trouble in the world shaving my head, which I've been doing for 10 years already so... lol


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## mark555666 (May 1, 2008)

GotAnxiety said:


> Ritalin not to bad in combination with an SSRI all i needed for the day was like 1mg of each it was so effective. That with Lex.


Sounds like a nice combo. I really like Ritalin for focus but I have really terrible physical side effects on it) now I'm on propranolol and I wonder that would be (less anxiety). Are you on still on it or not?


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## GotAnxiety (Oct 14, 2011)

Freesix88 said:


> Sounds like a nice combo. I really like Ritalin for focus but I have really terrible physical side effects on it) now I'm on propranolol and I wonder that would be (less anxiety). Are you on still on it or not?


The combination had issue with sleep and bloodpressure. Ritalin increases the effectiveness of the antidepressant by a factor of 5. That why the dosages may need to be kept so low. I'd like to revisit it maybe try it with Prozac.

Well on it i did a 360 in my life i was working reading books. I got my own apartment. I was capable of doing 120 to 140 push ups. Well taking that stuff. My boss wanted me to start driving for him i was a workaholic i turned into a machine.

Ultimately a girl was my downfall she convince me to quit taking my med's.... So she could sleep better. I also wanted to try other meds too see if i can find a combo with less side effects.

For effectiveness i would say its the best.


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## GotAnxiety (Oct 14, 2011)

Inshallah said:


> I was also very clumsy in my movements when on Ritalin. Had all the trouble in the world shaving my head, which I've been doing for 10 years already so... lol


Nice knowing your movement was impaired to.

This explains why i couldn't learn to ice skate as a kid! That no drug for any kid if it impairs moving like that.


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## yay (Dec 31, 2012)

@gotanxiety

You mean you took only 1 mg of ritalin per day? Isn't 5 mg the smallest pill out there?

But the movement stuff doesn't sound good. I can't take something which would make me unable to controll my movements. Is this a permanent side effect or only temporary?

I'd also like to just try ritalin to see what it does. What if it's like a revelation and suddenly you think on a whole different level?

@mrbacon

I'd already have tried ritalin but it has so many side effects than I just didn't dare to. I've never taken a drug with so many possible sid effects.


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## GotAnxiety (Oct 14, 2011)

Try it maybe it will change your prespective.

The movement thing is tempory it just bad coordination.


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## GotAnxiety (Oct 14, 2011)

Ya you need to seperate it some how to make the dose smaller dissolve in a water bottle or pill cutter maybe the best way.


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## Ben12 (Jul 8, 2009)

Hello yay, I used to take 150mg of Wellbutrin XL. Now I take 10mg of ritalin twice a day. The Wellbutrin really isn't even comparable to ritalin in its effects. Ritalin is way stronger.


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## yay (Dec 31, 2012)

The MPH which I have is in a capsule which has really tiny pellets in it.
It's time released and a part is instantly released while the other part is slower released. I could open a capsule and then only use a very small amount of pellets but I don't know if you'd get an effect from MPH if the dose is too small.

If I wasn't so afraid of side effects I'd have tried it already but like I said I've never seen a drug with so many side effects and they're not small ones like diarrhea.

@ben12

Can you define what you mean with stronger? What exactly does it do?
And 20mg per day isn't really much, is it? Are you taking instant release or time released?


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## Ben12 (Jul 8, 2009)

What is the brand name of the ritalin that you have yay and what's the dose of each pill? Maybe I can give you a better idea of what to expect. However it can vary from person to person. It's really good I find for concentration and energy.


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## GotAnxiety (Oct 14, 2011)

@Yay Use a pill crusher then disolve in water or you could try and eye ball it.

Try the smallest amount that will have the least amount of side effects.


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## mark555666 (May 1, 2008)

-create 100 ml solution
-use some professional weight scale 0.001 mg at least
-weight 100 mg off
-use some syringe to tap 1 ml = 1 mg


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## jonny neurotic (Jan 20, 2011)

Totally different drugs IMO. Bupropion sucks. Most other stimulants don't suck as much. More dopamine and less noradrenalin is the way to go. Dexamphetamine will therefor be better than amphetamine. Ethylphenidate better than methylphenidate although I've only tried the ethyl. You need some serotonin going on in there aswell though which is why amphetamines are generally smoother than Ritalin. 

Why are you asking about strength. Comparable doses will be comparable in strength(otherwise they wouldn't be comparable) which is why not all meds are given in the same dosage. What you want to know is the qualitative differences not the difference in "strength". If you can't get your head around this then you'd probably be best leaving the decision making to your doctor...


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## Inshallah (May 11, 2011)

GotAnxiety said:


> The combination had issue with sleep and bloodpressure. Ritalin increases the effectiveness of the antidepressant by a factor of 5. That why the dosages may need to be kept so low. I'd like to revisit it maybe try it with Prozac.
> 
> Well on it i did a 360 in my life i was working reading books. I got my own apartment. I was capable of doing 120 to 140 push ups. Well taking that stuff. My boss wanted me to start driving for him i was a workaholic i turned into a machine.
> 
> ...


Where did you get the factor 5 from? I've never heard about this. So you're saying that taking Ritalin with say 10 mg Lexapro, makes the effect of the Lexapro go to 50 mg?


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## pudderkiz (Jun 18, 2012)

jonny neurotic said:


> Totally different drugs IMO. Bupropion sucks. Most other stimulants don't suck as much. More dopamine and less noradrenalin is the way to go. Dexamphetamine will therefor be better than amphetamine. Ethylphenidate better than methylphenidate although I've only tried the ethyl. You need some serotonin going on in there aswell though which is why amphetamines are generally smoother than Ritalin.
> 
> Why are you asking about strength. Comparable doses will be comparable in strength(otherwise they wouldn't be comparable) which is why not all meds are given in the same dosage. What you want to know is the qualitative differences not the difference in "strength". If you can't get your head around this then you'd probably be best leaving the decision making to your doctor...


I think he means strenght as in risk of impairment, side-effects and ofc chance of theraputic effect, and the % concentration of dat. A lot of people on this forum discusses these things.

As for strenght, I've had adverse effect by both wellbutrin and ritalin, the ritalin is the most short lived but was def the most intense.


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## GotAnxiety (Oct 14, 2011)

Inshallah said:


> Where did you get the factor 5 from? I've never heard about this. So you're saying that taking Ritalin with say 10 mg Lexapro, makes the effect of the Lexapro go to 50 mg?


They do potentiate one another give or take i always got away with super low doses . As it seem to me it greatly reduced the amount needed.

Ritalin prevents the breakdown of some SSRI.

The ratio may not be exact.

I encountered some nasty side effects. smoking and drinking coffee well on that stuff that sent me to the hospital. so just a heads up. I recommend not to if you do the combo.


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## yay (Dec 31, 2012)

I wonder if someone takes ritalin and gets side effects then do they usually occur right at the beginning or is it also possible to take it without side effects and then after weeks or months suddenly a major side effect kicks in?
That would be really worrying because then how could you tell if you're on ritalin and suddenly get strong headache for example or feeling nausea or you have to vomit that this is only something harmless or maybe a serious ritalin side effect which requires emergency intervention?
The risk which I see here is that in such cases you'd always have to rush to a hospital because it could always be something serious while on the other hand if you were not taking anything and got a headache then you could be more relaxed and wouldn't have to assume that it's something serious.


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## istayhome (Apr 4, 2012)

yay said:


> I wonder if someone takes ritalin and gets side effects then do they usually occur right at the beginning or is it also possible to take it without side effects and then after weeks or months suddenly a major side effect kicks in?
> That would be really worrying because then how could you tell if you're on ritalin and suddenly get strong headache for example or feeling nausea or you have to vomit that this is only something harmless or maybe a serious ritalin side effect which requires emergency intervention?
> The risk which I see here is that in such cases you'd always have to rush to a hospital because it could always be something serious while on the other hand if you were not taking anything and got a headache then you could be more relaxed and wouldn't have to assume that it's something serious.


nice post thundercats.


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