do your meds cause high bp & hr? | ADHD Information

Welcome Newbie Jmas77,

Yes, I too do that. So doc put me on a beta-blocker called Inderal. Works great, but interferes with erectile function (too relaxed), so he wrote a recc for viagra, too. Woo-hoo!

Best of luck,

David

P.S. All the side effects are worth the benefits the anti-D's and ADHDrx's generate.
The bp meds aren't working. My bp and hr are still dangerously high.

I saw the doctor today and I told her I wanted to decrease the dose of the Concerta but for some reason she still wanted to increase it.

I told her I didn't want to have a heart attack or a stroke trying control my ADD. So instead of decreasing the dose like I asked her to do, she took me off the Concerta completely and put me on Welbutrin instead.

That doesn't make much sense to me. What I've read says that stimulants like Concerta raise dopamine levels which tends to increase focus/concentration, and antidepresents like Welbutrin raise seratonin which tend to decrease concentration.

The doc thinks that they can be used interchangably--that they both do the same thing. I'm really starting to think she doesn't know anything about ADD or these medications and it's really starting to scare me.

I think I'm going to stop medicating altogether. I've gotten along for 28 yrs without meds. It was hard but at least I didn't worry about dying.

If anyone out there has any advice I could sure use it right about now.
bumping up

man o man jmas, call that Dr. and let him know.. it goes without saying that the BP is way too high and that is dangerous to your health!!

Mine was going to give me concurrent BP meds at first but the methylphenidate had a paradoxical effect on me.. my BP is usually 107/78 on meds.

My HR does raise up to 86bpm.. I was concerned about that at first, but I have studied that on the net and it seems to be ok if it does not rise above 100bpm.

Yours of course is over that threshold.  Call your Doc please, oK? There are things that can be done to enable you to still take the meds. Either a change, or an addition of BP meds, or whatever. But the Doc wont know unless you tell him!

Sherry

I agree you need to see your doctor.  If you quit the meds the heart rate and blood pressure go back to normal within hours.  They are short-acting side effects and usually mild if the amount of meds are regulated to your need and body weight.

It's possible you have an underlying trouble that is being made worse during taking meds.  That may be a good thing if you never knew about it.  Hypertension can go undiagnosed until something like stress or meds make it show up to you.

Best of luck - get in there soon!

Been on concerta(36mg) for about two weeks. It's helping me with my add, but my bp(blood pressure) and hr(heart rate) are through the roof. We're talking bp 163/102 and hr 136 w/o any strenuous activity. I've always had border line high bp and hr but nothing like this. Anyone else have this kind of probs with their meds? If so, what do you do/take to lower it? Tried to stop taking meds but made it worse.

I am on Concerta, too, same dosage.  I have been on it for 3 weeks. My Pdoc put me on 18-54 mg per day in order to determine where I should be.  18 does nothing, 36 has somewhat of an effect, and 54 just gets me high.  My heart rate has been ridiculously high throughout this time period.  I'm a high level athlete (Kickboxer) and typically have a very lower resting rate.  You can't even feel my heart beating with the hand.  When I am on these meds, I can HEAR it going at about 60% higher of a rate than normal (about 130). When I work out, the treadmill sometimes says I get as high as 200 BPM.  Normally It reads 189 tops.  Its a little scary, but I am not sure if it is unsafe.

Also, I typically fight at 154 lbs.  My BMI was about 9% at my last test and I have been at this weight within 2 lbs for about 5 years.  Since taking the concerta, I look like my BMI is at about 6% and my weight is down at 146.2 lbs - the lowest it has been since I went through puberty. I don't mind too much, though, because that just means I am in a lower weight category and have a bunch of natural advantages against my opponents.  I am afraid of losing any more weight.  My diet hasn't changed and my appetite seems the same as before meds.  I do eat better now.

I'm going to talk to my Pdoc on Monday, but I also wanted to know if this seems normal?  Are there any other ADHD athletes out there who have experienced similar effects?  Did this just boost my metabolism, or is the increased heart rate burning body fat on me? I'm confused and Alza's website sucks.

I didn't take the concerta today and my bp and hr went back to normal, but I spent most of the day walking around in daze unable to concentrate on anything for very long. I don't think I really understood how much the meds were helping until I went off them.

Anyway, I called the doctor and she gave me a scrip for HCTZ (bp meds), so I'll start the concerta again tomorrow. It's only a temporary fix though.

I think what happened is that it just built up in my system (the first week and a half bp and hr were normal, just the last couple days were high). I'm going back to the dr Friday and I'm going to ask if she can give me something different that won't stay in my system so long or build up over time.

Thanks all for the advice.