Is Ritalin generally okay when you have a mood disorder?

[saoirse]

I have been put on a low dosage of Ritalin to combat extreme fatigue. I couldn't stay on Nuvigil for certain reasons so now I am going to try Ritalin instead. I am afraid of it throwing me into some kind of mania. Does anyone with depression or BP take Ritalin and handle it well? Any thoughts?

[Velvet Elvis]

If your bp is stable to begin with it's typically safe.

[jt07]

I have MDD and take 30 mg of Ritalin every day to help with energy and motivation. It's never been a problem with me. Most days I can barely feel it. I don't know how it would react with someone with bipolar though.

[Anna]

Many BP folks can take stims safely. If you weren't stopping the nuvigil for psych/instability reasons, you should probably be fine.

Anna

[Saeihr]

I restarted Ritalin back in May (from having stopped it 12yrs ago), and I did notice it made my mood go extra crazy, and I do credit ritalin, in a small way, with the development of my Bipolar.

However, having said that, since I've been on meds and had my mood more or less stabilised the ritalin I've taken on and off to assist in some academic study hasn't had any negative effect on my moods.

So, I guess if you're already stable it should be fine, but if you're not, like I wasn't (I didn't even know I had bipolar) then I'd approach with caution.

[San]

Not sure if this helps, but I took a baby dose (18mg) of Concerta and it actually seemed to help my BP.