Posted by Jamy (216.161.92.221) on November 02, 1999 at 13:24:59:
In Reply to: Dosage and Doctors posted by Mike Storey on November 02, 1999 at 10:37:01:
Me too! In looking back over the history of the medications that were prescribed for me I noticed that they all have a few things in common. One, they are depressants, two, they can cause weight gain, three, they are all extremely harmful to one or more parts of the body. I had internet2 installed on my computer so I could search Universities and hospitals for information. I came across the use of Ritalin now being tested in trials in the UK. I wrote both my in town doctor and my out of town neurologist of my findings and sent them long faxes of the trials themselves. Ritalin is used for three things in adults. Depression, weight control and pain. I have finally gotten the OK from my neurologist to start a trial of Ritalin in a very low dose. He agreed that the only side affect of Ritalin is mental addiction. I pointed out that I would rather use the word dependence and that I was going to be at the mercy of one drug or another anyway, so why not try one that addresses explicitly the exact problems I have. He said yes, to my shock. He felt I made an excellent case. I start tomorrow and will keep the board posted as to whether it even works in controlling the pain, my main concern. It is not a drug that requires build up time and therefore I hope to be able to post results fairly soon.