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RITALIN FOR FATIGUE

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Posted 2/25/2013 1:05 AM (GMT 0)

Has anyone used Ritalin to relieve the fatigue caused by hormone and radiation therapy?  I will be starting Lupron in early March followed by

IGRT.  Since they both cause fatigue (especially in older men) I am interested in any experiences of its use.

Phil

Posted 2/25/2013 2:05 AM (GMT 0)
I have been dealing with severe cancer related fatigue since 2000, have tried many meds, none of them ever helped me. My current oncologist did mention a side use of Ritalin for combating fatigue. He offered it to me to try, but so far, didn't take him up on it. Might be worth a shot for you to try it.

david

ps. also a lot of undesirable side effects with that drug, so if might be a trade off
Posted 2/25/2013 3:14 AM (GMT 0)
Purgatory, you are right, just looked up the side effects and they are ALMOST as bad as those for Lupron! But, as they say with Lupron, everybody doesn't experience most of them. Wonder how huge numbers of grade school kids can take Ritalin?

Phil
Posted 2/25/2013 3:37 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Learning Quickly,

My husband used Ritalin for the extreme fatigue caused by Xtandi. I forget the dosage, but he took a pill either once or twice a day. It did seem to help. The irony is that he has probably had ADHD since childhood and so he was better able to concentrate. He began having a return to energy and so dropped the Ritalin. Still, it did work for him with no bad side effects.

Hope this is of some help.

Carol
Posted 2/25/2013 3:50 AM (GMT 0)
I'd be concerned about taking Ritalin. Works for some but I know someone that had a bit of a psychotic episode after being on this for a couple of months (two weeks hospital mental ward, and other bad things). Turns out they may have given him too much and not realized the possible interactions with other drugs he is prescribed.

In any case, the fatigue from radiation is generally temporary and will pass as soon after the treatments stop.
Posted 2/25/2013 3:54 AM (GMT 0)

Hi liefde,

That's interesting. Maybe use it intermittently... like ADT does sometimes.

Good to hear he had no bad side effects.  How long did he use it before it worked and he stopped using it?

Thanks,

Phil

Posted 2/25/2013 4:13 AM (GMT 0)
In my case, the fatigue was directly as the result of radiation, and for me, it is a permanent condition. Had 70 gys of radiation in 2000 (neck & throat), then 72 gys of radiation in 2009, salvage radiation for prostate cancer. While I go over most of the fatigue from the first round of radiation from 2000, the last batch of radiation left me with severe chronic fatigue. Often sleep doesn't relieve it, something I have had to learn to live with best I can.

Trouble with side effects from any med, until one is on them, you never know how you will or won't react to the drug. On some meds, I am ultra-senstative and on others, its like taking sugar pills. By nature, I am very cautious to what I take and what I am willing to try.

david
Posted 2/25/2013 5:33 AM (GMT 0)

In the Shop,

Best to always take the smallest dose to begin with. My brother breaks his into quarters to begin with. 

Glad the fatigue from radiation stops soon after treatment. But the ongoing Lupron will still fatigue you, less so if you are young.

Phil

Posted 2/25/2013 1:51 PM (GMT 0)
I would consider taking ritalin if it was prescribed by a doctor very familiar with psychiatric drugs (ie. a psychiatrist). I would not take it if my Urologist or PCP was recommending it. Kind of like having your PCP take out your prostate.
Posted 2/25/2013 3:06 PM (GMT 0)
Hi again, Phil,

Just to reply-- my husband used the Ritalin for maybe a month, or a little more, and that was intermittently, not every day, until the side effects of the Xtandi began to fade. He was on a very controlled dosage. I really think that dosage is key in terms of not producing bad side effects.

Again, I hope this helps.

Carol
Posted 2/25/2013 4:44 PM (GMT 0)
lifede,
Thanks. Low dose intermittently starting out and see how it works. Makes sense to me.
Phil

RCS,
I could go that route. Read that lots of guys get depressed and need Prozac or something to help out. Thanks for the advice.
Phil
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