Headache and foggyness

[daybyday365]

I'm starting to get headache and foggyness on my adhd medications. I take concerta and ritalin.I take my medication and my head hurts. I also drink caffeine and that sometimes makes it worse.

[IndigoIris]

Have you checked blood pressure and pulse lately? Caffeine can dehydrate so getting enough water is very important. Let your prescribing doctor know your symptoms.

[STEM_Dad in reply to IndigoIris]

FYI - it has been disproven that's caffeinated beverages cause dehydration.

Caffeine is a diuretic, but it has been proven via that investing caffeine via beverages like coffee doesn't cause dehydration, because the beverage contains plenty enough water to make up for. (Popping caffeine pills might potentially cause dehydration.)pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/244...

[IndigoIris in reply to STEM_Dad]

Thank you for sharing! I love drinking coffee so that is good to know!

[STEM_Dad in reply to IndigoIris]

Me, too!

When I have to, I even drink decaf. 😂

(Occasionally, I develop a tolerance to caffeine, and have to abstain from it for several days so that it works for me again. I call that my "caffeine fast".)

[STEM_Dad]

Have you reported this to you doctor?

It's certainly possible that you're experiencing side effects from the medications, or from the total combined effects of stimulants. A dosage adjustment might be needed.

IndigoIris asked if you've checked your blood pressure. That's a critically important concern. Elevated blood pressure can cause the symptoms that you're experiencing. Stimulants can have a significant effect on the cardiovascular system, and that's can include raising blood pressure as a result.

• If your blood pressure is elevated by your ADHD medication, your doctor might reduce your dosage or take you off the stimulants altogether.

• However, if your blood pressure is elevated, ask your doctor about adding Guanfacine or Clonidine. Both are medications for treating blood pressure, but in addition, both of those have been proven to have a positive effect on ADHD (particularly for helping with the emotional dysregulation which comes with ADHD).

Getting adequate hydration is very important. Headache and fogginess can be symptoms of dehydration.

• Drinking beverages containing caffeine will not dehydrate you. That's a long perpetuated myth, which was disproven by medical study.

• However, it's still critically important to consume adequate amounts of water for your own body's needs. (Note that the water content in food is included in total water ingestion. The guidelines of consuming eight 8-ounce glasses of water per day is an average for an average size male who engages in at least moderate levels of physical activity per day. Your own needs might be higher or lower based on your body mass, levels of physical activity, and other factors.)

• You didn't mention if you consume alcohol, but if you do, know this: Consumption of alcohol (or other intoxicants) will increase the need for water, because water is needed to help the body to remove the alcohol from the body's systems. The more alcohol ingested, the more water is needed to offset it. ~ {Excessive consumption of alcohol is known to be bad for the body and brain. Medication which acts on the central nervous system, including stimulants for ADHD, will come with warnings about alcohol use while on the medication. This is because of the potential for interactions between the medication and alcohol.}

~~~~~

However, there might be other side effects of stimulants contributing to the headache and fogginess that you're experiencing.

Are you getting enough sleep and rest?

• Stimulants can reduce feelings of tiredness, so some people end up staying up more and not getting adequate sleep and rest to meet the needs of their body and brain. It's important to still keep a get sleep schedule, even if you don't feel tired as early in the evening.

• If that's the case for you, make sure that you're not consuming caffeine in the evening time. Some people have to ensure that they don't have caffeine past mid-afternoon. Others are so sensitive to that effect of caffeine that the cannot have any past mid-day. (Caffeine doesn't actually cause wakefulness. It blocks the effects of adenosine, which is a substance produced by the body during waking hours which causes the feeling of tiredness.)

Are you getting enough to eat?

• Stimulants can decrease appetite, and so some people might not eat enough to meet their body's calorie and nutrition needs. (People who are in a strict calorie restriction diet can experience headaches, fogginess, and even dizziness. It happened to my dad a couple of times when he was on diets that were a bit too restrictive.)

Excessive physical activity can also cause the effects you're experiencing, particularly if you're not used to the level of physical activity that you're engaging in. It's happened to me before. However, these effects should fade within a few hours, as long as you're getting some rest from physical activity.

~~~~~

Your doctor is your best ally for addressing these symptoms you're experiencing. Inform your doctor today, if you haven't already.

Answer all of your doctor's questions. Provide any additional information that might be relevant, including about any recent injuries (especially if you've had any recent head injuries, even if the injury happened days before the symptoms appeared).

[Mamamichl in reply to STEM_Dad]

Good advice all around, as usual stemdad. May I add that my psychiatrist said that another reason we need to drink lots of water… especially on adhd meds because the med goes through our liver, and if we don’t drink enough, the med builds up in our liver and it’s like overdosing. We need to flush it out with enough water so that we are flushing out the med by the next time we take the med again.

[STEM_Dad in reply to Mamamichl]

Excellent point. I remember my doctor ordering tests to make sure that my body was responding okay to one of the medications I was on.

I guess I should be drinking more water (plus other things I ought to be doing for better self care 😂).

[Mamamichl in reply to STEM_Dad]

I can actually taste the charcoal and metals in water. It keeps me from drinking g most of the time. I do pour juice but have a ton of ice in it and it is mostly helpful too. Trying to stick with 100% juice is hard though.

[STEM_Dad in reply to Mamamichl]

My ex-wife has very sensitive taste buds and sense of smell, so she often adds flavor to her water (at least a squeeze of lemon, if not a water flavoring like MIO), to mask the mineral taste.

...

As for me? I could still drink warm water out of a garden hose if I'm thirsty. I normally drink tap water.

But my favorite way to consume water is brewed into coffee! 🤣

How do I like my coffee? I say "I like my people like I like my coffee...and I like all kinds of coffee!"

(Hot, cold, even lukewarm; bitter or sweet; bold or mild; plain or with a lot of flavor; etc.)

[Mamamichl in reply to STEM_Dad]

I like my coffee and cola, but my psychiatrist who gave me my stimulant med this last weekend said no caffeine. Let’s just say I have decaf coffee and caffeine free cola.

[FocusAndFlow]

I would talk to your doctor, to be sure, however, it is very difficult to be of help with any suggestions without knowing more. I would make a checklist and ensure that you are getting some of these, if not all of them, into your routine every day:

Examples: Meditation with breathing exercising (ex: Box Breathing) for 12 mins, setting a timer app every 15 or 30 minutes to remind you to hydrate and have a goal of 108oz of water per day (or as close as you can get to it), mind your thoughts (the more you worry about the headaches, the more headaches you are likely to get), get outside for 1 walk per day, preferably in AM with rising sun light in your eyes for 20 mins, getting exercise (cardio: Swim, run, dance, rowing machine, other?) 20 mins, eat protein 3-5 times per day with very few/low carbs, and high quality carbs at that, avoid eating sugar or consuming alcohol, have a good sleep hygiene routine every night and morning, make sure you are taking the right supplements that are conducive to your flourishing through your ADHD, but don't overdo it.

And again, there are other things I'm sure I'm missing, and of course, this is not meant to overwhelm you. Quite the opposite in fact: To the extent that you are doing these other things and you are still getting lost of headaches and fogginess, you can ascertain that you are either on the wrong medication or taking too much of it so you dosage may need to be lowered.

Of course, that is my individual opinion based on my experience, so take it to your Dr. to comment on all this and make the best decision for you.

What I can tell you is that there is no magic pill and even though I take Ritalin as well (51yr old, just got diagnosed right before my 50th bday), I had to 'learn to collaborate' with the Rx. It is not easy, and it requires a lot of self discipline and self control. DO NOT let your thoughts get away from you and DO NOT focus on any negative feelings you may be having, as you may be countering the positive effects it can have. Remember these are stimulants, which make you 'more', per se. If you are able to focus on the positive and hone in on leaning into the effort without caring about the result, you will start getting better results. If you worry more, now you're on 'supercharged worrying' because of the Rx. Again, it makes you 'more'.

Two things to remember always, at every step in this process, set to three simple steps:

1. I take full responsibility for my life

2. I learn self-compassion by practicing it every day

3. Go back to step one

Be well. Godspeed.

[Mamamichl]

have you taken a genesight test? I highly recommend them. It helps to know which mental health meds have adverse side effects. This could be what’s happening to you, so talk to your doctor about this. I had my first stimulant med a while back with bad side effects, so I got a gene sight test before trying another med.

As for caffeine, my psychiatrist prescribed me my second stimulant Sunday and deliberately said not to take any caffeine while I get used to it. I got decaf coffee and caffeine free cola since they are my caffeine vices. I may be able to add them back later, but it’s hard to know how the med is doing when ingesting things that have similar effects.