Exercise on ritalin.

abrazame
abrazame Posts: 61 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I am prescribes 54mg of ritalin for adhd.
I asked the nurse practitioner if it was ok to exercise while on it and she told me it was. She said if I feel my heart rate going up too fast to stop.
The thing is I felt my heart rate go up very quickly while doing a light cardio workout. It usually takes a lot longer for my heart rate to go up. It usually takes me a about 5 or so minutes for my heart rate to go up. This time I felt it within a minute. My heart was beating so fast it was extremely uncomfortable. Usually this doesn't bother me and I try to keep going until it is physically impossible for me to continue. But I was afraid of having a heart attack so I stopped after about a minute or so after feeling it. I ended up doing the cardio for about 3 minutes and just switched to doing strength exercises to tone my thighs.

Does anyone have experience with this? Is my fear of having a heart attack irrational or do I actually have something to worry about?

Replies

  • Cherimoose
    Cherimoose Posts: 5,208 Member
    One of the adverse effects of Ritalin is an abnormal heart rate, which could explain your symptoms. I would hold off on the exercising until you talk to your doctor about it.
  • joshuatollefson
    joshuatollefson Posts: 1
    My sister takes ritalin for ADD, she exercises often and it has yet to affect her. I know she also stays away from all other stimulants. No nicotine, caffeine, excess sugar, etc... She isn't on as high of a dose either.

    As an aside, the more you work out the lower your blood pressure will be and your heart rate will eventually drop as well so it could be a wash eventually.

    Either way, I would concur with Cherimoose's advice in getting your Doctors approval before hitting your heart-rate heavy again. Hate to see you have some latent birth-defect that would cause you issues and leave you passed out or worse on the gym-floor.
  • lifeskittles
    lifeskittles Posts: 438 Member
    I would increase intensity slowly. Possibly invest in a HR monitor just to be safe. The more you increase your fitness, the lower your natural HR will be, so it should just take some working up to. Stay safe!
  • abrazame
    abrazame Posts: 61 Member
    Thanks.

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