Stimulants have caused stroke, heart attack, and sudden death in people with high blood pressure, heart disease, or a heart defect.
Methylphenidate may cause new or worsening psychosis (unusual thoughts or behavior), especially if you have a history of depression, mental illness, or bipolar disorder.
Call your doctor right away if you have: signs of heart problems --chest pain, feeling light-headed or short of breath; or signs of psychosis --paranoia, aggression, new behavior problems, seeing or hearing things that are not real.
Methylphenidate may be habit-forming. Tell your doctor if you have a history of drug or alcohol addiction. Keep the medication where others cannot get to it.
You should not use this medicine if you are allergic to methylphenidate (Ritalin, Concerta, Metadate, and others), or if you have:
Stimulants have caused stroke, heart attack, and sudden death in certain people. Tell your doctor if you have:
Do not use methylphenidate if you have taken an MAO inhibitor in the past 14 days. A dangerous drug interaction could occur. MAO inhibitors include isocarboxazid, linezolid, methylene blue injection, phenelzine, rasagiline, selegiline, and tranylcypromine.
Tell your doctor if you also use opioid medicine, herbal products, or medicine for depression, mental illness, Parkinson's disease, migraine headaches, serious infections, or prevention of nausea and vomiting. An interaction with methylphenidate could cause a serious condition called serotonin syndrome.
Tell your doctor if you have ever had:
Becoming dependent on this medicine during pregnancy can cause premature birth or low birth weight. Tell your doctor if you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. If you are pregnant, your name may be listed on a pregnancy registry to track the effects of methylphenidate on the baby.
Ask a doctor if it is safe to breastfeed while using this medicine. If you are breastfeeding, tell your doctor if you notice symptoms in the baby such as agitation, sleep problems, feeding problems, or reduced weight gain.
Not approved for use by anyone younger than 6 years old.
Follow all directions on your prescription label and read all medication guides or instruction sheets. Your doctor may occasionally change your dose. Use the medicine exactly as directed.
Methylphenidate may be habit-forming. Misuse can cause addiction, overdose, or death. Keep the medication in a place where others cannot get to it. Selling or giving away this medicine is against the law.
Apply the patch to a clean and dry area on your hip. The effects of this medicine may not be noticeable until 2 hours after applying the skin patch.
Wash your hands after applying a skin patch.
Remove the patch 9 hours after it was applied. Peel off slowly and fold the patch in half so it sticks together. Flush the folded patch down the toilet or place it into a waste can with a lid.
Apply each new patch to the opposite hip. Do not wear more than one patch at a time. Never cut a skin patch.
If a patch falls off, replace it with a new one. Do not wear a patch longer than 9 hours per day, even if you apply a new patch to replace one that has fallen off.
If you have loss of appetite or trouble sleeping, ask your doctor if you can remove the skin patch earlier in the day.
Children using this medicine should be warned never to remove the skin patch and place it onto another person. Serious side effects may result.
Over time, methylphenidate transdermal can cause your skin to lighten around areas where the patches are worn. This effect may be permanent. Tell your doctor if you see new areas of lighter color under or around a skin patch, or if skin lightens on other areas of your body.
Your doctor will need to check your progress on a regular basis. Your heart rate, blood pressure, height and weight may also need to be checked often.
Store at room temperature. Do not refrigerate or freeze. Keep each patch in its sealed pouch until you are ready to use it. Throw away unused patches if it has been more than 2 months since you opened the original package.
Keep your medicine in a place where no one can use it improperly.
If you discontinue using methylphenidate transdermal, fold together and flush any unused patches at that time.
Seek emergency medical attention or call the Poison Help line at 1-800-222-1222. Remove the patch right away and clean the skin area with soap and water. An overdose of methylphenidate can be fatal.
Overdose symptoms may include sweating, redness in your face, vomiting, shaking, confusion, agitation, hallucinations, and irregular heartbeat.
Do not expose the skin patch to heat while you are wearing it. This includes heat from a heating pad, hair dryer, electric blanket, or a heated water bed. Heat can cause the skin patch to release too much medicine at one time.
Avoid using any lotions or creams on skin where you will apply a patch. Avoid placing a patch on skin that will be rubbed by a waistband or tight clothing.
Avoid driving or hazardous activity until you know how this medicine will affect you. Your reactions could be impaired.
Get emergency medical help if you have signs of an allergic reaction: hives; difficult breathing; swelling of your face, lips, tongue, or throat.
Stop using methylphenidate and call your doctor at once if you have:
Seek medical attention right away if you have symptoms of serotonin syndrome, such as: agitation, hallucinations, fever, sweating, shivering, fast heart rate, muscle stiffness, twitching, loss of coordination, nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea.
Methylphenidate can affect growth in children. Your child's height and weight may need to be checked often. Tell your doctor if your child is not growing at a normal rate.
Common side effects may include:
This is not a complete list of side effects and others may occur. Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You may report side effects to FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088.
Tell your doctor about all your other medicines, especially:
This list is not complete. Other drugs may affect methylphenidate, including prescription and over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, and herbal products. Not all possible drug interactions are listed here.
Remember, keep this and all other medicines out of the reach of children, never share your medicines with others, and use this medication only for the indication prescribed.
Every effort has been made to ensure that the information provided by Cerner Multum, Inc. ('Multum') is accurate, up-to-date, and complete, but no guarantee is made to that effect. Drug information contained herein may be time sensitive. Multum information has been compiled for use by healthcare practitioners and consumers in the United States and therefore Multum does not warrant that uses outside of the United States are appropriate, unless specifically indicated otherwise. Multum's drug information does not endorse drugs, diagnose patients or recommend therapy. Multum's drug information is an informational resource designed to assist licensed healthcare practitioners in caring for their patients and/or to serve consumers viewing this service as a supplement to, and not a substitute for, the expertise, skill, knowledge and judgment of healthcare practitioners. The absence of a warning for a given drug or drug combination in no way should be construed to indicate that the drug or drug combination is safe, effective or appropriate for any given patient. Multum does not assume any responsibility for any aspect of healthcare administered with the aid of information Multum provides. The information contained herein is not intended to cover all possible uses, directions, precautions, warnings, drug interactions, allergic reactions, or adverse effects. If you have questions about the drugs you are taking, check with your doctor, nurse or pharmacist.
Copyright 1996-2021 Cerner Multum, Inc. Version: 9.01. Revision date: 8/23/2021.
This information does not replace the advice of a doctor. Healthwise, Incorporated, disclaims any warranty or liability for your use of this information. Your use of this information means that you agree to the Terms of Use. Learn how we develop our content.
Healthwise, Healthwise for every health decision, and the Healthwise logo are trademarks of Healthwise, Incorporated.
Follow Us
Disclaimer
Individual and family medical and dental insurance plans are insured by Cigna Health and Life Insurance Company (CHLIC), Cigna HealthCare of Arizona, Inc., Cigna HealthCare of Georgia, Inc., Cigna HealthCare of Illinois, Inc., and Cigna HealthCare of North Carolina, Inc. Group health insurance and health benefit plans are insured or administered by CHLIC, Connecticut General Life Insurance Company (CGLIC), or their affiliates (see a listing of the legal entities that insure or administer group HMO, dental HMO, and other products or services in your state). Group Universal Life (GUL) insurance plans are insured by CGLIC. Life (other than GUL), accident, critical illness, hospital indemnity, and disability plans are insured or administered by Life Insurance Company of North America, except in NY, where insured plans are offered by Cigna Life Insurance Company of New York (New York, NY). All insurance policies and group benefit plans contain exclusions and limitations. For availability, costs and complete details of coverage, contact a licensed agent or Cigna sales representative. This website is not intended for residents of New Mexico.
Selecting these links will take you away from Cigna.com to another website, which may be a non-Cigna website. Cigna may not control the content or links of non-Cigna websites. Details