Methylin and Depression: An Overview
Methylin® is a prescription medication used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (
ADHD). It is also used to treat
narcolepsy. There are currently two forms of Methylin available:
- Methylin Chewable Tablets® (methylphenidate chewable tablets)
- Methylin Oral Solution® (methylphenidate oral solution).
Several side effects are possible for people taking Methylin, and
depression has been reported in clinical studies of methylphenidate (the active ingredient of Methylin). Interestingly, medications like Methylin are also sometimes used to help treat depression.
Methylin and Depression: Understanding Clinical Studies
Before medicines are approved, they must go through several clinical studies in which people are given a particular medicine and compared to a group of people not given the medicine. In these studies, side effects are always documented. This way, it is possible to see what side effects occur, how often they appear, and how they compare to the group not taking the medicine. Side effects are then usually separated into those that occur in more than 1 percent of people (common side effects) and those that occur in less than 1 percent of people (rare side effects).
In clinical studies, depression was a reported side effect of methylphenidate (although the specific frequency was not reported). Therefore, it is difficult to say how common it is for people taking Methylin to experience depression.
