Hey all,

I got diagnosed about 2 weeks ago and have been on methylphenidate since. He told me to take 10mg once a day for 1 week then 20mg once a day for one week. I did the 10mg once a day for 1 week and barely noticed anything, for a couple of hours I seemed more focused but after that I was backed to my normal self. Then I was reading around that these pills only last for 4 hours and that doses should be spaced. My doctor gave me 90 pills at 10mg each so I'm pretty sure he made a mistake when telling me about the dossing. So I started 3x20mg a day and noticed a huge improvement. I focus greatly on tasks and I am able to complete them all the time (back in to my web programming/computer stuff), The amount of attention I put in to detail is crazy. I still seem to get hyper once in a while (ie. not being able to sit still). Should I maybe ask me Doctor to let me try somthing else? I was thinking Dex... But so far ritlian has changed me for the better,

thanks for your input.

Could be that the doctor is slowly working you up to a theraputic dose by starting at 10mg once a day, etc. Regular release Ritalin does only seem to last a short time - for me it seemed like 2 or 3 hours! I switched to dexedrine and never looked back - it works better than Ritalin in my brain and it lasts longer. I would stay on the Ritalin for a while and see how that works before switching - it's easier to judge what works best if you aren't bouncing from med to med. You may notice that you need to increase the dosage slightly after a couple of weeks - lots of people have this happen and it's pretty normal and not a sign of tolerance - after that, the effective doseage remains the same for most people. After you figure out what works best w.r.t. Ritalin, then you can try something else (which in Canada means Dexedrine, since Adderall is no longer sold here due to the morons at Health Canada) and see if it works better, worse, etc. It's just easier to compare efficacy once you stabalize on one drug.
Cheers,
Greg

Been on the RTP Methyphenidate for a couple of days now. He decided to put me on it, I seem brain dead after about 2 hours. The instant ritilian seemed to work way better and last just as long almost.

One thing that I have also noticed is that I seem to get irritated/angry/sad quite easily after about 2-3 hours taking my pill. I think this stuff is garbage.

The irritation and anger, etc. is most likely from the ritalin wearing off - the "down" as some refer to it. I switched to dexedrine from ritalin primarily because it wore off too fast.

regular ritalin lasts two to four hours, read the info you get from the pharmacy you got with your prescription. 20 mg three or four times a day is a usual adult dose. Your doc does not do this much, but if he will work with you, stay with him. You need to educate yourself, and this forum is one of the best ways to do that, good luck