Has anyone taken generic methylphenidate, not found it to be helpful, then taken brand Ritalin and found this to work? I have talked to my doctor about this as I wanted to try brand, but he does not think there would be any point if the generic didn't work, so I guess I just want to confirm that this is accurate.

Thanks in advance.

In my case- I could definitly tell a difference. I always took the generic, and then was given name brand because the DR. had a coupon, and WOW. The name brand didn't agree with me AT ALL. I prefer to stick to generic. The way the doctor explained was that they all have the same MAIN ingredient, but the "inactive" ingredients can be different between name brand and generic. Some people react differently to the inactive ingredients, and some don't. Good Luck!.

Yeah, I've been on Ritalin for 3 years and for the first time, my Doc made a mistake on the prescription. The non-brand definately isn't as effective.

If you do a forum search for ritalin & generic you'll find other comments on this...

I found a forum discussion awhile back that said the contents of the generic (Methyln) are the same as Ritalin, but the coating on methlyn is different. A couple of people said if they break the pill before taking it, it works like Ritalin for them.... so I tried it. I've never been on ritalin, but I can tell you Methlyn works better for me if I break it in half first. (No bad taste, either, which is nice.) It's worth trying just for a comparison.

Methylin 'works' better when you break it because it's designeed to be a metered release pill which has delayed coverage, which is broken, and used up quicker when you break the pill. It would probably 'work' even better if you broke up the whole pill and took it like that-but it is supposed to be swallowed whole, if you read the package instructions on the box/bottle, i bet this says so.

Many have commented on breaking up pills and having them work quicker/stronger, this being due to the greater surface area of the pills pieces, but SR-LA are designed to be swalled whole for their full 6, 10, 12 hour to take place, thats why Concerta, and the old SR (Methamphetamine Hcl) tabs, Desoxyn 'Gradumet' 5, 10, 15mgs were as hard as rock, and lasted all day.

I found the brand name Ritalin SR20mg to feel MUCH more noticably stronger than 2 generic 10mg Methylphenidate IR tabs, and taking duration aside as well.